Bibliography

1.       Gavish, Dov. An Account of an Unrealized Aerial Cadastral Survey in Palestine Under the British Mandated. S.l: [s.n.], 1987.

2.       "Palestine: World War II -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia." Encyclopedia - Britannica Online Encyclopedia. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/439645/Palestine/45070/World-War-II

3.       "Palestine Liberation Organization - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine

4.       Khalidi, Rashid. The Iron Cage: The Story of The Palestinian Struggle for Statehood. Boston: Beacon Press, 2006.

5.       Cheshin Amir, Bill Hutman, and Avi Melamed. Separate and Unequal: The inside story of Israli Rule in East Jerusalem. Cambridge, Ma: Harvard University Press, 1999.

6.       Book, Inc. The World Book Encyclopedia. 2003 ed. Chicago, IL: World Book, 2003.Book M.

7.       Book, Inc. The World Book Encyclopedia. 2003 ed. Chicago, IL: World Book, 2003.Book P.

8.       "Zionism and Palestine." Israel Palestine conflict. http://www.allaboutpalestine.com/zionists

Freedom: The Struggle for Independence

 Palestinian Independence could never be achieved unless they put aside their stubbornness and agree on key issues with opposing nations. In 1948 and 1949 the UN arranged a series of cease –fires between the Arabs and the Jews but full-scale wars broke out again in 1956 and 1967. By the time the UN’s cease-fire ended the war in 1967 Israel had occupied the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and also held Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and Syria’s Golan Heights. In turn this caused Egypt and Syria to launch a war against Israel in 1973.The cease-fires ended most of the fighting within a month. (13)

            After the war, the fate of the Palestinians played a large role in the Arab-Israel struggle. In time the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) became recognized by all Arab states as the representative of the Palestinian people, but Israel strongly opposed the PLO because of its terrorist acts against Jews. (14) The PLO is a political and paramilitary organization and its main goal is to establish a state for the Arabs that is representing. (15)

            In, 1991, the Lebanese Army defeated PLO forces in Southern Lebanon. afterwards most PLO members fled their military bases there, but the PLO continues to have influence in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. (16) According to an online written recording of the event, “The PLO was considered by the United States and Israel to be a terrorist organization until the Madrid Conference in 1991. In 1993, PLO recognized Israel's right to exist in peace, accepted UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, and rejected "violence and terrorism"; in response, Israel officially recognized the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people.”(17) The response given from the PLO was to withdraw the Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank. As the Israelis withdrew, the Palestinians took control of these areas. In 1996, the Palestinians in these areas elected a legislature and president. (18)

            In the year 2000 talks of peace continued between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders, but the two sides could not agree on key issues. That year the Palestinians began an invasion. Attacks by the Palestinian militias and suicide bombers took place throughout Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. The Israeli forces repeatedly bombed and invaded the West Bank and Gaza Strip, killing more than 1,700 Palestinians. In 2002, Israel reoccupied most of the West Bank. (19) As a result Palestine’s stubbornness got in the way of achieving their independence, but as long as this continues to happen, Palestine will continue to fight in wars that only further set back their ultimate goal of independence.

Colony: The Opposition of Palestine’s Successors

The British hoped to establish self-governing institutions, as required by the mandate but their proposals for these institutions were opposed by the Arabs, so in turn, none were created. The Arabs feared that the British were handing Palestine over to the Zionists by allowing too many Jews to immigrate to Palestine. On several occasions many Arab riots and movements were put into action to protest British policies and Zionist movements. (7) In the early 1930’s many Jewish refugees arrived to Palestine from Nazi Germany and Poland. In 1939, the British began to drastically limit Jewish immigration and land purchases for the next five years and any Jewish immigration after that would depend on Arab approval. (8) Palestine’s opposing successors are the main cause of Palestine’s poor amount of misfortune throughout the history of their struggle for independence.

