November
29, 1947, New York, U.N. members
decided to partition
Palestine
between Jews and Palestinian Arabs. May 14, 1948, the proclamation of the birth
of the Jewish nation called Israel.
Those
events triggered war, death, despair and triumph. The Arab people at that time
was vehemently opposed to the
creation of a Jewish nation and threatened to
drive the Jews to the sea. Violence erupted everywhere in Palestine even before the proclamation of the
Jewish nation between the Mufti
(armed Palestinian Arab organization) and the Jewish Agency with its military
organization called the Haganah.
Shortly after the proclamation of the Israel five Arab
countries (Egypt, Syria, Lebanon,
Iraq and Transjordan)
sent their armies to destroy the new nation. The Jews fought against the Arab
armies and won. But that did not assure peace because conflicts still continued
and even lead to another war called the Six-Day
War.
But what
made the U.N. member nations decide to favor the creation of the Jewish State
in a land already occupied for centuries by over a million Arabs? Well, first
we must take note that during World War II 6million Jews died in Hitler’s
ovens. Second, it’s been centuries since the Diaspora (the exile of the Jews from their homeland) and Jews
living in different countries were constantly persecuted especially in Europe of which
most of the countries who approved the creation of the Jewish Nation came from.
Third, the U.S.
supported the Jews and used their influence to pressure other nations to vote
for the creation of a Jewish State.
All of
these events started only because of one man with his vision. (But before
anything else, it would be best to understand that since the start of the Diaspora, Jews have long since dreamed
of returning to their land and the rebirth of their nation.) Theodor Herlz an ordinary Viennese
newspaperman produced a one-hundred-page pamphlet titled Der Judenstant (The Jewish State). It began with “The Jews who will
it shall have a state of their own”. Two years later, Herlz formally launched
his movement with the First World Zionist
Congress in Basle, Switzerland.
The
delegates of Herlz’s congress elected an international Jewish executive to
guide the movement. They created a Jewish National Fund and a Land Bank to buy
land for their state which is in Palestine.
Then they picked their flag which was white and blue for the colors and a
national anthem called “Hatikvah”
(The Hope). This paved the way to the actual creation of the Jewish State called
Israel.