An extended discussion with noted literary critic and Palestinian activist…
And There Was Israel
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
If you are not affiliated with a college or university, and are interested in watching this film, please register as an individual and login to rent this film. Already registered? Login to rent this film. This film is also available on our home streaming platform, OVID.tv.
It’s so complicated. Thousands of years of history. Old hatreds. Both sides entrenched. No solution seems possible.
These are common sentiments when it comes to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians—a conflict that seems to stretch back millennia, with no end in sight. A stalemate punctuated by rocket attacks, massacres, and uprisings.
But the birth of the modern state of Israel was far from inevitable. As AND THERE WAS ISRAEL compellingly shows, when it comes to Israel and Palestine, the current crisis is rooted choices made in response to 19th century geopolitics, colonial imperatives, and the Holocaust.
The 19th century was the era of the rise of the nation-state—a period rife with the invention of history. If every nation were to have its own state, what of the Jews? Early discussions of a Jewish state were not limited to placing it in Palestine. Argentina and the United States were both floated as possible locales.
Not all Jews were Zionists, and not all early Zionists were Jews, with Christian Zionists split between those who welcomed a Jewish state as a precursor to the End Times and those who saw it as a way to decrease the Jewish population elsewhere. Even the partition of Palestine was far from inevitable, as many instead supported a single, federal state. And in central and eastern Europe, working-class, Yiddish-speaking Jews were far less likely to support Zionism than those who were better off.
AND THERE WAS ISRAEL covers the history of Zionism from the writings of Theodore Herzl to the expulsion of Palestinians from hundreds of villages following the declaration of the State of Israel in 1948. Political sociologist Riccardo Bocco argues the seeds of later conflict were in part sown by the contradictory commitments made by the British during the period of the Mandate: promising to recognize an independent Arab state in exchange for an alliance against the Ottomans while also committing to supporting a Jewish home in the Middle East—all the while secretly negotiating with France over carving up the region into spheres of influence. After the liberation of survivors in Nazi concentration camps at the end of World War II, calls for a Jewish homeland took on a greater moral urgency. But as AND THERE WAS ISRAEL shows, even then, the outcome was far from certain. A proposal for a federal state including both Jews and Palestinians was never put to a vote at the United Nations, while behind-the-scenes machinations to ensure support for partition took place.
Our guides to this fascinating history are seven academics from the fields of history, sociology, law, and political science, and Middle Eastern studies, each of whom are also talented storytellers. Their narratives of the decades leading up to the formation of Israel are punctuated with British, French, and American newsreels, along with rarely seen footage from within the early United Nations, as the question of partitioning Palestine into separate states comes to the floor.
AND THERE WAS ISRAEL is not revisionist history. It is an accessible, clearly argued essay on how Israel came to be, and the far-reaching ramifications of colonial projects.
“Captivating, an exemplary clarification.” —Télérama
“Deconstructs the commonly held narrative of the history of Israel. The film’s erudite dissection of Israel’s transformation of religious mythology into a widely accepted nationalism will surprise many of its viewers. An understandable historical account of the transformation of religious mythology into a political narrative; a valuable asset for any interested classroom.” —Al Jadid: A Review of Arab Arts & Culture
Citation
Main credits
Wyder, Romen (film director)
Wyder, Romen (film producer)
Abd El Aziz, Yasmine (film producer)
Laurent, Quentin (film producer)
Other credits
Montage, Orsola Valenti; image et son, Séverine Barde, Patrick Tresch; report musique, Mael Godinat.
Distributor subjects
Middle East; Political Science; Human Rights; EthicsKeywords
WEBVTT
00:00:00.667 --> 00:00:16.066
♪
00:00:16.066 --> 00:00:18.233
The State of Israel
had been proclaimed,
00:00:18.233 --> 00:00:20.166
and the people rejoiced
in their new nation.
00:00:20.166 --> 00:00:23.333
A haven of refuge for the
displaced and persecuted members
00:00:23.333 --> 00:00:26.633
of the Jewish faith
from all over the world.
00:00:26.633 --> 00:00:28.166
♪
00:00:28.166 --> 00:00:30.066
Israel was admitted
to membership
00:00:30.066 --> 00:00:31.033
in the United Nations,
00:00:31.033 --> 00:00:32.533
and her flag was raised
at Lake Success.
00:00:32.533 --> 00:00:36.000
Again, the United Nations had,
through peaceful mediation,
00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:37.700
resolved an
international dispute
00:00:37.700 --> 00:00:40.567
which had been a threat
to world peace.
00:00:40.567 --> 00:00:45.233
♪
00:00:45.233 --> 00:00:50.133
Herzl was writing his ideas
about Zionism
00:00:50.133 --> 00:00:52.367
in the late 19th century,
00:00:52.367 --> 00:00:57.066
and the backdrop
to his books and vision
00:00:57.066 --> 00:01:00.300
is the rise of anti-Semitism
00:01:00.300 --> 00:01:05.266
in Central and Eastern Europe,
on the one hand,
00:01:05.266 --> 00:01:08.467
and his own frustration
00:01:08.467 --> 00:01:11.033
for not being fully assimilated
00:01:11.033 --> 00:01:13.433
into Western European culture.
00:01:13.433 --> 00:01:16.734
And his solution was to create
00:01:16.734 --> 00:01:19.300
instead of a German
00:01:19.300 --> 00:01:21.600
romantic national movement
00:01:21.600 --> 00:01:24.000
where the Jews
will not be accepted--
00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:25.333
he understood that--
00:01:25.333 --> 00:01:29.700
to create a Jewish
romantic national movement.
00:01:31.266 --> 00:01:34.166
You cannot say
it was a monolithic thing.
00:01:34.166 --> 00:01:35.333
There were different reactions.
00:01:35.333 --> 00:01:38.667
The richer Jews
that were the Western Jews,
00:01:38.667 --> 00:01:41.367
mostly they were,
mostly they were opposed
00:01:41.367 --> 00:01:43.667
to the idea of Zionism,
because they were
00:01:43.667 --> 00:01:46.033
well assimilated
in their own countries.
00:01:46.033 --> 00:01:47.567
They were well rooted there,
00:01:47.567 --> 00:01:51.266
and they considered that
bringing up such a subject
00:01:51.266 --> 00:01:53.000
was very dangerous,
because it meant
00:01:53.000 --> 00:01:56.600
that they are not citizens
of these countries anymore,
00:01:56.600 --> 00:01:58.433
that they have to go
somewhere else.
00:01:58.433 --> 00:02:01.133
But the Dreyfus affair
was the one that shocked them,
00:02:01.133 --> 00:02:04.300
and they started to feel
that no matter what we do,
00:02:04.300 --> 00:02:06.367
no matter how assimilated
we get,
00:02:06.367 --> 00:02:09.200
we are still rejected,
we are still not accepted.
00:02:09.200 --> 00:02:11.667
So we have to find
our own place,
00:02:11.667 --> 00:02:14.800
our own country to go to.
00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:46.233
They had different ideas.
00:02:46.233 --> 00:02:48.333
They didn\'t choose
Palestine immediately.
00:02:48.333 --> 00:02:52.333
They thought about places
like Uganda, Argentina,
00:02:52.333 --> 00:02:54.133
the United States, Azerbaijan.
00:02:54.133 --> 00:02:57.100
But we also have to understand
that they were pushed
00:02:57.100 --> 00:03:00.433
by Christian Zionists
00:03:00.433 --> 00:03:02.367
not to give up on Palestine.
00:03:02.367 --> 00:03:06.700
And these were very powerful
Evangelical people,
00:03:06.700 --> 00:03:10.367
both in the United States,
especially in Britain,
00:03:10.367 --> 00:03:12.233
who really wanted to see
00:03:12.233 --> 00:03:15.700
the return of the Jews
to Palestine.
00:03:15.700 --> 00:03:18.133
Pioneers and refugees
00:03:18.133 --> 00:03:20.066
from countries of the oppression
00:03:20.066 --> 00:03:24.066
where Jews are free
to be anything but Jews.
