Transcript Slide 1

Israel and the
American Cyrus
Celebrating 60 Years
Recognizing Israel Promptly
May 14, 1948
6:11 pm EST
“By the rivers of
Babylon, there we sat
down, yea, we wept,
when we remembered
Zion.”
The President insisted that the
Old Testament had made a
commitment to the Jewish
people that someday they
would have a homeland of
their own.
“I had faith in Israel
even before it was
established. I knew
it was based on the
love of freedom,
which has been the
guiding star of the
Jewish people since
the days of Moses.”
Israel has been a
sacred place for
Jewish people since
biblical times.
According to the
Torah, it was a land
promised by God to
Jews as their
homeland.
The reason for the mass
migration of Jews was
due to the Russian
persecution of Jews.
When the czar
Alexander II of Russia
was assassinated, the
Jews were blamed, and
many settlement
options were taken
away from them.
Czar Alexander II
Between the
years of 1904 and
1914, the Second
Aliyah took place.
This was an event
in which
approximately
40,000 Jews
immigrated to
Palestine. Most of
these Jews came
from Russia and
Poland.
During World War
I, British Foreign
Secretary Arthur
Balfour issued the
Balfour
Declaration. This
document viewed
with favor the
establishment of
Palestine
becoming a
national home for
the Jewish people.
The Jewish Legion, a battalion composed of
Zionist volunteers, assisted in the British
conquest of Palestine. When the Arabs
opposed the plan, the 1920 Palestine riots
began. This led to the formation of the Jewish
group known as Haganah, or the defense in
Hebrew.
The League of Nations
In 1922, the
League of Nations
granted the United
Kingdom a
mandate over
Palestine. They
stated it would
“secure the
establishment of
the Jewish national
home.”
Jewish immigration continued with the
Third and Fourth Aliyah between the years
of 1919 and 1929. During this period of time
100,000 Jews immigrated to Palestine.
The British
Mandate of Palestine,
or the Mandate of
Palestine, was
international
recognition for
establishing Palestine
as a national home for
Jewish people. The
mandate began in
1920.
The Jaffa Riots were
the riots and killings
between the Arabs and
the Jews in the British
Mandate of Palestine in
1921 between May 1st
and May 7th. These riots
resulted in the death of
47 Jews, 48 Arabs, and
also left 146 Jews and 73
Arabs injured.
The rise of Nazism in Europe led to the Fifth Aliyah,
which resulted in the influx of a quarter of a million
Jews. This great influx led to the Arab Revolt of 1936 –
1939. With many countries turning down Jews who
were fleeing the Holocaust, the Aliyah Bet was
organized to bring Jews to Palestine.
The Aliyah Bet was
the code name given
to illegal immigration
of Jews to the British
Mandate of Palestine
against British laws
forbidding
immigration. This
helped Jews escaping
Europe during the
Holocaust.
At the end of World War II in 1945,
Jews made up 33 % of Palestine’s
population. This was up from the 11 %
that populated the area in 1922.
After 1945, the
United Kingdom
became increasingly
violent with the Jews. In
1947, the British
government withdrew
from the Mandate of
Palestine stating that
they were unable to find
a solution between the
Jews and Arabs conflicts
over Palestine.
The United
Nations, on
November 29, 1947,
approved the UN
Partition Plan. This
divided Israel in
two, one side for the
Jews, the other for
the Arabs. Jerusalem
was to be
international city.
On May 12th, 1948
at a meeting in the
Oval Office,
President Harry
Truman stated that
the Middle East was
a place of no
democratic
government. He felt
that if Israel was
recognized as a
country, it could be
a place of such
government.
On May 14, 1948
the State of Israel
was proclaimed.
This was one day
before the Mandate
of Palestine expired..
Recognizing Israel Promptly
May 14, 1948
6:11 pm EST