3/8/11

20th Century Jerusalem:

Secular Zionism is based on ideas by Theodore Herzl's book "The Jewish State," where he argues that the sacredness of Jerusalem doesn't play a role in zionism, suggesting a zionist state in Uganda.  In 1899, the First Zionist conference in Switzerland was described by Herzel as having the presence of the "Messiah the Son of David." The rise of European nationalism and Anti-semitism greatly affected the Jews, as they wondered where was the land of the Jews.  In World War II, the Ottomans allied themselves with the Germans against Britain and France, and after the British conquered Palestine in 1917, the Balfour Declaration promised the Jews a national homeland.  They promised to protect the holy places of all faiths, and Winston Churchill's White Paper of 1922 clarified this Declaration, saying that they support a continuation of a community in Palestine.  They partitioned an area to the west of the Jordan for a Jewish settlement.

After the hostility surrounding the Jews prior to WWII, the Peel Plan provided an early "two state" solution, putting the Jewish state in the north, the arab state in the south, and making Jerusalem an "international city."  It was approved by the UN in 1947, accepted as a bare minimum by Zionists and rejected by Arabs, leading to violence.  The War of Independence in 1948 (Arab-Israeli War) occurred, and the British departed in May.  Truce was arranged by the UN in July and they signed an armistice in March of 1949.  The Green line was created between Israel and Jordanian held West bank.  This establishment of an Israeli state was a "Catastophe" (al-Niqba) led to King Hussein's declaration of Jerusalem as the second capital of Jordan in 1953.  The Six Day war in 1967 resulted in Moshe Dayan giving control of the Haram to the Muslims and in the Israeli annexation of the Old city and East Jerusalem (rejected by the UN).  The Oslo Accords in 1993 was an agreement between Isreal and the PLO, calling for Israeli withdrawal of the Gaza Strip and West Bank, and the acknowledgement of both groups.