For Your Information
The Roots of the Conflict in the Middle East
The roots of the current conflict in the Middle East stretch back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They can be found in the desires of the great European Powers, particularly Britain and France, to defeat the Turkish Ottoman Empire and carve up the Middle East between them, of the leaders of the Zionist movement to establish a colonial Jewish state and, more recently, of U.S. imperialism for a reliable outpost in this strategic region of the world.
The Zionist movement, a movement for the creation of a Jewish homeland, began in late 19th century Europe. With the mentality of the colonizer, its leaders had considered various countries, including Argentina, the Congo and East Africa as well as Palestine, as possible locations for this new country where Jews from all over the world would settle, regardless of the wishes of their native populations. In 1897, led by Theodor Herzl the first World Zionist Congress was held in Switzerland. It settled on Palestine as the sight for a Jewish national homeland.
Palestine was chosen for two reasons. Firstly, its links with ancient Jewish religion and history could be used to encourage Jews to emigrate there. And secondly, to achieve their end the Zionists knew they would need to enlist the support of one of the big European powers. They solicited various countries, but found most support from Britain, which was interested in extending its influence in the Middle East. In 1902 Herzl assured the British that "support for Zionism….would also serve British imperial interests".
With the outbreak of World War One both Britain and France had plans to defeat the Turkish Ottoman Empire, which had controlled the entire Middle East region for four hundred years, and divide the area between them. To mobilize their support in the war Britain and France promised the Arab peoples, including the Palestinians, independence after the war if they fought with them against the Turks.
Meanwhile the British were also negotiating with the Zionists. In 1917, in return for a Zionist promise to protect British interests in the Middle East and guard the route to India and Southeast Asia, Britain promised the Zionists a national home in Palestine. This was done despite the fact that at the time Britain had no jurisdiction over Palestine, and that the people who had inhabited the land for hundreds of years were not consulted. This promise, that has become known the Balfour Declaration, was made in a private letter from British Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Lord Balfour, to the British financier and Zionist, Lord Rothschild. The British and Zionist leaders had been working all year on this statement, which also had the prior approval of the United States.
At the end of the war, the Balfour Declaration, together with the desire of the big powers to prevent Arab unity, became the basis for the League of Nations in establishing a system of mandates over the countries of the Middle East. The Zionists actively participated in the peace conference that established the mandate system, while Arab representatives protested the blatant disregard for their rights. The attitude towards the Arab population of Palestine was summed up by Lord Balfour who wrote in 1919: "The four Great Powers are committed to Zionism. And Zionism is rooted in age-long traditions, in present needs, in future hopes, of far profounder import than the desires and prejudices of 700,000 Arabs who now inhabit that ancient land."
In 1920 France and Britain began their mandates over the countries of the Middle East, ostensibly to provide administrative assistance until they were ready for independence. France was given the mandate over Syria and Lebanon, while Britain controlled Jordan, Iraq and Palestine, where its commitments to the Zionists were in direct contradiction with the supposed goal of independence. Under the British mandate Jews were allowed to establish communities in Palestine and Hebrew was recognized as an official language along with Arabic and English.
During this time immigration to Palestine was controlled and organized by the Zionist organizations. Under the slogan of "a land without a people for a people without a land", the Zionists preyed on the oppression and fears of Jews in Europe to support their colonizing plans and entice them to immigrate to Palestine. They reflected the attitudes of Zionist founder, Theodor Herzl , who blamed Jews for anti-Semitism and, told them that only by fleeing to Palestine could they be safe; or of Chaim Weizman, future first president of the State of Israel who said "each country can only absorb a limited number of Jews, if she doesn't want disorders in her stomach".
About 100,000 Jews immigrated to Palestine between 1920 and 1929, increasing even more rapidly in the 1930s when the Jewish population grew 15-fold between 1931 and 1936. At the time of the Balfour Declaration 92% of Palestine was inhabited by Arabs; by 1939 one-third of the population were Jews who owned just 6% of the land. The Zionists' collusion with the Nazis and their refusal to assist European Jewry escape to other countries is well-documented. As far as they were concerned they should only go to Palestine; if the alternative was death in the Nazi death camps, their thesis that Palestine was the only safe place for Jews was reinforced.
