Zionism Class 06 The Manadate And The Road To Independance

For the sake of Zion I will not be silent, and for the sake of Jerusalem I will not be still, till her righteousness goes forth as radiance, and her salvation, like a burning torch. Yesha’yahu 62:1

06. The Mandate and the Road to Independence

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1) The Balfour Declaration 1.1) During World War I, the British Government – motivated by a mixture of idealism, sympathy and real-politick – voted to support Zionism. The Cabinet resolution, passed on 2nd November, 1917, was contained in a letter from the Foreign Secretary, Arthur James Balfour (later Earl Balfour) to Baron Rothschild. 1.2) The declaration recognized the national rights of the Jews and the personal rights of Arabs in Palestine. 1.3) Almost exactly a year later (7th November 1918) the British and French governments issued a joint declaration on the future of the Ottoman Empire. They declared their objective to be “the complete and final liberation of the peoples who have for so long been oppressed by the Turks” and “the setting up of national governments… deriving their authority from the free… choice of the indigenous populations.” This was a promise of national independence for the Arabs. 1.4) The Anglo-French declaration was in such obvious conflict with the promise to the Jews that Balfour himself wrote that, “in Palestine we do not propose to even go through the form of consulting the wishes of the present inhabitants of the country” since Zionism was, “of far profounder import than the desires and prejudices of the 700,000 Arabs who now inhabit that ancient land”. 1.5) In 25th April 1920, the principle Allied powers, meeting in San Remo, Italy, divided the territories of the former Ottoman Empire between themselves as “mandates”. The Balfour Declaration was incorporated into the decision of the Conference, and Britain was awarded the Mandates for Palestine and Iraq.

2) British policy during the Mandate period The arrival in Palestine of Sir Herbert Samuel (with cane); the first Jew to govern Eretz Yisroel in 2,000 years. (On the left is Col. T. E. Lawrence [of Arabia])

2.1) When World War I ended, Britain was already in control of Eretz Yisroel. On 20th June 1920 the Military administration imposed by General Allenby was replaced by a civil administration under first High Commissioner, Herbert Samuel (later, Sir Herbert)1.

2.2) Britain was tasked by the mandate to facilitate Jewish immigration and to develop the territory under its control. The mandatory Government invested heavily in public works and immigrating Jews brought with them private and philanthropic capital. The net result was an economic boom in the period between 1922 and 1931. 1. 1. 1

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The outgoing Military Governor, General Sir Louis Bols, insisted that Samuel sign a receipt for “one Palestine, complete”: Samuel famously added the common commercial escape clause, ‘E&OE’ (errors and omissions excepted)!

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2.3) Britain began the Mandate well disposed to the Jews. In 1920 a clash between two rival Jewish communist groups escalated into an Arab pogrom against Jews in Jaffa and a Muslim religious procession lead to riots in Jerusalem. The British put down the riots, even sending Royal Navy destroyers to the coast. However, in what was to become a pattern, Herbert Samuel agreed to demands to (temporarily) halt Jewish immigration in order to placate the Arabs. 2.4) In 1921 Britain closed approximately 75% of the Mandated territory to Jewish immigration to form the Emirate of Transjordan (latter, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan). In 1923 Britain ceded the Golan Heights to the French Mandate of Syria. (see Maps). 2.5) In 1929, Jewish attempts to pray at the Kossel with mechitzos and benches led to widespread Arab rioting ending up with the massacre of Jews in Safed, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and elsewhere. In Hebron at least 65 Jews were murdered and the entire community expelled. The British did little to defend the Jews at the time, although they did take some punitive actions against Arabs afterwards. 2.6) In 1936 an Arab revolt against British rule (see below) prompted a Royal Commission of enquiry under the leadership of Lord Peel. The Peel Commission recommended ending British rule in most of Palestine and creating separate Jewish and Arab states. The Jewish Agency accepted the report as a basis for negotiations. The Arabs rejected it and escalated the revolt. The British acted to put down the revolt, using elements of the Haganah to fight the Arabs2. 2.7) In 1939 Britain officially adopted a policy document (the MacDonald White Paper or simply the White Paper) that rejected partition in favor of a swift move towards a unitary state by 1949. It would be ruled by an Arab majority. In the interim, Jewish immigration was to be severely limited (no more than 75,000 till 1945, all immigration after that to be subject to majority [i.e. Arab] approval).

