Group 1.

The History of Israel

During the rule of the Arabs and the Ottoman Empire, the Jewish nation had dispersed
throughout the world. Many millions lived in European countries. During World War II,
Nazi Germany had hoped to exterminate the Jewish people through the Holocaust.
Millions of Jewish people were executed and killed in concentration camps.

After the end of World War II the United Nations divided up Israel between Arab and
Jewish states. The Arabs rejected this division. On May 14, 1948 the Jewish people in
the area proclaimed independence, naming their country Israel. Egypt, Iraq, Syria, and
Lebanon immediately attacked and the 1948 Arab-Israeli War began. After a year of
fighting a ceasefire was declared and temporary borders were established.

Hostilities continued between the Arabs and the Israelis in a series of wars including the
Yom Kippur War in 1973. Today the tensions and hostility still exists between the two.

Group 2 Zionism Movement

Several events from the mid-nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries proved that
Jews were not welcomed as equals. In Russia, violent pogroms (a violent riot incited
with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group,) and economic
instability pushed over two million people to emigrate in the 1880s. The vast majority
fled to North America, and a small fraction of pioneers traveled to Palestine, the site of
ancient Judaism’s origins. Some Jewish leaders, responding to the growing nationalism
and antisemitism. The modern political movement, known as Zionism, united the
religious impulse to “return” with secular ideas about constructing a European-style
nation for Jews. It is important to note that Zionism was but one form of Jewish
nationalism that took hold in the nineteenth century. Some Jews fought for territorial and
political autonomy in different parts of the globe, others fought for cultural autonomy in
the nations where they lived. These Diaspora nationalist movements mostly
disappeared in 1948 when Israel became an independent state.

Group 3 What is the Balfour Declaration?

The Balfour Declaration was a public pledge by Britain in 1917 declaring its aim to
establish “a national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine. The statement came in
the form of a letter from Britain’s then-foreign secretary, Arthur Balfour, addressed to
Lionel Walter Rothschild, a figurehead of the British Jewish community. It was made
during World War I (1914-1918) and was included in the terms of the British Mandate for
Palestine after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. The system transferred rule from
the territories that were previously controlled by the powers defeated in the war –
Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria – to the victors. The case
of Palestine, however, was unique. Unlike the rest of the post-war mandates, the main
goal of the British Mandate there was to create the conditions for the establishment of a
Jewish “national home” Upon the start of the mandate, the British began to facilitate the
immigration of European Jews to Palestine. Between 1922 and 1935, the Jewish
population rose from nine percent to nearly 27 percent of the total population. Though
the Balfour Declaration included the caveat that “nothing shall be done which may
prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine”,
the British mandate was set up in a way to equip Jews with the tools to establish
self-rule, at the expense of the Palestinian Arabs.

Group 4 How was it received by Palestinians and Arabs?

The British decision to settle Jews in Palestine was met with strong opposition from
Palestinians and Arabs, who saw it as a violation of their rights and a threat to their
sovereignty. Arab leaders saw the British support for Jewish immigration and settlement
in Palestine as a betrayal of the promises they had made to support Arab independence
during World War I. In 1920, Palestinian Arabs staged a series of protests against
Jewish immigration, which were met with violent repression by British authorities. The
conflict between Jews and Arabs over land and resources in Palestine continued to
escalate throughout the 1920s and 1930s, leading to increased violence and tension
between the two groups. Arab nationalist movements emerged, calling for an end to
British rule and the establishment of an independent Arab state in Palestine. These
movements were fueled by resentment over the British support for Jewish immigration
and settlement in Palestine. The situation came to a head in 1947, when the United
Nations voted to partition Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. Palestinian
and Arab leaders rejected the plan, arguing that it violated their rights and would lead to
the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs from their homes. The
resulting conflict, known as the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, led to the establishment of the
State of Israel and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their
homes. The conflict over Palestine continues to this day, with ongoing tensions between
Israelis and Palestinians over land, resources, and national identity.

Group 5 Obstacle to peace

The Arab-Israeli conflict is further complicated by preconceptions and demonizing of the

other by both sides. The Israelis see around them mostly undemocratic Arab states with
underdeveloped economies, backward cultural and social standards and an aggressive
religion inciting hatred and terrorism. The Arabs consider the Israelis colonial invaders
and conquerors, who are aiming to control the entire Middle East. There is resentment
concerning Israeli success and Arab failure, and Israel is viewed as a beachhead for
Western interference in the Middle East. Polls on both sides show that majorities among
Israelis and Palestinians accept a two state solution, but Palestinians almost
unanimously stick to the right of return of the refugees to Israel, and most Israelis
oppose a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem.