The Highlander
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE
For the week of Tuesday, October 17, 2023
VOL. 72, ISSUE 03
est. 1954
NEWS
Timeline: A Brief of History of Palestine and CONTEXT BEHIND WHAT IS UNFOLDING TODAY. Israel MATA ELANGOVAN News Editor
Disclaimer: The humanitarian situation in Palestine is an ongoing and unfolding crisis, the information in this article is meant to provide context and is not a complete history of Palestine. This is merely a timeline of events, and does not reflect any opinions of Highlander News. If you would like to learn more about any event, check out the article online for linked information. Balfour Declaration: November 2, 1917 The Balfour Declaration was a letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour. It ended up becoming the basis to create a Jewish State in Palestine. In the letter, Balfour writes “His Majesty’s Government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.” The Balfour Project, overseen by a Board of Trustees, was “created by British citizens to highlight Britain’s record in Palestine before, during, and after the Mandate.” In one of their papers explaining the significance of the Balfour Declaration, they state that “this letter was later incorporated within the terms of Britain’s Mandate for Palestine, and so became a legal requirement upon Britain.” British Occupation of Palestine: 1917-1948 After the defeat of Germany and Ottoman Turkey in WWI, their land possessions deemed not ready to govern themselves, were distributed amongst the Allied powers. The League of Nations Mandate system divided the land into three groups based on their location and level of development, in terms of political and economic prowess. Class A mandates consisted of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine, with all being provided provisional independence. Iraq and Palestine were distributed to Great Britain, and Syria and Lebanon distributed to France. The Great Palestinian Revolt / Palestine Arab Revolt: 1936-1939 By now, Palestine had been under British mandate for about 20 years. The Great Palestinian Revolt is said to be “the decisive episode in the efforts of Palestinian Arabs to resist the British mandate’s support for a Jewish national home in Palestine.” According to an article by the Middle East Eye, it is said that in April of 1936, “the newly formed Arab National Committee in Nablus called on Palestinians to launch a general strike” to protest colonialism and growing Jewish immigration. The strike set in motion the revolt in which was “the most sustained armed resistance against the British Mandate, and was violently repressed by British forces,” not ending until the the outbreak of WWII when “London issued a White Paper promising to restrict Jewish immigration to Palestine and promising the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within a decade.” United Nations Resolution 181: November 29, 1947 General Assembly Resolution 181 was a plan for the partition of Palestine. Within it, it included instructions for the termination of the Mandate of Palestine before August 1, 1948 and for the armed forces to be withdrawn. Two months after the withdrawal of these forces, independent Arab and Jewish states were established. The resolution outlined the boundaries for the Arab and Jewish states in Part II labeled as “Boundaries” in sections A and B. Jerusalem was labeled as an “international” city. General Assembly Resolution 181 “was passed with 33 votes in favor, 13 against, and 10 abstentions.” Nakba / Israel Independence: May 14, 1948 On May 14, 1948, Israel was declared an independent, sovereign state by the Zionist leader, David Ben-Gurion. In Israel’s declaration, it is stated that “This right (to build a state of Israel) was recognized in the Balfour Declaration of the 2nd November, 1917, and re-affirmed in the Mandate of the League of Nations which, in particular, gave
international sanction to the historic connection between the Jewish people and EretzIsrael and to the right of the Jewish people to rebuild its National Home.” As a parallel, when Israel declared independence, it was the beginning of the Nakba for Palestinians. In an article published by The Conversation, it is stated that “For Palestinians worldwide, the Nakba is remembered as a traumatic rupture that represents their humiliating defeat, the destruction of Palestinian society and severance of links with their homeland.” First Arab-Israeli War: May 14, 1948 Following the declaration of Israel as an independent state, in a series of conflicts, Arabs attacked Jewish settlements and institutions, and Jewish people attacked Palestinians. The aftermath caused a mass expulsion of Arab Palestinans in areas seized by Jewish Forces, and by the end of the mandate, Jewish forces got control of most of the territory given to them by the United Nations, and a bit more. Palestine Declares Independence from Great Britain: November 15, 1948 While the Mandate of Palestine was terminated a few months before this, Great Britain governed Palestine until November 15, 1948, when Palestine declared independence. Palestine’s Declaration of Independence was written by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish and proclaimed by political leader Yasser Arafat, who would later become the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Within the declaration, it is declared that “Despite the historical injustice done to the Palestinian Arab people in its displacement and in being deprived of the right to self-determination following the adoption of General Assembly resolution 181 (II) of 1947, which partitioned Palestine into an Arab and a Jewish State, that resolution nevertheless continues to attach conditions to international legitimacy that guarantee the Palestinian Arab people the right to sovereignty and national independence.” Palestinian Liberation Organization Creation: 1964 The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was formed in 1964 and brought together various Palestinian groups. It gained more prominence after the Six-Day War. In a University of Michigan paper, it explains how the PLO was created during an Arab summit meeting to represent Palestinian nationalism. Naksa / Palestinian Exodus / Six-Day War: 1967 The Naksa is said to be a continuation of “the ethnic cleansing of Palestine,” from the Nakba by an article written by Al Jazeera. By 1967, Israel got control of the whole of Palestine, plus more territory from Egypt and Syria, and “By the end of the war, Israel had expelled another 300,000 Palestinians from their homes, including 130,000 who were displaced in 1948, and gained territory that was three and a half times its size.” Yom Kippur War / October War / Fourth Arab-Israeli War: October 6, 1973 October 25, 1973 This part of the Arab-Israeli wars was initiated by Syria and Egypt against Israel. The start of the conflict began with Egypt and Syria attacking Israel at once. Catching Israel off guard, they “rapidly began to exhaust Israel’s reserve stock of munitions.” Both the Soviet Union and United States came to reinforce Israel, and with that the conflict turned around in favor of Israel. The United Nations called for Resolutions 338, 339 and 340, which called for ceasefire in the Middle East, and the conflict ended on October 25, 1973. According to an article by Al Jazeera, the motives of the war remain unclear, with “Some accounts claim(ing) that the Egyptians were not interested in retrieving land, but merely to engage in peace talks with Israel, in contrast to the Syrians, who wanted to take back the Golan Heights.” ► SEE TIMELINE PAGE 4
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