WEBVTT

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♪

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The State of Israel
had been proclaimed,

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and the people rejoiced
in their new nation.

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A haven of refuge for the
displaced and persecuted members

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of the Jewish faith
from all over the world.

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♪

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Israel was admitted
to membership

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in the United Nations,

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and her flag was raised
at Lake Success.

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Again, the United Nations had,
through peaceful mediation,

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resolved an
international dispute

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which had been a threat
to world peace.

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♪

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Herzl was writing his ideas
about Zionism

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in the late 19th century,

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and the backdrop
to his books and vision

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is the rise of anti-Semitism

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in Central and Eastern Europe,
on the one hand,

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and his own frustration

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for not being fully assimilated

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into Western European culture.

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And his solution was to create

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instead of a German

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romantic national movement

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where the Jews
will not be accepted--

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he understood that--

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to create a Jewish
romantic national movement.

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You cannot say
it was a monolithic thing.

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There were different reactions.

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The richer Jews
that were the Western Jews,

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mostly they were,
mostly they were opposed

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to the idea of Zionism,
because they were

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well assimilated
in their own countries.

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They were well rooted there,

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and they considered that
bringing up such a subject

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was very dangerous,
because it meant

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that they are not citizens
of these countries anymore,

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that they have to go
somewhere else.

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But the Dreyfus affair
was the one that shocked them,

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and they started to feel
that no matter what we do,

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no matter how assimilated
we get,

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we are still rejected,
we are still not accepted.

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So we have to find
our own place,

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our own country to go to.

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They had different ideas.

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They didn\'t choose
Palestine immediately.

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They thought about places
like Uganda, Argentina,

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the United States, Azerbaijan.

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But we also have to understand
that they were pushed

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by Christian Zionists

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not to give up on Palestine.

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And these were very powerful
Evangelical people,

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both in the United States,
especially in Britain,

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who really wanted to see

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the return of the Jews
to Palestine.

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Pioneers and refugees

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from countries of the oppression

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where Jews are free
to be anything but Jews.

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Young and old,
they are going now to a land

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which accepts them as its own

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and not merely as strangers
to be tolerated.

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They will drill wells
and bring the hidden water,

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the most precious treasure

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out of the depths of the earth.

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The Christian Zionists\'

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Evangelical dogma is very clear.

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It believes that the return
of the Jews to Palestine

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signifies the end of time,

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the second coming
of the Messiah,

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the resurrection of the dead.

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So, for them,
the return of the Jews

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is the first indication
that God\'s will

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is going to be
implemented finally.

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And in this respect,
they always wanted the Jews

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to come back
or allegedly come back

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to an ancient homeland
where supposedly,

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the Jews used to live
as a nation, even had a state,

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which of course,
is all fabrication of history,

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but that doesn\'t matter,
because all national movements

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fabricate their history.

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So, in this respect,
Zionism was not unique.

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This is the land which God
promised to Abraham.

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♪

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Once, while the Jews
lived in this land,

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it was the center
of a great civilization.

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Through the ages,
the Jews made pilgrimages

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to all these places
filled with holy memories

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to add their prayers
to those of their ancestors

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that the scattered children
of Israel

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be gathered again
into the shelter

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of their own homeland.

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What Zionism did was two things.

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One is to transform Judaism

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from a religion
into nationalism,

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and this is why
at the beginning of Zionism

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very few Jews agreed to do that.

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And secondly,
they wanted to transform

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the Jews from people who live

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in a unique way,
a segregated way,

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into a modern nation.

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(singing in foreign language)

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(feet stomping)

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Zionism was going
to remain a dream

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until it gained the support
of a great power.

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And in that sense,
the first support

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came from great financial power.

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One thinks about the support
that the Montefiores

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or the Rothschilds gave
for the early Aliyot

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between 1882 and the outbreak
of the First World War

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to sustain a colonization scheme

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and to encourage
the settlement of Jews

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mostly from Eastern Europe
or from Russia

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within the frontiers
of what was still

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an Ottoman territory
in Palestine.

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That support was good for
bringing Jews to Palestine,

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but not in sufficient numbers
to give them

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a critical demographic mass.

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For that, you really needed
to have the support

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of a large political power.

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The headquarters
of the Zionist movement

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during the First World War
was in Berlin,

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but because of the war,

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the leaders of the Zionist
movement decided rightly--

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they were always very good
in anticipating big events--

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they had a feeling that Germany
was going to lose.

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So, they transferred
the headquarters

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from Germany to London.

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And a new figure
became very important

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in the Zionist movement,
Chaim Weizmann,

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who was kind of a war hero
in Britain,

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because he invented the TNT
and helped Britain

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to win the war in a way.

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So he became very influential,

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and his friends
in the Zionist movement

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made it very clear
that the Zionist movement

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would look for Britain
as the superpower

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that would help implement
the Zionist ideology.

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(engine whirring)

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The British were
looking for more funds

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for the war effort.

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And so there, the claims by--

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of the Zionist movement
that they would be able to

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help fund the war effort
was very attractive.

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That\'s the context in which
the Balfour Declaration,

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or letter, which is what it is
from a legal point of view,

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was put forward.

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And it was a letter from
Lord Balfour to Lord Rothschild.

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Basically a commitment

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of the British government
to the Zionists

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to have a Jewish home
in Palestine.

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The wording of the letter
is actually very interesting.

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The letter gives
Britain\'s support

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for a Jewish home in Palestine,

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not a Jewish homeland.

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That is one thing
to allow immigration

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of Jews into Palestine,

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and it\'s a quite
different proposition

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to create a country
for those immigrants

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at the expense
of the native population.

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The second clause,
without prejudice

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to the civil
and religious rights

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of the native
Palestinian-Arab population,

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they\'re just called non-Jews.

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And what\'s interesting there
is the omission

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of the word \"political rights\"

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so that the religious rights

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were to be protected,

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but not the political rights.

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And that was a careful omission

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on the part of the drafters.

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I mean, this was a document
that was drafted by a number

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of different people
in the name of Lord Balfour.

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There were some misconceptions
in Britain about Zionism,

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which really helped
the Zionist movement.