00:03:24.066 --> 00:03:28.133
Young and old,
they are going now to a land
00:03:28.133 --> 00:03:30.500
which accepts them as its own
00:03:30.500 --> 00:03:34.333
and not merely as strangers
to be tolerated.
00:03:34.333 --> 00:03:38.700
They will drill wells
and bring the hidden water,
00:03:38.700 --> 00:03:40.767
the most precious treasure
00:03:40.767 --> 00:03:44.100
out of the depths of the earth.
00:04:20.166 --> 00:04:22.734
The Christian Zionists\'
00:04:22.734 --> 00:04:25.033
Evangelical dogma is very clear.
00:04:25.033 --> 00:04:28.367
It believes that the return
of the Jews to Palestine
00:04:28.367 --> 00:04:30.367
signifies the end of time,
00:04:30.367 --> 00:04:32.500
the second coming
of the Messiah,
00:04:32.500 --> 00:04:34.667
the resurrection of the dead.
00:04:34.667 --> 00:04:36.667
So, for them,
the return of the Jews
00:04:36.667 --> 00:04:39.734
is the first indication
that God\'s will
00:04:39.734 --> 00:04:43.100
is going to be
implemented finally.
00:04:43.100 --> 00:04:45.600
And in this respect,
they always wanted the Jews
00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:48.400
to come back
or allegedly come back
00:04:48.400 --> 00:04:51.200
to an ancient homeland
where supposedly,
00:04:51.200 --> 00:04:54.667
the Jews used to live
as a nation, even had a state,
00:04:54.667 --> 00:04:57.233
which of course,
is all fabrication of history,
00:04:57.233 --> 00:05:01.467
but that doesn\'t matter,
because all national movements
00:05:01.467 --> 00:05:03.166
fabricate their history.
00:05:03.166 --> 00:05:06.567
So, in this respect,
Zionism was not unique.
00:05:06.567 --> 00:05:11.233
This is the land which God
promised to Abraham.
00:05:11.233 --> 00:05:16.467
♪
00:05:16.467 --> 00:05:20.166
Once, while the Jews
lived in this land,
00:05:20.166 --> 00:05:23.567
it was the center
of a great civilization.
00:05:23.567 --> 00:05:27.066
Through the ages,
the Jews made pilgrimages
00:05:27.066 --> 00:05:30.767
to all these places
filled with holy memories
00:05:30.767 --> 00:05:35.100
to add their prayers
to those of their ancestors
00:05:35.100 --> 00:05:37.400
that the scattered children
of Israel
00:05:37.400 --> 00:05:40.367
be gathered again
into the shelter
00:05:40.367 --> 00:05:43.367
of their own homeland.
00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:47.467
What Zionism did was two things.
00:06:47.467 --> 00:06:50.233
One is to transform Judaism
00:06:50.233 --> 00:06:53.033
from a religion
into nationalism,
00:06:53.033 --> 00:06:56.200
and this is why
at the beginning of Zionism
00:06:56.200 --> 00:06:58.667
very few Jews agreed to do that.
00:06:58.667 --> 00:07:02.200
And secondly,
they wanted to transform
00:07:02.200 --> 00:07:04.033
the Jews from people who live
00:07:04.033 --> 00:07:08.066
in a unique way,
a segregated way,
00:07:08.066 --> 00:07:11.700
into a modern nation.
00:07:42.033 --> 00:07:45.000
(singing in foreign language)
00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:47.734
(feet stomping)
00:08:02.066 --> 00:08:04.633
Zionism was going
to remain a dream
00:08:04.633 --> 00:08:09.166
until it gained the support
of a great power.
00:08:09.166 --> 00:08:12.300
And in that sense,
the first support
00:08:12.300 --> 00:08:13.700
came from great financial power.
00:08:13.700 --> 00:08:16.800
One thinks about the support
that the Montefiores
00:08:16.800 --> 00:08:20.200
or the Rothschilds gave
for the early Aliyot
00:08:20.200 --> 00:08:24.367
between 1882 and the outbreak
of the First World War
00:08:24.367 --> 00:08:26.767
to sustain a colonization scheme
00:08:26.767 --> 00:08:30.400
and to encourage
the settlement of Jews
00:08:30.400 --> 00:08:33.033
mostly from Eastern Europe
or from Russia
00:08:33.033 --> 00:08:35.433
within the frontiers
of what was still
00:08:35.433 --> 00:08:38.367
an Ottoman territory
in Palestine.
00:08:38.367 --> 00:08:41.567
That support was good for
bringing Jews to Palestine,
00:08:41.567 --> 00:08:44.333
but not in sufficient numbers
to give them
00:08:44.333 --> 00:08:46.367
a critical demographic mass.
00:08:46.367 --> 00:08:49.367
For that, you really needed
to have the support
00:08:49.367 --> 00:08:51.600
of a large political power.
00:08:51.600 --> 00:08:53.333
The headquarters
of the Zionist movement
00:08:53.333 --> 00:08:56.533
during the First World War
was in Berlin,
00:08:56.533 --> 00:08:58.700
but because of the war,
00:08:58.700 --> 00:09:02.066
the leaders of the Zionist
movement decided rightly--
00:09:02.066 --> 00:09:05.767
they were always very good
in anticipating big events--
00:09:05.767 --> 00:09:09.667
they had a feeling that Germany
was going to lose.
00:09:09.667 --> 00:09:13.200
So, they transferred
the headquarters
00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:15.467
from Germany to London.
00:09:15.467 --> 00:09:19.600
And a new figure
became very important
00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:22.066
in the Zionist movement,
Chaim Weizmann,
00:09:22.066 --> 00:09:24.033
who was kind of a war hero
in Britain,
00:09:24.033 --> 00:09:28.367
because he invented the TNT
and helped Britain
00:09:28.367 --> 00:09:31.233
to win the war in a way.
00:09:31.233 --> 00:09:33.333
So he became very influential,
00:09:33.333 --> 00:09:36.266
and his friends
in the Zionist movement
00:09:36.266 --> 00:09:39.033
made it very clear
that the Zionist movement
00:09:39.033 --> 00:09:42.400
would look for Britain
as the superpower
00:09:42.400 --> 00:09:47.800
that would help implement
the Zionist ideology.
00:10:02.033 --> 00:10:05.033
(engine whirring)
00:11:08.066 --> 00:11:12.633
The British were
looking for more funds
00:11:12.633 --> 00:11:14.467
for the war effort.
00:11:14.467 --> 00:11:17.333
And so there, the claims by--
00:11:17.333 --> 00:11:21.200
of the Zionist movement
that they would be able to
00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:24.367
help fund the war effort
was very attractive.
00:11:24.367 --> 00:11:28.266
That\'s the context in which
the Balfour Declaration,
00:11:28.266 --> 00:11:33.500
or letter, which is what it is
from a legal point of view,
00:11:33.500 --> 00:11:35.266
was put forward.
00:11:35.266 --> 00:11:40.066
And it was a letter from
Lord Balfour to Lord Rothschild.
00:11:40.066 --> 00:11:41.166
Basically a commitment
00:11:41.166 --> 00:11:44.633
of the British government
to the Zionists
00:11:44.633 --> 00:11:48.633
to have a Jewish home
in Palestine.
00:11:48.633 --> 00:11:52.800
The wording of the letter
is actually very interesting.
00:11:52.800 --> 00:11:56.567
The letter gives
Britain\'s support
00:11:56.567 --> 00:11:59.600
for a Jewish home in Palestine,
00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:01.000
not a Jewish homeland.
00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:03.600
That is one thing
to allow immigration
00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:05.200
of Jews into Palestine,
00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:08.033
and it\'s a quite
different proposition
00:12:08.033 --> 00:12:12.600
to create a country
for those immigrants
00:12:12.600 --> 00:12:15.700
at the expense
of the native population.
00:12:15.700 --> 00:12:19.300
The second clause,
without prejudice
00:12:19.300 --> 00:12:22.600
to the civil
and religious rights
00:12:22.600 --> 00:12:26.400
of the native
Palestinian-Arab population,
00:12:26.400 --> 00:12:27.567
they\'re just called non-Jews.
