Conflict in the Middle East Edexcel History

What was the aim of Jews in Palestine?

• wanted the British to set up a Jewish homeland as promised after WW2

What was the aim of Arabs in Palestine?

• wanted independence after WW2 from British as promised

Why were the Arabs angry at the British?

• they hadn’t been consulted about the use of Palestine as a Jewish homeland

• angry that their land was being taken as they lived there for 1500 years

Why did the British want to please the Arabs?

needed their oil

What did the British do at first to please Arabs?

they agreed to only let in 1500 Jews per month

What were the 2 Jewish extremist groups called?

Haganah and Irgun

What was the aim of Haganah? What type of group were they?

• moderate group

• wanted to help Holocaust survivors reunite in Palestine

• organised the SS Exodus to bring 4500 Jews

What type of group was Irgun? What were their actions?

• violent, extremist group

• bombed the King David Hotel (British HQ) in July 1945

What were the consequences of the King David Hotel bombing?

• 95 people were killed

• caused outrage in Britain and amongst other Jewish groups

• increased security checks on the Jews

• eventually led to Britain leaving

Why did the British leave?

• USA put pressure on Britain to accept 100,000 more Jews into Palestine, they couldn’t do this as it would cause a civil war, so they asked the UN for a solution

• support from Britain fell due to the deaths of British soldiers

• too expensive to defend against Irgun attacks

What was the name of the first UN solution plan?

UN Resolution 181

When was the UN Resolution 181 set up?

May 1947

What was included in the UN Resolution 181?

• led to a partition plan which recommended partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states

When was the first civil war between the Jews and Arabs

May 1947-1948

What were the consequences of the Civil War 1947-48

• in first 12 days, 79 Jews were dead

What plan did Irgun introduce? When? Why?

• introduced Plan D

• in March 1948

• meant taking control of Arab towns on/near border with territory which was thought to be Jewish

What did Irgun’s Plan D lead to?

Deir Yassin Massacre

What happened during the Deir Yassin Massacre?

Irgun fights massacred 100 of its inhabitants as they claimed it was being used as an Arab base

What were the consequences of the Deir Yassin Massacre?

250 000 Arabs fled Jewish territory in panic

What was the date when Ben Gurion proclaimed the state of Israel?

14th May 1948

What happened on 15th May 1948?

• Israel was invaded by Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon and Iraq

• Jordan captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem

What happened during the truce on 11th of June?

• Israel bought weapons for its army and force from Czech Republic

• 2 days before the truce was due to end, the Israelis did a surprise attack and captured Arab towns such as Ramleh

How did Israel break the 2nd truce? What did they do after?

captured Galilee and the Negev Desert, then signed ceasefire agreements

What was the Aftermath of the War for the Israelis? (5 points)

• IDF created

• Law of Return stated any Jew could attain Israeli citizenship

• Jews arriving from all over the world led to riots

• Hebrew was the national language

• were in a bad financial state

What was the Aftermath of the War for the Palestinians? (3 points)

• land given to Palestine in partition plan was taken over by Jordan, Syria and Israel

• 700,000 Palestinians went to refugee camps

• there was the idea of the “right of return” which stated that Arabs ere forced out of Israel and had a right to return to their lands