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One was a total confusion
about the Bolshevik movement

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in Zionism,
because there were so many Jews

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in the Bolshevik movement.

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The British government
believed that if it supports

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the idea of colonizing Palestine
for the Jews,

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it will create a good
relationship with the Jews

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in the Bolshevik movement,
which of course was ridiculous

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because the Bolshevik Jews

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were anti-Zionist,
not pro-Zionist.

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And the second one
is probably less ridiculous,

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but a bit premature.

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They believed the Jews
had a lot of influence

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in the United States.

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And again, it was a bit weird,
because in 1917,

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the American Jews
were still not Zionists.

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They did not support
the idea of Zionism,

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which is also a bit
anti-Semitic, of course,

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to assume that
the Jews controlled

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both the new Soviet Union
and the United States.

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But this was always--

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Zionism always benefited
from anti-Semitism,

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Christian Zionism,
and strategic interests.

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♪

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It\'s not a coincidence that
the final British breakthrough

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on the Ottoman lines
in southern Palestine,

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that it\'s precisely at that
moment that they articulate

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a new policy towards Palestine

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recognizing a Jewish
national home.

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It looks as though Britain
was promising Palestine

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to the Zionist movement.

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Instead, it was the British

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taking advantage
of the Zionist movement

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to take Palestine
for themselves.

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Make it a low-cost colony
for the British,

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and would give the British
a kind of chain of command

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that would link Egypt,
Palestine, Iraq,

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and the Persian Gulf
to the Indian Ocean world.

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(train rattling)

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Britain and France became the
new rulers of the Middle East

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after the defeat
of the Ottoman Empire,

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and they wanted to divide
between themselves

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the Ottoman provinces
of the Arab world.

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There were two issues for them.

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One, there was
an Arab national movement

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that wanted to create
a United Arab Republic

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all over the Arab world.

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And this is something Britain
and France could not allow.

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They were afraid
of a united Arab force.

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And they had the problem
with the Americans

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until Wilson disappeared.

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The Americans demanded that
the right of self-determination

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for people would be respected.

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So, they find the compromise,
the mandate system.

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They convince the Americans
and some local Arab leaders

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that it would be better
to divide

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the Arab world into states

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rather than to have
one United Arab Republic.

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So, they forced upon them a map,
a new map.

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The map more or less
that we know today

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of Syria, Iraq,
Jordan, and so on.

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Mandates were, as framed
by the League of Nations,

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meant to be projects
of limited duration,

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but as conceived
by the imperial powers,

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they were meant to be
a part of the extension

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of the imperial network

00:17:37.600 --> 00:17:40.467
through a new form
of imperialism,

00:17:40.467 --> 00:17:45.333
a new--a new notion
of colonialism.

00:17:45.333 --> 00:17:48.367
(projector whirring)

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The mandate idea
was a European power

00:18:08.367 --> 00:18:10.133
would help the local country

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to become independent
within 25 years,

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and after 25 years, there will
be democratic elections

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and the people will decide
what kind of a state they want.

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Now, if you take
the Balfour Declaration

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out of the charter,

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it means that the people
of Palestine, after 25 years,

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had the right to decide

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what kind of a Palestine
they would have.

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The Jews, in 1917, were
10 percent of the population.

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So, it\'s very clear
what a democratic choice

00:18:37.600 --> 00:18:40.700
of the people of Palestine
would be.

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♪

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(cheering)

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(applause)

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It is nearly 16 years

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since he recruited me

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to the Zionist movement.

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(laughing)

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Chaim Weizmann
was very instrumental

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in convincing Lloyd George
at that time

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to have someone who was
a committed Zionist

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to be the first
High Commissioner.

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The importance of choosing
somebody like Samuel,

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in those circumstances,
is that it was up to him

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to make the Balfour Declaration

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mean whatever
it was going to mean.

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Everything he did on the ground,

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like the immigration laws,

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and the land transfer laws,
and the settling

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would transform this country

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into a Jewish state in the end.

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And the Palestinians
began a series

00:21:22.800 --> 00:21:24.734
of an anti-colonialist struggle

00:21:24.734 --> 00:21:27.800
against both Britain
and the Zionist movement.

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The first wave of struggle
was 1919,

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already two years
after the Balfour Declaration.

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Then 1920, \'21.

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\'29, of course,
was the more major attempt

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to struggle against this idea

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that Palestinians have no say
in the future.

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And \'29--at least 1929 events

00:21:49.433 --> 00:21:52.000
convinced the British
that they have to start

00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:54.400
consulting the Palestinians.

00:21:54.400 --> 00:21:56.767
And when they start to consult
the Palestinians

00:21:56.767 --> 00:21:59.467
and the Zionists
at the same time,

00:21:59.467 --> 00:22:01.633
they have no way out of it.

00:22:01.633 --> 00:22:04.133
And I think that
already in 1929,

00:22:04.133 --> 00:22:07.066
it was very clear
Britain cannot solve

00:22:07.066 --> 00:22:08.767
the problem that it has created.

00:22:08.767 --> 00:22:11.367
The main case
of the Arabs is against

00:22:11.367 --> 00:22:16.266
the British government policy
in Palestine.

00:22:16.266 --> 00:22:18.467
A policy, which if continued,

00:22:18.467 --> 00:22:20.367
would surely have as a result

00:22:20.367 --> 00:22:24.467
the replacement of the Arabs
by the Jews.

00:22:24.467 --> 00:22:28.400
This policy is not only contrary
to the pledge

00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:31.633
given by His Britannic
Majesty\'s government

00:22:31.633 --> 00:22:36.100
to the late King Hussein
in the year 1915

00:22:36.100 --> 00:22:40.300
for the establishment of
a completely independent state,

00:22:40.300 --> 00:22:44.633
but is also not in accordance
with the four points

00:22:44.633 --> 00:22:48.533
of President Wilson\'s
Fourteen Points calling for

00:22:48.533 --> 00:22:51.700
the self-determination
of all people.