When World War II broke out in September of 1939, Zionist and British policies came into direct conflict. Throughout the war Zionists sought with growing urgency to increase Jewish immigration to Palestine, but the British only sought to prevent it. The British regarded it as illegal and a threat to the stability of a region essential to the war effort. Because of these opposing British efforts, Ben-Gurion declared on behalf of the Jewish Agency: “We shall fight [beside Great Britain] in this war as if there was no White Paper and we shall fight the White Paper as if there was no war.” (9) The White Paper is an agreement that the British government issued and it stated that the Jewish national home should be established within an independent Palestinian state.

During the aftermath of World War II, the Zionists used force on the British to stop them from limiting Jewish immigration into Palestine. This was because the Zionists wanted the British to allow the several hundred thousand Jewish survivors of the Holocaust to immigrate into Palestine. (10) In 1947 the UN General Assembly adopted the plan to have Palestine divided into an Arab state and a Jewish state, and for Jerusalem to be put under international control. The Jews accepted the UN’s decision but the Arabs did not and fighting broke out immediately. (11)

After about two years of fighting in the May of 1948, the Jews proclaimed the independence of the state of Israel, and the British withdrew from Palestine. But the next day, the neighboring Arab nations attacked Israel and when the fighting finally stopped in 1949, Israel held territories beyond the boundaries set by the UN. (12) But as long as the Palestinians continue to be held by back by my successful nations, they will never be able to achieve the independence they are seeking.

Conquest: The Foundation of Demise

In the mid-1200’s, the Mamelukes based out of Egypt, established an empire which included Palestine. Arab Muslims made up most of Palestine’s population. But in 1516, the Ottoman Empire defeated the Mamelukes and Palestine became a part of the Ottoman Empire. These conquests set up the foundation for Palestine’s future by putting them in an oppressive yet fighting and willing state of mind. But, the story of Palestine’s struggle for independence will never have a happy ending as long as they are struck down and upheld by the leading nations of the world.

By 1880 the Jewish population had slowly increased and there were about 24,000 Jews living in Palestine. (1) Beginning in late 1800’s, oppression of Jews in Eastern Europe set off a mass emigration of Jewish refugees. Some Jews formed a movement called Zionism, which sought to make Palestine an independent nation. At the same time the Arab population increased and still outnumbered the Jews 615,000 to 85,000. Even though this was happening the Zionists continued to intensify their efforts by having Jews come to Palestine, and they were successful to a great extent, with thousands of Jews immigrating to Palestine. There were two main underground groups; the Haganah and Aragon; who had committed several massacres against Palestinians (prior to 1948) that forced them to leave Palestine. After occupying the entire Palestinian land, the Zionists resorted to all measures including, physical, economical, psychological, or even murder to force people out, and those measures still continue to occur in present day Palestine. (2)

Shortly after World War I, Britain and other European nations planned to conquer Palestine and divide the Ottoman Empire. Britain offered to back Arab demands for postwar independence from the Ottomans in return for Arab support. In 1916, some Arabs revolted against the Ottomans in hoping that Britain would help them obtain independence in the Middle East. The Arabs later claimed that Palestine was supposed to be included in the land promise to them, but Britain denied it. In 1917, in an attempt to gain Jewish support in the war effort, Britain issued the Balfour Declaration.  It stated Britain’s support for the creation of a Jewish national home in Palestine, without violating the civil and religious rights of the existing non-Jewish communities. (3)

After the war The League of Nations divided up much of the Ottoman Empire into mandated territories. (4) Mandated territories came into effect after World War I, when certain colonies and territories were taken from the defeated nations and placed under the administration of one or more of the victorious nations. The League of Nations supervised the governing countries in administration of the territories. The League expected the governing countries to improve living conditions and to prepare them for self-government. (5) Britain had obtained a provisional mandate over Palestine, which extended west of east of the Jordan River but in 1922 the League decided that the boundary of Palestine would be limited to the area west of the river. (6) While Britain had shut down Palestine’s hopes for independence, Palestine could only sit back and watch as they watched the poorly built foundation of their nation crumble before them.