00:12:27.567 --> 00:12:30.500
And what\'s interesting there
is the omission
00:12:30.500 --> 00:12:33.300
of the word \"political rights\"
00:12:33.300 --> 00:12:36.033
so that the religious rights
00:12:36.033 --> 00:12:38.800
were to be protected,
00:12:38.800 --> 00:12:41.300
but not the political rights.
00:12:41.300 --> 00:12:43.533
And that was a careful omission
00:12:43.533 --> 00:12:47.033
on the part of the drafters.
00:12:47.033 --> 00:12:49.734
I mean, this was a document
that was drafted by a number
00:12:49.734 --> 00:12:53.633
of different people
in the name of Lord Balfour.
00:12:53.633 --> 00:12:57.700
There were some misconceptions
in Britain about Zionism,
00:12:57.700 --> 00:12:59.700
which really helped
the Zionist movement.
00:12:59.700 --> 00:13:03.567
One was a total confusion
about the Bolshevik movement
00:13:03.567 --> 00:13:06.400
in Zionism,
because there were so many Jews
00:13:06.400 --> 00:13:07.567
in the Bolshevik movement.
00:13:07.567 --> 00:13:10.400
The British government
believed that if it supports
00:13:10.400 --> 00:13:14.166
the idea of colonizing Palestine
for the Jews,
00:13:14.166 --> 00:13:16.433
it will create a good
relationship with the Jews
00:13:16.433 --> 00:13:20.166
in the Bolshevik movement,
which of course was ridiculous
00:13:20.166 --> 00:13:21.166
because the Bolshevik Jews
00:13:21.166 --> 00:13:23.734
were anti-Zionist,
not pro-Zionist.
00:13:23.734 --> 00:13:27.066
And the second one
is probably less ridiculous,
00:13:27.066 --> 00:13:28.000
but a bit premature.
00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:30.767
They believed the Jews
had a lot of influence
00:13:30.767 --> 00:13:32.100
in the United States.
00:13:32.100 --> 00:13:36.367
And again, it was a bit weird,
because in 1917,
00:13:36.367 --> 00:13:38.266
the American Jews
were still not Zionists.
00:13:38.266 --> 00:13:40.100
They did not support
the idea of Zionism,
00:13:40.100 --> 00:13:42.066
which is also a bit
anti-Semitic, of course,
00:13:42.066 --> 00:13:44.066
to assume that
the Jews controlled
00:13:44.066 --> 00:13:48.600
both the new Soviet Union
and the United States.
00:13:48.600 --> 00:13:50.100
But this was always--
00:13:50.100 --> 00:13:53.233
Zionism always benefited
from anti-Semitism,
00:13:53.233 --> 00:13:58.166
Christian Zionism,
and strategic interests.
00:14:07.066 --> 00:14:08.533
♪
00:14:08.533 --> 00:14:12.400
It\'s not a coincidence that
the final British breakthrough
00:14:12.400 --> 00:14:14.266
on the Ottoman lines
in southern Palestine,
00:14:14.266 --> 00:14:18.100
that it\'s precisely at that
moment that they articulate
00:14:18.100 --> 00:14:19.700
a new policy towards Palestine
00:14:19.700 --> 00:14:22.033
recognizing a Jewish
national home.
00:14:22.033 --> 00:14:25.567
It looks as though Britain
was promising Palestine
00:14:25.567 --> 00:14:27.100
to the Zionist movement.
00:14:27.100 --> 00:14:28.533
Instead, it was the British
00:14:28.533 --> 00:14:30.533
taking advantage
of the Zionist movement
00:14:30.533 --> 00:14:32.100
to take Palestine
for themselves.
00:14:32.100 --> 00:14:34.200
Make it a low-cost colony
for the British,
00:14:34.200 --> 00:14:36.633
and would give the British
a kind of chain of command
00:14:36.633 --> 00:14:39.266
that would link Egypt,
Palestine, Iraq,
00:14:39.266 --> 00:14:43.633
and the Persian Gulf
to the Indian Ocean world.
00:15:37.000 --> 00:15:39.734
(train rattling)
00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:29.600
Britain and France became the
new rulers of the Middle East
00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:32.166
after the defeat
of the Ottoman Empire,
00:16:32.166 --> 00:16:34.600
and they wanted to divide
between themselves
00:16:34.600 --> 00:16:38.033
the Ottoman provinces
of the Arab world.
00:16:38.033 --> 00:16:39.300
There were two issues for them.
00:16:39.300 --> 00:16:41.066
One, there was
an Arab national movement
00:16:41.066 --> 00:16:44.233
that wanted to create
a United Arab Republic
00:16:44.233 --> 00:16:46.066
all over the Arab world.
00:16:46.066 --> 00:16:49.233
And this is something Britain
and France could not allow.
00:16:49.233 --> 00:16:52.300
They were afraid
of a united Arab force.
00:16:52.300 --> 00:16:54.467
And they had the problem
with the Americans
00:16:54.467 --> 00:16:55.700
until Wilson disappeared.
00:16:55.700 --> 00:16:59.633
The Americans demanded that
the right of self-determination
00:16:59.633 --> 00:17:01.033
for people would be respected.
00:17:01.033 --> 00:17:04.100
So, they find the compromise,
the mandate system.
00:17:04.100 --> 00:17:07.800
They convince the Americans
and some local Arab leaders
00:17:07.800 --> 00:17:10.100
that it would be better
to divide
00:17:10.100 --> 00:17:11.300
the Arab world into states
00:17:11.300 --> 00:17:15.467
rather than to have
one United Arab Republic.
00:17:15.467 --> 00:17:18.166
So, they forced upon them a map,
a new map.
00:17:18.166 --> 00:17:21.133
The map more or less
that we know today
00:17:21.133 --> 00:17:25.300
of Syria, Iraq,
Jordan, and so on.
00:17:25.633 --> 00:17:29.000
Mandates were, as framed
by the League of Nations,
00:17:29.000 --> 00:17:32.066
meant to be projects
of limited duration,
00:17:32.066 --> 00:17:34.200
but as conceived
by the imperial powers,
00:17:34.200 --> 00:17:36.433
they were meant to be
a part of the extension
00:17:36.433 --> 00:17:37.600
of the imperial network
00:17:37.600 --> 00:17:40.467
through a new form
of imperialism,
00:17:40.467 --> 00:17:45.333
a new--a new notion
of colonialism.
00:17:45.333 --> 00:17:48.367
(projector whirring)
00:18:04.800 --> 00:18:08.367
The mandate idea
was a European power
00:18:08.367 --> 00:18:10.133
would help the local country
00:18:10.133 --> 00:18:13.266
to become independent
within 25 years,
00:18:13.266 --> 00:18:16.633
and after 25 years, there will
be democratic elections
00:18:16.633 --> 00:18:21.000
and the people will decide
what kind of a state they want.
00:18:21.000 --> 00:18:23.066
Now, if you take
the Balfour Declaration
00:18:23.066 --> 00:18:24.700
out of the charter,
00:18:24.700 --> 00:18:28.700
it means that the people
of Palestine, after 25 years,
00:18:28.700 --> 00:18:29.533
had the right to decide
00:18:29.533 --> 00:18:31.467
what kind of a Palestine
they would have.
00:18:31.467 --> 00:18:34.800
The Jews, in 1917, were
10 percent of the population.
00:18:34.800 --> 00:18:37.600
So, it\'s very clear
what a democratic choice
00:18:37.600 --> 00:18:40.700
of the people of Palestine
would be.
00:18:40.700 --> 00:18:50.700
♪
00:18:50.700 --> 00:18:53.200
(cheering)
00:18:53.200 --> 00:18:56.066
(applause)
00:19:00.033 --> 00:19:03.100
It is nearly 16 years
00:19:03.100 --> 00:19:05.533
since he recruited me
00:19:05.533 --> 00:19:07.467
to the Zionist movement.
