Arab-Israeli

dates

Dreyfus Affair

1894- Jewish French officer falsely convicted of treason → triggers early Zionist concerns about European antisemitism.

Hejaz Railway opens

McMahon-Hussein correspondence

Sykes-Picot Agreement

May 1916-

Balfour Declaration

Nov 1917- Britain supports the establishment of a Jewish “national home” in Palestine → vague and controversial.

San Remo conference

1920-

Churchill White Paper

1922- Clarifies Balfour Declaration; limits immigration to economic capacity; denies promise of Jewish state.

1924-1929

1924-1929- 80,000 Jews (mostly from Poland) migrate to Palestine due to antisemitism and economic hardship.

Hebron Massacre & Riots

1929- 67 Jews killed in Hebron; 133 Jews and 116 Arabs killed overall → rising tensions over Western Wall, immigration, and land.

Arab revolts

1936-1939- Nationalist uprising: strikes, armed rebellion against Jewish immigration and British rule; Britain represses it harshly.

Peel commission formed

1936- Recommends partition of Palestine; Jews accept reluctantly, Arabs reject it outright.

Peel commission report

1937- Suggests two-state solution; cites irreconcilable conflict.

British White Paper

1939- Limits Jewish immigration (to 75,000 over 5 years) and land sales; calls for independent Palestine shared by Arabs and Jews.

Holocaust

1939-1945- 6 million Jews murdered → increases global pressure for a Jewish homeland.

Fifth Aliyah

1929-1939- 250,000 Jews flee Nazi Germany and Eastern Europe → huge population growth in Palestine (450,000 Jews by 1939).

Assassination of Lord Moyne

1944- By Lehi (Zionist extremists) → showed violent opposition to British restrictions.

Truman requests 100,000 Jewish immigrants

1945- US President asks Britain to admit Holocaust survivors to Palestine.

British announces withdrawal from Palestine

Feb 1947- Admits failure to reconcile Arab/Jewish demands; hands issue to the UN.

UNSCOP formed

May 1947- UN Special Committee on Palestine investigates and recommends partition.