00:22:51.700 --> 00:22:53.433
The Arabs who decided

00:22:53.433 --> 00:22:56.233
on a general
and a complete strike

00:22:56.233 --> 00:22:58.800
until the total
and immediate stoppage

00:22:58.800 --> 00:23:01.734
of Jewish immigration
is brought about,

00:23:01.734 --> 00:23:03.600
and until the government
can produce

00:23:03.600 --> 00:23:07.767
an essential change
in its present policy.

00:23:07.767 --> 00:23:10.266
In Jerusalem, the state
of tension continues.

00:23:10.266 --> 00:23:12.500
Terrorism has caused
a number of deaths already,

00:23:12.500 --> 00:23:14.734
and at Arab meetings,
agitators whip up

00:23:14.734 --> 00:23:16.667
the old race animosity.

00:23:16.667 --> 00:23:18.767
British police search
wayfarers for arms.

00:23:18.767 --> 00:23:21.066
Under police protection,
Jewish families are moved

00:23:21.066 --> 00:23:23.266
from the old quarters
of Jerusalem to districts

00:23:23.266 --> 00:23:25.033
where they are less likely
to be molested,

00:23:25.033 --> 00:23:29.633
and the British soldier
in his tin hat helps too.

00:23:29.633 --> 00:23:37.367
♪

00:23:46.467 --> 00:23:51.333
♪

00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:04.266
The result was disastrous
for the Palestinians,

00:24:04.266 --> 00:24:09.600
because most of their leaders
were killed by the British,

00:24:09.600 --> 00:24:12.033
or exiled,
and when \'48 would come,

00:24:12.033 --> 00:24:14.567
they would be without
proper leadership.

00:24:14.567 --> 00:24:16.066
From a Zionist perspective,

00:24:16.066 --> 00:24:19.533
they understood that if
they want to take Palestine,

00:24:19.533 --> 00:24:20.500
they have to do it by force,

00:24:20.500 --> 00:24:23.033
and they will have to
transfer the Palestinians.

00:24:23.033 --> 00:24:26.166
This is the time when the leader
of the Zionist movement,

00:24:26.166 --> 00:24:29.567
David Ben-Gurion, talks openly
about the need to expel

00:24:29.567 --> 00:24:32.667
the Palestinians if you want
to create a Jewish state,

00:24:32.667 --> 00:24:34.767
and for that,
you need military force.

00:24:34.767 --> 00:24:36.233
Questions have been asked
in Parliament

00:24:36.233 --> 00:24:38.500
about the arming
of Jewish Supernumeraries.

00:24:38.500 --> 00:24:40.700
Well, here is a detachment
of men who have been trained

00:24:40.700 --> 00:24:44.633
to reinforce the military
in the protection of their home.

00:24:44.633 --> 00:24:47.033
Trenches have been dug
around the Jewish colonies.

00:24:47.033 --> 00:24:49.767
Police and Supernumeraries
are ready to man them

00:24:49.767 --> 00:24:51.567
at a moment\'s notice.

00:24:51.567 --> 00:24:52.533
♪

00:24:52.533 --> 00:24:55.767
Arabs convicted of crimes
or offenses against authority

00:24:55.767 --> 00:24:59.367
are kept in concentration camps
behind barbed wire.

00:24:59.367 --> 00:25:00.433
Strictly guarded, they are put

00:25:00.433 --> 00:25:02.500
to breaking stones
for road-making.

00:25:02.500 --> 00:25:04.200
In the unhappy
State of Palestine,

00:25:04.200 --> 00:25:06.033
these camps are inevitable.

00:25:06.033 --> 00:25:08.000
After the abandonment
of rebellion,

00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:11.433
justice may be tempered
with mercy.

00:25:44.133 --> 00:25:47.200
(indistinct shouting)

00:25:50.166 --> 00:25:51.233
For the Zionist movement,

00:25:51.233 --> 00:25:54.266
the White Paper
was an existential threat.

00:25:54.266 --> 00:25:56.700
Ben-Gurion,
recognizing that Britain

00:25:56.700 --> 00:26:00.333
was facing up against a future
conflict with the Nazis,

00:26:00.333 --> 00:26:04.066
promised to support the
British war against the Nazis

00:26:04.066 --> 00:26:06.100
as if there was no White Paper.

00:26:06.100 --> 00:26:07.734
But he promised
the Zionist movement

00:26:07.734 --> 00:26:09.166
he would fight the White Paper

00:26:09.166 --> 00:26:12.300
as if there were
no war against the Nazis.

00:26:12.300 --> 00:26:15.133
More radical members
of the Jewish community

00:26:15.133 --> 00:26:16.266
in Palestine

00:26:16.266 --> 00:26:19.400
took this as a soft lie
by Ben-Gurion.

00:26:19.400 --> 00:26:22.066
They believed
that Britain\'s posture

00:26:22.066 --> 00:26:23.266
had changed fundamentally

00:26:23.266 --> 00:26:26.667
from being a state
supporting the creation

00:26:26.667 --> 00:26:29.066
of Jewish ambitions
to statehood

00:26:29.066 --> 00:26:32.767
to becoming an illegitimate
colonial occupier

00:26:32.767 --> 00:26:34.200
denying the Zionist movement

00:26:34.200 --> 00:26:36.166
its right
to national self-determination

00:26:36.166 --> 00:26:38.600
in its biblical homeland,
Eretz Israel.

00:26:38.600 --> 00:26:40.433
And this is where
we see the breakoff

00:26:40.433 --> 00:26:45.200
of the Stern Gang or the Etzel,

00:26:45.200 --> 00:26:47.433
the Lehi movements,

00:26:47.433 --> 00:26:49.734
which advocated
using terror tactics

00:26:49.734 --> 00:26:52.133
to drive the British
out of Palestine

00:26:52.133 --> 00:26:54.667
as an illegitimate
colonial occupier.

00:26:54.667 --> 00:26:57.700
These underground
terrorist organizations

00:26:57.700 --> 00:27:00.700
were, of course,
an offshoot of the Haganah.

00:27:00.700 --> 00:27:04.066
That was, itself,
another underground

00:27:04.066 --> 00:27:04.800
military organization.

00:27:04.800 --> 00:27:08.734
It was the nucleus
of the later Israeli army.

