From Coexistence to Conquest : International Law and the Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1891-1949

__From Coexistence to Conquest__ seeks to explain how the Arab-Israeli conflict developed by looking beyond strict legalism to the men behind the policies adopted by the Great Powers at the dawn of the twentieth century. It controversially argues that Zionism was adopted by the British Government in its 1917 Balfour Declaration primarily as an immigration device and that it can be traced back to the 1903 Royal Commission on Alien Immigration and the Alien’s Act 1905.The book contains the most detailed legal analysis of the 1915-6 Hussein-McMahon correspondence, as well as the Balfour Declaration, and takes a closer look at the travaux préparatoires that formed the British Mandate of Palestine. It places the violent reaction of the Palestine Arabs to mass Jewish immigration in the context of Zionism, highlighting the findings of several British commissions of inquiry which recommended that Britain abandon its policy. The book also revisits the controversies over the question of self-determination, and the partition of Palestine. The Chapter on the 1948 conflict seeks to update international lawyers on the scholarship of Israel’s ‘new’ historians and reproduces some of the horrific accounts of the atrocities that took place from newspaper reports, UN documents, and personal accounts, which saw the expulsion and exodus of almost an entire people from their homeland. The penultimate chapter argues that Israel was created through an act of conquest or subjugation. The book concludes with a sobering analysis of the conflict arguing that neither Jews nor Arabs were to blame for starting it. From Coexistence to Conquest seeks to explain how the Arab-Israeli conflict developed by looking beyond strict legalism to the men behind the policies adopted by the Great Powers at the dawn of the twentieth century. It controversially argues that Zionism was adopted by the British Government in its 1917 Balfour Declaration primarily as an immigration device and that it can be traced back to the 1903 Royal Commission on Alien Immigration and the Alien’s Act 1905. The book contains the most detailed legal analysis of the 1915-6 Hussein-McMahon correspondence, as well as the Balfour Declaration, and takes a closer look at the travaux préparatoires that formed the British Mandate of Palestine. It places the violent reaction of the Palestine Arabs to mass Jewish immigration in the context of Zionism, highlighting the findings of several British commissions of inquiry which recommended that Britain abandon its policy. The book also revisits the controversies over the question of self-determination, and the partition of Palestine. The Chapter on the 1948 conflict seeks to update international lawyers on the scholarship of Israel’s ‘new’ historians and reproduces some of the horrific accounts of the atrocities that took place from newspaper reports, UN documents, and personal accounts, which saw the expulsion and exodus of almost an entire people from their homeland. The penultimate chapter argues that Israel was created through an act of conquest or subjugation. The book concludes with a sobering analysis of the conflict arguing that neither Jews nor Arabs were to blame for starting it. From Coexistence to Conquest seeks to explain how the Arab-Israeli conflict developed by looking beyond strict legalism to the men behind the policies adopted by the Great Powers at the dawn of the twentieth century. It argues that Zionism was adopted by the British Government in its 1917 Balfour Declaration primarily as an immigration device and that it can be traced back to the 1903 Royal Commission on Alien Immigration and the Alien's Act 1905. The book contains a legal analysis of the 1915-6 Hussein-McMahon correspondence, as well as the Balfour Declaration, and takes a closer look at the travaux préparatoires that formed the British Mandate of Palestine. It places the violent reaction of the Palestine Arabs to mass Jewish immigration in the context of Zionism, highlighting the findings of several British commissions of inquiry which recommended that Britain abandon its policy. The book also revisits the controversies over the question of self-determination, and the partition of Palestine. The Chapter on the 1948 conflict seeks to update international lawyers on the scholarship of Israel's 'new' historians and reproduces some of the horrific accounts of the atrocities that took place from newspaper reports, UN documents, and personal accounts, which saw the expulsion and exodus of almost an entire people from their homeland. The penultimate chapter argues that Israel was created through an act of conquest or subjugation. The book concludes with an analysis of the conflict, arguing that neither Jews nor Arabs were to blame for starting it. --From publisher's description This book shows how the Arab-Israeli conflict developed by looking beyond the legality argument to the men behind the policies. It argues that Zionism was adopted by the British Government in its 1917 Balfour Declaration, primarily as a way to control immigration. The book places the violent reaction of the Palestinians to mass Jewish immigration in the context of Zionism, and revisits the controversies over the question of self-determination, and the partition of Palestine. Arguing that Israel was created through an act of conquest and subjugation, the book concludes with a sobering analysis of the conflict arguing that neither Jews nor Arabs were to blame for starting it. Contents 8 Foreword by Richard A. Falk 10 Acknowledgements 14 Preface 16 Chronology 22 About the Author 32 Maps 34 Introduction 42 1. Anti-semitism, Colonialism and Zionism 49 2. Palestine and the Scramble for the Middle East 79 3. Arab Opposition to Political Zionism 119 4. The Hussein–McMahon Correspondence 139 5. The Question of Self-determination 158 6. The Partition of Palestine 187 7. The Arab–Israeli Confl ict 210 8. The Palestinian Refugees 250 9. The Creation of Israel 273 Epilogue 289 Notes 303 Select Bibliography 409 List of Individuals 429 Glossary 437 Index 444 Victor Kattan ; Foreword By Richard Falk. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 368-387) & Index.