Israel, Palestine and the Vatican Part 3

So we left off last time still swimming in the 'historical context' wading pool before treading the ocean of socio-political firestorms.  Both parties justify religion as the basis for their claim to the land, with both parties laying a legitamite gripe as to why the land should be theirs.  Soooooo,..let's continue on shall we?

So we left off more or less with the Balfour declaration and thus cleared up any propaganda that Israel was only established in the wake of WWII because people felt guilty about the Holocaust.  This myth is widely circulated in leftist circles.  So, now here comes the immigration.  Thousands and thousands of Jews, 'Askanzi' begin to immigrate to Palestine, buying up land and establishing colonies.  This,..the Zionist mentality comes into a full blown confrontation with Arab, yes,..but Muslim nationalism as well.  Again, with Islam, we cannot separate the politics from the religion as this concept is quite alien.  Islam is the political system.  Within the system and stemming from the theological root is the concept of a land bethrowed,..( see here ).  The surrounding Arab countries tend not to view the struggle which was political as just that,. political, instead they see it as an attack upon Islam itself.  Herein lies the problem.

So begins the protests in Jerusalem, with Arab banners reading 'Our country for us' and 'Stop jewish immigration'  as battle cries.  Still in the same year, Muhammed Amin Al-Husayni incited crowds, as well Jews in Galilee were attacked.  This all led to the establishment eventually of Haganah,..a Jewish defense force, a pre cursor if you will, to the IDF.  The next year, saw what were called the Jaffa riots whereby the Jews retreated from Jaffa to Tel Aviv.  Surprisingly, there were not many casualties, yet the British(the mandated authority) were constantly trying to restore order.  Later, that year,..the true tension arrives when politics, unofficially turns religious as Muhammed Amin Al-Husayni becomes the grand mufti of Jerusalem.  The 'Grand Mufti' is seen as the highest level of religious authority within a muslim (sunni) state.  So that being said a little muslim colour is added to the mix, and the next year, Arab leaders informed the Brits,..that they will not accept the Balfour declaration.  So what was proposed in 1917,..was finally rejected 5 years later.....The Brits, because of certain political factors,.namely Arab riots, a change of government in Saudi Arabia,..clarified their position with the Churchill White Paper...(see here )

So what about the Palestinian Christians?  And what happens to the Jews?  Were Arabs kicked out of their houses during the immigration and what about Islam, Apartheid and the UN????  Find out in the next installment!!!

Our Lady of Ville Marie,...............ora pro nobis!