Israel's Birth: Two Key Facts You Might Not Know (Plus a GIVEAWAY!)

Israel has been in the news a great deal this month. Who hasn’t been horrified by the Gaza footage? But going back to the roots of the seventy-year old conflict, there are some key facts many may not be aware of.

#1: The Nation of Israel Was Created in Response to the Plight of Holocaust Victims

Many Holocaust victims were still behind barbed wire five years later! 

Seventy-three years ago, the world was shocked and horrified as the extent of the Holocaust extermination machine was unveiled. Six million Jews, half of Europe’s Jewish population and a third of the world’s, slaughtered in less than five brutal years. Along with five million others—priests and pastors, gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses, communists, anarchists, Poles and other Slavic peoples, not to mention resistance fighters. 

Holocaust survivors liberated from the Mauthausen camp in Austria.

When the Allied armies liberated the concentration camps in 1945, I always pictured that the captives were quickly nursed back to health and freed. But in researching a future novel, I’ve learned that picture is heartbreakingly inaccurate. 

The war left 250,000 Jewish displaced persons interned around Europe—many of them still confined in overcrowded conditions on the grounds of the camps in which they’d endured so much. Many Holocaust victims were still living behind barbed wire in those camps five years later. 

Wedding dress sewn from parachute silk. It was reused by a succession of Jewish brides in the Celle and Belsen camps--former concentration camps made over to house Jewish "displaced persons."

They didn’t want to—or couldn’t—return to their former homes where they’d faced so much persecution. How and where to resettle them became a humanitarian crisis of global proportion. The majority of them stated they had a single dream: to "make aliyah" or immigrate to their own land, in what was then Mandatory British Palestine. 

How British Palestine Came to Be

Let's step back a quarter century. In 1922, after the Ottoman Empire fell at the end of WWI, the League of Nations granted the British a Mandate to govern an area the British (not the Arab residents, who had been citizens of the Ottomans) named "Palestine." The Mandate's express purpose? To establish "a national home for the Jewish people." 

During the first decades of the twentieth century, Jewish people were allowed to immigrate freely into British Palestine. Some came, purchasing land legally from Arab families who were happy to sell it. But they didn’t come in great numbers. Why? Because life in Palestine was hard! The land they were able to purchase was generally undesirable. They persisted through years of toil to reclaim malarial swamps or to coax crops from arid sand. You had to be young, hardy, and a bit of a zealot for the pioneering Zionist life to appeal. 

Worse, as the Jewish population increased, it became the target of random violence by Arab neighbors. Episodes got more frequent, climaxing in the Arab Revolt of 1936-1939. More than three hundred Jews were murdered during the Revolt years alone. 

#2: The “Two-State Solution” Has Been Rejected Many Times… And Not by Israel 

Many attempts have been made to define a plan to divide the land between Arabs and Jews. 

In 1937, the British formed a body called the Peel Commission to make a recommendation. Its recommendation looked like this: 

Peel Commission Partition Plan, 1937. The Jewish State would get the smaller area within the red lines. Jerusalem would be in an international zone governed by the British.

The Jews agreed to this partition plan. But the Arabs rejected it, continuing the Arab Revolt. 

It took the sweeping horror of the Holocaust to move world sympathy enough to persuade the new United Nations to ratify a new plan. The land the United Nations voted to grant to Israel in May, 1948 looked like this: 

U.N. Partition Plan enacted in May, 1948. The crazy-shaped blue area was Israel. Jerusalem (in gray) was, again, to be a special international zone.

The Jewish State looks like indefensible Swiss cheese here! The big pointed piece at the bottom is the Negev desert--forbidding land not suitable for either agriculture or urban development at that time. Nonetheless, the Jewish negotiators agreed to this plan. The Arab negotiators did not.

Non-Jewish residents of the new nation were not asked to give up their homes or their civil rights, which were guaranteed. But those who wished to remain in the Jewish sections would need to accept Jewish leadership. That the Arab world would not submit to. Instead, Palestine plunged into a state of undeclared civil war. This began months before the partition officially took effect on May 15, 1948. 

Violence escalated. The day Israel became a nation, seven surrounding states attacked it. Heavily armored columns bore down on Jewish farming communities whose defense consisted of molotov cocktails and a motley assortment of smuggled rifles--smuggled, because they had been illegal for them to own under the British mandate. Perhaps with the addition of a light mortar or two and what little ammunition the nascent Israeli Defense Force could supply.

