History Off the Page Dr. Jason Hansen

After a period of relative calm during World War II, the need to resettle Jewish survivors from the Holocaust once more inflamed tensions in Palestine - this time between Britain and the Zionists. In this episode we discusses the causes of the revolt, the Jewish insurgency, advances and failures in the Palestinian nationalist movement and the effect of the nascent Cold War on the conflict.


 
Jump links:
Intro (0:51)
The historical context (2:01)
The refugee crisis (9:38)
Palestinian national growth (22:48)
The Jewish Revolt (42:04)
The Exodus '47 (1:02:56)
The Cold War context (1:10:14)
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In this episode we explore the history of the region during the Second World War. On the one hand, this moment represented something of a pause in tensions between the British, Zionists and Arabs, as the three sides worked together to fend of the Axis threat. On the other, however, Nazi anti-Jewish propaganda, amplified by local collaborators such as Hajj Amin, spoke openly of genocide, poisoning relations between Jews and Arabs. As the Holocaust unfolded in Europe, British efforts to restrict Jewish immigration led many moderate Zionists to conclude that Jewish independence was the only path forward. 


Jump links: 
Intro (1:42)
Background to World War II (12:02)
World War II in the Middle East (19:56)
Arab perceptions of World War II (26:53)
Hajj Amin and ‘kill the Jews’ (44:08)
Zionist perceptions of World II (1:07:19)
Radical Zionists turns to terrorism (1:17:19)
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In this episode we explore the history of the Arab Revolt (1936-39), the first attempt to solve the political crisis in Palestine through armed, organized violence. As we'll see, the revolt proved to be a massive failure, badly damaging the Palestinian national cause. Topics covered in the episode include the story of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam - the intellectual founder of Hamas, Nazi efforts to spread anti-Judaism in the Middle East, tactical and strategic discussion about (Arab) insurgency and (British) pacification efforts, and the hidden Palestinian civil war. 


To jump to a particular topic click on the following links: Intro (0:50); Background (12:17); The Nazi role in the Revolt (15:48); Al-Qassam and Origins of ‘Armed Resistance’ (29:32); Part I: the General Strike (39:13);
Intermission: the Peel Commission (58:07);
Part II: Insurgency and Pacification (1:07:43);
Part III: the Revolt as Palestinian Civil War (1:23:39);
The Jewish Role in the Revolt/Night Squads (1:33:51);
The End of the Revolt (1:43:50).
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For more information on History Off the Page, check out our website www.historyoffthepage.com! Or you can support the show via Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/historyoffthepage?fan_landing=true.

In this episode of our series on the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict we examine the period of the British Mandate, essentially the moment when the split between the Jewish and Arab communities of Palestine began to become more permanent.  On the one hand, increased Jewish migration combined with the development of Jewish institutions like the Histradrut (labor union) and Haganah (defense organization) provided the basis for an independent Jewish state - eventually Israel.  On the other hand, Arab economic growth and political development made the case for accepting Jewish refugees less persuasive.  Further driving the two sides apart were periodic episodes of violence such as the Nebi Musa riots (1920) and the Waling Wall riots (1929).  In the end, these moments of violence and the general political inertia proved stronger than any of the attempts to bind the communities together in a single state.  
 
 Topics covered in the episode (with jump links) include:
 Intro (0:50); the Peace Process in Palestine (8:46); Complexities of Palestinian politics (14:11); emergence of Palestinian society (30:30); the 3rd and 4th Aliyot (37:53); emergence of a Jewish statelet (40:30); the League of Nations' Mandate (47:01); the Haganah (55:25); the Irgun, Etzel and Lechi; the Histradrut (1:15:20); missed chances (1:20:21); violence (1:25:32)
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For more information on History Off the Page, check out our website www.historyoffthepage.com! Or you can support the show via Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/historyoffthepage?fan_landing=true.

This episode explores the history of Israel/Palestine during the First World War - a time when divisions between the local Jewish and Arab communities began to harden. On the one hand, both peoples suffered under the strain of the war and repression under the Ottoman governor Jamaal Pasha. On the other hand, the war brought together Zionist and British policy goals, culminating in official British support for a Jewish national homeland in Palestine (the Balfour declaration). 


Specific topics covered include (click on the number to jump to that section):
Intro (0:50); Start of the war (1:59); Hussein of Mecca and the Arab Revolt (8:35); Chaim Weizmann and the Balfour Declaration (17:11); effect of the war on the local population (30:40); The Jewish Legion (50:56); consequences of the war for identity (1:04:16); postscript: Faisal, Greater Syria, and the origins of Jordan and Saudi Arabia (1:07:20); conclusion (1:116:19)
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For more information on History Off the Page, check out our website www.historyoffthepage.com! Or you can support the show via Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/historyoffthepage?fan_landing=true.

In this second episode, we start to explore the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, starting with the initial wave of large-scale Jewish migrations in the early 1880s. The episode highlights the complexity of identities in the region, including the multi-faced relationships between Ottoman, Arab, Palestinian and Jewish/Muslim/ Christian belonging. We'll explore the critical role played by the Ottoman Empire in the story, including the passage of the 1858 Land Reform Act that lies at the heart of the conflict over the land. In the end, we'll see how the current friction between the two groups was not inevitable, but how historical forces set the two peoples of separate paths of national development in the years before World War I.


To jump to a specific section:
Intro (0:50); Ottoman Palestine and Identity (5:28); Origins of Zionism (36:30); Origins of Palestinian National Identity (52:39); Palestine in the 1880s (1:10:33); The First Aliyah (1:17:41); The Second Aliyah (1:26:31); the Kibbutz (1:40:20); modern Hebrew (1:42:00); Arab perceptions of Zionism (1:47:25); violence and the Jewish response (1:54:16); conclusion (2:06:26)
Support the Show.
For more information on History Off the Page, check out our website www.historyoffthepage.com! Or you can support the show via Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/historyoffthepage?fan_landing=true.