00:19:07.467 --> 00:19:09.066
(laughing)
00:19:09.066 --> 00:19:12.300
Chaim Weizmann
was very instrumental
00:19:12.300 --> 00:19:15.700
in convincing Lloyd George
at that time
00:19:15.700 --> 00:19:19.700
to have someone who was
a committed Zionist
00:19:19.700 --> 00:19:21.400
to be the first
High Commissioner.
00:19:21.400 --> 00:19:24.133
The importance of choosing
somebody like Samuel,
00:19:24.133 --> 00:19:28.433
in those circumstances,
is that it was up to him
00:19:28.433 --> 00:19:30.133
to make the Balfour Declaration
00:19:30.133 --> 00:19:32.767
mean whatever
it was going to mean.
00:19:32.767 --> 00:19:34.467
Everything he did on the ground,
00:19:34.467 --> 00:19:35.767
like the immigration laws,
00:19:35.767 --> 00:19:39.567
and the land transfer laws,
and the settling
00:19:39.567 --> 00:19:42.734
would transform this country
00:19:42.734 --> 00:19:46.400
into a Jewish state in the end.
00:21:20.300 --> 00:21:22.800
And the Palestinians
began a series
00:21:22.800 --> 00:21:24.734
of an anti-colonialist struggle
00:21:24.734 --> 00:21:27.800
against both Britain
and the Zionist movement.
00:21:27.800 --> 00:21:30.500
The first wave of struggle
was 1919,
00:21:30.500 --> 00:21:33.767
already two years
after the Balfour Declaration.
00:21:33.767 --> 00:21:35.400
Then 1920, \'21.
00:21:35.400 --> 00:21:39.300
\'29, of course,
was the more major attempt
00:21:39.300 --> 00:21:41.367
to struggle against this idea
00:21:41.367 --> 00:21:45.500
that Palestinians have no say
in the future.
00:21:45.500 --> 00:21:49.433
And \'29--at least 1929 events
00:21:49.433 --> 00:21:52.000
convinced the British
that they have to start
00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:54.400
consulting the Palestinians.
00:21:54.400 --> 00:21:56.767
And when they start to consult
the Palestinians
00:21:56.767 --> 00:21:59.467
and the Zionists
at the same time,
00:21:59.467 --> 00:22:01.633
they have no way out of it.
00:22:01.633 --> 00:22:04.133
And I think that
already in 1929,
00:22:04.133 --> 00:22:07.066
it was very clear
Britain cannot solve
00:22:07.066 --> 00:22:08.767
the problem that it has created.
00:22:08.767 --> 00:22:11.367
The main case
of the Arabs is against
00:22:11.367 --> 00:22:16.266
the British government policy
in Palestine.
00:22:16.266 --> 00:22:18.467
A policy, which if continued,
00:22:18.467 --> 00:22:20.367
would surely have as a result
00:22:20.367 --> 00:22:24.467
the replacement of the Arabs
by the Jews.
00:22:24.467 --> 00:22:28.400
This policy is not only contrary
to the pledge
00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:31.633
given by His Britannic
Majesty\'s government
00:22:31.633 --> 00:22:36.100
to the late King Hussein
in the year 1915
00:22:36.100 --> 00:22:40.300
for the establishment of
a completely independent state,
00:22:40.300 --> 00:22:44.633
but is also not in accordance
with the four points
00:22:44.633 --> 00:22:48.533
of President Wilson\'s
Fourteen Points calling for
00:22:48.533 --> 00:22:51.700
the self-determination
of all people.
00:22:51.700 --> 00:22:53.433
The Arabs who decided
00:22:53.433 --> 00:22:56.233
on a general
and a complete strike
00:22:56.233 --> 00:22:58.800
until the total
and immediate stoppage
00:22:58.800 --> 00:23:01.734
of Jewish immigration
is brought about,
00:23:01.734 --> 00:23:03.600
and until the government
can produce
00:23:03.600 --> 00:23:07.767
an essential change
in its present policy.
00:23:07.767 --> 00:23:10.266
In Jerusalem, the state
of tension continues.
00:23:10.266 --> 00:23:12.500
Terrorism has caused
a number of deaths already,
00:23:12.500 --> 00:23:14.734
and at Arab meetings,
agitators whip up
00:23:14.734 --> 00:23:16.667
the old race animosity.
00:23:16.667 --> 00:23:18.767
British police search
wayfarers for arms.
00:23:18.767 --> 00:23:21.066
Under police protection,
Jewish families are moved
00:23:21.066 --> 00:23:23.266
from the old quarters
of Jerusalem to districts
00:23:23.266 --> 00:23:25.033
where they are less likely
to be molested,
00:23:25.033 --> 00:23:29.633
and the British soldier
in his tin hat helps too.
00:23:29.633 --> 00:23:37.367
♪
00:23:46.467 --> 00:23:51.333
♪
00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:04.266
The result was disastrous
for the Palestinians,
00:24:04.266 --> 00:24:09.600
because most of their leaders
were killed by the British,
00:24:09.600 --> 00:24:12.033
or exiled,
and when \'48 would come,
00:24:12.033 --> 00:24:14.567
they would be without
proper leadership.
00:24:14.567 --> 00:24:16.066
From a Zionist perspective,
00:24:16.066 --> 00:24:19.533
they understood that if
they want to take Palestine,
00:24:19.533 --> 00:24:20.500
they have to do it by force,
00:24:20.500 --> 00:24:23.033
and they will have to
transfer the Palestinians.
00:24:23.033 --> 00:24:26.166
This is the time when the leader
of the Zionist movement,
00:24:26.166 --> 00:24:29.567
David Ben-Gurion, talks openly
about the need to expel
00:24:29.567 --> 00:24:32.667
the Palestinians if you want
to create a Jewish state,
00:24:32.667 --> 00:24:34.767
and for that,
you need military force.
00:24:34.767 --> 00:24:36.233
Questions have been asked
in Parliament
00:24:36.233 --> 00:24:38.500
about the arming
of Jewish Supernumeraries.
00:24:38.500 --> 00:24:40.700
Well, here is a detachment
of men who have been trained
00:24:40.700 --> 00:24:44.633
to reinforce the military
in the protection of their home.
00:24:44.633 --> 00:24:47.033
Trenches have been dug
around the Jewish colonies.
00:24:47.033 --> 00:24:49.767
Police and Supernumeraries
are ready to man them
00:24:49.767 --> 00:24:51.567
at a moment\'s notice.
00:24:51.567 --> 00:24:52.533
♪
00:24:52.533 --> 00:24:55.767
Arabs convicted of crimes
or offenses against authority
00:24:55.767 --> 00:24:59.367
are kept in concentration camps
behind barbed wire.
00:24:59.367 --> 00:25:00.433
Strictly guarded, they are put
00:25:00.433 --> 00:25:02.500
to breaking stones
for road-making.
00:25:02.500 --> 00:25:04.200
In the unhappy
State of Palestine,
00:25:04.200 --> 00:25:06.033
these camps are inevitable.
00:25:06.033 --> 00:25:08.000
After the abandonment
of rebellion,
00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:11.433
justice may be tempered
with mercy.
00:25:44.133 --> 00:25:47.200
(indistinct shouting)
00:25:50.166 --> 00:25:51.233
For the Zionist movement,
00:25:51.233 --> 00:25:54.266
the White Paper
was an existential threat.
00:25:54.266 --> 00:25:56.700
Ben-Gurion,
recognizing that Britain
00:25:56.700 --> 00:26:00.333
was facing up against a future
conflict with the Nazis,
00:26:00.333 --> 00:26:04.066
promised to support the
British war against the Nazis
00:26:04.066 --> 00:26:06.100
as if there was no White Paper.
00:26:06.100 --> 00:26:07.734
But he promised
the Zionist movement
00:26:07.734 --> 00:26:09.166
he would fight the White Paper
00:26:09.166 --> 00:26:12.300
as if there were
no war against the Nazis.
00:26:12.300 --> 00:26:15.133
More radical members
of the Jewish community
00:26:15.133 --> 00:26:16.266
in Palestine
00:26:16.266 --> 00:26:19.400
took this as a soft lie
by Ben-Gurion.