Jewish kibbutz members work their collective farm in 1947. The Kfar Etzion kibbutz was destroyed by Arabs on May 14, 1948--the day before war was formally declared. Jewish occupants were slaughtered after surrendering, including approximately 20 women.

Many Arabs fled Israel voluntarily at this time, understandably fearful to remain in a war zone. Some were, frankly, expelled at gunpoint. Once it became clear the Arabs would not support the Jewish state, the fledgling nation couldn't afford to leave villages in place in strategic locations where they could easily harbor and support its enemies. 

Were there wartime atrocities? Sadly, yes. Both ways. 

But the narrative that makes the Jewish state out to be the bully in the neighborhood, picking fights with unarmed Arab villagers, turns the facts upside down. 

Seventy years later, why are so many Palestinian Arabs still in squalid refugee camps?

The entire history of the conflict is too involved to sketch out here. One fact does seem to get overlooked in the coverage. The walls that keep the Palestinian Arabs out of Egypt and Jordan are just as serious business as the barriers that keep them out of Israel. In 1952, the Arab League agreed that no member state would grant citizenship to Palestinian Arabs. 

Israel made the Palestinians fresh offers in 2000 and 2008. Both would have given the Palestinians their own state including all of Gaza and the majority of the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as their capital. Yasser Arafat turned down the first deal (which Bill Clinton helped broker) and Mahmoud Abbas the second. 

And despite receiving ~$5.5B in international aid since 1993, the Palestinian Authority (now merged with recognized terrorist organization Hamas) has done little to improve the people's living conditions.

The situation in the Palestine refugee camps is indeed wrenching. But Israel is not solely to blame.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir is quoted as saying, "We will perhaps in time be able to forgive the Arabs for killing our sons, but it will be harder to forgive them for having forced us to kill theirs."

For a more specific take on the current events, you might check out the first paragraphs of my blog post here.


Back by popular demand! I'm hosting a drawing for a copy of Sarah Sundin's latest WWII novel, The Sea Before Us, for new subscribers to my newsletter. You'll also receive updates on my novel, including an opportunity to gain pre-launch access. To enter, please REGISTER HERE by Wednesday, May 30. (I'm also giving away a second copy to a current subscriber, so those of you who registered last month will have a second chance to win. :) )

I stepped away from a marketing career that spanned continents to write what I love: stories of reckless faith that showcase God's hand in history. I'm so excited to work with the all-star team at Mountain Brook Ink to launch my debut novel, The Plum Blooms in Winter, this December! Inspired by a remarkable true story from World War II's pivotal Doolittle Raid, The Plum Blooms in Winter is an American Christian Fiction Writers' Genesis Contest winner. The novel follows a captured American pilot and a bereaved Japanese prostitute who targets him for ritual revenge. Please also feel free to check out my blog, Five Stones and a Sling, which hovers in the region where history meets Bible prophecy meets current events. It's rich ground--we live in a day when prophecies are leaping from the Bible's pages into the headlines!

I live outside Phoenix with my husband, a third-generation airline pilot who doubles as my Chief Military Research Officer. We share our home with two mostly-grown-up kids and a small platoon of housecats.

Historical Palestine, IL - A Town for Yesteryear and for Today

By Pamela S. Meyers

By the time this is posted, I will be on the road home from a very exciting weekend in Palestine, Illinois, site of the Pioneer City Rodeo. The same rodeo that is the setting for my book, Second Chance Love.

Ever since I began attending the rodeo over ten years ago, I’ve been amused by the signs posted at the entrances to the village that state: “Welcome to Historic Palestine, Illinois.” Curious as to what makes the town historic, I checked it out. The small town does have quite a colorful history—one they are proud of and celebrate.

Located along the western boundary of Illinois on the banks of the Wabash River, Palestine is surrounded by flat prairie land, which now contain corn and soybean fields. But back several centuries, the Illinois prairie stretched west for miles. Descriptions by explorers at that time include descriptions such as “a sea of tall grass.” After coming out of the thick forests that covered what is now Ohio and much of Indiana, it must have been a stunning sight. According to the town’s website, “When French explorer Jean LaMotte first gazed upon the region in 1678, he gave it the name Palestine as it reminded him of the biblical land of milk and honey.”

