4. Here is a full Chronology of Palestine, 1517 – 1949, with some original maps.

This comes from the Victor Kattan book, From Coexistence to Conquest, 2009 (3,000 words)

It is good to consult this as a reference.

1517 Palestine is conquered by Turkey and becomes an integral part of the Ottoman Empire.

1791 On December 23, 1791, Catherine II (“the Great”), the empress of Russia, authorized the creation of the Pale of Settlement, an area in the western part of the empire in which Jewish subjects would be required to reside. The Pale was almost all of Poland and the Ukraine.

Russia in Europe, Map showing Pale of Jewish Settlement’, from The Persecution of the Jews in Russia

1799 Napoleon invades Palestine and Syria but is defeated by the Turks.

1830 British consulate opens in Jerusalem.

1831–40 Ibrahim Pasha, the son of Muhammad Ali, occupies Palestine.

1834 Revolt in Palestine against Egyptian rule.

1840 Turkey recaptures Palestine from Egypt.

1853–56 The Crimean War.

1860 Massacre of Christians in Lebanon provokes France to send troops there to quell it.

1869 Suez Canal opens.

1874–75 The governments of Egypt and Turkey both go bankrupt. The British Government under the leadership of Benjamin Disraeli subsequently purchases 44 per cent of the shares of the Suez Canal Company to the tune of £4,000,000 loaned to it from the British branch of the Rothschild family.

1882 Russia enacts the May Laws.

1882–1903 First wave of Jewish immigration (aliyah) into Palestine. However, for most immigrants, the US is their Promised Land, not Palestine. Between 1.5 and 2 million Eastern European Jews immigrate to the United States, their destination of choice, and a further 350,000 go to Western Europe.

1884–85 General Act of the Conference of Berlin is convened to regulate European colonization and trade in Africa. In the following years Africa would be partitioned and colonized by the Great Powers.

1891 First Arab protest against Jewish immigration into Palestine is made.

1897 First Zionist Congress is held in Basel.

1898 Jewish Colonial Trust is established at the Second Zionist Congress.

1900 The Fourth Zionist Congress is held in London. Theodor Herzl drafts a Charter for a Jewish-Ottoman Land Company.  

1902 Theodor Herzl and Adolf Böhm, prominent leaders of the Zionist Organization, are invited to give oral evidence to the Royal Commission on Alien Immigration. Herzl meets Joseph Chamberlain in his efforts to establish a Jewish homeland in the Sinai Peninsula. A technical commission is sent by Lord Cromer to the Sinai. The commission rules out Jewish colonization there due to a lack of available water. Chamberlain suggests to Herzl that he consider instead a Jewish homeland in East Africa.

1903 The report of the Royal Commission on Alien Immigration is published by His Majesty’s Government. Lloyd George drafts a Jewish Colonization Scheme for East Africa in collaboration with the Zionist Organization.

1905 The report of a commission sent to East Africa by the Zionist Organization to examine its suitability for Jewish settlement is published. Parliament passes the Alien Act 1905 in order to restrict Jewish immigration into Britain.

1908 The Jewish National Fund and the Palestine Land Development Company begin their work purchasing land in Palestine for Jewish settlement.

1914–18 The First World War.

‘Pre-war Turkish Administrative Districts comprised in Syria and Palestine showing the boundaries of mandated Palestine and the Hejaz railway.’

1915–16 Turkey at the Battle of Gallipoli defeats Britain and the Allies. The Hussein–McMahon correspondence is exchanged.

‘The Sykes–Picot Secret Arrangement of 1916 in regard to Syria and Palestine. Map to illustrate the Agreement of 1916 in regard to Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, &c.’ (Blue – French influence, Red – British, Green – Italian, Yellow Russian, including entrance to Black Sea, Brown -  said to be international)

1916 Britain and France conclude the Sykes–Picot secret agreement. Lloyd George replaces Herbert Asquith to become British Prime Minister. The Hejaz joins the Allies and declares war against Turkey. In November, the Sherif of Mecca declares himself the King of Hejaz, which, in December, is recognized by Britain and France.

1917 In November (October on the Julian calendar), the Bolsheviks seize power and Russia makes preparations to withdraw from the war. That same month, Britain issues the Balfour Declaration. In December, the British Army led by General Allenby marches victoriously into Jerusalem. Palestine is placed under British military occupation (1917–20). It then had a population of 688,957 Arabs (including Christians, Muslims and other non-Jewish minorities) and a population of 58,728 Jews.