00:26:19.400 --> 00:26:22.066
They believed
that Britain\'s posture
00:26:22.066 --> 00:26:23.266
had changed fundamentally
00:26:23.266 --> 00:26:26.667
from being a state
supporting the creation
00:26:26.667 --> 00:26:29.066
of Jewish ambitions
to statehood
00:26:29.066 --> 00:26:32.767
to becoming an illegitimate
colonial occupier
00:26:32.767 --> 00:26:34.200
denying the Zionist movement
00:26:34.200 --> 00:26:36.166
its right
to national self-determination
00:26:36.166 --> 00:26:38.600
in its biblical homeland,
Eretz Israel.
00:26:38.600 --> 00:26:40.433
And this is where
we see the breakoff
00:26:40.433 --> 00:26:45.200
of the Stern Gang or the Etzel,
00:26:45.200 --> 00:26:47.433
the Lehi movements,
00:26:47.433 --> 00:26:49.734
which advocated
using terror tactics
00:26:49.734 --> 00:26:52.133
to drive the British
out of Palestine
00:26:52.133 --> 00:26:54.667
as an illegitimate
colonial occupier.
00:26:54.667 --> 00:26:57.700
These underground
terrorist organizations
00:26:57.700 --> 00:27:00.700
were, of course,
an offshoot of the Haganah.
00:27:00.700 --> 00:27:04.066
That was, itself,
another underground
00:27:04.066 --> 00:27:04.800
military organization.
00:27:04.800 --> 00:27:08.734
It was the nucleus
of the later Israeli army.
00:27:08.734 --> 00:27:13.000
Among their leaders
were somebody like Shamir,
00:27:13.000 --> 00:27:15.367
who later became prime minister,
00:27:15.367 --> 00:27:17.333
and Begin, and they were wanted
00:27:17.333 --> 00:27:19.533
by the British
army as terrorists.
00:27:19.533 --> 00:27:24.133
They were the extreme
right-wing factions
00:27:24.133 --> 00:27:26.767
of the Zionist organizations
00:27:26.767 --> 00:27:30.667
who belonged to
the faction of Jabotinsky,
00:27:30.667 --> 00:27:32.533
who believed, in the end,
00:27:32.533 --> 00:27:36.300
that there was no place
for Arabs and Jews,
00:27:36.300 --> 00:27:37.133
because they could see,
00:27:37.133 --> 00:27:39.133
everybody could see
with their own eyes
00:27:39.133 --> 00:27:41.500
that this country was inhabited.
00:27:41.500 --> 00:27:44.433
It was not an empty land
like the propaganda
00:27:44.433 --> 00:27:47.367
that was used from the end
of the 19th century,
00:27:47.367 --> 00:27:51.367
the very well-known cliché
\"a land without a people
00:27:51.367 --> 00:27:53.033
for a people without a land.\"
00:27:53.033 --> 00:27:56.033
When they went there,
they saw with their own eyes
00:27:56.033 --> 00:27:58.200
that that was totally untrue,
00:27:58.200 --> 00:27:59.300
and Jabotinsky would say it,
00:27:59.300 --> 00:28:01.400
there is no place
for both of us.
00:28:01.400 --> 00:28:02.266
It\'s either us or them,
00:28:02.266 --> 00:28:05.000
and we are coming here
as conquerors,
00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:06.500
we are colonialist conquerors,
00:28:06.500 --> 00:28:09.100
and it has been
a natural thing
00:28:09.100 --> 00:28:10.333
throughout the whole of history
00:28:10.333 --> 00:28:11.667
that when people are conquered,
00:28:11.667 --> 00:28:15.533
the original inhabitants
will definitely resist.
00:28:27.266 --> 00:28:33.533
♪
00:30:10.533 --> 00:30:28.667
♪
00:30:28.667 --> 00:30:31.467
It was in the spring of 1945,
00:30:31.467 --> 00:30:33.767
but we\'ll never forget it.
00:30:33.767 --> 00:30:35.633
We saw liberty.
00:30:35.633 --> 00:30:37.467
♪
00:30:37.467 --> 00:30:38.600
It was the doors opening up
00:30:38.600 --> 00:30:41.367
for the first time
in many years.
00:30:41.367 --> 00:30:44.467
♪
00:30:44.467 --> 00:30:46.700
You heard those voices
in a dozen different languages
00:30:46.700 --> 00:30:51.767
saying, \"We have waited
so long for you to come.\"
00:30:51.767 --> 00:30:54.533
♪
00:30:54.533 --> 00:30:57.100
The (unintelligible) Zionist
movement understood
00:30:57.100 --> 00:30:59.600
that Britain and France
are declining,
00:30:59.600 --> 00:31:03.166
and that if they want
this colonialist project
00:31:03.166 --> 00:31:04.800
of Zionism to succeed,
00:31:04.800 --> 00:31:08.033
they need--not only
do they have to fight Britain,
00:31:08.033 --> 00:31:09.400
because they don\'t have
the same interests,
00:31:09.400 --> 00:31:12.467
they need someone else
to take over as a supporter.
00:31:12.467 --> 00:31:15.467
And that\'s when they started
to understand the importance
00:31:15.467 --> 00:31:18.800
of the American Zionist comm--
Jewish community,
00:31:18.800 --> 00:31:22.667
and also the Christian Zionist
community in America.
00:31:22.667 --> 00:31:24.233
The lives
of five million Jews
00:31:24.233 --> 00:31:28.567
have proved to the world
what the Jewish problem is.
00:31:28.567 --> 00:31:32.200
You don\'t have today
to please Zionism
00:31:32.200 --> 00:31:34.667
or to (unintelligible).
00:31:34.667 --> 00:31:37.333
You just have to say
five million Jews
00:31:37.333 --> 00:31:40.633
massacred in Europe
because of the homelessness
00:31:40.633 --> 00:31:42.000
of the Jewish people.
00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:44.567
We have certainly
the right to demand
00:31:44.567 --> 00:31:45.667
that the world shouldn\'t wait
00:31:45.667 --> 00:31:48.100
for a second lesson
of this kind.
00:31:48.100 --> 00:31:50.100
We need to implement
the principle.
00:31:50.100 --> 00:31:52.266
This was recognized
even formally,
00:31:52.266 --> 00:31:54.100
internationally
to give Palestine
00:31:54.100 --> 00:31:57.400
to the Jewish people
as a real national home.
00:31:57.400 --> 00:32:00.000
(applause)
00:32:18.667 --> 00:32:20.800
Mr. Ben-Gurion\'s house
in Tel Aviv
00:32:20.800 --> 00:32:22.300
was the scene
of the recent meeting
00:32:22.300 --> 00:32:24.233
of the Jewish Agency
Executive.
00:32:24.233 --> 00:32:26.734
Among the leaders
of official Zionism,
00:32:26.734 --> 00:32:29.300
Dr. Moshe Sneh,
formerly chief of the Haganah,
00:32:29.300 --> 00:32:33.333
and Mrs. Golda Meir,
Head of the Political Bureau.
00:32:33.333 --> 00:32:35.300
♪
00:32:35.300 --> 00:32:37.500
Mr. Ben-Gurion,
Chairman of the Executive,
00:32:37.500 --> 00:32:40.233
leads them into his study
for the meeting.
00:32:40.233 --> 00:32:41.667
Although
condemning terrorism,
00:32:41.667 --> 00:32:43.533
the Executive decided
not to participate
00:32:43.533 --> 00:32:45.600
in any government
or army campaign
00:32:45.600 --> 00:32:46.667
against the terrorists.
00:32:46.667 --> 00:32:50.066
These attacks sapped
the will of the British
00:32:50.066 --> 00:32:50.734
to try and continue
00:32:50.734 --> 00:32:53.233
to impose their authority
on a Palestine
00:32:53.233 --> 00:32:56.600
over which they were
increasingly losing control.
00:32:56.600 --> 00:32:58.333
The coasts were flooded
with ships
00:32:58.333 --> 00:33:00.333
of displaced Jews from Europe
00:33:00.333 --> 00:33:02.567
who were organized
by the Zionist agents
00:33:02.567 --> 00:33:05.667
to try and bring survivors
of the Holocaust
00:33:05.667 --> 00:33:08.400
to Palestine
to raise their numbers.
