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California State University, Northridge Boundaries for the "Holy Land"

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California State University, Northridge Boundaries for the CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE BOUNDARIES FOR THE "HOLY LAND" A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Geography by Saad Aldin Alazzawi May, 1982 The thesis of Saad Aldin Alazzawi is approved: California State University, Northridge May, 1982 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project is the conclusion of effort and research over the last fifteen years. With· the completion of the project (at last), I wish to express my appreciation to those who have assisted along the way. I wish to acknowledge the following faculty members for their considerable help: Dr. Warren Bland for his involvement and supervision which was instrumental in completing the project, to Dr. Gordon Lethwaithe who provided valuable guidance, and to Dr. Robert Hoffpauir for his interest. I am also grateful for the graphic work done by Brian Whelan and Grant Langman. My deep gratitude to my father, who has encouraged and supported me in my efforts. Above all, my deepest appreciation to my wife, Linda Farrah Alazzawi. Without her sincere effort (with "consideration") this final product would not be possible. iii SOURCES Much of the information used in this study was found in the libraries of California State University, North­ ridge, and the University of California, Los Angeles. The Map libraries of these universities were particularly help­ ful. In addition, a number of Israeli governmental and Jewish Agency publications were obtained by the writer through their respective offices in Los Angeles and in Israel. The sources may be categorized as either field or secondary. Field sources include personal cont~ct in the United States with Palestinian immigrants and Israelis, Syrians from the Golan region, and Jordanians. Military data from Arab military personnel, political discussions with the official in charge of the Political Division of the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles, as well as meetings with the Israeli Student Organization in the U.S.A., have all been helpful. Secondary sources include monographs, periodicals, and reference works in English and Arabic, published in Britain, the U.S.A., Israel, and the Arab countries. These, are supplemented by videotapes on the Palestine issue, as well as official government handbooks, census reports, and maps of boundary proposals and settlements. iv $ • TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii SOURCES iv LIST OF MAPS vii LIST OF TABLES viii ABSTRACT ix CHAPTER I . INTRODUCTION 1 Thesis and Objective Physical Location II. THE OTTOMAN PERIOD . 7 The Boundaries as Suggested by the Zionist Movement III. JEWISH SETTLEMENT 1882-1914 26 IV. DEFINITION OF THE PALESTINE-SINAI BOUNDARY 33 V. NORTHERN BOUNDARY WITH LEBANON . 40 VI. EASTERN BOUNDARY WITH TRANSJORDAN 45 VII. THE INFLUX OF JEWISH SETTLERS DURING THE MANDATE PERIOD . 48 Immigration VIII. INTERNAL DIVISIONS 61 IX. THE PARTITION OF PALESTINE 69 The Actual Boundaries X. BOUNDARY CHANGES AFTER ISRAEL'S INDEPENDENCE . 86 The 1948-1956 Era v CHAPTER Page The 1956-1980 Era XI. CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY . 110 vi List of Maps Map Page 1. Pre-WWI Turkish Administrative Districts of the Holy Land . 9 2. Jewish Conceptions of the Jewish State 18 3. The Jewish State as Proposed by the Zionist Organization . 20· 4. Palestine Under the British Mandate, 1923 25 5. Formulation of Palestine-Egyptian Boundary, 1892-1948 . 34 6. Sykes-Picot Agreement 42 7. Palestine Land Sales Restricted Zones 59 8. Demographic Change in Palestine 68 9. Peel Partition Plan 70 10. Palestine Partition Commission Proposals, 1938. 72 11. Jewish Agency Proposal, 1938 .. 74 12. Jewish Agency Proposal for the Jewish State, 1946 . 77 13. United Nations Special Committee on Palestine Proposals, 1947 . 78 14. Armistice Lines, 1949 89 15. Jewish Settlements Established 1870-1965 91 15(a)Jewish Urban Settlements Through 1965 . 92 16. Stages in Israel's War of Independence, 1947- 1949 . 93 17. Territories Occupied by Israel During 1967 War 101 18. Israeli-Syrian Disengagement Lines .. 103 vii List of Tables Table Page l. Jewish Immigration and Population in Palestine (1882-1972) . 