The creation of Israel and Jewish/Palestinean relations at that time - Essay Example

Both sides are to blame for the various injustices that have occurred as both countries have committed crimes against humanity (Caplan, 2006). The terrorist attacks being made by the Palestinians are totally irrational and unjustified even though they have genuine grievances against the Israelites. Their homeland was forcefully taken away from them without their consent and this is what has made the two sides to be consistently at war. This paper explores the relationship between the Jews and the Palestinians before and after the creation of the state of Israel.

The increase in Jewish Immigration and Arab Opposition Bleier (1999) asserts that 40,000 Jews escaping the post revolutionary chaos of Russia arrived in Palestine between the year 1919 and 1923. These initial immigrants known as the pioneers, (halutzim) were very well trained professionals with the ability to settle anywhere in the world and set up a self sufficient economy. They were skilled and were in search of a peaceful settlement as they were running away from persecution in Russia. The Arabs began rioting in the year 1920 and 1921 in opposition to the continued rise in Jewish immigrations and the terms of the British mandate.

This mandate created a Jewish agency that was to be in charge of the Jewish migration into Palestine which was still under the British rule at the time. It was also in charge of the land purchases from the Arabs, distribution of entry permits to new entrants, ran schools, hospitals and later on formed a militia (Haganah). From the year 1920 the Jewish National Council (JNC) was the main institution charged with the management of affairs in the Jewish community under the mandate. It acted as the government of the Jews in Palestine and was responsible for relations with the Arabs and negotiations with the British.

The Arab riots faced a very strong resistance from the British who through appealing to the terms of the British mandate rejected any moves that would give the Arabs majority control over the Palestinian government. However, Britain agreed to check on the number of immigrants through the introduction of quotas. There were exceptions for the rich Jews who could easily settle and for the professionals whose skills were valuable to the Palestinian government as this restriction didn’t apply to them.

The failure of the British government to protect the Jews and the increase on attacks on certain Jewish settlements by the Arabs led to the formation of the Hagana which was to be in charge of defending the Jewish settlements (Dershowitz, 2005). From this point on things were never the same as it triggered the war between the Arabs and the Jews that is still being fought to date. Both sides are fighting for their own unique reasons and this has led to gross violation of human rights as both sides have committed injustices.

The number of Jews stood at 90,000 by the year 1923 and increased to 82,000 between 1924 and 1929. This increment was caused by the new United States Immigration Policy which blocked the Jews out and anti-Semitism in Hungary and Poland. This group of Jews had nowhere else to go apart from Palestine as they were running away from persecution at home. The Arab opposition didn’t reduce the number of immigrants because the increment in the persecution of European Jews left them with no choice but to ran for their safety and the only place for them was Palestine.

The immigration restrictions imposed by the British to limit