1918 In January, President Woodrow Wilson sets out his Fourteen Points to both Houses of Congress. In the same month, Commander Hogarth and the Sherif of Mecca reach an understanding regarding Jewish settlement in Palestine on the condition that ‘no people shall be subject to another’ and that Jewish settlement in Palestine would be government policy ‘in so far as is compatible with the freedom of the existing population both economic and political’. In November, the Anglo-French Declaration is published calling for ‘the complete and definite emancipation of the peoples so long oppressed by the Turks and the establishment of national governments and administrations deriving their authority from the initiative and free choice of the indigenous populations.

‘Map illustrating territorial negotiations between H.M.G. and King Hussein. Red Outline: Area regarding which H.M.G. are pledged that it shall be “Arab” and “independent”. (Remember The Sykes–Picot Arrangement of 1916 was a secret, and more to the true intentions.)

(Hard to read the Key, but something like:)

Red outline:  Area regarding which are pledged to be Arab and to be independent

Purple:  Doubtful

Blue:  Territory which have not anticipated is inside the independent Arab area, but in regard to which King Hussein expressly maintains is the Arab State.

Green (the little bit at the top), Area which have not estimated to include in the independent Arab area. And with regard to which King Hussein has expressly waved as the Arab state.

Another Map illustrating possible redistribution of Ottoman and Arab territory on the Principle of Self-Determination.’

1919 Feisal and Weizmann conclude an agreement on Jewish settlement in Palestine, although the former inscribed a reservation to the document. The Peace Conference takes place in Paris. The Hejaz was invited as one of the Allied and Associated Powers and signed the Versailles Treaty with Germany. The Great Powers agree to establish the League of Nations and a Covenant is drafted, which provides for the creation of the Mandates in Article 22. Palestine is deemed an A-class mandate. The Great Powers agree to send a commission of inquiry to the Middle East to determine the wishes of the inhabitants. In Damascus, the commission was told that the Arabs opposed the Zionist project to establish a Jewish national home in Palestine.

1919–22 The mandates for Palestine and the Levant are drafted at the Foreign Office in London and the Quai d’Orsay in Paris in close collaboration with members from the Zionist Organization.

1920 At San Remo, the Great Powers determine the allocation of the A-class mandates. Britain is appointed the mandatory power over Palestine and Iraq. France is given a mandate over the rest of the Levant (Lebanon and Syria). Rioting breaks out between Arabs and Jews in Jerusalem and a military commission of inquiry is asked to look into the causes of the disturbances. It concludes that the Zionists are largely responsible for the violence ‘by their impatience, indiscretion and attempts to force the hands of the Administration’ in providing for Jewish settlement in Palestine. In July, Britain terminates its occupation of Palestine and Herbert Samuel is appointed the first High Commissioner of Palestine. His first task was to establish a civilian administration to replace the British Army.

1921 The US restricts immigration. In Jaffa, there are large-scale riots between Arabs and Jews. The Haycraft Commission of Inquiry is appointed by the British Government to examine the causes of the riot. It concludes ‘had there been no Jewish question, the Government would have had no political difficulty of any importance to deal with so far as domestic affairs are concerned’. It adds: ‘Any anti-British feeling on the part of the Arabs that may have arisen in the country originates in their association of our Government with the furtherance of the policy of Zionism.’

1922 The Council of the League of Nations agrees to the text of the British Mandate of Palestine. The Palestine Order-in-Council of 1 September separates Palestine from the Emirate of Transjordan, which is established to the east of the River Jordan. The Colonial Secretary, Winston Churchill, in a statement on British policy rejects the claim that Palestine was to become ‘as Jewish as England is English’. He declares: ‘His Majesty’s Government regard any such expectation as impracticable and have no such aim in view.’ He adds that: ‘the status of all citizens of Palestine in the eye of the law shall be Palestinian, and it has never been intended that they, or any section of them, should possess any other juridical status. In an exchange of correspondence with the Palestine Arab delegation, Churchill recognizes ‘the people of Palestine’, specifically referring to Palestine’s Arab community.

1923 The Treaty of Lausanne between the Allies, the Associated Powers and Turkey is concluded on 24 July. The Mandate enters into force on 29 September, after signature, but before ratification of the Lausanne Treaty. Britain proposes to create an Arab Agency in Palestine to have the same powers as the Jewish Agency for the purposes of advising and cooperating with the British authorities in Palestine concerning matters of interest specifically affecting the Arab population. However, Palestine’s Arab leaders reject it on the grounds that ‘the Arabs, having never recognized the status of the Jewish Agency, have no desire for the establishment of an Arab Agency on the same basis.

