The Creation of Israel

The Creation of Israel
The creation of Israel came to be, due to the many events in Jewish history. Events such as the Zionism movement and the Holocaust. The Jews wanted a homeland and Palestine was the place to be, their ‘Promised Land’ from Abraham their Holy Ancestor.
During the Roman Empire times, the Romans had conquered and ruled over Palestine at AD70. When the Jews revolted, the Romans destroyed their Jewish Temple and all that was left of the Temple to this day is the Wailing Wall which is the Western Wall of the Jewish Temple. Due to the Roman rule of Palestine, the Jews dispersed from Palestine spreading from all over the Middle-East to Europe and to America.
When the Roman Empire fell, Palestine was later then empty land in which the Arabs moved in during time of which it was the seventh century AD and living there for many centuries to come. However, like the Jews, the Arabs too were invaded by the Ottoman Turks and ruled Palestine for four hundred years.
As the Jews were dispersed to other countries, wherever they went they faced persecution due to their faith in religion. For the Jews they followed their Judaism religion in. The Jews would adapt the culture of the country in which they lived in but still kept their Jewish religion. Because of this they were persecuted in which anti-Semitism came to be meaning anti-Jewish. Jews in Europe were frequently massacred and were blamed for crimes, i.e. the assassination of Russian Tsar Alexander II, etc. In which pogroms were made and to be used against Jews. Pogroms are an organised act of violence against a particular ethnic group.
With the persecution of Jews, the Zionism movement was created at 1897, where the first Zionist congress was held in Basle. This congress was led by an Austrian Jew Theodor Herzl who called for a homeland of the Jews. However Theodor Herzl did not call for Palestine to be the new Jewish homeland and consider other countries to be their new homeland. Then the opportunity came where they could have their new homeland at Uganda, Africa where Theodor was eager to accept. But the Jews argued that Palestine is their homeland as their Holy ancestor Abraham promised Palestine to them as it is called, “The Promise Land.” When Theodor Herzl died in 1904, the Jews did not move have Uganda as their homeland but in fact moved back to Palestine soon building infrastructure and homes for themselves. As the Jewish population in Palestine started to increase the Arabs could feel the pressure as if they were being invaded. This aroused the conflict between the Arabs and the Jews.
At 1914, the world was at war and Britain needed allies. Britain opposed Turkey at the First World War and wanted Arabs as their allies. Britain and the Arabs came to an agreement that if the Arabs assisted them in the war and overthrow the Turks, the British would help the Arabs gain their independence at Palestine. However Britain has also came to an agreement with the Jews, The Balfour Declaration. This declaration was made at 1917 where Lord Balfour a British Foreign Secretary promised the Jews to establish their home in Palestine. Although Britain made yet again another agreement, the Sykes-Picot agreement which was the only agreement Britain had followed through with. Going through with only this agreement they betrayed both Arabs and Jews. The Skyes-Picot agreement was named after diplomats Sir Mark Sykes and Georges Picot where they divided much of the Middle East into the control of either Britain or France. France was to be in control of Syria and Lebanon while Britain was in control of Palestine and Iraq. These were the mandates after the First World War.
Britain was unsuccessful when it came to both maintain and peace controlling Palestine. Some problems that the British faced were the immigration of Jews. If they allowed more Jews to Palestine, the Arabs would be offended. But if they slowed the immigration of Jews into Palestine they would offend the Jews. This became ongoing and escalated as the conflict between Arabs and Jews with protest, strikes, and riots that killed over 200 people in Jerusalem both Arabs and Jews.
At 1933, it was the year when Hitler came to power and the immigration of Jews going to Palestine had increased majorly. This offended the Arabs and caused the British to become more sympathetic towards them. It was then at 1939 the White Paper was issued where they limited the amount of Jews from entering Palestine. This sparked outrage from the Jews as 1939 was the year that World War II was declared.
During World War II, Adolf Hitler created a “Final Solution” to the “Jewish Problem”, the Holocaust. The Holocaust was concentration camps controlled by the Nazi Germans and led by Adolf Hitler where they committed genocide of Jews. When World War II ended six million Jews were killed due to the Second World War.
At the end of World War II, Britain couldn’t come to a compromise between the Arabs and Jews. It was then that Britain decided to give the issue of Palestine to the United Nations due to the Arabs and Jews were always in conflict and could never come to terms with one another.
The United Nations then decided to make Palestine partitioned into Arab and Jewish state while Jerusalem was to be an international zone. As Jerusalem is the Holy Land to many religions. The Jews were given 56% of Palestine while the Arabs had the other 44% of the land. It was then that the State of Israel was proclaimed.
The Creation of Israel came to be for it was to be the new homeland of the Jews and for mainly one reason, the Holocaust. For the Holocaust was horrific and was where genocide committed, killing six million Jews. The State of Israel was proclaimed and established to the Jews.

By: Serena Ru