No worries, just keep in mind I'm a little short of time during the week.
The situation you're describing is very different from the situation in Palestine.
Palestine, until 1917, was under the rule of the
Ottoman Empire. Under its control, Palestine was divided between a few provinces and the Jerusalem sanjack - it was never viewed as a unique, definite territory, and was sparsely populated in different parts by Arabs of various origins and cultures. Lands were owned usually by wealthy landowners who lived away from the territory - usually in Alexandria and Damascus.
The British took control of the Middle East during World War I, and divided it with the French in accordance with the Sykes-Picot agreement. That is the first time modern borders were set in that region. The League of Nations granted the British a mandate to keep the area that is today known as Palestine and Transjordan. Transjordan, whose population today is 90% Palestinian, was given to the Hashemites as part of an agreement for their support in fighting the Ottoman Empire, leaving a territory that became known as Palestine in British hands. The British Foreign Secretary, Arthur James Balfour, made a
declaration that Britain will endeavour to create a national home for Jews in Palestine.
In the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, King Faisal I, head of the Arab delegation, signed the
Faisal-Weizmann agreement, accepting the Balfour declaration and agreeing to cooperate in creating a Jewish homeland in Palestine. That treaty was not accepted by the Arab leaders in Palestine and they started attacking Jewish settlements by force. In March 1920, they attacked a Jewish settlement in the Galilee called Tel-Hai, where they killed 8 defenders among them
Joseph Trumpeldor who became a symbol for the Jewish defenders in those days. In April, during a religious festival they attacked the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem. This event is known as
The 1920 Riots. These riots were the main factor in the establishment of the
Haganah, the largest Jewish defensive organisation. Its policy of restraint was too peaceful for a few individuals, who formed a renegade group called
the Irgun, which was very small and was denounced by the Jewish Agency. In 1936 the Palestinian Arabs staged the
Great Uprising. These attacks further strengthened the need for a strong Jewish defense and also helped the Irgun gain enough popularity to keep it from falling apart.
Following these riots, the British placed
restrictions on Jewish immigration and land purchases, forcing Zionist organisations to clandestinely bring immigrants from Nazi Europe to safe shores in Palestine. This immigration continued also after World War II ended.
In 1947 the UN general assembly approved a
Partition Plan for Palestine calling for two separate states - a Jewish and an Arab one. The Jewish leadership accepted the plan while Palestinian leaders and the Arab nations rejected it, starting more riots. In 1948 the British mandate ended, Israel declared independence, and on the next day Arab armies, supported by some locals attacked it, and the War of Independence started.
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