1.  To 1939

3.  British Mandate—Transjordan in the east intended* as a place for Arabs  Palestine west of the Jordan River—At the San Remo conference 1920 (Treaty of Sevres) the Balfour Declaration was honored and Jewish people were encouraged to move here  (Reminder: French in Syria, Britain in Iraq, Ibn Saud in Saudi Arabia, Reza Khan in Iran…)

4.  Rising Hostilities 1920s: Arabs were bitter about the growing number of Jewish immigrants to Palestine  Jewish people bought farmland from Arabs and hired mainly Jewish workers, effectively pushing Arabs out of Palestine  Violence began to spread—mostly Arabs attacking Jews  Britain stepped in to quell the violence but gave the appearance of helping the Jews  Britain sent multiple commissions of enquiry to determine the source of violence and try to set up solutions o British White Paper of 1922

5.  Between 1930-1935 the Jewish population doubled  By the end of 1939, Jews made up 1/3 of the population of Palestine  The newer immigrants were fleeing persecution from Europe. They were highly skilled and often wealthy  Haiffa (see your map) was the end of oil pipelines from Iraq to the Mediterranean (owning this land = $)  The average Jewish worker received 145% more in wages than his Arab counterpart  The trend of Arab wages was decreasing 10% a year; Jewish wages increased 10% a year  All of this led to severe resentment towards the Jews

6.  Great Arab Revolt 1936-1939  Began with Arabs attacking two Jews and Jews retaliating with two Arab deaths  Arabs showed increased organization:  Arab demands: o An end to Jewish immigration o An end to transfers of land to Jewish owners o A representative government based on democratic rules *  * new: previously Arabs had refused democratic principles, now felt it was time  Stats!

7.  More systematic than previous Arab Revolt (WWI, Feisal et. al): o Arab Higher Committee formed as leadership o Crops, pipelines, roads, transportation were destroyed o Non-payment of taxes as a general strike o Bring everyday life to a standstill  Revolt was met with violence from the Jews  Much of the violence was against British officials, who of course sent 20,000 men to suppress the revolt  Lord Robert Peel was sent to figure out what the mess was all about

8.  The Peel Commission:  Divide Palestine into separate states  Rejected by both sides—no partial land ownership  The Arab Revolt violence increased and involved general strikes against all businesses to kill the economy  British were unable to slow the violence until 1939

9.  Effects of the Arab Revolt: greater unity among Arabs convinced British to take their demands seriously, but also resulted in loss of Arab lives  Issued the White Paper of 1939 o It is not British policy that Palestine should be a Jewish state o Jewish immigration should be limited to 15,000 a year for 5 years o In light of the treatment of Jews in Europe, they should accept 25,000 refugees o Land transfer to Jews should be only restricted zones o Palestine would be independent in 10 years-Arabs could determine immigration restrictions.  Rejected.

10.  The White Paper of 1939 coincided with Hitler’s invasion of Poland and the start of WWII  Arab countries tried to stay neutral but often sought alliance with Axis powers—thinking maybe Germany & Friends could save them from British imperialism and Zionism?  The Grand Mufti (head Islamic law leader) of Jerusalem had fled Palestine during the revolt, went to Europe and met with Hitler

11.  Jews felt rejected by Britain—limits to immigration while the Jews of Europe were being heavily persecuted and allowing Arabs to decide on immigration  Jewish people in Palestine had no choice but to support Britain in WWII—save Jews from Hitler o Many Palestinian Jews even joined the British army  Illegal immigration continued throughout the war—but the British stuck to their principles o Jews in Mauritius and the SS Struma (go down to “Sinking” on wiki)