URL; http://www.zionism-israel.com/dic/Arab_Revolt.htm
This is an informative article which outlines and then describes the key information regarding the Arab Revolt/Great Arab Rebellion in Palestine, which took place between 1935-6 and 1939. This article relates mainly to the revolt as it relates to Zionism and to the Jewish people, which is the slant that the information presented here has, but it is still nonetheless valuable information, related to what we have been studying in class, as this rebellion is referenced.
It says here that this rebellion consisted of withholding taxes, acts of sabotage against British forces, and assassination of British officials, as well as the murder of Jewish civilians and other Arabs. These attacks were centered around the worry that the Arabs had about the large number of Jews that had immigrated to Palestine, worsening economic conditions due to the world depression.
Another valuable point mentioned here is that the Irgun, which was an Israeli 'secret police force' so to speak, was formed by the Jews in response to the violence that they had been enduring due to the Arabs' rebellion. The Haganah was also created as their military fighting force, and the end of the rebellion set the stage for the partition of Palestine and Israeli independence.
I also came to the conclusion on my own that the White Paper, issued by the British to pacify the Arabs' concerns about the large number of Jewish immigrants, must have been largely in response to their rebellion, and while I did know in the past due to what we've learned in class that the White Paper was one of the British attempts to not really take a definite stance on this, it must have largely been a result of the rebelling and the British would have wanted this to stop, as they would have been in the position of a mediator between the two sides.
The main limitation of this source is that there is so much information on it that for the purpose of completing this assignment or if I was looking for quick information, the first 10 or so paragraphs of text are all that are really going to be read, as it would take much more time to finish reading the page. There is so much information presented at once, whereas some people might be looking for a summary. Nevertheless, the information was very useful overall and amplified my understanding of the events happening between those years.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
IRL 21. May 17, 2010.
URL; http://www.netanyahu.org/aliyah.html
One of the facts that was mentioned in my IA is that the name for a Jewish migration to Israel is known as an aliyah. I believe I specifically mentioned that the third of these, known as the Third Aliyah, resulted from harsh conditions in Russia that the Jewish people faced, and the support the Jews received through the Balfour Declaration encouraged them to make this migration.
This link above gives information on the religious significance of Jewish immigration to Israel. The Jews, according to this source, for centuries have viewed immigration back to the Promised Land as a religious obligation. In fact, the word aliyah itself means "ascent" or "pilgrimage", and those who make the aliyah are known as "olim", or "ascenders". There are many prayers that according to Jewish law, can only be prayed in Israel.
What I take from this is that I can now see that the land of Israel is not only culturally significant to the Jewish people and the land that they feel they deserve, but it is a key part of their religious life as well. How well could a group of people carry out their religion in another land if their traditions and traditional laws state that certain prayers can only be performed in one land? The land of Israel is very significant to the Jewish people in religious terms too - this fact corroborates the information I have formerly received that Israel was significant on many levels to the Jewish people, and I can now see another reason why they would strive to reestablish themselves there, which according to my research they did very successfully.
The only limitation of this source is that it does not give exact numbers as to how many Jews immigrated, but that is more a fact I want to know, and its exclusion does not detract from the overall purpose of the article.
One of the facts that was mentioned in my IA is that the name for a Jewish migration to Israel is known as an aliyah. I believe I specifically mentioned that the third of these, known as the Third Aliyah, resulted from harsh conditions in Russia that the Jewish people faced, and the support the Jews received through the Balfour Declaration encouraged them to make this migration.
This link above gives information on the religious significance of Jewish immigration to Israel. The Jews, according to this source, for centuries have viewed immigration back to the Promised Land as a religious obligation. In fact, the word aliyah itself means "ascent" or "pilgrimage", and those who make the aliyah are known as "olim", or "ascenders". There are many prayers that according to Jewish law, can only be prayed in Israel.
What I take from this is that I can now see that the land of Israel is not only culturally significant to the Jewish people and the land that they feel they deserve, but it is a key part of their religious life as well. How well could a group of people carry out their religion in another land if their traditions and traditional laws state that certain prayers can only be performed in one land? The land of Israel is very significant to the Jewish people in religious terms too - this fact corroborates the information I have formerly received that Israel was significant on many levels to the Jewish people, and I can now see another reason why they would strive to reestablish themselves there, which according to my research they did very successfully.
