Why did so many nations feel it was right to create Israel in 1948?

Answer 1

There are two definitions for Palestine, and the answer changes depending on what definition you are using. The first way is to refer to the British Mandate of Palestine which includes the Modern State of Israel (except for the Golan Heights), the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank. The second way is to refer to exclusively those territories which the Palestinian Authority claims will serve as a basis for a future Palestinian State (State of Palestine): the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The British Mandate of Palestine was created by the British who took an interest in the territory because of its pivotal location along the Asia-Africa landbridge and because of its Biblical significance.

The State of Palestine was created in 1988 to respond to the need for the Palestinian refugees of the Arab-Israeli Wars to create a state for themselves to self-govern and try to end their statelessness.

Answer 2

Answer 1

There are two operative parts to that question. There is the implicit question as to whether a Jewish State is something that should exist. There is the explicit question as to whether the geographical location chosen for this Jewish State is proper for its mission.

1) Why a Jewish State: Herzl explained quite well that the European concept of a nation-state was dependent on the idea that all of the people in any particular nation were of the same ethnic stock and heritage. Jews were branded by this system to be "the Other" and were regarded at best as possible equals and at worse as traitors, spies, thieves, and fifth columns. When the Dreyfus Affair turned out marches in Paris that said "Death to the Jews" on account of a kangaroo court against a particular guiltless Jew, it became clear that the Jew could not be integrated into Europe. After the Holocaust, the strongest proof that the Jew and the European Nation-State were irreconcilable, this view of denigrating "the Other" persists. In Europe, it is now directed at the Muslims since the Jews are not large enough of a threat to the European System. Unlike Muslims, though, which can return to their countries of origin if the discrimination becomes intolerable, the Jews did not have such a place. This is why the Jewish State is necessary. Since it came into existence it has accepted Jewish political refugees from over 50 nations and flown missions at its own expense to rescue Jews from at least 10 nations.

2) Why Palestine: Ahad Ha'am explains that the Jewish Soul is intrinsically connected to his history and in the same way that a German-American can never be as properly German as a German in Germany, the People of Israel can never be as properly Jewish if they are not in the Land of Israel. The relics in that land speak to a Jewish sensibility and character. There are also religious reasons as expounded by Rav Avraham Kook which posit that the development of a Jewish State in Israel hastens the arrival of the Messiah. There are additional political reasons why Palestine and not Europe. As explained above, the European Culture is strongly anti-Other and making a Jewish State there would have fostered much more contempt and alienation (ironically).

Answer 2

The Palestine that Israel was formed from and the Palestine that the Arabs who live in Palestine call their homeland are two different things.

First, why did the Jews want the land known as Palestine to be their State? The Jewish people are an ancient people - older than the Christians and the Muslims. Judaism, however, is not just a religion, but also a nationality. What I mean by this is that there existed a Jewish Kingdom in what is known today as Israel, as well as parts of Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. To gloss over much of history, the Romans conquered this land. Some Jews revolted and the Romans reconquered the land, but this time enslaved or exiled much of the Jewish populace and outlawed the practice of Judaism.

Following this second Roman conquest of the Kingdom of Judah (Israel) in 135 and the expulsion of most of the Jews from the land, the Romans renamed the country "Palestine," to further distance Jews from the territory. The name "Palestine" was taken from an earlier people who had ceased to exist called the Philistines (in no way related to the Arabs or the people now known as Palestinians. The Palestinians of today took their name from the Roman-branded land). The name stayed Palestine through the creation of Islam and the conquest by Islam throughout much of the Middle East.

In the turn of the 19th century, and with the rise of Zionism, many Jews started making their way back to the land of their forefathers. For 2000 years Jews all over the world have prayed for a day in which they would return to the land from which they were expelled. With the rise of Zionism, Jews decided to be proactive about that return rather than waiting for a Messiah to take them there. Throughout history, the Jewish people have not been welcomed in any land in which they resided (see the expulsion of Jews from England in 1290 or the Spanish Inquisition/expulsion of Jews in 1492, or the attempted genocide of the Jewish people by the Nazis during WWII - not to mention the constant anti-Semitism experienced by Jews in their foreign lands). This is why the Jews yearned to one day return to their own land where they would no longer be strangers in a foreign land.

When the Jews landed in Palestine, it was ruled by the Turkish Empire. The border that you know as Israel today (or even the West Bank/Gaza) did not exist. The Arabs living within the administrative area of Palestine and what is today known as Jordan were mostly related and very similar - similar language/dialect, similar customs, similar family relations. In fact, today the majority of the population of Jordan is Palestinian.

With the advent of World War I, European powers made promises to many people to ensure their victory. One such promise was to the Jewish people in the Balfour Declaration, which stated British intentions to create a Jewish national home in the land of Palestine. However with the end of World War I, the British and French drew up new boundaries for countries in the Middle East (the conquered Turkish Empire) and divided the land of Palestine into the British Mandate of Palestine and Trans-Jordan.

Throughout the decades of British rule in the Mandate of Palestine, there was much unrest between the Jewish citizens and the Arab citizens, which culminated in the UN Resolution to divide the land once again (remember that Palestine had already been divided between an all Arab Trans-Jordan, which was given over to a minority ethnic group, the Hashemites, to control, and and mixed Jewish/Arab Palestine) into a Jewish State and an Arab State. Following the UN Resolution the Jewish citizens of Palestine accepted the resolution while the Arab citizens did not.

