Download THE YISHUV BECOMES A STATE

THE YISHUV BECOMES A
STATE
WORLD WAR II
AND ITS AFTERMATH
WHAT WE OMIT
• THE “NATIONAL” NARRATIVE
• “LEGITIMATE” CLAIMS TO THE LAND
• THE NORMATIVE CLAIMS OF ZIONIST
(AND PALESTINIAN NATIONALISM)
MAMLACHTIUT
• “STATENESS”
• OR
• THE PRIMACY OF THE STATE OVER
INDIVIDUAL AND SMALLER
COLLECTIVE CONCERNS
• THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE UNITY
AND COMPREHENSIVE CONTROL OF
THE STATE
FRAGMENTATION
• DIFFICULTY OF ESTABLISHING A
CLEAR AND EFFECTIVE HIERARCHY
WITHIN PALESTINIAN SOCIETY
• ABSENCE OF A CLEAR PALESTINIAN
POLITY
WORLD WAR II
• THE SECOND DESTRUCTION OF
EMPIRE
• THE RECONSTRUCTION OF A BIPOLAR WORLD
– US AND SOVIET ANTI(BRITISH)
COLONIALISM
• THE PHYSICAL ELIMINATION OF
EUROPE’S JEWISH COMMUNITIES
• STATES CAN EMERGE FROM AND ARE
CONSOLIDATED THROUGH VIOLENCE
• AND THE IMPOSITION OF THEIR
SOVEREIGNTY OVER COMMUNITIES
• AND IN OPPOSITION TO OTHER
STATES.
INSTITUTIONS OF THE BI-POLAR
WORLD
• INSTITUTIONS BRIDGING THE GAP:
– UNITED NATIONS
• INSTITUTIONS WITHIN EACH
SEGMENT
– MILITARY: NATO, WARSAW PACT
– ECONOMIC: WORLD BANK, COMECON
END-GAME ON THE GROUND
• “THE SEASON”
– IRGUN BET, HAGANAH AND LABOR
ZIONISM
• PREPARATION FOR A WAR OF
POSITION
• BRITISH DEMAND FOR GOODS
THE UN, DECOLONIZATION, AND
PALESTINE
• THE UN WINDS DOWN THE OLD
WORLD—MANDATES AND COLONIES
• INDIAN INDEPENDENCE
UNSCOP AND PARTITION
• BRITAIN DECIDES TO WITHDRAW
• UN SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON
PALESTINE RECOMMENDS PARTITION
• A MINORITY REPORT RECOMMENDS A
FEDERAL STATE
• The Jewish statelet would have 5500
miles2 and a population of 537,000 Jews
and 397,000 Arabs
• The Arab statelet would comprise 4,500
miles2 and have a population of 804,000
Arabs and 10,000 Jews
• THE ARAB COMMUNITY ASKED WHY
37% OF THE POPULATION SHOULD
ACQUIRE 55% OF THE MANDATORY
TERRITORY, INCLUDING THE NEGEV,
WHEN THEY DID NOT, EVEN BY THE
MOST GENEROUS ESTIMATE, OWN
MORE THAN 7 % OF THE TOTAL LAND
SURFACE OF PALESTINE
• THE UN PARTITION PLAN FAVORED
THE YISHUV IN SOME WAYS
– IT LEGITIMATED SEPARATE STATES
– IT LEFT RESOLUTION TO THE PARTIES
• PARTITION FAVORED THE ARAB
COMMUNITY IN OTHERS
– IT REQUIRED THE “JEWISH” STATE TO
HAVE A LARGE ARAB MINORITY
UNGAR 181
• WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE GENERAL
ASSEMBLY?
• WHAT IS THE ROLE OF SECURITY
COUNCIL?
• WAS IT A GESTURE OF REPENTANCE?
THE RESPONSE OF THE ARAB
STATES
• JUNE 1946 INITIAL PLAN TO SEND
ARMS AND VOLUNTEERS TO
PALESTINE
• SEPTEMBER 1947 ESTABLISHMENT OF
AN ARAB LIBERATION ARMY
• FAWZI AL-QAWUQJI
• GENERAL ISMAIL SAFWAT AND THE
ARAB LEAGUE’S MILITARY
COMMITTEE
YISHUV’S PREPARATION FOR
WAR
• MILITARY PREPARATIONS BASED ON
RETALIATORY CAMPAGINS
• BUT BY 1946 HAGANAH HAD
DESTROYED BRIDGES TO ISOLATE
PALESTINE
• HAGANAH=35,000+PALMACH, ITZEL
AND LEHI
• ESTABLISHED A CLEAR CHAIN OF
COMMAND WITHIN HAGANAH
PALESTINIAN PREPARATION
FOR WAR
• ABD AL-QADIR HUSSEINI’S 300-500
MEN
• HASSAN SALAME’S 300-500 MEN
• ARAB LIBERATION ARMY WITH 5000
OR 6000 TROOPS
• LOCAL, VILLAGE-BASED MILITIAS
AVAILABLE ONLY FOR LOCAL ACTION
THE “CIVIL” WAR
• A WAR FOR POSITION BETWEEN THE
TWO SIDES
• PALESTINIAN POPULATION LARGER
BUT YISHUV HAD MORE ARMY-AGE
MEN
• THE JEWISH COMMUNITY WAS HIGHLY
MOTIVATED TO FIGHT
INITIAL FIGHTING
• IN THE “MIXED” CITIES OF
JERUSALEM, TEL-AVIV-JAFFA, AND
HAIFA
• LOCAL CONFLICTS BREAK OUT
• ATTEMPTS TO CONTROL THE
INTERNAL ROADWAYS
• Mid-May 1948: the Hagana had effectively
conquered most of the coastal plain and
the eastern valley as well as a small
corridor to Jerusalem
• and the Arab population had begun to
move out of the cities that would have
fallen into Jewish hands under the partition
arrangement.
TERROR AND RETALIATION
• THE CIVIL WAR RAPIDLY BECAME
UNCIVIL
• BRITISH, JEWISH AND ARAB TROOPS
BEGAN TO EMPLOY RETALIATION AND
RANDOM VIOLENCE AGAINST THEIR
OPPONENTS
THE PRIMACY OF THE STATE
• The Altalena Affair
– Dissolution of militias on the right
• The incorporation of the Palmach
– Incorporation of military force on the left