Transcript How the Middle East Got That Way

“How the Middle East Got That
Way”
United Kingdom of
Israel…
The United Kingdom of
Israel existed during the
reigns of Saul, David and
Solomon from 1020 BCE to
930 BCE.
The old kingdom is the basis
of modern Zionist territorial
claims to land in the Middle
East and an important factor
in Israel-Palestine disputes.
Jewish tribes were expelled
from Palestine in 586 BCE
by King Nebuchadnezzar of
the Babylonian Empire and
the
area
became
predominantly Arabic and
Islamic after the seventh
century of the Common Era.
Palestine became a province
of the Ottoman Empire
(1301).
By the end of the first century BCE, Rome had taken over the eastern
Mediterranean and the Jewish population was spread through many cities of the
east. In the third and fourth centuries CE there were substantial Jewish
settlements in most major eastern cities and many western provinces as well.
Treaty of Versailles
• After such a devastating war, the victorious Western
Powers imposed a series of harsh treaties upon the
defeated nations:
– Germany
– Ottoman Empire
•
These treaties stripped the Central Powers of substantial
territories and imposed significant reparation payments.
• As a direct result of the war, the German, AustroHungarian, and Ottoman Empires ceased to exist.
• Treaty of Sèvres on August 10, 1920, ending hostilities
with the Allied Powers; but shortly thereafter a Turkish
War of Independence began. The new Republic of Turkey,
established in its aftermath, signed a superseding Treaty
of Lausanne in 1923, effectively partitioning the old
Ottoman Empire.
Iraq
Treaty of Versailles
Palestine
…
Leb.
1943: Carved out of
Syria by France
Sunni/ Shi’a/ Kurd
1921: UK put King
Feisal
(outsider) on
throne
1958: Socialist
Baath
Revolution
TransJordan
1921: Feisal’s Bro Abdullah put on
throne (Grandfather of current king)
1951: Abdullah assassinated
Jewish Migration
to Palestine
WWI
begins
Ottoman
Empire
falls
apart
Sykes-Picot Agreement:
Balfour
Declaration:
UK support of a
UK said Arab state
JEWISH
would only be Saudi
homeland.
Arabia and Yemen:
ARABS BETRAYED? See Declaration
UK met with Husayn Ibn’ Ali,
ruler of Mecca and Medina
In exchange for help in WWI,
UK said they would support
Arab independence &…
Iraq, Jordan
and Syria
receive
independence.
What about
Palestine?
Ethnic
Tensions:
UK throws
problem at
the UN.
Result?
PARTITION!
See Map
Allied victory in
WWI: Ottoman
Empire defeated
MANDATES:
UK: Palestine/
Trans-Jordan/ Iraq
France: Lebanon/
Syria
End of WWII (Holocaust):
Mass Jewish migration into
Palestine. (Palestine still
70% Arab)
UN Partition and Israeli Independence
• UN divides Palestine
– ½ Jewish
– ½ Arab
– Jerusalem an international city
5/14/1948:
 Israel declares independence
 Arab countries immediately attack
 ARAB ISRAELI WARS!
 Results?
 Today, Palestine is no longer an
independent country
2005 Israel:
80% Jewish
20% Arab
Balfour Declaration
•
•
•
•
•
Foreign Office
November 2nd, 1917
Dear Lord Rothschild,
I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on
behalf of His Majesty's Government, the
following declaration of sympathy with Jewish
Zionist aspirations which has been submitted
to, and approved by, the Cabinet.
"His Majesty's Government view with favour
the establishment in Palestine of a national
home for the Jewish people, and will use their
best endeavours to facilitate the achievement
of this object, it being clearly understood that
nothing shall be done which may prejudice the
civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish
communities in Palestine, or the rights and
political status enjoyed by Jews in any other
country."
I should be grateful if you would bring this
declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist
Federation.
• Yours sincerely,
Arthur James Balfour