The 1948 Palestine War E-Book

50MINUTES

• Herausgeber: 50Minutes.com
• Kategorie: Bildung
• Serie: History
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 32

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

Keen to learn but short on time? Get to grips with the events of the 1948 Palestine War in next to no time with this concise guide.

50Minutes.com provides a clear and engaging analysis of the 1948 Palestine War. On 15 May 1948, David Ben-Gurion formally proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel. Immediately after the Israeli Declaration of Independence, the neighboring Arab nations came together and decided to invade Palestine to put an end to Zionist claims in the region. The resulting Israeli victory had major and long-lasting effects on the balance of power in the Middle East. 

In just 50 minutes you will:
• Analyse the development of one of the most significant conflicts in the Middle East
• Learn about the context in which the war took place and its social and political causes 
• Understand how this war affected the political balance in the Middle East and how its effects are still felt today

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Leseprobe

The Palestine War

Key information

When: 15 May 1948 – 20 July 1949 Where: In Israel and PalestineContext: Israeli-Arab conflictBelligerents: Israel against the Arab League, a coalition formed between Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon and Saudi ArabiaCommanders and leaders: Abdallah I, King of Jordan (1882-1951)David Ben-Gurion, Israeli politician (1886-1973)Outcome: Israeli victoryVictims: Jewish camp: approximately 4 000 soldiers and 2 400 civilians deadPalestinian camp: between 12 000 and 20 000 civilians and soldiers deadArab camp: approximately 4 000 soldiers dead

Introduction

A major contemporary conflict, the Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab tensions are still the source of front-page news. Between attempts at peace processes, failures in negotiations and terror attacks, the situation does not seem to be improving. The hostilities began in 1947 and took the form of several wars between Israel and several allied Arab States, in 1948 (Palestine War), 1956 (Suez Crisis), 1967 (Six-Day War), 1973 (Yom Kippur War), 1982 and 2006 (First and Second Lebanon Wars).

The first conflict, called the Palestine War or the War of Independence, followed the civil war (1947-1948) between the Jews and the Palestinians over the question of the territorial future of Palestine after the departure of the British forces, which had been the mandatory power in Palestine since 1922; the Jews, who had been arriving in mass in Palestine since the beginning of the 20th century, demanded the creation of an Israeli state, which the Palestinians opposed fiercely. The tensions between the two communities then continued to intensify. However, the situation evolved in favor of the Israelis and on 14 May 1948, the Zionist leader David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the independence of the Israeli State. The neighboring Arab countries then decided to invade Palestine, in order to put an end to the Zionist claims in the region. This is how the Palestine war began, in which the Jewish forces of Israel fought against a coalition made up of Transjordan, Egypt, Syria, and Iraq from May 1948 onwards and ended with the signing of the armistice at Rhodes on 24 February 1949.

Political and social context

Palestine under British mandate from 1922 to 1948

Previously belonging to the Ottoman Empire, Palestine became a British protectorate in 1922.

While the outcome of the First World War (1914-1918) was still uncertain, the French and the British took part in the dismantling of the broad Ottoman Empire and signed the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement in 1916, which planned the division of the control over the Middle East between these two colonial powers. However, the League of Nations (international organization created at the end of the First World War in order to enforce international law and justice and put a stop to war) only officially gave Great Britain the necessary mandate to administer Palestine in July 1922. London was therefore required to deal with the difficult cohabitation involving the local Arab community and the Jews coming mostly from Europe and arriving in great numbers from the late 19th century. This immigration intensified at the beginning of the 20th century with the development of political Zionism.

Good to know

Zionism is a political movement advocating the creation of a Jewish State in Palestine. The Zionist demands, namely the desire to create a national Jewish homeland, were formulated by Austro-Hungarian journalist Theodor Herzl (1860-1904) during the Congress of Basel in 1897, the movement’s first international meeting. There, the territories of the Biblical Kingdom of Israel were chosen by the Jewish people who would thus be able to protect themselves from the rising antisemitism of the time. A Jewish National Fund was then created with the aim of purchasing land in that territory.