00:33:08.400 --> 00:33:10.367
And the British were
no longer in a position
00:33:10.367 --> 00:33:11.600
to drive back these ships
00:33:11.600 --> 00:33:14.734
of Europe\'s miserable
and dispossessed,
00:33:14.734 --> 00:33:16.667
which gave them
a very bad reputation
00:33:16.667 --> 00:33:18.767
in the international
community.
00:33:18.767 --> 00:33:20.266
Here they were turning back
00:33:20.266 --> 00:33:21.633
the survivors
of the Holocaust
00:33:21.633 --> 00:33:23.500
at the gates of Palestine.
00:33:23.500 --> 00:33:24.700
And in the end,
the British found
00:33:24.700 --> 00:33:27.433
that they had no solution
to the arrival
00:33:27.433 --> 00:33:29.633
and incompatible
nationalisms,
00:33:29.633 --> 00:33:30.700
Palestinian and Jewish,
00:33:30.700 --> 00:33:32.400
and they handed over
the dossier
00:33:32.400 --> 00:33:33.433
to the new United Nations
00:33:33.433 --> 00:33:36.100
as the successor
to the League of Nations.
00:33:36.100 --> 00:33:42.166
♪
00:33:42.166 --> 00:33:45.266
The League of Nations
comes to an end.
00:33:45.266 --> 00:33:47.333
Formed after
the First World War
00:33:47.333 --> 00:33:48.567
to preserve world peace,
00:33:48.567 --> 00:33:52.066
it failed to prevent
the Second World War.
00:33:52.066 --> 00:33:53.400
Veteran Paul-Boncour of France
00:33:53.400 --> 00:33:55.567
and 83-year-old
British Lord Cecil
00:33:55.567 --> 00:33:58.200
who helped to draft
the Covenant of the League
00:33:58.200 --> 00:34:00.066
as the former
world organization
00:34:00.066 --> 00:34:02.233
votes itself
out of existence,
00:34:02.233 --> 00:34:05.767
placing its hope
in the United Nations.
00:34:58.200 --> 00:35:00.100
What is interesting
about this report,
00:35:00.100 --> 00:35:03.633
which they decided to take
to the General Assembly
00:35:03.633 --> 00:35:06.700
and to adopt it as a peace plan,
first of all,
00:35:06.700 --> 00:35:09.400
and I think that\'s the most
important fact about it,
00:35:09.400 --> 00:35:11.533
they knew that
this was totally rejected
00:35:11.533 --> 00:35:13.600
by the Palestinians
in the Arab world
00:35:13.600 --> 00:35:14.467
and they didn\'t care.
00:35:14.467 --> 00:35:16.400
They said, \"We\'ll go on
with a peace plan,
00:35:16.400 --> 00:35:19.200
although the major party
is against it,
00:35:19.200 --> 00:35:21.500
which the United Nations
will never do again.
00:35:21.500 --> 00:35:23.467
It will never do
such a stupid thing again,
00:35:23.467 --> 00:35:27.367
but they want--this was
the power of America,
00:35:27.367 --> 00:35:29.133
definitely in that year,
00:35:29.133 --> 00:35:30.600
was particularly pro-Zionist.
00:35:30.600 --> 00:35:32.166
The United States Delegation
00:35:32.166 --> 00:35:34.600
supports
the basic principles
00:35:34.600 --> 00:35:37.066
of the unanimous recommendations
00:35:37.066 --> 00:35:38.000
and the majority plan,
00:35:38.000 --> 00:35:41.300
which provides for partition
and immigration.
00:35:41.300 --> 00:35:44.567
We refer to assistance
through the United Nations
00:35:44.567 --> 00:35:47.400
in meeting economic
and financial problems
00:35:47.400 --> 00:35:50.333
and the problem
of internal law and order
00:35:50.333 --> 00:35:52.033
during
the transition period.
00:35:52.033 --> 00:35:55.667
If it hadn\'t been
for the political lobbying
00:35:55.667 --> 00:35:56.600
and the delay of the vote,
00:35:56.600 --> 00:35:59.333
it\'s not at all clear
that the partition proposal
00:35:59.333 --> 00:36:03.500
would have won over
the binational federal state.
00:36:03.500 --> 00:36:04.500
And then the Arabs,
00:36:04.500 --> 00:36:08.033
who had basically backed
away from every proposal
00:36:08.033 --> 00:36:09.567
because they saw each proposal
00:36:09.567 --> 00:36:15.133
as a compromise
to their indigenous rights
00:36:15.133 --> 00:36:17.467
as the native population,
00:36:17.467 --> 00:36:19.000
and they made an attempt
00:36:19.000 --> 00:36:22.667
to raise the legality
of partition
00:36:22.667 --> 00:36:26.000
to the International
Court of Justice,
00:36:26.000 --> 00:36:30.133
and that was--
that attempt was defeated,
00:36:30.133 --> 00:36:31.200
again, through double dealings
00:36:31.200 --> 00:36:36.467
and backdoor pressure on states
to vote for partition.
00:37:21.433 --> 00:37:22.266
If we look at partition,
00:37:22.266 --> 00:37:26.300
the proposal of partition
from a legal point of view,
00:37:26.300 --> 00:37:28.233
of course the U.N. itself,
00:37:28.233 --> 00:37:31.033
the U.N. General Assembly
was well aware
00:37:31.033 --> 00:37:34.233
that it did not have
the legal authority
00:37:34.233 --> 00:37:37.500
to partition territory anywhere.
00:37:37.500 --> 00:37:41.066
Resolution 181
was exactly that,
00:37:41.066 --> 00:37:42.500
a resolution, a proposal,
00:37:42.500 --> 00:37:46.567
because the General Assembly
had no legal authority
00:37:46.567 --> 00:37:48.700
to order partition of territory
00:37:48.700 --> 00:37:51.767
or any kind
of territorial change.
00:37:51.767 --> 00:37:53.767
In order to get
the two-third majority,
00:37:53.767 --> 00:37:57.200
you needed to convince
countries to vote for,
00:37:57.200 --> 00:38:00.600
and again, America
became very useful here.
00:38:00.600 --> 00:38:03.367
For instance, Liberia,
which was the only
00:38:03.367 --> 00:38:05.066
African independent country,
00:38:05.066 --> 00:38:07.533
was promised a lot of money
from the United States
00:38:07.533 --> 00:38:10.567
in order to vote
for the partition plan.
00:38:10.567 --> 00:38:12.700
The Americans
exerted similar pressure
00:38:12.700 --> 00:38:15.767
on countries in Central America
and South America,
00:38:15.767 --> 00:38:17.567
and remember, these are the days
when the United States
00:38:17.567 --> 00:38:24.333
had a lot of influence
in Central and South America.
00:38:24.333 --> 00:38:27.467
And the Zionist lobby itself
worked quite well.
00:38:27.467 --> 00:38:29.467
The diplomats worked quite well,
00:38:29.467 --> 00:38:32.266
and they got
the two-third majority
00:38:32.266 --> 00:38:36.533
on the 29th of November, 1947.
00:38:36.533 --> 00:38:38.333
Soviet Union?
00:38:38.333 --> 00:38:39.800
Yes.
00:38:39.800 --> 00:38:42.400
United Kingdom?
00:38:42.400 --> 00:38:44.100
Abstain.
00:38:44.100 --> 00:38:46.200
The United States?
00:38:46.200 --> 00:38:47.700
Yes.
00:38:47.700 --> 00:38:49.500
Uruguay?
00:38:49.500 --> 00:38:51.166
Yes.
00:38:51.166 --> 00:38:52.767
Venezuela?
00:38:52.767 --> 00:38:54.300
Yes.
00:38:54.300 --> 00:38:56.000
Yemen?
00:38:56.000 --> 00:38:57.367
No.
00:39:16.433 --> 00:39:21.100
The resolution
of the Ad Hoc Committee
00:39:21.100 --> 00:39:22.800
for Palestine
00:39:22.800 --> 00:39:25.333
was adopted by 33 votes,
00:39:25.333 --> 00:39:29.000
13 against, 10 abstentions.
