* The modern state of Israel was carved out of the area of Palestine at the end of WWII.
* This area was the traditional home of both the Jews and the Palestinians.
* The Jews were forced out the area in during the Roman Empire, resulting in the Jewish diaspora.
* In the 19th century the growing importance of nationalism, pushed some Jews to develop a national consciousness, and demand a self-determination and sovereignty.
* The Jewish nationalist movement became known as Zionism, started in 1882 but became stronger as nationalist forces around the world grew.
* The Zionist movement led to the migration of European Jews to Palestine.
* During this time Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire, although there was not a centralized control of the area of Palestine, instead, it was shared by different groups within the Ottoman Empire
* Friction between the Palestinian Arabs and the Jewish migrants led to tensions and violence between the groups.
* During World War I, the British the British encouraged Husayn ibn Ali, to revolt against the Ottoman empire in exchange for the creation of an independent Arab state under Hashemite rule in the areas including Palestine. The Arab revolt led by Faysal and T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) was a success.
* Despite their agreement, after the war in 1917, the Balfour Declaration announced the British support of the creation of a Jewish national homeland in Palestine.
* The British and French decided to secretly divide up the area of the Ottoman Empire under the Sykes-Picot agreement
* The British and French then pressured the League of Nations to grant them ‘Quasi-colonial powers over the Ottoman territories’.
* France was given Syria and created the state of Lebanon (a Christian majority).
* Britain took the area that is now Iraq as well as the area that is Israel, Palestine and Jordan.
* In 1921 British territory was divided into two parts the Emirate of Transjordan (East) and Palestine (West).
* Increasing immigration and friction between Jews and Arabs led to violent clashes throughout the 1920’s.
* Hitler’s rise to power in 1933 pushed migrations even higher as Jews tried to escape the rise of Nazism in Europe.