Pictured in Maps" Israel was uprooted from its national homeland and dispersed to the far-flung distant corners of the entire world in 70AD, and the subsequent Bar Kochba rebellion in 135AD. The Roman conquest of Israel marked the end of the historic second possession of the Promised Land by the Jewish people. From that time until May 14, 1948 the Jewish people never enjoyed the beneficence of having a homeland. In fact Rome changed the name of ancient Israel to Palestine in an effort to erase the name of Israel from world memory. The Romans renamed the land “Palestine”, a Greek term derived from the ancient Philistines. The name “Palaistina” actually means, “the land of the Philistines. And so it is that the association of the word Palestine came to be connected to the Promised Land. But although Rome attempted to eradicate the name of Israel from human memory, God had promised to regather his chosen people back unto their homeland, and the 20th century has witnessed that return. Throughout the long and arduous Diaspora, the Jewish people never stopped dreaming and praying for their restoration into their lost promised land. Eretz Israel ( the land of Israel ) remained a constant theme in the Jewish psyche, regardless of where the Jewish people have existed in the world. “Next year in Jerusalem” was the battle-cry within the soul of world Jewry for two thousand years of exile! Finally, in 1897 the Zionist national movement was born as a reaction to the terrible anti-Semitism which Jews experienced in Eastern Europe in the 19th century. Dr. Theodore Herzl authored a book entitled “Der Judenstat” ( the Jewish State ) which spelled out the hopes and plans of political Zionists to gain momentum for a Jewish homeland somewhere in the world. Dr. Herzl organized the first Zionist Congress in 1897 and worked through diplomatic channels to lobby Europe for a Jewish homeland. With the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the Zionist Organization lent its support to the Allied powers. The Jewish Legion fought with Great Britain, and Dr. Chaim Weizman, a Jewish chemist greatly enhanced Britain’s capacity to succeed in defeating the Central powers. As a result, Great Britain on November 2, 1917 issued the infamous document ( Balfour Declaration ) promising Jews a national homeland. Thus the Balfour Declaration established the political prospect for a Jewish State, and a national homeland for world Jewry in the land known as Palestine! That projected homeland is depicted in the map attached and known as the 1920 Jewish National Homeland Mandate.
BALFOUR DECLARATION: His Majesty’s Government views with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national homeland for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this objective, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country. Jews world-wide began immigrating to Palestine during the 1920’s and 1930’s. However they were met with fierce resistance by the Arab nations on the Middle East. The Arab nations rejected the British Mandate. In response to the pressure from the Arab nations, Great Britain issued its infamous White Paper policies placing quotas ( 75,000/year ) upon Jewish immigration into Palestine. Great Britain even reneged on its Balfour Declaration by redefining the homeland statements to be interpreted as meaning residency in the land, but not actual sovereign statehood. Thus Great Britain divided the original British Mandate in 1923. The above map reflects that division. All the land to the east of the Jordan river ( 75% ) was designated as Transjordan and partitioned out of the Jewish National Homeland reserve. The remaining portion west of the Jordan River ( 25% ) was reallocated to be the new Jewish homeland.
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