MME Friday Test, People and events

League of Nations Mandate

League of nations was the precursor to the UN, the mandate gave formal sanction to the British Palestine mandate from san-remo in 1923: incorporated balfour declaration → israel as jewish national home, hebrew as official language, encouraged immigration - all of this while protecting the rights of the local people, self governance while under British administration, Britain reported updates to league of nations

Sir Herbert Samuel

Civilian high commissioner of Palestine mandate in 1920 → a jewish zionist; wanted to create a jewish state

Dual obligation

British had promised a jewish homeland, but had also promised to protect the arab rights, created a contradiction → dual obligation

Churchill White Paper of 1922

Issued by British gov. to inform policies in 1920’s, stated that the establishment of a jewish state did not impose jewish national identity onto palestinians, also stated that Jews had a right to be in Palestine, and that the state should be a global center for Jew’s and Jewish culture. → did not clear up ambiguity, instead made it worse.

Arab executive

formed at the third conference of the Palestinian Arab conference in 1920, claimed to represent all Arabs, was not acknowledged by the British and ended in 1934.

Nashashibi family

prominent family in Palestine, in 1920 Raghib Nashashibi mayor of Jerusalem.

al-Husayni family

prominent family in Palestine

al-Husayni and Nashashibi family rivalry

British used the appointment of rival family members to political office to maintain division among Arabs in Palestine.

Hajj Amin al-Husayni

Named mufti of Jerusalem in 1921, president of the Supreme Muslim Council, made sure Nashashibi didn’t hold political office. Anti zionism, but understood his power depended on British support, restrained followers and cooperated with the British.

mufti of Jerusalem

most prestigious religious office in Palestine, traditionally responsible for Islamic affairs in Jerusalem, British expanded it to include all of Palestine and the administration of Waqf

Waqf

Charity/tax for religious and public cause

Supreme Muslim Council

Herbert Samuel created in 1921, managed all islamic institutions within the mandate; waqf, shariah, courts, judges, schools, teachers

Jewish Agency

Created by the world Zionist organization in 1921, managed services and immigrations, Chairman could easily speak to British officials.

Va’ad Leumi

National council of palestine mandate, formed from 300 elected members, treated by the British as the legitimate palestinian Jewish government.

Yishuv

Jewish community in Palestine.

Histadrut

Founded to promote trade unionism in 1920 → created companies and public works projects, worked with Kibbutz, emphasis on community and working the land.

Kibbutz (plural: kibbutzim)

A communal settlement in Israel where members share property, work, and resources, traditionally based on agriculture and collective living.

Haganah

Military group made by Histudrat, armed with stolen British weapons, defended against Arab riots.

Mapai party

two labour groups combined, viewed labour and zionist interests as the same

David Ben-Gurion

Chairman of Histadrut, founder + leader of Mapai party, first prime minister of Israel.

Chaim Weizmann

Became president of World Zionist organization, kept the British in line with his zionist vision.

Zionist Organization of America

Founded in 1897 as the Federation of American Zionists, the ZOA is one of the oldest U.S. Zionist organizations. It promotes Jewish self-determination and support for Israel; Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis became a major leader of the group in the 1910s.

Jewish National Fund

bought land in Palestine and then rented it out to Jews for negligible amounts. Gave immigrants equipment and money to encourage farming. 5% of land owned by 1939, Palestinian nobles often sold to Jewish buyers, peasants went into debt because of taxes and were forced to sell land to the nobles who sold to Jews.

Western wall/wailing wall

Jewish holy site since middle ages; was a part of the temple that got destroyed, Jews pray at it to lament the temple's destruction.

Haram al-sharif

muslim holy site, contains dome on the rock and al-aqsa mosque, associated with Mohammads journey to heaven. → designated Waqf under mandate

Wailing Wall Disturbances of 1929

argument over who the wall would belong to, Jewish people wanted to build structures along the wall like dividers for prayer, muslims objected, British police removed structures. An Arab mob attacked two jewish quarters.

Passfield White Paper of 1930

incorporated recommendations of Second british commission to find the cause of the riots (led by Hope and Simpson), stressed the dual obligation, gave land to landless Arabs and limited Jewish immigration

Black Letter of 1931

Weizmann and other Zionists pressured the British to undo white paper, and the prime minister wrote a letter to Weizmann rejecting the white paper. Arabs, upset, called it Black letter.

General Strike of 1936

Arab resistances channelled discontent with job loss and black letter into strike until the British restricted immigration and land sales. Demanded formation of a democracy.

Arab Higher Committee

Formed in 1936, Arab leaders acted on popular resistance → formed committee, included christians, muslims, al-Husayni and Nashashibis, attempted to unify factions of elite and coordinate strike.

Peel Commission

Chaired by lord Peel. reported state couldn't be made because of the contradictions in the Balfour Declaration. Recommended terminating mandate: Separate arab and jewish states - British mandate area corridor from mediterranean to Jerusalem. → Arabs saw it as a violation of rights to the land, Zionists viewed the land granted to them as not enough.

Arab Revolt of 1937-1939

Riot on the announcement of the Peel commission findings, Arab violence, killed district commissioner of Galilee, British dissolved Arab Higher Committee. British sent 20,000 troops to stop rebellion, couldn’t stop until 1939, British worried that other countries would get involved, British needed oil and air fields in the region for WW2

MacDonald White Paper of 1939

British announced they would stop supporting a Jewish state, limited immigration to 15,000 a year for 5 years until stopping completely. Limited land transfer, would grant palestinian independence in 10 years.

Vladimir Jabotinsky

Founder of revisionism movement, condemned Weizmann as too reliant on the British, called for massive Jewish immigration. Claimed that transjordan should be part of Israel because it was part of ancestral land. Believed that the Jordan river should flow through the heart of the jewish homeland → “The Jordan has two banks; this one is ours, and the other is also ours.”

Irgun

Military force founded by revisionists, separate from Haganah