How Israel was Created.

9:29 p.m. October 12,2023

How Israel was Created.

A letter written by Balfour. That would set off a conflict, still being fought more than 100 years later. His Majesty's government views with favor. The Establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people and we'll use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object. When Balfour wrote of his government's intent to create, Create a Jewish homeland in Palestine, 90% of the people living there. They were not Jewish just 31 years later. Most of them were gone . 

This is the story of the British promise that led to the destruction of Palestine and the creation of the state of Israel. 

Let's start with the obvious question. Why would the British make promises about other people's countries short answer? The Empire is one hell of a drug. This was World War One and the British were making lots of promises. In addition to promising a Jewish homeland in Palestine, they promised Arab leaders Independence. If they rose up against Prince's enemy, the Ottoman Empire, the Arabs did Hollywood even made a movie about it Arabia's for the atoms. Now, that's what I've told them. Anyway, that's what they think. That's why they're fighting. Oh, surely a month after golfers letter, British troops took Palestine, ending, 400 years of Ottoman rule, the people who lived there were Arabs mostly Muslims, but they were Christian and Jewish minorities to there was also Also, a tiny number of European Jews, who in the late 1800s have started building small colonies there at a time when many Jews were suffering horrific persecution in Europe, they felt Palestine could be an escape the idea of building up a Jewish presence in Palestine became known as Zionism. But estate of the Fringe movement among European Jews. Many of them felt they shouldn't have to leave their countries to avoid persecution but Zionism as a political movement took a big step forward with An Austrian man called Theodor herzl. And this guy is a very important name in this story in 1896, he published during you did stock or in English, the Jewish state in it, he said the only way for choose to avoid Europe's anti-Semitism was not just to leave but to have their own country and herzl didn't just write the next year. He organized the conference in Basel. Switzerland. The first Zionist Congress, the attendees agreed on a program, which sought And promote to establish, a Jewish homeland in Palestine and promote Jewish settlement in Palestine, from here, on out the Zionist movement became very active setting up funds to promote Jewish immigration to Palestine companies to buy land there and recruiting representatives to advocate for their cause with different government's, a few days after the conference herzl wrote this and his diary at causal. I founded the Jewish state in five years perhaps and certainly In 50 years, everyone will perceive it. He was only off by one year, okay? So that is a lot of history, but it's important because the Zionist movement is a critical part of the story going forward especially after a found a friend in the British government where a lot of high-ranking officials supported Zionism. Sometimes for unexpected reasons, prime minister Lloyd George. For example, there was a Christian Zealot who believed Gathering the Jewish people in Palestine, Bring Jesus Christ back to Earth, others like Balfour, believe that getting the Jewish people out of Europe and into their own country would be a good thing. Herzl was pretty Visionary when he wrote that the anti-semitic Nations will become our allies. Meanwhile design is a shortbread in that their future country would be a reliable Ally. So that's the backstory of how European anti-Semitism Zionism and British imperialism, all led to the Balfour Declaration. This British promise to build a Homeland for Jews in Palestine. 

Now we're going to look at how branded that world war one had been a conflict between rival Empires and the winner set up the League of Nations to distribute the losing sides territories between them. They called it the mandate system putting territories once controlled by the Ottoman and German Empires under the quote tutelage of advanced Nations until they became independent and were given the Mandate over Palestine, but the Palestinian people were never asked. What they wanted, what Independence would look like to them. Listen to what Balfour wrote to one of his colleagues in Palestine. We do not propose, even to go through the form of Consulting. The wishes of the present inhabitants of the country. It's dead. It was the zionists who consulted about what their vision for Palestine was. And so the Mandate ended up incorporating, not just the Balfour Declaration but several Clauses requiring Britain to ensure the establishment of a Jewish Home in Palestine. British rule was very accommodating to the Zionist project. The Jewish community in Palestine grew with big waves of immigration. They had their own schools and factories and even their own militia the haganah and they were led by the polish-born David Ben-Gurion, the leader of their representative body, the Jewish agency to the Palestinians it was clear that Britain was in delivering them Independence. It was delivering their country. Forces 1936. They went on strike British forces, tried to break the strike with arrests torture Mass punishment and executions leaders were exiled weapons confiscated, and house has blown up, Palestinian Fighters attacked British in Jewish targets while British and hagana forces would carry out joint raids on Palestinian Villages something had to change the British government sent a commission called the peel commission to figure it out, but their proposed, Ian was typical just draw another British line on the map, divide. The country. Give this part to the Jews and this part to the Palestinians. I make that part of Transjordan next door. Oh, and because the Palestinians were a majority in the country 250,000 of them would have to be removed by force to make the Jewish State viable. Remember these were the proposals that were meant to calm things down. Spoiler, they didn't instead the Revolt continued until 1939 by which time About 10% of Palestine's adult male population. Had either been killed, injured, arrested or exiled the British government really needed a solution. So here comes another report. The commission is studying the 20 year old Jewish settlements in the British Mandate of Palestine. The 1939 whitepaper created a conflict between the British and the zionists for the first time because it rejected partition and said, the solution was for Palestine to gain independence within 10 years with everyone living there. Airing it together, crucially. It also imposed severe limits on Jewish land purchases and immigration to the zionists. This felt like a betrayal in response to some set off bombs across the country killing dozens of Palestinians, but soon everyone was distracted by something much bigger. More than 60 million people were killed in World War Two including six million, Jews were murdered in Nazi death camps, Jewish survivors, fled Europe with a large number of them trying to find safety in Palestine despite the British limit on Jewish immigration they set off a more direct confrontation between the zionists and the British with Palestinians often targeted as well. The zionists you two things militarily they were stronger than the Palestinians and Britain was exhausted by World War Two, so it wouldn't have the same The stomach to keep fighting and Palestine, they were right in 1947 after 30 years of occupation ran announced, it was quitting Palestine and ask the newly formed United Nations to clean up its mess. All right, 1947 and 1948 are the most pivotal years in this story. So let's take a look at how things are lining up during British rule Jews. Had gone from 10% to 30% of the population. About 6% of the land under Ben-Gurion's leadership was the Jewish agency. 