1928–29 Riots break out between Arabs and Jews at the site of the Western Wall in Jerusalem. This quickly spreads to Hebron and other parts of Palestine. The Shaw Commission of Inquiry concludes that racial animosity on the part of the Arabs, consequent upon the disappointment of their political and national aspirations and fear for their economic future, is the fundamental cause of the outbreak of violence.

1930 The League of Nations agrees to a British proposal to send an ad hoc commission to Palestine to examine the rights and claims of Jews and Muslims to the Holy Places. The Commission rules in favor of Muslim proprietary rights but concludes that Jews should have free access to the Western Wall for the purposes of devotions at all times. The British Government subsequently appoints Sir John Hope-Simpson to undertake a study on land cultivation and settlement possibilities in Palestine. He concludes that there is no room for a single additional Jewish settler if the standard of life of the Arab villager is to remain at existing levels. The British Government then publishes a White Paper endorsing his findings, which provokes a storm of protest from the Zionists. In response, Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald ‘clarifies’ his government’s policy towards the Jewish national home as set out in the White Paper. He reaffirms Britain’s intention to stand by the Mandate, to uphold the policy of the Jewish national home by further land settlement and immigration, and to condone the Zionist insistence on Jewish labor for work on Jewish enterprises. The Palestine Arabs who interpret this as a complete volte-face refer to this letter as the ‘Black Letter’.

1931 Haj Amin al-Husseini – head of the Supreme Muslim Council – organizes a large international gathering in Jerusalem attended by Muslims from all over the world to defend Al-Aqsa and the Islamic Holy Places.

1932–33 Overt Nazi persecution of German Jews begins. Jewish immigration into Palestine increases three-fold.

1935 Annual Jewish immigration into Palestine peaks at 61,854 persons. This meant that more Jews entered Palestine in that year alone than had inhabited Palestine in 1917 when the Balfour Declaration was published.

1936 The Mufti and the Arab Executive Committee call for a general strike. Six weeks of rioting follow directed at the British Government. The Murison Commission of Inquiry concludes that the immediate cause of the riot was ‘to protest against the policy of the Government, the ground for which was prepared by a general feeling of apprehension amongst the Arabs engendered by the purchase of land by the Jews and by Jewish immigration’. Britain’s High-Commissioner proposes to amend the Legislative Council so as to reflect the fact that Arabs were numerically preponderant – but these proposals are rejected by Westminster.

1936–39 The Great Arab Revolt takes place. Military Courts are established under the Defense (Military Courts) Regulations Laws. The British Army sends in an extra 20,000 troops to Palestine to crush the rebellion. At the end of the conflict approximately 5,000 Palestinian Arabs have been killed, 10,000 wounded and 5,670 detained. This means that over 10 per cent of the adult male Arab population was killed, wounded, imprisoned, or exiled.

‘Map of the Royal Commission’s Partition Plan (Peel Commission) 1937.’

1936–37 The Peel Commission of Inquiry concludes that the underlying causes of the initial disturbances were the desire of the Arabs for national independence and their hatred and fear of the establishment of the Jewish national home. It recommends that Britain terminate its mandate over Palestine and partition it between an Arab and a Jewish state with the exception of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee, which would remain under British control in the form of a mandate so as to ensure free access to the Holy Places. The plan envisages population transfers between the Arab and the Jewish states, which are to have special treaty relations with Britain. Both the Arabs and the Zionists reject the plan.

1938 Sir John Woodhead concludes in a government report that the partition of Palestine is impracticable.

1939 The British Government publishes a White Paper in which it declares that ‘it is proper that the people of the country [that is, the Palestinians] should as early as possible, enjoy the rights of self-government which are exercised by the people of neighboring countries. Accordingly, the British Government desires ‘to see established ultimately an independent Palestinian State. It should be a state in which the two peoples in Palestine, Arabs and Jews, share authority in government in such a way that the essential interests of each are shared.’ At a conference held in St James’s Palace in London, the British Government formerly acknowledges that during the First World War it had conducted a series of secret exchanges with the Sherif of Mecca via its High Commissioner in Egypt. It agrees to publish the Hussein–McMahon correspondence for the first time. Sir Michael McDonnell, who served as Chief Justice in the Supreme Court of Palestine from 1927 to 1937, argues that in his opinion, it was sufficiently clear from reading the Hussein–McMahon correspondence that Palestine was to be included in the Arab state. However, the British Government disagrees with him, although it is telling to us that its arguments were considered so thin that it did not even convince its own civil servants in the Foreign and Colonial Office of its case.

1939–45 The Second World War. Britain restricts, but does not halt, Jewish immigration into Palestine.

1941 President Theodor Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill agree to the Atlantic Charter aboard the HMS Prince of Wales.

