Israel's History part 1

When we write about history our own feelings should be kept aside and we have to carry the facts and sources of events as they were to the reader to have accurate information about any historical event. The founding of the new Israel is no different I will put the facts and for the reader to analyze it on his own.

The first to think about moving the Jews of the world to Palestine was the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte it came after his failure to occupy Acre. In 20^th March 1799 and for a month and a half siege Napoleon failed to occupy Acre due to the strong resistance. the British cut the sea supply line and the British arming the Ottomans with new cannons, but Napoleon did not give up and published a statement in the French newspaper Le Moniteur Universel in 22^nd May 1799, and it says " Bonaparte has published a proclamation in which he invites all the Jews in Asia and Africa to gather under his flag in order to re-establish the ancient Jerusalem"

 exploding the view

This move was a very clear indication of his failure to capture Acre which means that he lost the security of the sea commercial route between Egypt and Syria.

In 1840 the Ottoman Sultan Mohammad Ali wanted to unify Egypt and Syria an idea which the British did not like because this would mean the unification of the Arabs from Iraq through Syria, Palestine and Egypt so the best idea they came with is the revival of Napoleon's theory of migrating the Jews to Palestine thus implanting a strange entity in the middle, so Viscount Henry Palmerston secretary of state for foreign affairs(Viscount Henry Palemerston (1784-1865) later became a prime minister (1859-1865))  wrote to his ambassador in Istanbul saying" I instruct you to strongly recommend to the Turkish government to encourage the Jews of Europe to return to Palestine"

He also wrote to his Prime Minister Lord John Russell describing the Ottoman Empire as "a sick and dying body", meaning it is time to take the initiative.

The European Jews accepted the British idea and amongst the first to donate was the rich French Baron Edmond Rothschild whom donated 14 million Francs to build 30 settlements after he visited Palestine 4 times. One of the most famous settlements was Rishon LeZion founded 1882 and raised the present Israeli flag in 1885 while still under the Ottoman rule. In the same year in Austria the word Zionism was first used by the law student Nathan Birnbaum years before Theodor Herzl whom established the world Zionist organization, then published a book in German under the name of the Jewish state (JUDENSTAAT) and had the first Zionist congress meeting in Basel Switzerland August 1897 which laid the basis to establishing the Jewish state in Palestine and how to collect the donations from the whole world and receive support from European countries.

The first to support this idea was Britain, and its Prime Minister at the time Henry Campbell-Bannerman formed a committee and came up with a conclusion that Israel is a necessity according to the committee finding which was:

"There are people (the Arabs) who control spacious territories teeming with manifest and hidden resources. They dominate the intersections of world routes. Their lands were the cradles of human civilizations and religions. These people have one faith, one language, one history and the same aspirations. No natural barriers can isolate these people from one another ... if, per chance, this nation were to be unified into one state; it would then take the fate of the world into its hands and would separate Europe from the rest of the world. Taking these considerations seriously, a foreign body should be planted in the heart of this nation to prevent the convergence of its wings in such a way that it could exhaust its powers in never-ending wars. It could also serve as a springboard for the West to gain its coveted objects."From the Campbell-Bannerman Report, 1907

Also in 1907 Chaim Weizmann ( in 1953 he became the first president of Israel) a PhD. British chemist member of the Zionist congress arrived in Palestine to establish a company that will prepare for building in Jaffa sponsored by the Rothschild family, their main purpose was to buy Palestinian lands in a very organized way. In 3 years an important deal was concluded, the Zionist monetary fund managed to due 200 thousand acres in Marj Bani Amer north of Palestine in 1910, and the new buyers insisted that all the peasants working there are to leave, 60 thousand Palestinians had to evacuate in a clear indication that the Zionists wanted to clear the land for the coming Jews from Europe and if there is a shortage, Yemeni Jews would fill the space.

The first group to hold weapons was called the Hashomer or the guards to protect the new lands bought by the Zionists, and in 1911 was the first demonstration by the Jewish demanding that the Hebrew language to be used even still under Ottoman rule.  This shows clearly that they are advancing on their targets slowly but surely. The Palestinians started to realize the Zionist plan and the first to establish a newspaper was Najeeb Nassar under the name of Al-Karmil, to educate the population of the Zionist threat by saying his famous sentence "the Jewish state will be a poisonous dagger in the Arabic body" he was latter prosecuted by the Ottomans.

WWI started in 1914 and the British were having their eyes on Palestine for so many reasons but mainly its nearness to the Suez Canal and they can deal with the Zionists to control the whole of Palestine. In 1915 the first Zionist British minister Herbert Samuel wrote to the government in a secret memo that a British protectorate be established which would allow for increased Jewish settlement ,in time the future Jewish majority would enjoy a considerable degree of autonomy. Herbert believed that the creation of a Jewish center would flourish spiritually and intellectually, resulting in the character improvement of Jews all over the world. At that time, however, Prime Minister Asquith was not interested in pursuing such an option, and no action was taken. Yet significant groundwork had been accomplished, and it was on the basis of Samuel's work that the Balfour Declaration was later written.

A new era started with the British ruling Palestine instead of the Ottomans in 1917, we will continue the founding of Israel in part 2.