3) Haj Amin al-Husayni 3.1) In the wake of the 1920 riots, the British appointed one of the agitators, Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, to the post of Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. Although this position had been relatively minor under Ottoman rule, the British promoted it to the paramount Muslim clerical position under the Mandate. The appointment of alMufti Hajj Amin al-Husayni talking with Moslem Waffen SS recruits. Husayni was probably an attempt to co-opt him into the establishment. However, the Mufti turned out to be a ruthless and intelligent 1.

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By the time it concluded in March 1939, the Arab revolt had claimed the lives of more than 5,000 Arabs, 400 Jews, and 200 Britons. At least 15,000 Arabs were wounded. From 1936 to 1945, whilst establishing collaborative security arrangements with the Jewish Agency, the British confiscated 13,200 firearms from Arabs and 521 weapons from Jews. The revolt had been a military disaster for the Arabs. It was to become a political success.

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schemer with no love for the British and even less for the Jews. It was his propaganda that sparked the 1929 pogroms. 3.2) Through a network of political parties, public committees and underground terrorist groups alHusayni murdered and orated himself to a position of undisputed leadership of the Arabs under British rule. In 1936 a series of strikes and protests were organized in the Arab sector against increased Jewish immigration in response to Nazi persecution. The Mufti fanned these actions into a full-blown revolt against the British. He incorporated Arab volunteers from other countries into his terrorist groups and sought the support of Fascist Italy. The British moved to arrest the Arab leadership and crush their organizations. Al-Husayni fled to Lebanon (disguised as a Bedouin) and via Iraq, Iran and Italy to Nazi Germany. November 2, 1943 Himmler’s telegram to the Mufti: ‘To the Grand Mufti: The National Socialist movement of Greater Germany has, since its inception, inscribed upon its flag the fight against the world Jewry. It has therefore followed with particular sympathy the struggle of freedom-loving Arabs, especially in Palestine, against Jewish interlopers. In the recognition of this enemy and of the common struggle against it lies the firm foundation of the natural alliance that exists between the National Socialist Greater Germany and the freedom-loving Muslims of the whole world. In this spirit I am sending you on the anniversary of the infamous Balfour declaration my hearty greetings and wishes for the successful pursuit of your struggle until the final victory.’ Reichsfuehrer S.S. Heinrich Himmler

3.3) Al-Husayni had been sympathetic to Fascism and Nazism since at least 1933. While in Iraq in 1941 he had issued a fatwa supporting the pro-Nazi Rashid Ali revolt against Britain. In Berlin he met with Hitter and Himmler, learned of the “final solution”, broadcast propaganda for the Germans and recruited Muslims into the SS and as saboteurs. Our fundamental condition for cooperating with Germany was a free hand to eradicate every last Jew from Palestine and the Arab world. I asked Hitler for an explicit undertaking to allow us to solve the Jewish problem in a manner befitting our national and racial aspirations and according to the scientific methods innovated by Germany in the handling of its Jews. The answer I got was: ‘The Jews are yours’. (From al-Husayni’s memoirs)

4) Population changes in the Mandate period 4.1) Already, in the closing years of Ottoman rule, there was evidence of significant Arab immigration from outside Palestine to areas of Jewish population growth. The expanding economy during the mandate period seems to have lead to even greater Arab immigration. Since almost all Arab immigration was illegal (over a largely unguarded land frontier) it is difficult to measure. However, population growth in other less developed countries (in Asia, Africa, and Latin America) ran to about 4 per thousand, in Palestine the growth amongst Muslim Arabs was 6-7

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per thousand, suggesting that the difference came from immigration. By 1931 over 10% of the Arab population of what was to become Israel consisted of immigrants who had come since 1920, or their children3. 4.2) During the period of the British Mandate the Jewish population grew more than six-fold while the non-Jewish population approximately doubled. Furthermore, the Jews went from about 10% of the population to almost a third. Year

