Report Sample on Arab Israeli Palestinian Conflict

Introduction

The world war one originated in Europe and lasted from 1914 to 1918. The countries involved signed treaties before, during, and after the way to protect their interests. All the allied nations wanted to benefit by gaining territories in the Palestine area. The mandate, the Sykes-picot agreement, and the Balfour declaration divided up Palestine leading to the Arab/Israeli/Palestinian conflicts. The Arabs wanted the Palestine area to unite all the Arab states, Britain wanted to control Palestine to protect its route to India and Russia wanted to control the holy places around Jerusalem in Palestine. Consequently, the different powers antagonized the Palestine inhabitants causing conflicts in the zone.

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Worldwide Interests

The world war one was between powers that had other worldwide interests. Colonies were an essential part of the war as they provided force in the armies and other economic benefits such as minerals. The interests of other countries dragged them into warfare. The Ottoman Empire was no exception and rightly so because the entities plus central powers in the war had interests in the territory. The war had devastating political, social, and economic effects on the Ottoman Empire. Approximately five million people died during the war from 1914-1917. Most of the deaths were due to famine, diseases, and ethnic cleansing. British and French navies blocked the coastal line forcing the Ottomans to transfer the coastal population inland. The act of ethnic cleansing done rampantly in the empire led to the Armenian genocide. Both the population transfer and ethnic cleansing resulted in millions of deaths. These factors led to the decline of the Palestine population. The war led to the breakdown of the Ottoman Empire into small political units. These units eventually would become the territories that are now Palestine/Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria. Britain and France ruled the area using the mandate and, they treated it as spoils of the war. The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire ruined the political unit that had united the Arabs and the Turks. The breakdown gave Ottoman citizens the freedom to form or join other political frameworks.

Alliances

On the eve of World War 1, states in Europe formed alliances. Britain, France, and Russia formed the Entente powers and were joined by the USA in 1917. On the other hand, Germany, Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire formed central powers. Each of the forces signed treaties to be in the desired position in case of victory in the war. The problem was that most of the treaties negotiated for a part territory of Palestine. One such secret agreement was the Sykes picot agreement in 1915-16. The pact was between Britain and France concerning the division of the Middle East after the war. Unfortunately, the agreement was ambiguous and contradictory. In the agreement, Syria was promised to France and Palestine was part of Syria. The same deal gave the territory surrounding Jerusalem which is Palestine to Russia. July 1917, the Balfour declaration was announced by the British, and it was in favor of establishment in Palestine a home for the Jewish people. The British act raised a lot of questions as to why the British would support Zionist aspirations. The possible reason would be to safeguard the Suez Canal and the route to India.

The Balfour declaration partial usage to form a legally binding statute to administer Palestine had consequences. It allowed for a Jewish agency to cooperate with the Palestine administration on economic and social issues. The inhabitants of Palestine were the Jews and the Arab groups. Despite including an equal number of Zionists and non-Zionists, the Zionists maintained control of the agency. The revisionists and the antizionist orthodox Jews did not recognize the Jewish agency authority. The indigenous people also felt that the political order of aliens in their midst was being imposed on them. The Arab revolt in 1915 also had consequences because it was betrayal by the British. The betrayal is because the Arab warlords were confident they would be given Palestine as part of Arab states in the Ottoman Empire.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Palestine area was an area of interest by various powers. All the rivals wanted a territory in Palestine for their interests. Consequently, the signed treaties were ambiguous and left the parties involved feeling betrayed if they didn't get part of the Ottoman Empire. The Palestine inhabitants were divided further due to either the entities or central powers empowering one group only.