69 million page views

A short synopsis of Jewish History and the Arab Israeli conflict r6

Reader comment on item: The "Shocking Document" that Shaped the Middle East Turns 100

Submitted by YJ Draiman (United States), May 9, 2016 at 12:43

A short synopsis of Jewish History and the Arab Israeli conflict r6

Jews have the absolute right for their homeland. Zionism the movement itself was created during the second half the 1800′s. Jews purchased a substantial amount of territories in Palestine-Israel (see testimony of the Mufti of Jerusalem in front of the British Peel Commission - 1937) from local sheikhs and lords and built settlements there. This dates as early as 1860; that is 79 years before WWII.

During all of this time Jews kept migrating back to their historic homeland which comprised of two kingdoms: the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah (the Jewish population at those times is estimated to be about 10 million). Many Jews were driven out of the Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians in 720, B.C.E. The Babylonians in 586, B.C.E., drove many of the Jews out of the Kingdom of Judah, Including Jerusalem. It was followed by the Persians in 536, and the Hellenistic Syrian Seleucid Rulers in 332 BCE. Jews - The Maccabees re-conquered Israel in 166 BCE.
Romans conquered Israel in 63 C.E., and in 70 A.D. destroyed the Jewish second Temple.
Which was followed by these conquests:
Byzantines in 313; (During the era of 400 – 550 CE Yemen was ruled by a Jewish king), Persian in 614; Arabs Muslims 636 CE; Crusaders 1099; and the Mamluks in 1291.

Then came the Ottoman Empire in 1517. In 1564 the Ottoman Empire encouraged and stimulated Jewish immigration which added over 10,000 new Jewish returnees to the existing Jewish communities in Palestine-Israel (The Ottoman land records for Palestine showed that the government owned over 90% of the land) and the British Mandate Rule 1918-1948.

During the time of the Roman rule of the land of Israel, the Jews in the kingdom called Judea revolted against the Roman rule. The Romans crushed the rebellion, exiled many Jews out of the country, seized many others and turned them into slaves deporting many of them to Rome and other places. Not only that, they changed the name of the land from Provincia Judea to Palestine to humiliate the Jews. The Romans also renamed Jerusalem Aelia Capitolina.

For 600 years or so, Arab Muslims imperialism spread throughout the Middle East and Spain from Arabia. Among other conquests, the Arabs conquered Judea-Palestine, killing many of the local Jewish population, and converting many into Islam. The story of how the Arabs got to Palestine is the story of conquest, imperialism, violence and brutal occupation.

During the 19th and 20th century, when Arabs had little to no interest in the land of Israel, Jews bought massive amounts of land and resettled there. After WWI the Allied Powers allocated over 5 million sq. mi. of territory to the Arabs, and the Supreme Allied powers also allocated Palestine to be reconstituted as the Jewish National Home, approved by the international community and the implementation by The League of Nations under the San Remo Treaty of 1920 which assigned the British "The Mandate for Palestine" as trustee over the land so that a Jewish state would be created in that Jewish historical land, confirmed by the 1920 Treaty of Sevres and Lausanne. The British had their own agenda in mind and violated the Treaties and the terms of the Mandate.

The original Mandate territory (as agreed to, which is stated in the official minutes of the conference) included what is today Israel; Gaza, Parts of Sinai, West Bank (Judea and Samaria), Jordan and the Golan Heights. The British had their own agenda and divided the country up. They gave to the Arabs the allocated land which had been Mandated to the Jewish people in violation of the 1920 San Remo Treaty and the 1919 Faisal Weizmann Agreement: everything East of the Jordan river. This land which was intentionally given to the Arabs constituted 78% of the land allocated to the Jewish people. The British gave the land to the Hashemite Kingdom for the Arab population in order to create a new State: Trans-Jordan. The British also traded the Golan Heights to the French who ruled Syria for oil in Iraq. Thus, after already separating the country into one Arab state Trans-Jordan (a new state in history), which is present day Jordan, they intended to break up the remaining Jewish land West of the Jordan River, present day Israel and in violation of international agreements, wrongfully give it to the Arabs.

In the meanwhile the Arabs were not content with the over 5 million sq. mi. of territory and a conflict emerged over territorial boundaries between the Jewish inhabitants of Palestine-Israel and the Arabs. The U.N. which is an advisory board only, proposed a deal to split the remaining land of the British Mandate for Jewish Palestine (yes, split yet again) into an Arab state and a Jewish state. The Jewish leadership accepted the proposal, provided the Arabs also accept it. The Arabs declined. Thus the 1948 war began. A war in which the Arabs with 6 armies from Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and local militias of Arabs, and help on a smaller scale from the armies of Algeria and Libya attacked the new Jewish entity. The Arab military coalition had the weapons, a large army and were confident on victory, to the extent, that they asked the local Arab inhabitants in Palestine to vacate the land while they decimated the Jews. But fate had other plans. Through divine intervention, the Arabs lost that war. Many Arab civilians fled their homes because their Arab leadership told them to evacuate. Some were panicked by rumors. There were only a few incidents with civilians. (It is an important fact to note that during the war of 1948, Jewish settlements that were seized by Arab forces were razed to the ground – Kfar Etzion for example and the remaining population there killed, men women and children).

The true and detailed facts and history is much more voluminous and complex. The problems Israel faces is that it is not as quick to explain the 4000+ years of Jewish history in Israel to counter the Arab lies, obfuscation and propaganda. Lies are easier to spread. However, upon close examination of the historical facts, the lies are exposed as baseless propaganda and should be dismissed as such.