1942 On 20 January, a plan for the annihilation of Europe’s Jews was finalized by the German Government at Wannsee, just outside Berlin. Over the next three years, some 6 million Jews were systematically and ruthlessly killed in extermination camps throughout Europe. On 11 May, an extraordinary conference of American Zionists at the Biltmore Hotel in New York City passes a resolution calling for the whole of Palestine to be established as a Jewish commonwealth.

1945 The United Nations Conference on International Organization is convened at San Francisco. There, delegates review and rewrite the Dumbarton Oaks proposal which results in the creation of the UN Charter, a treaty which is opened for signature on 26 June. The British Government examines secret proposals to partition Palestine.

‘Proposed Scheme for the Partition of Palestine: Map Showing Proposed Boundaries and Jewish Land Holdings, April 1945.’

1946 The Anglo-American Committee of Enquiry tours the concentration and extermination camps of Europe, after which it recommends that whilst some refugees (approx. 100,000) should be allowed into Palestine, its territorial integrity should nevertheless be kept intact. It recommends that Palestine ‘shall be neither a Jewish state nor an Arab state’.

1947 The United Nations Special Committee for Palestine (UNSCOP) visits Palestine as well as the concentration camps of Europe. It recommends the partition of Palestine between an Arab and a Jewish state. The UN then asks an ad hoc committee to examine the matter. It produces two reports. The majority favored partition and the minority a single unitary state with strong protections for minorities. The UN General Assembly accepts the findings of majority report and recommends the partition of Palestine with economic union. It proposes that Jerusalem and Bethlehem be established as a separate body under some form of UN territorial administration. It envisages voluntary population transfers between the two states, which were to draft constitutions enshrining democratic governance and protecting human rights. The Zionists tacitly accept the UN Partition Plan and the Arabs oppose it because they consider it unfair, unworkable and inequitable – as does Britain. Egypt and Syria attempt to refer the legality of the UN Partition Plan to the International Court of Justice in The Hague for an advisory opinion but they are defeated by one vote in the UN General Assembly and so the question is never rendered to the Court. Fighting breaks out between Arabs and Jews in December, with the former protesting against partition and calling for immediate independence.

1948 Civil war breaks out on a wider scale in Palestine. In March, the US concludes that partition is unworkable and reverses its policy. It declares itself in favor of a UN Trusteeship for Palestine in a single unitary state. A UN Trusteeship Agreement is subsequently drafted. The Jewish Agency condemns it, goes on the offensive and avows to proclaim a Hebrew Republic on 16 May. In April, the Haganah (Jewish paramilitary), implements the Plan Dalet. Thirteen military operations follow, eight of which are beyond the boundaries set out for the Arab state in the UN Partition Plan. On 11 April, a massacre is perpetrated by the Irgun with the support of the Haganah in the Palestinian Arab village of Deir Yassin, near Jerusalem. By May, the Zionists have conquered Jaffa (which was supposed to be part of the Arab state as envisaged in the UN Partition Plan) and Haifa, causing their Arab populations to flee to secure ground. At midnight on 14/15 May the last British High Commissioner in Palestine terminates the Mandate and departs Haifa. The Yishuv concomitantly proclaims the establishment of the state of Israel. By this time, over 350,000 Palestinian Arabs have been evicted from their homes. The Arab Legion, commanded by British officers, enters Palestine on the pretext that it is defending the population of Palestine from further attacks by the Haganah and the Irgun (Zionist paramilitary). It is supported by troops from Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Iraq. The fighting escalates. In July, the Haganah captures Lydda, Ramle and Nazareth expelling its Arab populations. By the time hostilities come to an end some 750,000 Palestinian Arabs and 17,000 Jews are displaced by the fighting. In December, the UN General Assembly passes a resolution providing that: ‘the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible.

‘Palestine: Map of 1949 Armistice Lines & Boundaries in Partition Plan.’

1949 Israel formally concludes armistice agreements with Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Transjordan. The fighting officially comes to an end, although expulsions of Palestinian Arabs (like that at Wadi Fukin) and the Bedouin continues. The Government of Israel refuses to allow the vast majority of Arabs to return to their homes in Palestine but allows Jews to do so. In an exchange of notes, the US Government declares that Israel’s opposition to repatriation is not in conformity with UN General Assembly resolution 194 (III). They also threaten to review their relationship with Israel and to undertake countermeasures. Under pressure, Israel does agree to allow, in principle, a return of 100,000 refugees. However, talks break down and nothing comes of this. The vast majority of Palestinians displaced in 1948 continue to languish in refugee camps in the Middle East to this day.

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