After the British left the Mandate of Palestine in May of 1948, the Jews declared Independence and called their nascent State Israel. The Palestinians, conversely, did not declare their own independence but instead attacked the Jewish State along with all of the surrounding Arab armies in an attempt to wipe the Jewish State and most of its population off the face of the map. Somehow they did not succeed and the Jewish State gained even more land.

So, you see, the Jews did not take the land of Palestine away from the Palestinians. In reality the situation is much more complicated than that. The Jews deserve a homeland just as much as the Palestinians do. The Palestinian had a chance to declare Independence in 1948, but didn't. They cared more about stopping the Jews from having a State than creating a Palestinian State. Throughout the political history of Israel, many Israeli government have offered to give back the Palestinian territories to the Palestinians so that they can declare Statehood, but only in exchange of peace. The Palestinians have consistently rejected these overtures.

The British Mandate of Palestine was home to two groups of people, both of whom deserve a State.

Answer 3

First you must understand that Jews were known as Palestinians until 1948 when overnight they became Israelis. It was then that the arabs in the area, by direction of yasser arafat and the arab league, took over the name palestinian to use as a political weapon against Israel. There is no palestinian people or community prior to 1948.

The "father" of the palestinians was an egyptian man born in cairo...yasser arafat.

The real question is...why was Israel's name changed to palestine. The land was originally called Israel thousands of years ago. The Roman Empire conquered Israel and in an attempt to humiliate the Jews, who were just conquered by the romans, the name of Israel was changed Filistinia and a large part of the Jewish population was exiled. So you see, Israel was a jewish homeland 1700 years before Islam even existed.

Answer 3

It is important to note that "Nations" didn't create Israel. Israel was created in 1948 by its own leaders and citizens. What the United Nations did provide was the legal legitimacy for the Jews to declare a State. There are several reasons why they felt this way.

1) Be Gone & Good Riddance: (written by someone else) Many nations looked on with favor and relief, assuming that all Jews would eventually migrate there, and the nations would finally be rid of them. But even that fond hope was not enough for most Muslim nations, who bitterly opposed the creation of Israel, and after 64 years, still do.

2) Holocaust Pity: The Holocaust bore out two major truths as concerned the Jewish people. The first was that without a government loyal to their interests, they could easily be targeted against and brutally murdered. The second major truth was that such an event was no longer a hypothetical since 6 million Jews were intentionally mass-murdered by what had previously been seen as one of the most progressive modern countries: Germany.

3) Middle East Control: Although it seems odd to say it today, both the United States and the Soviet Union believed that Israel could be converted to "their side" in the Cold War. Given that any Jewish State in the Arab World would be isolated, it would be natural for such a state to create a strategic relationship with one of the major powers. Additionally, a Jewish State might be able to influence neighboring Arab states and make them more pliant as concerns oil shipments. Both the USA and USSR supported the Creation of the State of Israel for these strategic reasons.

4) Solidarity with the Oppressed: Many nations in Latin America supported Israel because they sympathized with the oppressed Jewish people and saw the Independence of Israel as akin to their wars against Spain/Portugal and the internal fights for more indigenous equality.

5) Because It's the Right Thing to Do: There was certainly support for a Jewish State because some just saw it as the proper thing to return Palestine to the Jews. Churchill, who was no longer Prime Minister, held many pro-Zionist views out of respect for the Jews and their contribution to that region of the world.

6) Diplomatic Pressure: Both the United States and Soviet Union pressured their allies and third world countries to support the United Nations Resolution. This does not make the vote any less valid, but is worth noting.

Answer 4

It is important to note that "Nations" didn't create Israel. Israel was created in 1948 by its own leaders and citizens. What the United Nations did provide was the legal legitimacy for the Jews to declare a State. There are several reasons why the members of the United Nations felt that it was proper to create Israel.

1) Holocaust Pity: The Holocaust bore out two major truths as concerned the Jewish people. The first was that without a government loyal to their interests, they could easily be targeted against and brutally murdered. The second major truth was that such an event was no longer a hypothetical since 6 million Jews were intentionally mass-murdered by what had previously been seen as one of the most progressive modern countries: Germany.

2) Be Gone & Good Riddance: (written by someone else) Many nations looked on with favor and relief, assuming that all Jews would eventually migrate there, and the nations would finally be rid of them. But even that fond hope was not enough for most Muslim nations, who bitterly opposed the creation of Israel, and after 64 years, still do.

3) Middle East Control: Although it seems odd to say it today, both the United States and the Soviet Union believed that Israel could be converted to "their side" in the Cold War. Given that any Jewish State in the Arab World would be isolated, it would be natural for such a state to create a strategic relationship with one of the major powers. Additionally, a Jewish State might be able to influence neighboring Arab states and make them more pliant as concerns oil shipments. Both the USA and USSR supported the Creation of the State of Israel for these strategic reasons.

4) Solidarity with the Oppressed: Many nations in Latin America supported Israel because they sympathized with the oppressed Jewish people and saw the Independence of Israel as akin to their wars against Spain/Portugal and the internal fights for more indigenous equality.

5) Because It's the Right Thing to Do: There was certainly support for a Jewish State because some just saw it as the proper thing to return Palestine to the Jews. Churchill, who was no longer Prime Minister, held many pro-Zionist views out of respect for the Jews and their contribution to that region of the world.

6) Diplomatic Pressure: Both the United States and Soviet Union pressured their allies and third world countries to support the United Nations Resolution. This does not make the vote any less valid, but is worth noting.