General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The Heart of the Problem With Israel: The Mass Expulsion of the Palestinian People [View all]The Magistrate
(95,264 posts)Would probably be the Balfour Declaration of late 1917, in which England stated the intention of fostering a 'Jewish national home' in Palestine. There had been various Zionist attempts to establish settlements there prior to that, but it was the declaration that gave it heft. The language was incorporated in the League of Nations mandate under which England ruled Palestine from 1922 ( prior to that, England had occupied it as territory conquered from the Ottoman Empire in the Great War ). Passing over a good deal of intricate politicking and fighting continuing into WWII, the United Nations assumed the responsibilities of the old League with its foundation after WWII. It was the decision of the General Assembly that the Palestine Mandate be partitioned into two parts, a Jewish Zone and an Arab Zone. After a round of serious fighting, Israel, established on the Jewish Zone, held also a good portion of the designated Arab Zone; those parts of that it did not hold were occupied by Jordan or Egypt. What are generally understood to be the borders of Israel are the Armistice Line on which the fighting ended in 1949.