00:27:08.734 --> 00:27:13.000
Among their leaders
were somebody like Shamir,

00:27:13.000 --> 00:27:15.367
who later became prime minister,

00:27:15.367 --> 00:27:17.333
and Begin, and they were wanted

00:27:17.333 --> 00:27:19.533
by the British
army as terrorists.

00:27:19.533 --> 00:27:24.133
They were the extreme
right-wing factions

00:27:24.133 --> 00:27:26.767
of the Zionist organizations

00:27:26.767 --> 00:27:30.667
who belonged to
the faction of Jabotinsky,

00:27:30.667 --> 00:27:32.533
who believed, in the end,

00:27:32.533 --> 00:27:36.300
that there was no place
for Arabs and Jews,

00:27:36.300 --> 00:27:37.133
because they could see,

00:27:37.133 --> 00:27:39.133
everybody could see
with their own eyes

00:27:39.133 --> 00:27:41.500
that this country was inhabited.

00:27:41.500 --> 00:27:44.433
It was not an empty land
like the propaganda

00:27:44.433 --> 00:27:47.367
that was used from the end
of the 19th century,

00:27:47.367 --> 00:27:51.367
the very well-known cliché
\"a land without a people

00:27:51.367 --> 00:27:53.033
for a people without a land.\"

00:27:53.033 --> 00:27:56.033
When they went there,
they saw with their own eyes

00:27:56.033 --> 00:27:58.200
that that was totally untrue,

00:27:58.200 --> 00:27:59.300
and Jabotinsky would say it,

00:27:59.300 --> 00:28:01.400
there is no place
for both of us.

00:28:01.400 --> 00:28:02.266
It\'s either us or them,

00:28:02.266 --> 00:28:05.000
and we are coming here
as conquerors,

00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:06.500
we are colonialist conquerors,

00:28:06.500 --> 00:28:09.100
and it has been
a natural thing

00:28:09.100 --> 00:28:10.333
throughout the whole of history

00:28:10.333 --> 00:28:11.667
that when people are conquered,

00:28:11.667 --> 00:28:15.533
the original inhabitants
will definitely resist.

00:28:27.266 --> 00:28:33.533
♪

00:30:10.533 --> 00:30:28.667
♪

00:30:28.667 --> 00:30:31.467
It was in the spring of 1945,

00:30:31.467 --> 00:30:33.767
but we\'ll never forget it.

00:30:33.767 --> 00:30:35.633
We saw liberty.

00:30:35.633 --> 00:30:37.467
♪

00:30:37.467 --> 00:30:38.600
It was the doors opening up

00:30:38.600 --> 00:30:41.367
for the first time
in many years.

00:30:41.367 --> 00:30:44.467
♪

00:30:44.467 --> 00:30:46.700
You heard those voices
in a dozen different languages

00:30:46.700 --> 00:30:51.767
saying, \"We have waited
so long for you to come.\"

00:30:51.767 --> 00:30:54.533
♪

00:30:54.533 --> 00:30:57.100
The (unintelligible) Zionist
movement understood

00:30:57.100 --> 00:30:59.600
that Britain and France
are declining,

00:30:59.600 --> 00:31:03.166
and that if they want
this colonialist project

00:31:03.166 --> 00:31:04.800
of Zionism to succeed,

00:31:04.800 --> 00:31:08.033
they need--not only
do they have to fight Britain,

00:31:08.033 --> 00:31:09.400
because they don\'t have
the same interests,

00:31:09.400 --> 00:31:12.467
they need someone else
to take over as a supporter.

00:31:12.467 --> 00:31:15.467
And that\'s when they started
to understand the importance

00:31:15.467 --> 00:31:18.800
of the American Zionist comm--
Jewish community,

00:31:18.800 --> 00:31:22.667
and also the Christian Zionist
community in America.

00:31:22.667 --> 00:31:24.233
The lives
of five million Jews

00:31:24.233 --> 00:31:28.567
have proved to the world
what the Jewish problem is.

00:31:28.567 --> 00:31:32.200
You don\'t have today
to please Zionism

00:31:32.200 --> 00:31:34.667
or to (unintelligible).

00:31:34.667 --> 00:31:37.333
You just have to say
five million Jews

00:31:37.333 --> 00:31:40.633
massacred in Europe
because of the homelessness

00:31:40.633 --> 00:31:42.000
of the Jewish people.

00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:44.567
We have certainly
the right to demand

00:31:44.567 --> 00:31:45.667
that the world shouldn\'t wait

00:31:45.667 --> 00:31:48.100
for a second lesson
of this kind.

00:31:48.100 --> 00:31:50.100
We need to implement
the principle.

00:31:50.100 --> 00:31:52.266
This was recognized
even formally,

00:31:52.266 --> 00:31:54.100
internationally
to give Palestine

00:31:54.100 --> 00:31:57.400
to the Jewish people
as a real national home.

00:31:57.400 --> 00:32:00.000
(applause)

00:32:18.667 --> 00:32:20.800
Mr. Ben-Gurion\'s house
in Tel Aviv

00:32:20.800 --> 00:32:22.300
was the scene
of the recent meeting

00:32:22.300 --> 00:32:24.233
of the Jewish Agency
Executive.

00:32:24.233 --> 00:32:26.734
Among the leaders
of official Zionism,

00:32:26.734 --> 00:32:29.300
Dr. Moshe Sneh,
formerly chief of the Haganah,

00:32:29.300 --> 00:32:33.333
and Mrs. Golda Meir,
Head of the Political Bureau.

00:32:33.333 --> 00:32:35.300
♪

00:32:35.300 --> 00:32:37.500
Mr. Ben-Gurion,
Chairman of the Executive,

00:32:37.500 --> 00:32:40.233
leads them into his study
for the meeting.

00:32:40.233 --> 00:32:41.667
Although
condemning terrorism,

00:32:41.667 --> 00:32:43.533
the Executive decided
not to participate

00:32:43.533 --> 00:32:45.600
in any government
or army campaign

00:32:45.600 --> 00:32:46.667
against the terrorists.