The town was chartered in 1811, and is one of the oldest communities in the state of Illinois. During the early 1800s many settlers entered the region, including Abraham Lincoln. He crossed the Wabash River at what is now Vincennes, Indiana, then turned north and walked along the river’s edge to eventually camp on land occupied by Palestine today. They stayed a short time, then moved on to Decatur, Illinois.

Early settlers who put down roots in Palestine, had to deal with harsh winters and building a town from scratch. Also, when the French settlers who came to the area in the 1700s encountered friendly Indians who traded with them, but with the rising tensions of the War of 1812, that camaraderie was broken. To protect themselves from unprovoked Indian attacks the newly arrived pioneers built Fort Lamotte. When warned of a coming attack, the settlers sought shelter in the fort until the danger passed. At one point, according to a historical marker set at the approximate location of the fort, "The pioneers farmed the adjoining land but stayed within easy reach of the fort's protective walls. After the War of 1812, the Indian attacks diminished and the inhabitants of the fort became the nucleus of Palestine." 

In reviewing a number of old photos of Palestine, located through a link at the town's official website (see link below), it's apparent that with the coming of the railroad the village grew and prospered. In addition to the railroad the community also had a river port, grain mill, and train yard. 

Today the railroad yard is gone, but Main Street still prospers with antique and gift shops, an ice cream parlor and other commercial establishments, including the ongoing restoration of the Fife Opera House that is located on the second floor of what is known as the Fife Building. Mr. Fife was an influential business owner in Palestine in the late 19th Century and early 20th Century. The first floor of his building housed his retail businesses, and an opera house was on the second floor. A special committee has undertaken the restoration project. Check out their website for some interesting facts about the opera house, including some original background scenery that has recently been found.

Even the rodeo event and the arena have a unique history. The first rodeo was held 51 years ago on an old baseball field.

The wooden bleachers and lighting, left over from the field’s days as a baseball venue, were inadequate, but were okay temporarily. After a couple successful years of running the rodeo on the converted baseball field, the community came together and worked to build a new arena specifically designed for rodeo, complete with state-of-art lighting. It is deemed to be one of the finest rodeo arenas found in a community the size of Palestine. The photo from my personal photos taken by me shows the bucking chutes as they appear today. You can learn more about the rodeo at their website.

In 2006, the citizens of Palestine decided to commemorate the historical significance of Fort LaMotte and two other forts that were built near Palestine during the War of 1812, and a section of land was chosen next to the rodeo arena to erect a replica of Fort LaMotte. The finished project is pictured here. 

Before construction began, they painstakingly researched the designs of such

forts from that era and worked to have the replica as exact to the original as possible. Every time I go to the rodeo I pass the replica of Fort LaMotte, and it always gives me pause as I am reminded of the hardships the early pioneers endured on the very same land. The surrounding grassy land becomes a parking lot during rodeo weekend, and there’s something both odd and telling to see a life-sized model of the old fort surrounded by large pickup trucks, SUVs, and cars. 

Historical Palestine, Illinois may be small, but it is a town with a big heart that has been handed down from its earliest residents. If you ever find yourself in southern Illinois, you may want to pop in for a visit.

References: 

Palestine IL Website: http://pioneercity.com/history.html 

Pioneer City Rodeo Website: http://www.pioneercity.com/rodeo/history.html

Fife Opera House Website:http://www.fifeoperahouse.org/index.html

Fort LaMotte Rangers Website: http://nmlra.org/business-directory/1251/fort-lamotte-rangers/

A native of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, author Pamela S. Meyers lives in suburban Chicago with her two rescue cats. Her novels include Thyme for Love, Love Finds You in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin (out of print), Second Chance Love, and Surprised by Love in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin (a reissue of LFY in Lake Geneva, WI). She has also published two novellas, What Lies Ahead, which is included in The Bucket List Dare collection, and If These Walls Could Talk, which is included in the Coming Home collection. When she isn’t at her laptop writing her latest novel, she can often be found nosing around Wisconsin and other Midwestern spots for new story ideas. You can keep up with her on her at Facebook page or her website. She is also a monthly contributor at the Heroes, Heroines and History blog and at the Novel Rocket blog.