00:40:07.200 --> 00:40:10.133
♪
00:40:30.400 --> 00:40:31.467
The reaction on the Jewish side
00:40:31.467 --> 00:40:35.033
to the partition plan
was mixed.
00:40:35.033 --> 00:40:37.233
On the one hand,
there was a great joy
00:40:37.233 --> 00:40:40.000
of the international
recognition.
00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:42.233
On the other hand,
there was a sense
00:40:42.233 --> 00:40:44.333
that this was not
a viable Jewish state,
00:40:44.333 --> 00:40:48.233
because according to the map
half of the population
00:40:48.233 --> 00:40:50.100
in the future Jewish state
would be Arab,
00:40:50.100 --> 00:40:53.533
and so the whole idea
of a Jewish democratic state
00:40:53.533 --> 00:40:54.767
would be defeated.
00:40:54.767 --> 00:40:56.367
Ben-Gurion says,
on the one hand,
00:40:56.367 --> 00:40:58.533
we don\'t have to worry
because a lot of Jews
00:40:58.533 --> 00:41:00.734
will come to our state
once it\'s independent,
00:41:00.734 --> 00:41:04.633
so the demographic balance
will change by immigration.
00:41:04.633 --> 00:41:07.467
And then he said there will be
other means we can use,
00:41:07.467 --> 00:41:12.233
but he doesn\'t specify
how to deal with it.
00:41:12.233 --> 00:41:15.467
For the Arab world,
the partition resolution
00:41:15.467 --> 00:41:20.633
was their first major failure
in international diplomacy
00:41:20.633 --> 00:41:22.100
since achieving independence,
00:41:22.100 --> 00:41:25.500
and it would then lead them
to the next mistake
00:41:25.500 --> 00:41:26.333
or the next failure,
00:41:26.333 --> 00:41:27.667
which would be
in their inability
00:41:27.667 --> 00:41:31.300
to frame a kind of
joint military solution
00:41:31.300 --> 00:41:34.500
to the conflict that was
developing in Palestine.
00:42:14.700 --> 00:42:16.133
It\'s two different pictures.
00:42:16.133 --> 00:42:20.066
One is a community
that has a strong leadership,
00:42:20.066 --> 00:42:23.000
totally energized
and organized
00:42:23.000 --> 00:42:24.166
towards the right moment,
00:42:24.166 --> 00:42:27.133
knowing that it may
have to fight an Arab army,
00:42:27.133 --> 00:42:30.133
but also have to kick out
the Palestinians,
00:42:30.133 --> 00:42:34.000
and Palestinian leadership
doesn\'t know what to do.
00:42:34.000 --> 00:42:37.500
In fact, in January \'48,
the Palestinian leadership--
00:42:37.500 --> 00:42:39.633
I\'m not talking now
of just political leaders,
00:42:39.633 --> 00:42:43.066
the elite left,
70,000 Palestinians,
00:42:43.066 --> 00:42:45.567
all of them members
of the social, economic,
00:42:45.567 --> 00:42:48.333
and political elite
left Palestine.
00:42:48.333 --> 00:42:50.300
They left thinking
that they will come back
00:42:50.300 --> 00:42:52.133
after a few months, you know?
00:42:52.133 --> 00:42:53.367
But they left, so they left
00:42:53.367 --> 00:42:54.600
the population
without leadership,
00:42:54.600 --> 00:42:57.367
which made it very easy
for the Zionist movement
00:42:57.367 --> 00:43:01.266
to defeat the Palestinians
and kick them out in \'48.
00:43:01.266 --> 00:43:04.633
The Palestinian community
had risen in the 1930s
00:43:04.633 --> 00:43:06.133
against the British Mandate
00:43:06.133 --> 00:43:08.467
and had been repressed
with great violence.
00:43:08.467 --> 00:43:10.400
And many have argued
that, in a sense,
00:43:10.400 --> 00:43:12.233
the ability
of the Arab community
00:43:12.233 --> 00:43:14.200
to mobilize militarily
00:43:14.200 --> 00:43:16.100
had been broken by 1939.
00:43:16.100 --> 00:43:19.033
Their bids to try
and gets arms and support
00:43:19.033 --> 00:43:20.700
from neighboring Arab countries
00:43:20.700 --> 00:43:25.066
were met with
very little support indeed.
00:43:25.066 --> 00:43:27.000
The Jewish community,
on the other hand,
00:43:27.000 --> 00:43:31.200
had been building up
its experience and its arms,
00:43:31.200 --> 00:43:32.500
and particularly
in the aftermath
00:43:32.500 --> 00:43:34.667
of the end
of the Second World War
00:43:34.667 --> 00:43:39.400
where secret imports of arms
had given an arsenal
00:43:39.400 --> 00:43:40.734
to the Jewish community
00:43:40.734 --> 00:43:42.033
that allowed them to build
00:43:42.033 --> 00:43:44.200
an armed force
of some substance.
00:43:44.200 --> 00:43:46.633
The definition of legal
and illegal forces
00:43:46.633 --> 00:43:48.333
becomes daily more obscure.
00:43:48.333 --> 00:43:50.400
Haganah, the force
first legally raised
00:43:50.400 --> 00:43:52.233
for the defense
of Jewish settlements,
00:43:52.233 --> 00:43:54.433
appears to function
hand in glove
00:43:54.433 --> 00:43:56.233
with Irgun Zeva\'i Le\'umi,
00:43:56.233 --> 00:43:58.133
the outlawed terrorist army.
00:43:58.133 --> 00:43:59.500
Full-scale training
is underway
00:43:59.500 --> 00:44:03.233
in a score of camps
throughout the country.
00:44:03.233 --> 00:44:05.767
There is no shortage
of arms nor ammunition,
00:44:05.767 --> 00:44:07.166
though under
the British Mandate,
00:44:07.166 --> 00:44:10.567
possession of arms calls
for the death penalty.
00:44:10.567 --> 00:44:16.266
♪
00:44:16.266 --> 00:44:17.633
(rapid gunfire)
00:44:17.633 --> 00:44:19.200
The way that boundaries
were drawn
00:44:19.200 --> 00:44:20.166
of the Arab and Jewish state
00:44:20.166 --> 00:44:24.300
were fraught with problems
from the outset.
00:44:24.300 --> 00:44:26.233
The boundaries
didn\'t really reflect
00:44:26.233 --> 00:44:28.633
homogenous
demographic communities.
00:44:28.633 --> 00:44:30.200
There were large numbers
of Arabs living
00:44:30.200 --> 00:44:34.200
within the territory
allocated to the Jewish state.
00:44:34.200 --> 00:44:35.400
There were some
Jewish communities
00:44:35.400 --> 00:44:38.166
living within territories
allocated to the Arab state.
00:44:38.166 --> 00:44:41.800
In that sense, the only way
you could really achieve
00:44:41.800 --> 00:44:45.600
a kind of partition
that had homogeneity
00:44:45.600 --> 00:44:49.300
would be through
the forced depopulation
00:44:49.300 --> 00:44:51.567
of alien communities
00:44:51.567 --> 00:44:53.300
from the territory
of the new states,
00:44:53.300 --> 00:44:55.700
and it comes far closer
to the modern concept
00:44:55.700 --> 00:44:57.066
of ethnic cleansing,
00:44:57.066 --> 00:44:59.300
the idea that,
through force of arms,
00:44:59.300 --> 00:45:02.233
you will depopulate those
who do not conform
00:45:02.233 --> 00:45:05.467
to your ethnicity
or your community
00:45:05.467 --> 00:45:08.033
and make them live
outside the boundaries
00:45:08.033 --> 00:45:11.000
of their own home and homeland.
00:45:50.333 --> 00:45:52.367
Out of the 650 villages
00:45:52.367 --> 00:45:55.734
that were in
what became Israel,
00:45:55.734 --> 00:45:58.333
only 150 villages remained,
00:45:58.333 --> 00:46:01.166
so about 500 were expelled.