00:32:46.667 --> 00:32:50.066
These attacks sapped
the will of the British

00:32:50.066 --> 00:32:50.734
to try and continue

00:32:50.734 --> 00:32:53.233
to impose their authority
on a Palestine

00:32:53.233 --> 00:32:56.600
over which they were
increasingly losing control.

00:32:56.600 --> 00:32:58.333
The coasts were flooded
with ships

00:32:58.333 --> 00:33:00.333
of displaced Jews from Europe

00:33:00.333 --> 00:33:02.567
who were organized
by the Zionist agents

00:33:02.567 --> 00:33:05.667
to try and bring survivors
of the Holocaust

00:33:05.667 --> 00:33:08.400
to Palestine
to raise their numbers.

00:33:08.400 --> 00:33:10.367
And the British were
no longer in a position

00:33:10.367 --> 00:33:11.600
to drive back these ships

00:33:11.600 --> 00:33:14.734
of Europe\'s miserable
and dispossessed,

00:33:14.734 --> 00:33:16.667
which gave them
a very bad reputation

00:33:16.667 --> 00:33:18.767
in the international
community.

00:33:18.767 --> 00:33:20.266
Here they were turning back

00:33:20.266 --> 00:33:21.633
the survivors
of the Holocaust

00:33:21.633 --> 00:33:23.500
at the gates of Palestine.

00:33:23.500 --> 00:33:24.700
And in the end,
the British found

00:33:24.700 --> 00:33:27.433
that they had no solution
to the arrival

00:33:27.433 --> 00:33:29.633
and incompatible
nationalisms,

00:33:29.633 --> 00:33:30.700
Palestinian and Jewish,

00:33:30.700 --> 00:33:32.400
and they handed over
the dossier

00:33:32.400 --> 00:33:33.433
to the new United Nations

00:33:33.433 --> 00:33:36.100
as the successor
to the League of Nations.

00:33:36.100 --> 00:33:42.166
♪

00:33:42.166 --> 00:33:45.266
The League of Nations
comes to an end.

00:33:45.266 --> 00:33:47.333
Formed after
the First World War

00:33:47.333 --> 00:33:48.567
to preserve world peace,

00:33:48.567 --> 00:33:52.066
it failed to prevent
the Second World War.

00:33:52.066 --> 00:33:53.400
Veteran Paul-Boncour of France

00:33:53.400 --> 00:33:55.567
and 83-year-old
British Lord Cecil

00:33:55.567 --> 00:33:58.200
who helped to draft
the Covenant of the League

00:33:58.200 --> 00:34:00.066
as the former
world organization

00:34:00.066 --> 00:34:02.233
votes itself
out of existence,

00:34:02.233 --> 00:34:05.767
placing its hope
in the United Nations.

00:34:58.200 --> 00:35:00.100
What is interesting
about this report,

00:35:00.100 --> 00:35:03.633
which they decided to take
to the General Assembly

00:35:03.633 --> 00:35:06.700
and to adopt it as a peace plan,
first of all,

00:35:06.700 --> 00:35:09.400
and I think that\'s the most
important fact about it,

00:35:09.400 --> 00:35:11.533
they knew that
this was totally rejected

00:35:11.533 --> 00:35:13.600
by the Palestinians
in the Arab world

00:35:13.600 --> 00:35:14.467
and they didn\'t care.

00:35:14.467 --> 00:35:16.400
They said, \"We\'ll go on
with a peace plan,

00:35:16.400 --> 00:35:19.200
although the major party
is against it,

00:35:19.200 --> 00:35:21.500
which the United Nations
will never do again.

00:35:21.500 --> 00:35:23.467
It will never do
such a stupid thing again,

00:35:23.467 --> 00:35:27.367
but they want--this was
the power of America,

00:35:27.367 --> 00:35:29.133
definitely in that year,

00:35:29.133 --> 00:35:30.600
was particularly pro-Zionist.

00:35:30.600 --> 00:35:32.166
The United States Delegation

00:35:32.166 --> 00:35:34.600
supports
the basic principles

00:35:34.600 --> 00:35:37.066
of the unanimous recommendations

00:35:37.066 --> 00:35:38.000
and the majority plan,

00:35:38.000 --> 00:35:41.300
which provides for partition
and immigration.

00:35:41.300 --> 00:35:44.567
We refer to assistance
through the United Nations

00:35:44.567 --> 00:35:47.400
in meeting economic
and financial problems

00:35:47.400 --> 00:35:50.333
and the problem
of internal law and order

00:35:50.333 --> 00:35:52.033
during
the transition period.

00:35:52.033 --> 00:35:55.667
If it hadn\'t been
for the political lobbying

00:35:55.667 --> 00:35:56.600
and the delay of the vote,

00:35:56.600 --> 00:35:59.333
it\'s not at all clear
that the partition proposal

00:35:59.333 --> 00:36:03.500
would have won over
the binational federal state.

00:36:03.500 --> 00:36:04.500
And then the Arabs,

00:36:04.500 --> 00:36:08.033
who had basically backed
away from every proposal

00:36:08.033 --> 00:36:09.567
because they saw each proposal

00:36:09.567 --> 00:36:15.133
as a compromise
to their indigenous rights

00:36:15.133 --> 00:36:17.467
as the native population,

00:36:17.467 --> 00:36:19.000
and they made an attempt

00:36:19.000 --> 00:36:22.667
to raise the legality
of partition

00:36:22.667 --> 00:36:26.000
to the International
Court of Justice,

00:36:26.000 --> 00:36:30.133
and that was--
that attempt was defeated,

00:36:30.133 --> 00:36:31.200
again, through double dealings

00:36:31.200 --> 00:36:36.467
and backdoor pressure on states
to vote for partition.

00:37:21.433 --> 00:37:22.266
If we look at partition,

00:37:22.266 --> 00:37:26.300
the proposal of partition
from a legal point of view,

00:37:26.300 --> 00:37:28.233
of course the U.N. itself,

00:37:28.233 --> 00:37:31.033
the U.N. General Assembly
was well aware

00:37:31.033 --> 00:37:34.233
that it did not have
the legal authority

00:37:34.233 --> 00:37:37.500
to partition territory anywhere.

