Fateful Triangle

Israel and Palestine: Historical Backgrounds175the settlers regarded as “the return to their homeland.” These developinginteractions were complex, and often tragic. It would take a lengthy anddetailed study to do them justice. The preceding chapter was concernedwith the attitudes and policies of a broad range of actors within a narrowhistorical period: following the 1967 war. This chapter will extend thetime frame while narrowing the focus to developments within the formerPalestine (cis-Jordan). The discussion is, needless to say, far from comprehensive;I will review some facts that seem to me to have a directbearing on understanding the current situation. 11. The Pre-State PeriodThe Arabs of Palestine were overwhelmingly opposed to a Jewish state,or to large-scale Jewish immigration, which often led to theirdispossession from their lands. “They had not been consulted at anylevel in the preparation of European plans for the disposal of theirhomeland and felt in no way bound peaceably to accept theirimplementation.” 2 This attitude is generally described as “intransigence”or even “anti-Semitism” in the American literature, which tends toaccept as the natural point of departure the position expressed by LordArthur Balfour, author of the Balfour declaration of 1917 whichcommitted Britain to “facilitate” the “establishment in Palestine of anational home for the Jewish people” on the condition that “nothingshall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of theexisting non-Jewish communities in Palestine...” Two years later, hewrote a memorandum discussing the contradictions in the variouspledges given during the war, noting that a French-controlledadministration was simply imposed on the Syrians. 3 Expressing viewsheld widely across the political spectrum, he continued:Classics in Politics: The Fateful TriangleNoam Chomsky