3/8/11 Lecture 19

In today’s lecture we started to cover Jerusalem in the 20^th century. Leading up to the 20^th century we saw Jerusalem reestablished as a center for the Jewish faith. The idea of secular Zionism began to immerge when ethnic Jews (not necessarily religious Jews) began to move back to Jerusalem. Deeper than the need to settle in Jerusalem was the need for the Jews to settle together and the Zionists built the city of Tel Aviv as a central city. During this time period there was also a rise in European nationalism, which lead to a large number of Jews leaving for Palestine. The increase in the number of Jews in Palestine lead to increased conflict between the Jews and Arabs. In 1916 the Sykes-Picot Agreement left the areas of Palestine, Jordan, and Southern Iraq under British control. In 1917 the British made their intensions of establishing a Jewish national home in Palestine known with the Balfour Declaration. The condition was that they would do their best to facilitate this as long as it did not interfere with “the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities” (Balfour Declaration). The period of British mandate lasted from 1918-1948 during which time the British promised to protect the holy lands of all faiths. In 1922, Britain partitioned an area for a Jewish settlement west of the Jordan River. The area east of the Jordan was renamed Transjordan. In 1937 the Peel Commission suggested a “two state” solution to the escalating conflict between Arabs and Jews. With this plan, a Jewish state would include Galilee, the Upper Jordan Valley and the Coastal Plain. The Arab state would include the Central Hills, the West Bank, and Negev. Jerusalem would remain a neutral, international city. The U.N. approved the plan in 1947. The Zionists, who would receive less land, accepted the plan as a minimum the Arabs however, rejected the plan. This lead to fights breaking out in Jerusalem. This also marks the end of British mandate, as no resolution could be reached and the battle was not theirs to fight. This lead to the War of Independence, or the Arab-Israeli War, in 1948. The result of the war was the formation of Jordan (Arab) and Israel (Jewish) who split Jerusalem into East and West sides respectively. This is kind of where we left off in lecture, with Jordan and Israel fighting over Jerusalem, with both of them naming it as a capital city.