00:37:37.500 --> 00:37:41.066
Resolution 181
was exactly that,

00:37:41.066 --> 00:37:42.500
a resolution, a proposal,

00:37:42.500 --> 00:37:46.567
because the General Assembly
had no legal authority

00:37:46.567 --> 00:37:48.700
to order partition of territory

00:37:48.700 --> 00:37:51.767
or any kind
of territorial change.

00:37:51.767 --> 00:37:53.767
In order to get
the two-third majority,

00:37:53.767 --> 00:37:57.200
you needed to convince
countries to vote for,

00:37:57.200 --> 00:38:00.600
and again, America
became very useful here.

00:38:00.600 --> 00:38:03.367
For instance, Liberia,
which was the only

00:38:03.367 --> 00:38:05.066
African independent country,

00:38:05.066 --> 00:38:07.533
was promised a lot of money
from the United States

00:38:07.533 --> 00:38:10.567
in order to vote
for the partition plan.

00:38:10.567 --> 00:38:12.700
The Americans
exerted similar pressure

00:38:12.700 --> 00:38:15.767
on countries in Central America
and South America,

00:38:15.767 --> 00:38:17.567
and remember, these are the days
when the United States

00:38:17.567 --> 00:38:24.333
had a lot of influence
in Central and South America.

00:38:24.333 --> 00:38:27.467
And the Zionist lobby itself
worked quite well.

00:38:27.467 --> 00:38:29.467
The diplomats worked quite well,

00:38:29.467 --> 00:38:32.266
and they got
the two-third majority

00:38:32.266 --> 00:38:36.533
on the 29th of November, 1947.

00:38:36.533 --> 00:38:38.333
Soviet Union?

00:38:38.333 --> 00:38:39.800
Yes.

00:38:39.800 --> 00:38:42.400
United Kingdom?

00:38:42.400 --> 00:38:44.100
Abstain.

00:38:44.100 --> 00:38:46.200
The United States?

00:38:46.200 --> 00:38:47.700
Yes.

00:38:47.700 --> 00:38:49.500
Uruguay?

00:38:49.500 --> 00:38:51.166
Yes.

00:38:51.166 --> 00:38:52.767
Venezuela?

00:38:52.767 --> 00:38:54.300
Yes.

00:38:54.300 --> 00:38:56.000
Yemen?

00:38:56.000 --> 00:38:57.367
No.

00:39:16.433 --> 00:39:21.100
The resolution
of the Ad Hoc Committee

00:39:21.100 --> 00:39:22.800
for Palestine

00:39:22.800 --> 00:39:25.333
was adopted by 33 votes,

00:39:25.333 --> 00:39:29.000
13 against, 10 abstentions.

00:40:07.200 --> 00:40:10.133
♪

00:40:30.400 --> 00:40:31.467
The reaction on the Jewish side

00:40:31.467 --> 00:40:35.033
to the partition plan
was mixed.

00:40:35.033 --> 00:40:37.233
On the one hand,
there was a great joy

00:40:37.233 --> 00:40:40.000
of the international
recognition.

00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:42.233
On the other hand,
there was a sense

00:40:42.233 --> 00:40:44.333
that this was not
a viable Jewish state,

00:40:44.333 --> 00:40:48.233
because according to the map
half of the population

00:40:48.233 --> 00:40:50.100
in the future Jewish state
would be Arab,

00:40:50.100 --> 00:40:53.533
and so the whole idea
of a Jewish democratic state

00:40:53.533 --> 00:40:54.767
would be defeated.

00:40:54.767 --> 00:40:56.367
Ben-Gurion says,
on the one hand,

00:40:56.367 --> 00:40:58.533
we don\'t have to worry
because a lot of Jews

00:40:58.533 --> 00:41:00.734
will come to our state
once it\'s independent,

00:41:00.734 --> 00:41:04.633
so the demographic balance
will change by immigration.

00:41:04.633 --> 00:41:07.467
And then he said there will be
other means we can use,

00:41:07.467 --> 00:41:12.233
but he doesn\'t specify
how to deal with it.

00:41:12.233 --> 00:41:15.467
For the Arab world,
the partition resolution

00:41:15.467 --> 00:41:20.633
was their first major failure
in international diplomacy

00:41:20.633 --> 00:41:22.100
since achieving independence,

00:41:22.100 --> 00:41:25.500
and it would then lead them
to the next mistake

00:41:25.500 --> 00:41:26.333
or the next failure,

00:41:26.333 --> 00:41:27.667
which would be
in their inability

00:41:27.667 --> 00:41:31.300
to frame a kind of
joint military solution

00:41:31.300 --> 00:41:34.500
to the conflict that was
developing in Palestine.

00:42:14.700 --> 00:42:16.133
It\'s two different pictures.

00:42:16.133 --> 00:42:20.066
One is a community
that has a strong leadership,

00:42:20.066 --> 00:42:23.000
totally energized
and organized

00:42:23.000 --> 00:42:24.166
towards the right moment,

00:42:24.166 --> 00:42:27.133
knowing that it may
have to fight an Arab army,

00:42:27.133 --> 00:42:30.133
but also have to kick out
the Palestinians,

00:42:30.133 --> 00:42:34.000
and Palestinian leadership
doesn\'t know what to do.

00:42:34.000 --> 00:42:37.500
In fact, in January \'48,
the Palestinian leadership--

00:42:37.500 --> 00:42:39.633
I\'m not talking now
of just political leaders,

00:42:39.633 --> 00:42:43.066
the elite left,
70,000 Palestinians,

00:42:43.066 --> 00:42:45.567
all of them members
of the social, economic,

00:42:45.567 --> 00:42:48.333
and political elite
left Palestine.

00:42:48.333 --> 00:42:50.300
They left thinking
that they will come back

00:42:50.300 --> 00:42:52.133
after a few months, you know?

00:42:52.133 --> 00:42:53.367
But they left, so they left

00:42:53.367 --> 00:42:54.600
the population
without leadership,

00:42:54.600 --> 00:42:57.367
which made it very easy
for the Zionist movement

00:42:57.367 --> 00:43:01.266
to defeat the Palestinians
and kick them out in \'48.