53-54 viii ABSTRACT BOUNDARIES FOR THE "HOLY LAND" by Saad Aldin Alazzawi Master of Arts in Geography May, 1982 The Holy Land, a region that stretches far beyond that of modern Palestine, or Israel, has long been a center of conflict. The primary focus of this thesis is to analyze the processes at work in achieving political boundary change within and around Palestine. This study, covering the period from 1882 to the 1980's, seeks to define the factors contributing to the shaping of these lines, in terms of political geography. The involvement of European powers, primarily the British, and the powerful influence of the Zionist movement, both inside and outside the region, brought considerable boundary change to the Holy Land. The role of Jewish immigration and settlement patterns as prime factors in the fluctuating borders is examined. This thesis shows how the Zionists emp~oyed political ix pressure during the Mandate Period, and especially during the partition plan discussions, which resulted in large acquisitions of territory. The Zionists have continued to exert political pressure on the world community to gain support for their actions aimed at achieving "secure" borders. The recent settlement of the Egyption-Israeli border by no means signals an end to border disputes. The remaining occupied territories continue to tempt both the Israelis and the Arabs to boundary change by military action. The large-scale settlement in the occupied West Bank will continue to be an important issue in the estab­ lishment of any future "permanent" boundaries. Following the pattern of the past one hundred years, further boundary change can be expected. X CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Thesis and Objectives The Holy Land has long been a zone of conflict among peoples and states. The region stretches far beyond modern Palestine. It extends from the Mediterranean coast and Sinai Desert on the west, to the Euphrates in the east and the Taurus Mountains in the north. This entire area was included in the Ottoman Empire until the late nineteenth­ century, when European imperial powers began to develop spheres of influence there. The study covers the years from 1882 to the mid- 1970's. The year 1882 marked an increased involvement of European po~vers and the Zionist movement in the area. These involvements were ultimately to destroy the concept of the region as a cohesive whole, and bring considerable shifting of boundaries. Political fragmentation of the Holy Land after 1882 brought the smaller region of Palestine to the fore. The primary focus of this thesis is analysis of the process of political boundary change within and around Palestine. It should be stressed at the outset that the concept of Pale­ stine as a region separate from the rest of the Arab World 1 2 is a recent one. It derives largely from the period of British dominance in the region. The thesis will argue that the British desire to dom­ inate the strategically impo-rtant Middle East, and the Zionist desire to establish a Jewish National Home were critical factors in the creation of Palestine and the sub­ sequent evolution of its boundaries. So far as we know, no study has yet concerned itself with the concept of evolving borders in the Holy Land, or attempted to trace the process by which these borders came to be. Except for the split-off of Transjordan and the re­ definition of the northern border, the borders established between 1916 and 1919 by British colonial forces were gen­ erally maintained until 1948. Since then, however, borders in the region have become unstable, and really amount to little more than cease-fire lines, subject to transgression at any moment by the parties involved. This study seeks to define the factors contributing to the shaping of these lines, in terms of political geo­ graphy. It shows that they are linked first of all to dip­ lomatic factors external to the region and also to settle­ ment patterns within the Holy Land region. It will discuss how the intervention of external factors in the area, notably British expansionism and Zionism, resulted in the re-defining of the Holy Land as one of its sub-divisions, Palestine, which has become identified with the Holy Land itself since the beginning of the British Mandate. 3 Physical Location The ancient area known as Palestine, although quite small in area, is divided into clearly distinguishable regions. The deep rift of the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea and the Arava Valley separate the country into a western (Cisjordan) and eastern (Transjordan) area. Local climatic variations are reflected on both sides of the Jordan, and essentially differentiate the arid south from the Mediter­ ranean character of the northern and the central areas. Western Palestine is marked by the presence of a mountainous region, an extensive system of anticlines most strikingly expressed in the Judean Mountains. At the Western slope of the Hebron Mountains, there is a fifty degree dip for a length of 30 kilometers. The western range is fractured by tectonic faults, predominant in Lower Galilee and Samaria. The east-to­ west fault dismembers the central mountain range and forms a number of valleys, the main ones being the basins and plains of Yizreel Harod and Beit Shean in the north, and Beersheba in the south. Western Palestine is divided into the principal regions of Galilee, Samaria, Judea and the Negev. The western range is bordered by the river Litani in the north and the Beersheba basin in the south. Its sub-regions are not absolutely uniform, as Upper Galilee is marked by karstic phenomena and is less arid than the other regions. The chalk forms broad hills with terraced slopes in parts of Galilee and Samaria while the Judean desert 4 steps are of hard limestone connected by chalk.
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