Everyday life in Mandatory Palestine Introduction

1 March – session 15 March – session 22 March – field trip - Jezreel Valley 17 April – field trip – Haifa 26 April – session 1 May – field trip – Jaffa 3 May – session 31 May – session July / August – session

Palestine under Ottoman Rule ( ) Under Ottoman rule, Palestine was not a separate administrative province, but a part of the province of Damascus or Sidon. At the end of the Ottoman period, the North of Palestine was part of the province of Beirut. The South was a separate district centered in Jerusalem and subjected directly to the Sublime Port in Istanbul.

Ottoman Rule on the Eve of World War I

Population in Palestine (estimates) ,269,000510,000Arabs 608,22585,000Jews 34,8875,000Others 1,912,112600,000Total

The main towns in Palestine ,200Tel Aviv70,000Jerusalem 164,440Jerusalem40,000Jaffa 145,430Haifa25,000Gaza 101,580Jaffa20,000Haifa 37,820Gaza18,000Hebron 26,390Hebron15,750Nablus 24,660Nablus13,500Safed

British Occupation British forces headed by General Allenby entered Be'er Sheva on October, Jerusalem was conquered on December, The North of Palestine was conquered on September, 1918

British Rule in Palestine : Military Government : Mandatory Government (officially recognized by the League of Nations in 1922)

Palestinian Political Institutions The Palestinian Arab political elite established the Palestinian Arab Congress that elected the Arab Executive. These institutions enjoyed only partial recognition and ceased to operate in The Arab Higher committee was Established in 1947.

A mixed legislative council British attempts to establish a mixed Jewish- Arab legislative council failed because of disagreements regarding the composition of such a council. The Palestinian leadership demanded a representative council with significant authorities. The Zionists demanded equal representation of Jews and Arabs, and a British involvement.

The Nakba On November, 1947, the United Nations decided to establish two separate states, Jewish and Palestinian. Violent clashes between Jews and Palestinians began at the same day, and escalated into the war of 1948.

The results of the war The establishment of the state of Israel. Part of the territories that were supposed to be the Palestinian state was occupied by Israel; other territories were appended by Jordan. The overwhelming majority of the Palestinian people were displaced (between thousands, according to Benny Morris). Human casualties, loss of property, erasing of villages and of urban communities, and a Palestinian diaspora scattered in several states.