00:43:01.266 --> 00:43:04.633
The Palestinian community
had risen in the 1930s

00:43:04.633 --> 00:43:06.133
against the British Mandate

00:43:06.133 --> 00:43:08.467
and had been repressed
with great violence.

00:43:08.467 --> 00:43:10.400
And many have argued
that, in a sense,

00:43:10.400 --> 00:43:12.233
the ability
of the Arab community

00:43:12.233 --> 00:43:14.200
to mobilize militarily

00:43:14.200 --> 00:43:16.100
had been broken by 1939.

00:43:16.100 --> 00:43:19.033
Their bids to try
and gets arms and support

00:43:19.033 --> 00:43:20.700
from neighboring Arab countries

00:43:20.700 --> 00:43:25.066
were met with
very little support indeed.

00:43:25.066 --> 00:43:27.000
The Jewish community,
on the other hand,

00:43:27.000 --> 00:43:31.200
had been building up
its experience and its arms,

00:43:31.200 --> 00:43:32.500
and particularly
in the aftermath

00:43:32.500 --> 00:43:34.667
of the end
of the Second World War

00:43:34.667 --> 00:43:39.400
where secret imports of arms
had given an arsenal

00:43:39.400 --> 00:43:40.734
to the Jewish community

00:43:40.734 --> 00:43:42.033
that allowed them to build

00:43:42.033 --> 00:43:44.200
an armed force
of some substance.

00:43:44.200 --> 00:43:46.633
The definition of legal
and illegal forces

00:43:46.633 --> 00:43:48.333
becomes daily more obscure.

00:43:48.333 --> 00:43:50.400
Haganah, the force
first legally raised

00:43:50.400 --> 00:43:52.233
for the defense
of Jewish settlements,

00:43:52.233 --> 00:43:54.433
appears to function
hand in glove

00:43:54.433 --> 00:43:56.233
with Irgun Zeva\'i Le\'umi,

00:43:56.233 --> 00:43:58.133
the outlawed terrorist army.

00:43:58.133 --> 00:43:59.500
Full-scale training
is underway

00:43:59.500 --> 00:44:03.233
in a score of camps
throughout the country.

00:44:03.233 --> 00:44:05.767
There is no shortage
of arms nor ammunition,

00:44:05.767 --> 00:44:07.166
though under
the British Mandate,

00:44:07.166 --> 00:44:10.567
possession of arms calls
for the death penalty.

00:44:10.567 --> 00:44:16.266
♪

00:44:16.266 --> 00:44:17.633
(rapid gunfire)

00:44:17.633 --> 00:44:19.200
The way that boundaries
were drawn

00:44:19.200 --> 00:44:20.166
of the Arab and Jewish state

00:44:20.166 --> 00:44:24.300
were fraught with problems
from the outset.

00:44:24.300 --> 00:44:26.233
The boundaries
didn\'t really reflect

00:44:26.233 --> 00:44:28.633
homogenous
demographic communities.

00:44:28.633 --> 00:44:30.200
There were large numbers
of Arabs living

00:44:30.200 --> 00:44:34.200
within the territory
allocated to the Jewish state.

00:44:34.200 --> 00:44:35.400
There were some
Jewish communities

00:44:35.400 --> 00:44:38.166
living within territories
allocated to the Arab state.

00:44:38.166 --> 00:44:41.800
In that sense, the only way
you could really achieve

00:44:41.800 --> 00:44:45.600
a kind of partition
that had homogeneity

00:44:45.600 --> 00:44:49.300
would be through
the forced depopulation

00:44:49.300 --> 00:44:51.567
of alien communities

00:44:51.567 --> 00:44:53.300
from the territory
of the new states,

00:44:53.300 --> 00:44:55.700
and it comes far closer
to the modern concept

00:44:55.700 --> 00:44:57.066
of ethnic cleansing,

00:44:57.066 --> 00:44:59.300
the idea that,
through force of arms,

00:44:59.300 --> 00:45:02.233
you will depopulate those
who do not conform

00:45:02.233 --> 00:45:05.467
to your ethnicity
or your community

00:45:05.467 --> 00:45:08.033
and make them live
outside the boundaries

00:45:08.033 --> 00:45:11.000
of their own home and homeland.

00:45:50.333 --> 00:45:52.367
Out of the 650 villages

00:45:52.367 --> 00:45:55.734
that were in
what became Israel,

00:45:55.734 --> 00:45:58.333
only 150 villages remained,

00:45:58.333 --> 00:46:01.166
so about 500 were expelled.

00:46:01.166 --> 00:46:02.333
It\'s older than Plan D

00:46:02.333 --> 00:46:04.166
which shows you
it was systematic,

00:46:04.166 --> 00:46:07.633
it was intentional,
it was also a bit chaotic,

00:46:07.633 --> 00:46:09.200
like in every ethnic cleansing.

00:46:09.200 --> 00:46:11.500
It gives--
creates an atmosphere,

00:46:11.500 --> 00:46:13.367
it\'s not just always
explicit orders.

00:46:13.367 --> 00:46:16.567
The soldiers on the ground
know what they have to do.

00:46:16.567 --> 00:46:20.000
And the British explained
to them what they will do.

00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:22.800
They will try
and convince the population

00:46:22.800 --> 00:46:25.233
to leave without fight.

00:46:25.233 --> 00:46:27.266
And the Zionist movement
says, \"Fine.

00:46:27.266 --> 00:46:30.533
If they leave without fight,
that\'s okay as well.

00:46:30.533 --> 00:46:32.367
As long as they leave.\"

00:46:32.367 --> 00:46:36.700
And so the British
play a horrible role

00:46:36.700 --> 00:46:38.700
in helping the Zionist movement

00:46:38.700 --> 00:46:41.433
to empty the Palestinian towns

00:46:41.433 --> 00:46:43.033
from its native population.

00:46:43.033 --> 00:46:44.633
Great Britain\'s
battle-scarred mandate

00:46:44.633 --> 00:46:48.567
in Palestine ended
on May 15th, 1948.

