Was there a time that the Jews and Palestinians lived together peacefully?

Answer 1

Since biblical times, the region known as Palestine has been under the domination of foreign powers, who have been able to order the lives of Jews and Gentiles alike. They, for the main part, had no choice but to live together peacefully. The Arabian conquerors converted many to Islam, but permitted those who wished to do so, to remain Christians and Jews. Muslims were granted some privileges, but Palestinian Christians and Jews were treated similarly. Under Ottomon rule, the inhabitants of Palestine did live together peacefully, although the vast majority of the population was 'Palestinian' - either Muslim or Christian. This continued under the British Mandate in the early decades of the twentieth century. However, as the Jewish proportion of the population increased, largely due to illegal Immigration, friction began to occur. Some Palestinians felt that farmland should not be sold to Jewish immigrants, who intended to use land-holdings as evidence of independent land control. On the other side, many Jews refused to employ Palestinians, as they believed that impoverishment of the Palestinians would drive them away. In 1939, Britain began considering the creation of an Arab state of Palestine, and prepared a White Paper on the issue. This would have destroyed Zionist hopes for a solely Jewish state of Israel, leading to the commencement of a violent terrorist campaign by the Stern Gang and other clandestine Jewish groups. From this point onwards, the Jews and Palestinians have never really lived together peacefully.