00:46:01.166 --> 00:46:02.333
It\'s older than Plan D
00:46:02.333 --> 00:46:04.166
which shows you
it was systematic,
00:46:04.166 --> 00:46:07.633
it was intentional,
it was also a bit chaotic,
00:46:07.633 --> 00:46:09.200
like in every ethnic cleansing.
00:46:09.200 --> 00:46:11.500
It gives--
creates an atmosphere,
00:46:11.500 --> 00:46:13.367
it\'s not just always
explicit orders.
00:46:13.367 --> 00:46:16.567
The soldiers on the ground
know what they have to do.
00:46:16.567 --> 00:46:20.000
And the British explained
to them what they will do.
00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:22.800
They will try
and convince the population
00:46:22.800 --> 00:46:25.233
to leave without fight.
00:46:25.233 --> 00:46:27.266
And the Zionist movement
says, \"Fine.
00:46:27.266 --> 00:46:30.533
If they leave without fight,
that\'s okay as well.
00:46:30.533 --> 00:46:32.367
As long as they leave.\"
00:46:32.367 --> 00:46:36.700
And so the British
play a horrible role
00:46:36.700 --> 00:46:38.700
in helping the Zionist movement
00:46:38.700 --> 00:46:41.433
to empty the Palestinian towns
00:46:41.433 --> 00:46:43.033
from its native population.
00:46:43.033 --> 00:46:44.633
Great Britain\'s
battle-scarred mandate
00:46:44.633 --> 00:46:48.567
in Palestine ended
on May 15th, 1948.
00:46:48.567 --> 00:46:50.367
Here, evacuating
British troops
00:46:50.367 --> 00:46:51.333
salute Sir Alan Cunningham,
00:46:51.333 --> 00:46:55.667
the last foreign governor
Israel was to see.
00:46:55.667 --> 00:46:57.767
At Lydda Airport,
General Cunningham
00:46:57.767 --> 00:46:59.233
bids goodbye
to an assignment
00:46:59.233 --> 00:47:01.166
often fraught
with bloody combat,
00:47:01.166 --> 00:47:03.400
and homebound British troops
are glad to pull out
00:47:03.400 --> 00:47:06.433
of what they called
\"a sticky situation.\"
00:47:06.433 --> 00:47:07.500
Two things happened.
00:47:07.500 --> 00:47:10.734
One, every British officer
00:47:10.734 --> 00:47:13.600
decided according
to his own agenda
00:47:13.600 --> 00:47:17.133
who to give the authority.
00:47:17.133 --> 00:47:18.400
Most of them were pro-Zionists,
00:47:18.400 --> 00:47:19.433
some of them were pro-Arabs,
00:47:19.433 --> 00:47:21.633
were trying to give it
also to Arabs,
00:47:21.633 --> 00:47:25.066
but the vast majority
gave it to the Jews.
00:47:25.066 --> 00:47:27.100
But even the pro-Arabs found out
00:47:27.100 --> 00:47:29.066
that there\'s no one
to give it to.
00:47:29.066 --> 00:47:33.100
There was not an established
political structure
00:47:33.100 --> 00:47:35.200
as was on the Zionist side.
00:47:35.200 --> 00:47:37.700
And therefore,
the mandatory state
00:47:37.700 --> 00:47:43.734
was more or less transferred
to Zionist hands immediately.
00:47:43.734 --> 00:47:45.500
Immediately.
00:47:45.500 --> 00:47:48.367
All the important
centers of the state,
00:47:48.367 --> 00:47:52.100
customs, police,
telephone, airports,
00:47:52.100 --> 00:47:56.467
uh, ports, everything
00:47:56.467 --> 00:47:59.266
fell into Zionist hands
instantly.
00:47:59.266 --> 00:48:00.467
On May 14th, 1948,
00:48:00.467 --> 00:48:03.200
the new government
headed by David Ben-Gurion
00:48:03.200 --> 00:48:04.467
is installed in Tel Aviv.
00:48:04.467 --> 00:48:06.467
Thus, for the first time
since the Roman Legion
00:48:06.467 --> 00:48:09.066
destroyed Jerusalem
in the year 70 A.D.,
00:48:09.066 --> 00:48:12.467
the Jewish people
have a nation of their own.
00:48:12.467 --> 00:48:15.467
♪
00:48:31.700 --> 00:48:34.200
The Arabs went to war
with Israel
00:48:34.200 --> 00:48:38.033
not as a unified body
surrounding the Jewish state,
00:48:38.033 --> 00:48:41.667
but as individual
disorganized fronts
00:48:41.667 --> 00:48:46.734
the Israelis found very easy
to contain and defeat.
00:48:51.133 --> 00:48:53.667
I have come back
to the United States
00:48:53.667 --> 00:48:56.233
with a message
to the United States Jews
00:48:56.233 --> 00:49:00.166
and to all Americans
who are interested in peace
00:49:00.166 --> 00:49:03.600
and, more specifically,
in peace in the Holy Land.
00:49:03.600 --> 00:49:06.500
We are convinced
that if, for instance,
00:49:06.500 --> 00:49:09.400
the United States
were to lift the embargo
00:49:09.400 --> 00:49:13.700
and the Jews got all the arms
that are necessary for them,
00:49:13.700 --> 00:49:16.467
this war will end very quickly.
00:49:16.467 --> 00:49:19.567
The army that could\'ve
really tipped the balance
00:49:19.567 --> 00:49:22.066
against the Jewish state
was the Jordanian army,
00:49:22.066 --> 00:49:23.333
because it was
the only Arab army
00:49:23.333 --> 00:49:26.500
that had military experience
in the Second World War.
00:49:26.500 --> 00:49:30.767
It was run by military--
by British officers at that,
00:49:30.767 --> 00:49:33.367
and it was quite well-equipped
in a way.
00:49:33.367 --> 00:49:36.200
But the Jordanians
had a secret agreement
00:49:36.200 --> 00:49:37.600
with the Jewish leadership
00:49:37.600 --> 00:49:41.066
that in return
for not interfering properly
00:49:41.066 --> 00:49:43.667
in Palestine,
they would be allowed
00:49:43.667 --> 00:49:48.066
to annex parts of Palestine
to Jordan.
00:50:19.133 --> 00:50:23.433
♪
00:50:23.567 --> 00:50:26.166
The 1948 war, so to speak,
00:50:26.166 --> 00:50:30.000
ended with the partitioning
of Palestine,
00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:31.066
but very different partitioning
00:50:31.066 --> 00:50:34.033
from the one
the United Nations hoped for.
00:50:34.033 --> 00:50:38.300
Eighty percent of Palestine,
78 percent of Palestine,
00:50:38.300 --> 00:50:40.266
became a Jewish state.
00:50:40.266 --> 00:50:42.133
In those 78 percent,
00:50:42.133 --> 00:50:45.734
one million Palestinians
lost their homeland
00:50:45.734 --> 00:50:48.633
and became refugees
outside of Palestine
00:50:48.633 --> 00:50:51.567
or outside of that area
that became Israel.
00:50:51.567 --> 00:50:56.266
Another part was the West Bank
that was annexed to Jordan
00:50:56.266 --> 00:50:58.467
and a smaller part,
the Gaza Strip,
00:50:58.467 --> 00:51:03.166
was the next--not the next,
controlled by Egypt.
00:51:03.166 --> 00:51:06.000
Palestine, as...
00:51:08.166 --> 00:51:10.233
...as the hoped-for country
00:51:10.233 --> 00:51:15.133
for the Palestinian people
ceased to exist.
00:51:15.133 --> 00:51:18.233
It was erased from the map.
00:51:18.233 --> 00:51:33.467
♪
00:52:01.066 --> 00:52:38.500
♪
Distributor: Icarus Films
Length: 52 minutes
Date: 2018
Genre: Expository
Language: English; French / English subtitles
Color/BW:
Closed Captioning: Available
Existing customers, please log in to view this film.
New to Docuseek? Register to request a quote.
Related Films
Near Jerusalem, the construction of the separation wall continues, a few…
The story of a city that once connected Palestine to the world – what…