The Israeli historian Tom Segev says it is impossible to conceive a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The ongoing war, sparked by Hamas’ attack on Israeli civilians on Oct. 7, is the latest chapter in a conflict that goes back more than a century. As early as 1919, Mr. Segev notes, David Ben-Gurion, the future prime minister of Israel, understood that Jews and Arabs embraced incompatible visions for the land that would result in violence.
In this episode of History As It Happens, Mr. Segev discusses an important period in this long conflict: the British mandate from 1922 to 1948. By supporting Zionist immigration (via the Balfour Declaration of 1917) while crushing Arab resistance to the arrival of thousands of Jews in the Palestine region, the British helped foster bitter antagonisms and resentments that resonate to the present day.
“British archives abound with reports, letters and statements warning the government in London, mostly written by army generals in Egypt, do not enter Palestine. Stay out of Palestine,” Mr. Segev said. “But [the British government] believed, like antisemites often do, that the Jews ruled the world … as so we need the Jews as friends. At the same time, they were also very supportive of Jews,” because of the history of Jews belonging to the Holy Land.
Arab resistance to the Balfour Declaration turned violent as early as 1920, and in 1936 the Palestinian Arabs launched a full-scale revolt that was crushed by the British colonial overlords. In the meantime, Jewish organizations were laying the groundwork for a future state — an aim that would be realized in 1947-48. The Arabs rejected the United Nations’ partition plan in 1947.
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