How did Israel become Jewish again after it was taken over by the Muslims?

Answer 1

A:Palestine had always had a mixed religious environment. Judah and, later, Galilee were largely Jewish, but Samaritans followed an archaic form of Judaism and pagan gentiles lived in the coastal cities and the larger towns of Galilee.

From the fourth century onwards, the region became a Christian area. After the conquest of Palestine by Muslims in 637 CE, much of the local population gradually converted to Islam, but there was also a strong Christian presence among the Palestinians as well as a significant minority of Jews. On the eve of Crimean War, (1853-56) about half a million people lived in Palestine, including 60,000 Christians and 20,000 Jews.

The first Zionist Congress was convened in Basle in 1897. At the time, there was not yet widespread Jewish support for Zionism and many traditional rabbis forbade their followers to have anything to do with Zionist activities. They felt that Zionism is meddling with God's will. A second Zionist Congress in 1898 added the imperative of colonising Palestine.

In the early years of the twentieth century, Herzl proposed that a temporary Jewish state be set up in British Uganda. This was considered seriously by some in Whitehall, but foiled by the "territorial Zionists" who regarded it as a betrayal of Zionism. In 1917, Lord Balfour, British Foreign Secretary, declared British commitment to the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, provided it does not clash with the interests of the local Palestinian population.

In 1928 the Arabs unexpectedly accepted parity with Jews in the local government, under British Mandate, but Zionists rejected parity and proposed partitioning of Palestine. In 1942, The Jewish leadership, at a convention held in America, declared that it would not be satisfied with less than the whole of Mandate Palestine as a Jewish state.

After the 1936 revolt, the Stern Gang and the Palmach did all they could to drive Palestinians out of their country. A minority envisaged a future kingdom of Israel extending to the eastern border of Transjordan. Between May 1948 and January 1949, 370 Palestinian villages were wiped out in the coastal strip between Tel-Aviv and Haifa alone. In many cases, if the villagers refused to leave, they are put onto trucks and driven away to the West Bank.

In February 1947, Britain entrusted the United Nations to solve the Palestinian problem. By then, the Arab League had committed to an independent Arab Palestine. USA and USSR agreed that Palestine was to be divided. Afterwards, America began to have second thoughts about partition, but strong lobbying by the Jewish community averted a change in policy.

For one day, 11th May 1949, Israel consented to negotiate UN proposals, during which time Israel was accepted as a member of the UN, then reneged on any further discussions. In 1950, the Israeli Knesset passed legislation that allows the government to go on confiscating Palestinian property.