Homelands: Conflict in the Middle

East

Part 2 of 3

Focus Questions:

How were the borders of the Middle East drawn after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire?For what reasons did the British make a commitment to a Jewish homeland?

Imagine you are a Jew living in a Jewish village in Russia in the 1890’s.

There have been two recent attacks on your village by Anti-Semitic mobs, the

Black Hundreds.

An uncle was murdered and your house was burned down.

Which do you choose?A. Renew and strengthen your

Jewish identity - reject Russian culture and continue with your life hoping for the best

B. Emigrate to AmericaC. Move to the city and integrate

with Russian societyD. Join a Zionist organization and emigrate to PalestineE. Join a Jewish radical political group, like the Bund, to fight anti-Semitism in RussiaNow move to the corner of the room

that represents your choice and be prepared to justify your decision!

Activity with a partner:

• Refer to the following slide that shows a map of the European Jewish Population distribution around 1933

• Write two (2) generalisations based on the map:

World War I

Many Jews supported Germany because of Russian anti-Semitism

How can Britain win Jewish support?

A Series of Contradicting AgreementsTop Secret

1915 Britain gains the support of Arabs in World War I after promising independence for Arab states

1916 Britain agrees to the Hussein-McMahon Correspondence in which independence is promised to what is now Syria, Palestine (Israel), Jordan, Iraq, and the Arabian Peninsula should the Allies win the war.1916 Britain also signs the Sykes-Picot Agreement with France. details a plan to split up most of the Middle East region between Britain and France should they defeat the Axis powers.

1917 Britain creates the Balfour Declaration which states that after ousting the Ottomans from both Jerusalem and Baghdad, they promise to support a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine.

Identify a possible problem

as a result of Britain's actions

Balfour Declaration• British viewed "with favour the establishment in

Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine."

• What do you think this means? • How might a Palestinian interpret this? A Jew?

T.E. Lawrence

Versailles Treaty•US President Woodrow Wilson promoted the idea of self-determination

•Colonial empires should give ethnic groups the freedom to create their own nations

•So what will happen to the Ottoman Empire?

With a partner:

• So what will happen to the Ottoman Empire?

Identify two (2) key changes between 1914 and 1920

as displayed by the maps on the previous slide:

1920

1914