Reference no: EM133770202

Problem: History

In 1947 Britain relinquished its Mandate for Palestine and turned the issue of Palestinian sovereignty over to the UN which proposed a partition of the territory into 2 states, a Jewish State, and a Palestinian State. The UN Partition Plan of December, 1947 allotted 56% of Palestine for a Jewish State, and 44% of the territory for a Palestinian State. Because Palestinians so heavily outnumbered the Jewish community, even within the proposed Jewish State there was a 45% Palestinian minority (the proposed Palestinian State had only a negligible number of Jews living in that area). Within days of the Plan's announcement, conflict erupted inside the proposed Jewish State, perpetrated largely by armed Jewish militias, conflict that continued at the time of the declaration of the Jewish State in May, 1948 and beyond.

Was this Partition Plan equitable in the treatment of the 2 communities in Palestine? How do you imagine that the 2 groups -- Zionist Jews and Palestinians -- reacted to the Plan? With hindsight, did the Palestinians make a major mistake in rejecting the Partition? What reasons did Palestinians have for rejecting the idea of the Partition, and why do you think the Jewish community accepted the plan? What was the reaction of Jews and Palestinians living inside the proposed Jewish State? Why would the Palestinian minority living within the Jewish State be especially fearful of the Partition? Can we assign the cause of conflict that erupted inside the Jewish State after the Partition announcement to population demographics?