It should be understood that only a small segment of history is being presented here. I did not enumerate anything about how Arabs used terror and violence since the beginning of the conflict. I did not mention that before Arab nationalism and Muslim radicalism took over. The small Arab community was glad that the Jews were coming back to their ancestral homeland, providing an economic boost and jobs to the region, (even king Faisal was delighted.) I did not enumerate or discuss in detail the Arab-Palestinian refugees without telling how and why they became refugees.

Many of the Jewish communities in the Arab lands have existed for over 2,500 years, which preceded Islam. I might also mention that the Arab countries terrorized and expelled over a million Jewish families and their children; confiscated all their assets, businesses, homes and Jewish owned Real estate property (120,440 sq. km. or 75,000 sq. miles, which is six times the size of Israel and valued in the trillions of dollars). About 750,000 of those Jewish refugees from Arab countries and their children were resettled in Greater Israel and today comprise over half the population. It is time for the Arab countries that expelled the million Jewish families and their children to resettle the Arab-Palestinian refugees in their own countries, and or Jordan, and put an end to this conflict and end the misery and displacement of the Arab Palestinians. This will bring about peace and coexistence which the people so rightfully desire and deserve. It will bring economic prosperity and an increase in the standard of living for all the people.

YJ Draiman

Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

Submit a comment on this item

Reader comments (39) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
In the words of David Ben Gurion when he appeared before the British Peel Commission in Palestine in 1937: [229 words]YJ DraimanAug 15, 2017 01:45240475
It does not get much worse than this! [96 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Stuart SchoenbergerDec 16, 2016 13:05234705
Hilarious [168 words]EvaJun 9, 2016 01:02229895
Nationalism vs. Imperialism [436 words]There is NO Santa ClausMay 17, 2016 08:39229499
1ENOUGH [4 words]1776partIIMay 13, 2016 19:15229454
3This sound like Left-wing Utopianism [384 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Michael SMay 12, 2016 18:46229423
3There is no acknowledged standard for how and by whom borders should be set. [583 words]Michael S.May 13, 2016 14:35229423
Borders are Drawn by Armies [85 words]SAKOVKTMay 16, 2016 13:33229423
I don't advocate any "better" way [292 words]Michael SMay 20, 2016 03:41229423
Creating space for ME Christians [176 words]DaveSMay 12, 2016 10:58229422
advice to the EU [25 words]mythMay 12, 2016 09:35229421
1The Moral of Sykes Pikot [163 words]SuchindranathAiyerSMay 12, 2016 00:48229415
A sane and mature choice [46 words]Michael JacobsMay 11, 2016 04:01229404
1Political and economic sickness is endemic to Islam [111 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Michael SMay 10, 2016 17:43229398
Indeed, you will be dealing with a people who worship God, Fire and the Devil. [323 words]Michael SMay 13, 2016 03:15229398
Thank you for a Breath of Fresh Air and some uncommon colmmon sense on this subject [243 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Phebe AdamsMay 10, 2016 16:09229397
hurrah no one else remmebered sykes picot ... [145 words]oded yinonMay 10, 2016 10:19229392
Adults? You mean Israel? [85 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
François GravelMay 10, 2016 06:31229390
racist? .. no .. [184 words]Anne JulienneMay 13, 2016 00:25229390
'Perfidity"? [381 words]SAKOVKTMay 10, 2016 06:25229389
Berlin Conference 1884 [264 words]SAKOVKTMay 13, 2016 11:48229389
I agree, so does ISIS [50 words]MikeMay 10, 2016 03:01229388
McMahon letters [191 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Avinoam Ben DorMay 10, 2016 02:13229387
and your point? [80 words]Anne JulienneMay 13, 2016 00:09229387
6You mean the Muslims weren't paranoid before it? [614 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
UNCLE VLADDIMay 9, 2016 23:57229386
1Correction [93 words]DajjalMay 13, 2016 19:11229386
why not work together? [250 words]Anne JulienneMay 9, 2016 22:31229384
Israel [49 words]ConradMay 9, 2016 14:23229378
Blame Local Hatred, Not Sykes-Picot [253 words]DaveMay 9, 2016 14:02229377
A short synopsis of Jewish History and the Arab Israeli conflict r6 [1320 words]YJ DraimanMay 9, 2016 12:43229375
The sick region [52 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
PezDispenserMay 9, 2016 12:13229374
Don't allow a torch in an anthill [99 words]PhiliorMay 9, 2016 11:50229373
The Sykes-Picot Myth [260 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Gideon RemezMay 9, 2016 11:21229372
Sykes-Picot [241 words]Martin SchaffelMay 9, 2016 11:17229371
What about the treaties of Sevres 1920 and Lausanne 1923 and the League of Nations mandates? [609 words]Daniel BamfordMay 9, 2016 10:52229369
The Faisal Weizmann Agreement of January 3, 1919 [64 words]YJ DraimanMay 13, 2016 16:32229369
1A Deeper Cause [272 words]Ron ThompsonMay 9, 2016 10:05229367
Off topic [79 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
ECAWMay 9, 2016 08:54229366
1SO, SUBJECTIVE OPINIONS TRUMP OBJECTIVE FACTS?! [21 words]UNCLE VLADDIMay 13, 2016 18:05229366

Follow Daniel Pipes

Facebook   Twitter   RSS   Join Mailing List

All materials by Daniel Pipes on this site: © 1968-2024 Daniel Pipes. daniel.pipes@gmail.com and @DanielPipes

Support Daniel Pipes' work with a tax-deductible donation to the Middle East Forum.Daniel J. Pipes

(The MEF is a publicly supported, nonprofit organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Contributions are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Tax-ID 23-774-9796, approved Apr. 27, 1998.

For more information, view our IRS letter of determination.)