1917-1947 FROM MANDATE TO PARTITION

...1917-1947 FROM MANDATE TO PARTITION November marks the anniversary of two signal events in recent Jewish history Herewith, a chronology of the context, prepared by the editors 1914 At the outbreak of the First World War, the historic area of Eretz Yisrael is a part of the crumbling Ottoman Empire, having been divided for the previous fifty years between two Ottoman provinces, the Sanjak of Jerusalem and the Vilayet of Damascus October 24, 1915 Sir Henry McMahon, the British High Commissioner for Egypt, promises the influential Sheriff of Mecca that in return for Arab support in the war effort, Britain will support Arab independence once the Turkish Empire is liquidated—"within those frontiers wherein Great Britain is free to act without detriment to the interests of her ally, France" November 2, 1917 Anticipating the end of the war, Britain and France have divided the Middle East into "zones of influence " The territory designated in the agreement as "Palestine" (corresponding roughly to Eretz Yisrael on both sides of the Jordan) has been allotted to the British Sir Arthur James Balfour, the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, transmits the views of his government to Lord Rothschild His Majesty's Government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of the existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country 1919 At the Versailles Peace Conference, the prospect of a formal British mandate for Palestine, conforming to the provisions of the Balfour Declaration, is discussed March, 1920 At the Conference on Palestine, in Cairo, Churchill announces the British intention to separate Trans-Jordan from the rest of Palestine and make it a semi-autonomous emirate under Abdullah This intention is officially carried out later in the year April 25, 1920 Meeting at San Remo, Italy, the Supreme Council of the Principal Allied Powers decided to give Great Britain a formal mandate for Palestine December, 1920 The first draft of the Palestine Mandate, covering both banks of the Jordan and incorporating the text of the Balfour Declaration, is completed August, 1921 A revised draft of the Mandate empowers the mandatory "to postpone or withhold application" of the Jewish National Home provisions from the land east of the Jordan July 24, 1922 The Council of the League of Nations formally approves the Palestine Mandate to Britain, ratifying the partition of the country along the Jordan River and the restriction of the Balfour promises to the area west of that line Abdullah is already governing in Amman, east of the Jordan July 7, 1937 After fifteen years of intermittent Arab violence aimed at preventing the development of a Jewish National Home, the British government appoints a royal commission, under Earl Peel, to "investigate the causes of unrest in Palestine " The Peel Commission concludes that the Mandate is unworkable in its present form It proposes the partition of Western Palestine into a small Jewish state comprising about 20 per cent of the area of the country, with most of the rest to be united with trans-Jordan The British government accepts the report, and issues a White Paper indicating that the "irreconcilable conflict between the aspirations of Arabs and Jews in Palestine cannot be satisfied under the terms of the present Mandate, and that a scheme of partition represents the best solution " August, 1937 The twentieth Zionist Congress meets in Zurich, and the idea of partition is vigorously debated Reflecting the views of the General Zionists, Chaim Weizmann, the Zionist President, and David Ben Gurion, Chairman of the Zionist Executive and leader of the moderate socialists, accept the principle of partition—but not the proposed boundaries Non-Zionist members of the Jewish Agency Council— especially the Americans— oppose partition, having never endorsed a Jewish state The Revisionists and the Agudat Israel oppose partition, insisting on the historic frontiers on both sides of the Jordan By a vote of 299 to 160, the Congress endorses negotiations for partition September, 1937 An Arab conference in Blu-dan, Syria, rejects "the partition of Palestine and the establishment of a Jewish state therein " April, 1938 A new British Partition Commission, under Sir John Woodhead, is dispatched to recommend revisions in the Peel plan Its report is published in November It calls for a much smaller Jewish state—essentially a canton in an Arab state—restricted to Tel Aviv and 400 square miles of coastal land to the north October, 1938 A "World Inter-Parliamentary Congress of Arab and Muslim Countries for the Defense of Palestine," meeting in Cairo, "refuses to recognize the partition of Palestine in any form or manner whatsoever" May 17, 1939 Responding to Arab pressures in light of the looming Nazi threat, the British issue a White Paper which rules out indefinitely the creation of a Jewish state, advocates a bi-national, unitary Palestine and severely limits Jewish immigration The White Paper is condemned by the Arab Higher Committee as still acknowledging Jewish rights and by the Jewish Agency as a violation of Britain's legal and moral commitments February, 1940 The War has begun Britain issues a new set of Land-Transfer Regulations for Palestine, under which the country is divided into three zones Jewish rights to unrestricted land purchase are limited to five percent of the country May, 1942 Under the impact of disclosures regarding the scale of the Nazi Final Solution, the American Emergency Committee for Zionist Affairs, meeting at the Biltmore Hotel in New York, calls for the establishment of Palestine as a "Jewish Commonwealth " The Biltmore Program is a dramatic—and controversial—statement of Zionism's aims to go beyond the vague concept of a "national home" and to achieve political autonomy October, 1944 A Jewish Agency memorandum to the British government requests "a decision designating Palestine as a Jewish commonwealth," specifically "Palestine west of the Jordan " It strongly opposes partition as "liable to be fatal to the viability of the Jewish state," while recognizing Arab implacability on this issue November, 1945 British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin proposes to phase out the Mandate and make Palestine a temporary United Nations trusteeship, and then an independent "Palestinian, not Jewish, state" March, 1946 Britain grants Trans-Jordan full independence May, 1946 An Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry, completing a five month study in Palestine, calls for a single, bi-national state with equal representation in government for Jews and Arabs The Jewish Agency reacts with reservations, the Arabs reject the idea entirely July, 1946 The Morrison-Grady Plan is announced in Parliament It calls for the conversion of the Mandate into a trusteeship and the division of the country into semi-autonomous Jewish and Arab "provinces" under British High Commissioner, with Jerusalem and the Negev under direct British rule Further evolution towards a unitary or binational state, or towards partition, is allowed The Jewish Agency, the Arab leadership, and President Truman all reject the plan April-May, 1947 Britain calls a special session of the UN General Assembly, at which a Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) is appointed In hearings, spokesmen for the Palestinian Arab Higher Committee say "it is the determined and unequivocal will of the Arabs to refuse to consider any solution which even implies the loss of their sovereignty over any part of their country or the diminution of such sovereignty in any form whatsoever " August, 1947 The UNSCOP majority report recommends independence for Palestine at the earliest possible date, based on political partition, economic union, and the internationalization of Jerusalem The minority report recommends a single federal state November 29, 1947 By a vote of 33-13, the General Assembly endorses the UNSCOP majority report, modified so as to reduce the area of the Jewish state from 6000 to 5500 square miles It stipulates the termination of the Mandate no later than August 1, 1948 Winter, 1948 Sporadic Arab attacks against Jews become organized warfare Efforts to change the UN decision are aborted The British begin their withdrawal from Palestine May 14, 1948 The British withdrawal is completed, an independent State of Israel is proclaimed, the United States grants Israel de facto recognition and the Arab states declare war against Israel July 20, 1949 Israel completes the last of four bilateral armistice agreements, with Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Trans-jordan, conf'irrrang its control over the areas'it has occupied during the war The intended Arab state of Palestine has been aborted, some of it incorporated in Israel, some (the Gaza Strip) under Egyptian administration, the bulk annexed by Abdullah and made part of Transjordan...