The only limitation of this source is that it does not give exact numbers as to how many Jews immigrated, but that is more a fact I want to know, and its exclusion does not detract from the overall purpose of the article.
Friday, May 7, 2010
IRL 20, May 7, 2010.
URL; http://users.ox.ac.uk/~ssfc0005/The%20Balfour%20Declaration%20and%20its%20consequences.html
This is an article written by Avi Shlaim, explaining the ambiguity of the Balfour Declaration and how it was interpreted differently by the Jews and the Arabs. The Arabs believed, after the Balfour Declaration was written in 1917, that the interests of the Jews and the British goal to help them establish a national home would not conflict with Arab independence in Palestine. King Hussein was not opposed to Jewish settlement in Palestine, as he saw them as "People of the Book", meaning the Bible, but he was opposed to a Zionist takeover of Palestine. He did not want to see a Zionist agenda there.
The Jewish perspective is that they interpreted the Balfour Declaration as a sign that the British would be willing to support them in achieving their long-standing goal of re-establishing themselves in what they perceived to be their homeland once again, and eventually the Arabs there did see conflicting issues, and both sides eventually turned against the British, realizing that they could not depend on the British to achieve their goals.
The importance of this source to me is that it gives me some further background on one of the points I have made in my IA. In my IA, I analyzed the impact of the Balfour Declaration on the creation of an independent Israel, and like I discovered in my own research, this source backs up my point that although Israel was not established as a direct result of British actions, the issuing of the Balfour Declaration definitely contributed to Jewish immigration to Palestine, and allowed them to reestablish themselves there in larger numbers, feeling comfortable about doing so.
This is a sentence from the source above that demonstrates how the Balfour Declaration's impact on Jewish immigration angered the Arabs;
"The consequences of the Balfour Declaration were not confined to Palestine. The Declaration engendered anger towards Britain throughout the Arab world and at all levels of Arab society from the intellectual elites to the masses. "
The limitation of this source is primarily that it focuses more on the Arab perspective than the Jewish perspective, and apart from the fact that the Balfour Declaration inspired Jewish immigration, there is no explicit reference or quote to give the Jewish perspective in a more detailed manner than the generic one that I expressed above; Balfour Declaration gave the Jews the idea that Britain would support their endeavors.
This is an article written by Avi Shlaim, explaining the ambiguity of the Balfour Declaration and how it was interpreted differently by the Jews and the Arabs. The Arabs believed, after the Balfour Declaration was written in 1917, that the interests of the Jews and the British goal to help them establish a national home would not conflict with Arab independence in Palestine. King Hussein was not opposed to Jewish settlement in Palestine, as he saw them as "People of the Book", meaning the Bible, but he was opposed to a Zionist takeover of Palestine. He did not want to see a Zionist agenda there.
The Jewish perspective is that they interpreted the Balfour Declaration as a sign that the British would be willing to support them in achieving their long-standing goal of re-establishing themselves in what they perceived to be their homeland once again, and eventually the Arabs there did see conflicting issues, and both sides eventually turned against the British, realizing that they could not depend on the British to achieve their goals.
The importance of this source to me is that it gives me some further background on one of the points I have made in my IA. In my IA, I analyzed the impact of the Balfour Declaration on the creation of an independent Israel, and like I discovered in my own research, this source backs up my point that although Israel was not established as a direct result of British actions, the issuing of the Balfour Declaration definitely contributed to Jewish immigration to Palestine, and allowed them to reestablish themselves there in larger numbers, feeling comfortable about doing so.
This is a sentence from the source above that demonstrates how the Balfour Declaration's impact on Jewish immigration angered the Arabs;
"The consequences of the Balfour Declaration were not confined to Palestine. The Declaration engendered anger towards Britain throughout the Arab world and at all levels of Arab society from the intellectual elites to the masses. "
The limitation of this source is primarily that it focuses more on the Arab perspective than the Jewish perspective, and apart from the fact that the Balfour Declaration inspired Jewish immigration, there is no explicit reference or quote to give the Jewish perspective in a more detailed manner than the generic one that I expressed above; Balfour Declaration gave the Jews the idea that Britain would support their endeavors.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)