British Jews

While Jews certainly did prosper in medieval western Christendom - in Spain, England, France and the Holy Roman Empire - it is arguable whether this occurred during times of true Christian persecution, for this phrase implies a coherent, general and importantly, state-backed, form of oppression, which did not exist until late in the period. Indeed, even though anti-semitism did exist, the two distinct phases of Jewish prosperity during the Middle Ages were marked rather with tolerance and protection. Firstly, Jewish prowess in commerce led to a stage of mutual benefit for them and their Christian rulers, both in Reconquista Spain and the more economically backwards but fast-growing territories further north. This morphed into a niche Jewish…

How did America react to the Holocaust? With Hitler’s rise to power, he began a systematic persecution of German Jews. With the Third Reich in power, thousands of German Jews tried to flee political oppression and found that many countries refused to accept them. Approximately 6 million Jews were murdered under Hitler’s leadership during World War II, and many Americans genuinely felt that the United States was deficient in the necessary resources to provide accommodations for and new…

After the first world war, the British empire began to collapse, as a result they decided to bequeath parts of their land as they could no longer afford to keep it. According to John Green’s crash course video on Palestine and Israel, in 1917 the Britishers created the Balfour Declaration, promising that they would give the Jews a homeland. They needed support from the Jews as their empire was collapsing, and the Jews needed a homeland as they had recently been persecuted from Europe subsequent…

The Zionist goal of establishing a Jewish homeland has always been opposed by the Arab leaders in the Middle East. There was a rapid influx of Jews to Palestine from the time the Great War ended. As new immigrants, they purchased land to live and farm on, but then banned Arabs from living on that land. The Jews’ goal was to establish localities based around farming. Additionally, these communities would be for Jews only, meaning they would not hire any Arab employees. The Arabs in the…

Mendoza the Jew Throughout life’s journey, we tend search for the things that complete our hearts, mind, and souls. We often find comfort in the little things in life to distracts from the bigger issues we face. In Mendoza’s case, boxing was his happy place. Boxing was his way of coping with the negative judgment and prejudice theories many people in his country had about the Jewish population. In the mist of finding ourselves, our happy place can affect our relationship with our society…

In 1929, following the Arab riots, Lord Passfield (Sidney Webb) issued a formal statement of British policy in Palestine called the Passfield White Paper. The Passfield White Paper’s tone was highly Anti-Zionist, restricting the immigration of Jews and the sale of land to Jews. Zionist leaders did not receive the Passfield White Paper kindly and endless letters of outrage bombarded the British government. Zionist organizations organized campaigns against the anti-Zionist implications of the…

Have you ever wondered how many effects a collection white papers can have on two nations? Well, a document named The White Paper, had a ton of effects, both negative and positive. It was a document issued by the British Government in 1939 under Neville Chamberlain. The white paper had both negative and positive effects on Jews and Palestinians. It limited Jewish immigration when the persecution of Jews in Europe was increasing. Also, Palestinians did not want to wait for ten years for their own…

Palestine was a great success. The British bettered the quality of life for the Jews and Arabs in Palestine, improving the water and food supply, fighting diseases, and enhancing communications. Since the Mandate’s implementation Palestine has greatly improved and the Mandate was a success. The four main successes of the British Mandate were land gaining, population increase, Independent Jewish economy, and Jewish labor. Even though the Zionists wanted the land of Palestine, which they deemed…

From Mandate to State: The Yishuv of 1919-1948 For 4,000 years, the Jewish people lived in exile without a nation to call their own. To compensate for this lack of an official homeland, the Jews concentrated on keeping their traditions alive by maintaining their religion, sense of community and social system. It was terribly important to the Jewish people of Palestine to have a place of refuge for their persecuted relatives throughout the world. Jewish immigrants who sought asylum from…

control during their mandate. In 1915, the British under the McMahon agreement to King Hussein promised the Arabs the land they had lived in before the Turks came, in exchange for a revolt against the Turks. The British had not properly thought this through because in the letter which was sent it is said that Britain will recognize and support the independence of the Arabs in any region demanded. This meant that Britain had made…