HISTORY 244 Study Guide - Fall 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - West Bank, Syria, Palestinians
HISTORY 244
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
Elizabeth Greenblatt
HIST244 Midterm Themes – February 24, 2015
Palestinian Narrative
• European invasion and occupation
o Zionists came to Palestine to seek refuge
o Conquest, settlement, and dispossession
o Unjustified – Zionists took over their land and displaced them from a land where they lived for
generations (they had a historical attachment to the land)
o Palestinian refugees cannot return to homes that are located in modern-day Israel, but any Jew
in the world has an automatic right to return to Israel (Law of Return)
• Political fragmentation
o World War Two/Arab Revolt of 1936→1939
▪ Palestinian leadership and organizations were decimated
▪ Endless squabbling between Haj Amin al-Hussayni and rival leaders (rivalries)
▪ Tensions between Arab governments and Palestinian leaders were aggravated in WWII
– these tensions left them in disarray
o Led to the collapse of Palestinian society
▪ Internal cohesion in 1947 was limited because Palestinian nationalism was still very new
(ayans felt little obligation to the poor) and because Palestinian organizations and
leadership never fully recovered from the Arab revolt
o After 1949, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt worked together unintentionally to neuter exPalestinians
politically, denying them of independent expression, and subordinating them to established
states
▪ Wanted Palestinians to assimilate; wanted to strip them of their identities (Especially
Jordan—Palestinians who resided in the West Bank)
o Prior to the Six-Day war, Arab states competed with one another to prove their anti-Israel
credentials
▪ They became increasingly militant in the process
▪ Soviets facilitate the beginning of the war (compelling Nasser to close Gulf of Aqaba,
mobilize troops in Sinai, and kick out UN peacekeeping forces)
o Internal instability of Arab Regimes (Tensions to 1967):
▪ Novelty of political institutions
▪ Several Arab states in 1967 were only 20 or 30 years old
▪ Most rulers were military officers that were used to seizing power by force, or inherited
the throne (therefore little experience)
▪ Arab leaders were vulnerable to domestic challenges
▪ Militant rhetoric backfired (leaders were expected to match their words with deeds)
• Palestinians are the weaker people
o Jews were only allowed to enter Palestine after 1920 because the British were in military control
▪ In effect, Britain imposed on Palestinians a massive, alien invasion
▪ Most locals were against Jewish immigration
o Problems in the beginnings of Palestinian Nationalism: economically inferior, lower literacy rates,
poor communication, novelty of the Palestinian identity
▪ Palestiias ad Jes didt get off to a fai stat – Palestiias didt stad a hae
against the westernized and sophisticated Jews
o Displaeet ad UN‘WA ‘efugee Caps afte Al-Naka (The Catastrophe):
▪ 150-160,000 Arabs remained in Israel after 1949
▪ But 700-750,000 Arabs left (of those who left, about ½ went to the West Bank and
Transjordan, some went to the Gaza Strip and some went to Lebanon)
▪ Most arrived in neighboring Arab lands without economic skills, money, or literacy
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
▪ UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) is set up in 1949 to sustain and
educate the refugees—the refugees became dependent on international charity
▪ Palestinians had to struggle to maintain their dignity and pride
o UNRWA and International Charity makes Palestinians increasingly dependent on others to
support them
Israeli Narrative
• Palestie is the Jeish peoples hoelad
o Palestine was overwhelmingly Jewish in its history
o Even after Roman expulsion, Jewish presence persisted, particularly in Jerusalem (the Jews’
holiest site in the world)
o Zionists were, therefore, seeking not just any alien land, but their homeland
• Creation of Israel is a moral obligation
o Holocaust
o Pogroms
o World felt a need to end Jewish suffering – Jews wanted a land where they could finally be free
of persecution and Anti-Semitism
▪ Theodoe Hetzl ad his ook: The Jeish “tate
• No where else to go
o Nations closed off immigration to Jews
▪ United States
▪ Europe
o Palestine was thinly populated – there was room for Jews
o Palestinian attempt to drive Jews into the sea and Anti-Semitism is what prompted the Jews into
expanding
• Palestinians and their refusal to negotiate
o Constantly rejecting treaties: (White Paper of 1922, White Paper of 1930, White Paper of 1939)
o 1967: Israel offers to exchange territories for peace, but Palestinian leaders respond by saying:
▪ No peae, o egotiatio, o eogitio of Isael Khatou Cofeee
o 2000: Negotiation funded by the US
▪ Best chance for peace in 60 years
▪ Israel offers very generous offer
▪ Clinton blames leader Yasser Arafat for the collapse of negotiations
o 2008
▪ Hamas rejects negotiation
o Jews try to compromise only to face violent rejection
o Arab nations and their refusal to accept Israel as a legitimate state
▪ Arabs hate the mere existence of Israel in the Muslim world
▪ Cross-Border Attacks
• Fedayeens (self-sacrificers) disregard for 1949 Armistice Line and Jordan, Egypt,
and Syria turn a blind eye or even sponsor the attacks
• Israel has to defend itself
o IDF – Israel Defense Force
▪ Isael doest efe to its ay as a ay: they efe to it as a defese foe
o Arab Revolt 1936→1939
▪ General strikes in cities
▪ Guerilla stage/fighting
▪ Rebel bands began to turn on one another
▪ Arab revolt made the Jews much more scared and more militant
o Al-Naka/The Wa of Idepedee—1947→1949
▪ Days after UN votes to partition Palestine, Palestinians attack Jews in 5 cities (2 days
later, they attack Jewish civilians in Jerusalem) – Palestinians initiate the fighting
▪ Main Jewish fighting force (the Haganah doest etaliate at fist
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Political fragmentation: world war two/arab revolt of 1936 1939. Endless squabbling between haj amin al-hussayni and rival leaders (rivalries) Tensions between arab governments and palestinian leaders were aggravated in wwii. Jordan palestinians who resided in the west bank: prior to the six-day war, arab states competed with one another to prove their anti-israel credentials. Soviets facilitate the beginning of the war (compelling nasser to close gulf of aqaba, mobilize troops in sinai, and kick out un peacekeeping forces) Internal instability of arab regimes (tensions to 1967): novelty of political institutions, most rulers were military officers that were used to seizing power by force, or inherited. Several arab states in 1967 were only 20 or 30 years old the throne (therefore little experience: arab leaders were vulnerable to domestic challenges, militant rhetoric backfired (leaders were expected to match their words with deeds) Jews were only allowed to enter palestine after 1920 because the british were in military control.