During this same period the Palestinian population was subject to the repressive policies of the British forces and campaigns of terror by the Zionist gangs. They rose in resistance throughout the 1920s and 1930s against both the British and the Zionists. However, the terror unleashed against them by the Zionists increased further after 1945.
Jewish immigration, which had slowed during World War Two, increased again in 1945 with the arrival of large numbers of Holocaust survivors. For many Palestine was not necessarily their preferred destination, but they had little choice. Representatives of the Zionist organizations were active in the Displaced Persons camps offering passage to Palestine, while Jewish immigration to the U.S., Canada, and other countries remained restricted. In 1945, U.S. President Truman urged Britain to allow more Jews from Europe into Palestine while still refusing to lift quotas that had been in place in the U.S. since the late 1930s.
As the situation deteriorated, in 1947 Britain placed the issue of Palestine before the newly-established United Nations (UN). In November the General Assembly adopted a resolution partitioning Palestine into two states - one Jewish and one Palestinian. This plan had been aggressively promoted by the U.S. The resolution was a flagrant violation of the rights of the Palestinian people. Partition gave over half the land of Palestine to the Jewish population, who owned just 6% of the land, Jerusalem was to be kept under UN control, and the rest of the land would be left for the Palestinians. They opposed the plan and voiced their opposition to the UN.
Prior to the British withdrawal in May 1948, the Zionists stepped up their campaign of terror. Their gangs, which had been trained, equipped and supported by the British, attacked Palestinian villages and cities, massacring many and driving the others from their homes in panic. For example, on April 9, 1948 they attacked the village of Deir Yasin near Jerusalem, slaughtering 254 men, women and children. The same was repeated in other villages, and many more were occupied and their populations expelled. Zionist radio also waged a psychological campaign against the Palestinians, that included spreading stories about the spread of contagious diseases such as smallpox and cholera and warning the people to escape. As a result, people fled their homes in panic.
In violation of the partition plan, the day after the British withdrew the Zionists unilaterally proclaimed the State of Israel on May 14 1948, and sent their troops into additional areas of Palestine. The following day troops from the neighbouring Arab countries intervened. By the time hostilities ended in early 1949 the new state of Israel had seized an estimated 50% more land and Palestine had essentially been divided into three sections. Seventy-eight percent was incorporated into Israel, the West Bank was annexed to Jordan and the Gaza Strip was placed under Egyptian administration. Over 700,000 Palestinians had been forcibly uprooted from their homes and become refugees in Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon. Another 150,000 remained as second-class citizens in Israel.
This was still not enough for the Zionists. At the end of 1948 Israeli Prime Minister David Ben Gurion set the stage for ongoing Israeli expansion and armed provocations, which are still taking place to this day. He said: "The present map of Palestine was drawn by the British mandate. The Jewish people have another map which our youth and adults should strive to fulfill - from the Nile to the Euphrates".
This view was echoed 20 years later, in 1969, by the notorious Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Dayan after Israel had seized and occupied more Palestinian land during the so-called Six-Day War. He said: "Our fathers had reached the frontiers which were recognized in the partition plan. Our generation reached the frontiers of 1949. Now the Six-Day generation has managed to reach Suez, Jordan and the Golan Heights. This is not the end. After the present cease-fire lines there will be new ones".
By the time Dayan made these comments the U.S. had replaced Britain as the dominant power in the region. From the early 1960s it began to arm and support Israel, which functioned as its outpost in the region. In June 1967 it backed Israel's surprise attack against Egypt, Syria and Jordan. With its American supplied weapons and training, within six days Israel had seized and occupied the Sinai peninsula and Gaza strip (from Egypt), the West Bank and East Jerusalem (from Jordan), and the Golan Heights (from Syria), and nearly another half million Palestinians were made refugees.
In November 1967 the UN Security Council passed a resolution calling on Israel to withdraw from the lands they had occupied in the June war. As it had done before and as it continues to do today, Israel arrogantly ignored the international community, encouraged more Jewish immigration and began to build settlements on the occupied land.