The British Mandate in Palestine: A Centenary Volume, 1920-2020

Description

The British Mandate over Palestine began just 100 years ago, in July 1920, when Sir Herbert Samuel, the first British High Commissioner to Palestine, took his seat at Government House, Jerusalem. The chapters analyze a wide cross-section of the conflicting issues, social, political and strategical that attended British colonial rule over the country, from 1920 to 1948. 　 This anthology contains contributions by several of the most respected Israeli scholars in the field - Arab, Druze and Jewish. It is divided into three sections, covering the differing perspectives of the main 'actors' in the 'Palestine Triangle' the British, the Arabs and the Zionists. The concluding chapter identifies a pattern of seven counterproductive negotiating behaviors　that explain the repeated failure of the parties to agree upon any of the proposals for an Arab-Zionist peace in Mandated Palestine.　 The volume is a modern review of the British Mandate in Palestine from different perspectives, which makes it a valuable addition to the field. It is a key resource for students and scholars interested in international relations, history of the Middle East, Palestine and Israel. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents List of tables List of contributors List of abbreviations Foreword by Professor Sari Nusseibeh Editor’s introduction PART I: British perspectives 1. Colonial intrigue in the Middle East: The Faysal – [Lawrence] – Weizmann Agreement, January 1919 2. The anti-Zionist ‘Jewish Khazar’ syndrome in the official British mind 3. Churchill and Bevin: Thesis and anti-thesis? PART II: Arab perspectives 4. Between local Palestinian and pan-Arab nationalism among Palestinians during the British mandate: Akram Zuʿayter as an example 5. The Palestinian political parties and local self-governance during the British Mandate: Democracy and the clan 6. The rise and fall of the Palestinian Arab middle class 7. Difference, not fragmentation: Christians and Druze in Mandatory Palestine 8. A troubled bond: The Palestinian-Arab national movement and the Arab states PART III: Zionist perspectives 9. Zionism as a blessing to the Arabs: History of an argument 10. Jewish immigration: The base of the Palestine triangle 11. Zionist land acquisition: A core element in establishing Israel 12. The origins of militant Zionism during the British Mandate 13. Is Zionism colonialism? 14. Chaim Weizmann: From the Balfour Declaration to the establishment of the state of Israel. 15. David Ben-Gurion’s ‘road map’ to independence, May 1948 PART IV: Conclusion 16. Arab-Zionist negotiations during the Mandate: An unbridgeable divide Select bibliography of English sources Index