00:46:48.567 --> 00:46:50.367
Here, evacuating
British troops

00:46:50.367 --> 00:46:51.333
salute Sir Alan Cunningham,

00:46:51.333 --> 00:46:55.667
the last foreign governor
Israel was to see.

00:46:55.667 --> 00:46:57.767
At Lydda Airport,
General Cunningham

00:46:57.767 --> 00:46:59.233
bids goodbye
to an assignment

00:46:59.233 --> 00:47:01.166
often fraught
with bloody combat,

00:47:01.166 --> 00:47:03.400
and homebound British troops
are glad to pull out

00:47:03.400 --> 00:47:06.433
of what they called
\"a sticky situation.\"

00:47:06.433 --> 00:47:07.500
Two things happened.

00:47:07.500 --> 00:47:10.734
One, every British officer

00:47:10.734 --> 00:47:13.600
decided according
to his own agenda

00:47:13.600 --> 00:47:17.133
who to give the authority.

00:47:17.133 --> 00:47:18.400
Most of them were pro-Zionists,

00:47:18.400 --> 00:47:19.433
some of them were pro-Arabs,

00:47:19.433 --> 00:47:21.633
were trying to give it
also to Arabs,

00:47:21.633 --> 00:47:25.066
but the vast majority
gave it to the Jews.

00:47:25.066 --> 00:47:27.100
But even the pro-Arabs found out

00:47:27.100 --> 00:47:29.066
that there\'s no one
to give it to.

00:47:29.066 --> 00:47:33.100
There was not an established
political structure

00:47:33.100 --> 00:47:35.200
as was on the Zionist side.

00:47:35.200 --> 00:47:37.700
And therefore,
the mandatory state

00:47:37.700 --> 00:47:43.734
was more or less transferred
to Zionist hands immediately.

00:47:43.734 --> 00:47:45.500
Immediately.

00:47:45.500 --> 00:47:48.367
All the important
centers of the state,

00:47:48.367 --> 00:47:52.100
customs, police,
telephone, airports,

00:47:52.100 --> 00:47:56.467
uh, ports, everything

00:47:56.467 --> 00:47:59.266
fell into Zionist hands
instantly.

00:47:59.266 --> 00:48:00.467
On May 14th, 1948,

00:48:00.467 --> 00:48:03.200
the new government
headed by David Ben-Gurion

00:48:03.200 --> 00:48:04.467
is installed in Tel Aviv.

00:48:04.467 --> 00:48:06.467
Thus, for the first time
since the Roman Legion

00:48:06.467 --> 00:48:09.066
destroyed Jerusalem
in the year 70 A.D.,

00:48:09.066 --> 00:48:12.467
the Jewish people
have a nation of their own.

00:48:12.467 --> 00:48:15.467
♪

00:48:31.700 --> 00:48:34.200
The Arabs went to war
with Israel

00:48:34.200 --> 00:48:38.033
not as a unified body
surrounding the Jewish state,

00:48:38.033 --> 00:48:41.667
but as individual
disorganized fronts

00:48:41.667 --> 00:48:46.734
the Israelis found very easy
to contain and defeat.

00:48:51.133 --> 00:48:53.667
I have come back
to the United States

00:48:53.667 --> 00:48:56.233
with a message
to the United States Jews

00:48:56.233 --> 00:49:00.166
and to all Americans
who are interested in peace

00:49:00.166 --> 00:49:03.600
and, more specifically,
in peace in the Holy Land.

00:49:03.600 --> 00:49:06.500
We are convinced
that if, for instance,

00:49:06.500 --> 00:49:09.400
the United States
were to lift the embargo

00:49:09.400 --> 00:49:13.700
and the Jews got all the arms
that are necessary for them,

00:49:13.700 --> 00:49:16.467
this war will end very quickly.

00:49:16.467 --> 00:49:19.567
The army that could\'ve
really tipped the balance

00:49:19.567 --> 00:49:22.066
against the Jewish state
was the Jordanian army,

00:49:22.066 --> 00:49:23.333
because it was
the only Arab army

00:49:23.333 --> 00:49:26.500
that had military experience
in the Second World War.

00:49:26.500 --> 00:49:30.767
It was run by military--
by British officers at that,

00:49:30.767 --> 00:49:33.367
and it was quite well-equipped
in a way.

00:49:33.367 --> 00:49:36.200
But the Jordanians
had a secret agreement

00:49:36.200 --> 00:49:37.600
with the Jewish leadership

00:49:37.600 --> 00:49:41.066
that in return
for not interfering properly

00:49:41.066 --> 00:49:43.667
in Palestine,
they would be allowed

00:49:43.667 --> 00:49:48.066
to annex parts of Palestine
to Jordan.

00:50:19.133 --> 00:50:23.433
♪

00:50:23.567 --> 00:50:26.166
The 1948 war, so to speak,

00:50:26.166 --> 00:50:30.000
ended with the partitioning
of Palestine,

00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:31.066
but very different partitioning

00:50:31.066 --> 00:50:34.033
from the one
the United Nations hoped for.

00:50:34.033 --> 00:50:38.300
Eighty percent of Palestine,
78 percent of Palestine,

00:50:38.300 --> 00:50:40.266
became a Jewish state.

00:50:40.266 --> 00:50:42.133
In those 78 percent,

00:50:42.133 --> 00:50:45.734
one million Palestinians
lost their homeland

00:50:45.734 --> 00:50:48.633
and became refugees
outside of Palestine

00:50:48.633 --> 00:50:51.567
or outside of that area
that became Israel.

00:50:51.567 --> 00:50:56.266
Another part was the West Bank
that was annexed to Jordan

00:50:56.266 --> 00:50:58.467
and a smaller part,
the Gaza Strip,

00:50:58.467 --> 00:51:03.166
was the next--not the next,
controlled by Egypt.

00:51:03.166 --> 00:51:06.000
Palestine, as...

00:51:08.166 --> 00:51:10.233
...as the hoped-for country

00:51:10.233 --> 00:51:15.133
for the Palestinian people
ceased to exist.

00:51:15.133 --> 00:51:18.233
It was erased from the map.

00:51:18.233 --> 00:51:33.467
♪

00:52:01.066 --> 00:52:38.500
♪