A homeland for Jews
In the quiet resolve of shared humanity, the birth of Israel on May 14, 1948, poses a stark question: can the promise of self-determination coexist with universal justice?
Seeds of this conundrum were sown three decades earlier. Britain’s 1917 Balfour Declaration pledged “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people”, yet made no binding provision for the political rights of the Arab majority. This omission has echoed through generations.
The Holocaust’s moral rupture transformed Zionism from vision to imperative. By late 1945, roughly 75,000 survivors in makeshift camps across Germany, Austria and Italy endured acute shortages and sporadic antisemitism. A Harrison Report survey found 97 per cent of 19,000 displaced Jews named Palestine as their preferred haven, “crematorium” the grim runner-up. The 1947 voyage of the Exodus, carrying 4,515 hopeful immigrants, was intercepted by British destroyers, drawing international outcry and cementing the belief that only statehood could guarantee safety.
In that charged atmosphere, the UN Special Committee on Palestine, on September 3, 1947, recommended partition into independent Arab and Jewish states, with an international regime for Jerusalem. Resolution 181, adopted on November 29, 1947, granted Jews 56.5 percent of the land, despite their owning under 7 per cent and comprising less than one-third of the population. Arab leaders rejected the plan, and communal violence escalated.
When David Ben-Gurion proclaimed Israel at midnight on May 14, 1948, neighbouring Arab armies invaded. Under Plan Dalet, the Israeli forces secured key territories—and, critics argue, depopulated Palestinian villages. The Deir Yassin atrocity on April 9, in which over 100 villagers were killed, triggered mass flight. By the Nakba’s ('catastrophe' in Arabic) end, some 7,50,000 Palestinians had fled or been expelled, over 530 villages lay deserted, and refugee camps blossomed across Lebanon, Jordan and beyond. Subsequent wars in 1956 and 1967, alongside 'intifadas' (Arabic for rebellion) and repeated Gaza clashes, have perpetuated displacement into the21st century.
The enduring challenge lies in reconciling ethno-national aspirations with universal principles. Israel’s Law of Return, enacted on July 5, 1950, grants every Jew worldwide the automatic right to immigrate and acquire citizenship. Conversely, more than six million Palestinians registered with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) remain effectively stateless across West Asia, dependent on international assistance and often denied any political rights in their host countries. This asymmetry underscores the complex task facing Israel—and other nation-states like it—of honouring collective histories while upholding the universal dignity and rights of every individual.
