Legacy of Empire: Britain, Zionism and the Creation of Israel by Gardner Thompson

Legacy of Empire: Britain, Zionism and the Creation of Israel
Gardner Thompson
Page: 368
Format: pdf, ePub, mobi, fb2
ISBN: 9780863564826
Publisher: Saqi Books
Legacy of Empire: Britain, Zionism and the Creation of Israel

Free books download doc Legacy of Empire: Britain, Zionism and the Creation of Israel English version by Gardner Thompson 9780863564826

Overview

It is now more than seventy years since the creation of the state of Israel, yet its origins and the British Empire’s historic responsibility for Palestine remain little known. Confusion persists too as to the distinction between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. In Legacy of Empire, Gardner Thompson offers a clear-eyed review of political Zionism and Britain’s role in shaping the history of Palestine and Israel. Thompson explores why the British government adopted Zionism in the early twentieth century, issuing the Balfour Declaration in 1917 and then retaining it as the cornerstone of their rule in Palestine after the First World War. Despite evidence and warnings, over the next two decades Britain would facilitate the colonisation of Arab Palestine by Jewish immigrants, ultimately leading to a conflict which it could not contain. Britain’s response was to propose the partition of an ungovernable land: a ‘two-state solution’ which – though endorsed by the United Nations after the Second World War – has so far brought into being neither two states nor a solution. A highly readable and compelling account of Britain’s rule in Palestine, Legacy of Empire is essential for those wishing to better understand the roots of this enduring conflict.

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