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.