20th Century Jerusalem 3/8/11

            As nationalism was on the rise in Europe in the early 20^th century, the Jews had no homeland; so many flocked to Jerusalem as they were often persecuted in foreign lands.  After World War One the Ottoman Empire ceased to exist and the British took control over the Holy Land.  In the Sykes-Picot Agreement in 1916, the British and French split up the near east into spheres of influence.  The French got Syria and Iraq, while the Brits took Jerusalem and Palestine.  This British Mandate lasted from 1918 to 1948.  Arthur Balfour writes the Balfour Declaration in 1917 to Lord Rothschild setting in motion a plan for a Zionist state.  A few years later, Winston Churchill writes the “White Paper” to clarify the British position on the Balfour Declaration, that it did not want a Jewish state, but for a Jewish-Palestinian community.

            In 1937, the Peel Commission suggests a plan were the Palestinians and the Jews would have their own state.  The Jews reluctantly agree to it as a bare minimum, but the surrounding Arab nations will not let it pass.  The Arab-Israeli War of 1948, called the war of Independence by the Jews, results in a new Zionist state and the Jordanians gaining land.  In 1967 the “six day war” takes place and the Israelis defeat all of the surrounding Arab nations and take control of the whole city of Jerusalem.  After all this had happened the Palestinians feel cheated because they still do not have their own state, and as a result, many “infitadas” or uprisings occur in the Holy Land.  The Oslo Accords in 1993 bring a relative peace to the region for a short while, but soon after violence returns to Jerusalem.