Total

Muslim

Jewish

Christian

Other

1922

752,048

589,177 (78%)

83,790 (11%)

71,464 (10%)

7,617 (1%)

1931

1,036,339

761,922 (74%)

175,138 (17%)

89,134 (9%)

10,145 (1%)

1945

1,764,520

1,061,270 (60%)

553,600 (31%)

135,550 (8%)

14,100 (1%)

3.8%

2.6%

8.6%

2.8%

2.7%

Average compounded population growth rate per annum1922-45

5) WWII and after 5.1) During WW II Palestine was officially closed to mass Jewish immigration. Nonetheless, Jews enlisted in large numbers in the British forces. In1944 the British established a Jewish Brigade (of approximately 5,000) who fought against the Germans in Italy and later Belgium and Holland4. (After the war the Brigade was active in illegal Aliyah and many veterans fought in the War of Independence. 5.2) Following Britain’s denial of sanctuary to Jews in Palestine during the Holocaust, the Jewish Agency organized the illegal immigration of tens of thousands in the clandestine Aliyah Bet operations. The British turned away ships (the last, the Sturma, was sunk by a Russian submarine in 1942 with the loss of 800 Jews) and deported those illegal immigrants they could capture to detention camps in Mauritius and British colonies in Africa. Recruitment poster for the Jewish Brigade

5.3) In 1944, to protest against Britain’s policy, members of the Lehi murdered Lord Moyne, the British Minister of State for the Middle East, in Cairo. The Haganah started capturing members of the Irgun 1.

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For a carful and detailed discussion see “The Smoking Gun: Arab Immigration into Palestine, 1922-1931” by Fred M. Gottheil Middle East Quarterly Winter 2003. A simpler analysis, reaching almost identical results, was published in “What’s Left on the Jewish Question” by The Jewish Socialist Group (Manchester, 1975). 4 Approximately 20,000 Jews from Palestine enlisted before the establishment of the Jewish Brigade.

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and Lehi and rendering them to the British. The Irgun ordered its members not to resist violently or to take reprisals. 5.4) At wars end, 250,000 Jewish refugees were stranded in displaced persons (DP) camps in Europe. Britain maintained her refusal to ease Jewish immigration. Aliyah Bet resumed, now with the support of Jews in America and Jewish servicemen of all nations still stationed in Europe. 5.5) The various Jewish militias in Palestine now began to jointly wage war against the British. In 1946, with Haganah approval, the Irgun blew up that part of the King David hotel that housed the British military headquarters resulting in 92 dead. The Jewish Agency condemned the attack. 5.6) Following the bombing the British started deporting illegal immigrants to detention camps in Cyprus. Returning Holocaust survivors to barbed wire camps was a PR disaster for the British, particularly in the US. 5.7) In 1946 an Anglo-American Commission of Inquiry visited Palestine. It unanimously recommended an immediate admission of 100,000 Jewish refugees but rejected the concept of partition. US President Harry H Truman endorsed the call for immediate admittance, but pointedly ignored the shelving of a Jewish state. 5.8) Since admission of large numbers of Jews would have lead to an Arab revolt, and the US was not willing to give the British the additional 300,000 troops that they said were needed to keep the peace, the British announced their inability to maintain the Mandate and asked the UN to decide the matter. 5.9) The UN set up a Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) in May 1947. At the end of August they issued their report calling again for Partition (see Maps)5. This was accepted by the Jews, but rejected by the Palestinian Arabs and the Arab States. On November 29 the UN General Assembly endorsed Partition, and the stage was set for Jewish statehood. But first there would be war.

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There were in fact three reports. The majority (Canada, Czechoslovakia, Guatemala, Netherlands, Peru, Sweden and Uruguay) supported Partition. A minority report (by India, Iran and Yugoslavia) endorsed a single federal state with Jewish and Arab cantons. Australia abstained.

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6) Maps

Map showing the boundaries of the proposed Jewish state, as outlined by the Zionist representatives at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, superimposed on modern boundaries

Changing borders of the Palestine Mandate

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Partition as envisioned by the Peel Commission in 1937.

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Partition as envisioned by the UN in 1947.