The History of Arab - Jewish Conflict

1881-1948

Dr. P J Vincent

• Verlag: VIJ Books (India) Pty Ltd
• Jahr: 2019
• ISBN:
  9789388161947
• Auflage: 1
• Thema: Politik & Internationale Beziehungen
• Thema: Nahostpolitik

The emergence of the modern Zionist Movement was driven by the search for a homeland in Palestine for the stateless and persecuted Jewish People. The organized migration and settlement of Jewish people under the banner of the World Zionist Organization trampled the fundamental rights of Palestine People and continuously rejected their statehood. The rejectionist policy practiced by Zionists and the State of Israel explains the persistence of the Palestine question. This book devotes to examine the historical origin and evolution of Arab-Israeli conflict from 1881, the year of first Aliya, to the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. It investigates socio-political and cultural aspects of the conflict with an emphasis on the historical factors. The book offers a comprehensive and comprehensible analysis of the History of Palestine.

Chapter 1

Palestine in History

In a general geographical sense, Palestine has always been regarded as the South-West extremity of Syria – the land mass that stretches from Dan in the north, at the foot of the Anti-Lebanon Mountain range to below Beersheba in the south and from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Taurus mountains, the river Euphrates, the desert fringes of Transjordan and the wilderness of Sinai in the east. ‘Palestine’ is a relatively recent geographical term. It is derived from Philistines, the Aegian people who made their appearance on the southern coastal part of the Levant, some three thousand years ago.

The Levant, the land at the eastern end of the Mediterranean which is divided into Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Jordan, constitute one geographical area, bounded on the west by the Mediterranean and on the east by the Syrian Desert. It measures some five hundred miles from north to south but only about eighty miles from west to east. Since the appearance of Philistines on the Levantine Coast, the name ‘Palestine’, has been used continuously to denote the landmass by Hebrews, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Turks and the British Mandatory government. But each gave different geographical delimitations to ‘Palestine’. The area called Palestine by Biblical scholars, more or less coincides with the territory controlled by the kingdom of Israel (Northern Kingdom) and the kingdom of Judah (Southern Kingdom) around 860 B.C. ‘Its boundaries extended westward from the base of the Golan Heights in present-day Syria to the Mediterranean Sea; then southward to Gaza; where the coast bends west to tip of the Gulf of Aqaba; then north to beyond the eastern edge of the Dead Sea; and finally, northwest, to touch Lake Tiberias at the foot of the Golan’¹.

The Land area of Palestine is divided into sharply marked strips running from north to south. The deep broad Jordan Valley cuts Palestine into two from north to south. Its southern end is marked by the Wadi-el-Arish, which the Bible called ‘River of Egypt’, and the Jebel-et-Tubeiq, in Southern Jordan. The northern end of Gulf of Aqaba and the north most point of Hejaz also marks the southern limits of Palestine. The river Yarmuk, a tributary of river Jordan, marks the northern limit of Palestine. It once divided the Biblical provinces of Golan and Gilead and marks today the border between Syria and Jordan. The eastern border is the great Arabian Desert and the natural limit is marked by a range of mountains, Anti-Lebanon, Jaulan, Gilead, Moab and Edom, according to the Biblical names.

These mountain ranges present steep slopes and cliffs to the west and fall gradually to the east into the high plateau of the Syrian Desert. The northern end of Jordan Valley and the southern slopes of Mount Hermon are other clear landmarks that denote the boundary of Palestine. To the west, transition from the hills and mountains of Galilee sloping southwards to the high plateau of Lebanon sloping northwards marks another portion of the natural boundary of Palestine. This area is about 45,000 square miles roughly the size of Ireland².

The Palestine is divided into eight natural geographical units³. First there is a coastal plain along the Mediterranean, about ten miles wide and divided in half approximately at Joppa, near modern Tel Aviv. The northern half is the plain of Sharon extended to Carmel rage near modern Haifa. The southern half is the Philistine plain or Philistia. The plain Acco lies north of Sharon between Carmel mountain and Acco. The plain of Phoenicia lay along the coast, separated from Acco and the rest of western Palestine by mountain ranges.

The second geographical unit, the Shefelah, that lies to the east of and parallel to Philistia, is separated by longitudinal valleys from the central Hill Country and forms the transition to it. The Hill Country starts from southern Syria in the form of hills and mountains and extends down to the extreme south. The third unit is the northern Hill Country or Galilee which is usually sub-divided into upper and lower Galilee. The Jezreel or Esdraelon (or simply ‘the valley’) is the fourth unit, which cuts right across Galilee. It provides tracts for traders and invaders to reach Transjordan. The fifth unit is Central Palestine which is divided into Samaria in the north and Judah in the south. The rest of the Western Palestine is the vast semi-arid area in the south, the Negev, which forms the sixth division.