Was pretty much functioning as a government for the Jewish community and the Zionist. Militias had tens of thousands of soldiers, modern weapons, and officers, who already fought in World War Two on the other side, the Palestinians hadn't been allowed to develop their own Administration or military, but as they waited for the UN solution, they were still the majority. All over the country in November 1947, the UN, then only made up of a fraction of the world's countries. Trees. It's a partition of Palestine. This plan marked off fifty five percent of the country for a Jewish state but the UN never explained how it could be a Jewish State when half the people in its territory were Palestinian to nobody's surprise Palestinians and in fact all Arabs rejected the un's plan Ben-Gurion and design leadership accepted. But they saw an opportunity with the British on the way out the Zionists, knew they would have the strongest military in Palestine, their forces were instructed to seize more territory than They've been awarded by the UN to do. What was necessary to reduce the number of Palestinians in it in cities like Haifa. The militia set off car bombs, and Palestinian neighborhoods they attacked Villages and forced residents out haguenau groups to drive them out of the beleaguered City taking many prisoners after inspecting parts of Western Jerusalem. That has been emptied of Palestinians Ben-Gurion said, in many Arab neighborhoods in the west he did not see even one Arab if we persist. It is Quite possible that in the next 6, or eight months, there will be considerable changes in the country and to our advantage. One of the events that helped speed up these changes took place on April 9th, 1948 when the village of Tioga scene was attacked. A British government report to the United Nations describes the scene where 250 people were killed in circumstances of great savagery, women and children were stripped and lined up. Aft. And then slaughtered by automatic firing. The story of what happened at Duty scene set off Panic all over the country as news. Spreading people fled fearing they would be next, historians have recorded dozens of similar mass occurrences during this period each time they would result in entire communities fleeing.  By the time. Britain ended its mandate on May 15th. 1948 250 thousand Palestinians had fled the night before David Ben-Gurion announced the founding of the state of Israel with himself as its first prime minister standing under a giant portrait of her soul. 51 years after her till had predicted this very moment. Design is malicious and came together as the newly formed. Israel Defense Forces, but the fighting wasn't over with the British out of the way, soldiers from several Arab countries entered Palestine. But the Israeli Army was better equipped, better organized and unlike the Arab armies had a unified command and backing from several European countries Israeli forces pushed into places that the UN had assigned to the Palestinian State. Like the towns of litha Andromeda 50,000 people were forced to flee from there. Many on foot in what became known as the lit. The death march after being emptied. The towns were given Hebrew names of logs and drums. I'm like, in many other Mt towns the buildings and homes were taken over by the new Israeli State and given to Jews by the time the UN secured an Armistice three-quarters of the Palestinian people have become refugees in Arabic. They call this the neck, but literally the catastrophe, the new state of Israel made up 78. 

Annexed by Scent of what had been Palestine. The remaining parts were annexed by Jordan or taken over by Egypt a year later. The UN passed a resolution calling for all Palestinian refugees to be allowed to return home, they never Palestine had been erased. In the decade since attempts to resolve this conflict have again tried to partition the land with each successive attempt, the territory offered to Palestinians in their historic Homeland shrinks even more. Ironically, Israel is still struggling to maintain the population advantage and gained in 1948 when it forced all those people out because in 1967 it occupied the West Bank and Gaza, bringing all the Palestinians living there under its Rule. And so today, the population of Jews and Non-jews in this land is roughly equal, but those living under occupation have no rights. No citizenship and no Prospect of Independence the neck of the era tactics of settlement home demolitions and expulsion are still used against them. Israel has taken the land but wants nothing to do with the millions under its rule International Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups. 

See if that's an accurate description of Israel, more than 100 years after Balfour's 100 years after Balfour's promise. Watch this video here.

https://youtu.be/kI_spMxp6t8?si=oO8gw5MF-b1GpCSl