Global Transformations: Decolonization and the Arab-Israeli Conflict

Causes of Decolonization

• The desire for independence among the majority of the colonial population, opposing a metropolis that had imposed its way of life and culture, ruled despotically, and exploited their economies.
• The rise of nationalist movements to confront the settlers.
• The decline in the prestige of colonial powers during the global conflict, where they were defeated by the Axis. This defeat shattered the myth of white racial superiority.
• The expansion of international opinion against colonization, manifested through the Atlantic Charter (1941), the United Nations Declaration (1946), and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), all of which proclaimed the right of peoples to self-determination.
• Support for decolonization from the two great powers, the USA and the USSR, who did not possess colonial empires and were interested in weakening the old European powers.

The Middle East Conflict

Palestine was a British protectorate inhabited mostly by Muslims, but with a significant contingent of Jews. In 1945, Jewish militias in Palestine declared an insurrection to force the withdrawal of the British and push for the creation of a Jewish state to host Nazi Holocaust survivors. In 1947, the UN proposed a partition solution into two states: one Jewish and one Palestinian. In 1948, David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the State of Israel.

The Palestinians and their Muslim neighbors did not recognize the new Israeli state. They formed the League of Arab States (Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon) and triggered the first Arab-Israeli War (1948-1949), which resulted in Israel's acquisition of new Palestinian territories. The end of this conflict did not bring a lasting peace; in 1956, the second war erupted, followed by a third in 1967. Israel was victorious in all these conflicts, extending its zone of occupation.

To defend Palestinian interests, the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) was created in 1964, headed by Yasser Arafat. Initially, the PLO promoted terrorism against Israel and its allies. However, beginning in 1974, this organization abandoned violence and advocated for negotiation with Israel.

In 1993, Israel agreed to the creation of an autonomous territory under Palestinian authority. However, the fighting continued, and coexistence between Jews and Palestinians remains highly contentious.