The seventh part of Palestine is a geologically marvelous ‘rift valley’, the corollary of the long range of hills and mountains which forms the hill country. The rift valley separates the territory west of the Jordan from Transjordan. This rift begins in Syria, separates and forms Mount Lebanon and Mount Anti-Lebanon (Biblical Hermon), and continues south in the form of the Jordan Valley, the Orontes, the Beqaa and the Wadi-Araba to the Gulf of Aquabah and the Red Sea. The Jordan River flows through this valley, forms lake Huleh and the Sea of Galilee (Chinnereth) and finally falls into the Dead Sea (or Salt sea). At the Dead Sea, the ‘rift’ is about 1,275 feet below the sea level, which is the lowest depression in the world⁴.

Finally, the Jordanian Plateau, which forms the eastern most division of Palestine. This geographical unit is divided up by four rivers into five main parts. The Yarmuk River flowing into the river Jordan separates Bushan and Gilead. The river Jabbok or Wadi Zerqa emptying into river Jordan separates Gilead and Ammon. The Arnon Wadi Mojib provides a natural barrier between Ammon and Moab. The boundary between these two countries varied during Biblical times but usually lying north of the Arnon. Finally, the Wadi Hesa or the Zered runs to the Southern end of Dead Sea separates Moab from Edom. Only during the rainy season these Wadies became real streams. Otherwise they were mostly dry riverbeds. These eight geographical units combine together and forms four regions running north to south. On the west lies the coastal plain, next and parallel to it is the central mountain region. East of these mountains lies the ‘rift valley’, and the eastern most region is the ‘Jordanian Plateau’.

The cultural divisions of Palestine have been greatly influenced by the topographical divisions. Each region has developed its own distinctive culture with specific characteristics. Among the four topographical regions, the coastal plain has been better exposed to the outer world because of its harbours and proximity to the international highway of sea-borne trade. The coastal plain was frequently subjected to foreign invasions and influences. Trade was the main economic activity of the coastal land. The culture of the coastal people was largely influenced by the ancient Mediterranean cultures. Development in the early Bronze age was mainly confined to the coastal plain, the fertile Jezreel valley and the Negev, where the Egyptians had established trade depots.

The Central mountain region had only secondary importance in the history of Palestine. The main occupation of the people was cattle breeding. Trade activities are limited here because the tough mountain tracts posed a challenge to easy transport and communication.

The Jordan valley, a peculiar geographical region, appears to have highly favored the development of early cultures. Being surrounded by high mountains, the Jordan Valley is isolated from the rest of the country, forming a thin unit about sixty miles long, with many independent cultural characteristics. Its northern and central parts are fertile and well-watered, highly suited for agriculture. Natural resources are abundant in the southern part, which include salt, copper, bitumen, sulphur etc. Moreover, the Jordan River is navigable in most parts and thus provides easy transport and communication throughout the valley.

The Jordanian Plateau is a peripheral region. Hunting and herding has been the major occupation of the people. Cultivable land, water resources and other natural resources are scanty in this region.

Palestine today is comprised of three geo-cultural areas based on ecological condition. First, the Negev region, which covers the peninsula of Sinai, most of Arabia and the Syrian Desert. Nomadic life is the prevailing pattern of life in this area. The nomadic and semi-nomadic pastoral ‘Bedouins’ and the Oasis dwellers are the inhabitants who rely mainly on stock raising and the date palms.

The western part of the Jordanian Plateau, the Jordan valley, western Jordan and large parts of northern Israel together with Lebanon and Syria, form the second cultural area⁵. The Arab-speaking agricultural population of this area is based on a social structure of ‘extended families.’⁶

The third cultural area is highly industrialized Israel which is more an extension of the West. The majority Jewish population of this area is concentrated in urban centers and their social organization is similar to that of American towns. The agrarian population of this area is living in collective or half-collective settlements. This cultural area is a recent formation, formed as a result of organized migration of Jews from different parts of the world under the auspices of World Zionist Organization. The country has two ecological and cultural sub divisions also – the northern Palestine and south-eastern Palestine. These divisions are formed due to cultural separation. The northern Palestine is connected directly to the cultural centre of the North and the South Eastern Palestine is linked to the arid and semi-arid zones of the inner Near East, hence the cultural difference. The main ecological and cultural divisions and sub-divisions persisted throughout history.

The present political boundaries are not natural borders of Palestine. The geographical and cultural area of Palestine is the land between the peninsula of Sinai to the south and the mountains of Lebanon to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the west and the great Arabian Desert to the east.⁷

It was only after the First World War that Palestine acquired definite political boundaries for the first time in its history.⁸ Until then, the name denoted differ...

Inhaltsverzeichnis

• Cover
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgement
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 Palestine in History
• Chapter II Zionism: Ideology and Movement (1881-1914)
• Chapter III The Crisis in Palestine: From World War I to Mandate (1914-1922)
• Chapter IV The Struggle for Palestine: From Mandate to State (1922-48)
• Epilogue
• Appendices
• Bibiliography
• Index