Middle East Conflict Primary Sources | Forming a State: The Birth of Israel and the Arab Response

In the 1920s, after World War I (1914–18; war in which Great Britain, France, the United States, and their allies defeated Germany, Austria-Hungary, and their allies), an international organization called the League of Nations authorized a mandate, or system of control, for Britain in the Middle Eastern land of Palestine. Under this system, Britain served as the ruling power of Palestine. The British mandate also recognized that Jews had a historical connection to Palestine and had the right to a Jewish state. At that time, Arabs made up the majority of...