HSC

HISTORICAL

SECURITY
COUNCIL

CREATION OF THE ISRAELI STATE

1947
DIRECTORS:

Index
1.
2.
2.1
2.2
3.
3.1
3.2
3.3

Presentation Letter
Introduction
The United Nations
The Security Council
History of Palestine
A Brief Hebrew History
The Rise of the Zionist movement
From the Ottoman Empire to
British Mandate

the

3.4 The Middle East

3.5 First Repercussions of

British

Diplomacy in Palestine
3.6 Time Line
3.7 Draft Resolution Expectations
4.
Sources

1. PRESENTATION
Dear delegates,
First of all, it's a huge pleasure for us, the
directors of the Historical Security Council, to have
you all here in our committee. We have worked hard to
choose an interesting issue for our discussion, and we
count on all of you to make our debate rich and
relevant.
We hope to promote a forum for rich debate and
negotiations, entertaining, in this way, all those who
decided to join the Historical Security Council. The
facts and events we will be discussing are relevant
even to this day, as Septembers events in the UN
demonstrated and we hope this discussion will provide
all participants with an opportunity not only to learn
about these real world issues in theory, but also to

experience in practice the difficulties that exist in

trying to find a reasonable solution.
Although a good level of English will help with
the development of the discussion, please note that it
is the ideas and attitudes that you bring with you
that will make our Council simulation memorable.
In this Study Guide, we have prepared a short
overview of the process of creation of Israel and its
reasons and implications. However, as this is only a
superficial guide, we would strongly urge you, the
delegates, to conduct your own studies and research.
Be prepared to represent your countries and
institutions, including their ideologies, diplomatic
positions and opinions on the international stage, in
order to make this debate as realistic and as engaging
as possible.
Our best regards,

2. INTRODUCTION
2.1

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE UNITED NATIONS

2.2

THE SECURITY COUNCIL IN THE UN

3. History of Palestine
3.1

A Brief Hebrew History

One of the major sources for research into the

history

of

the

Jewish

people

is

the

Bibles

Old

Testament. While there is evidence that some of the facts

related there may not be entirely accurate, it is generally

a very useful document.
According

to

the

Bible

the

Hebrews

settled

in

Palestine in the 20th century B.C. (around 2000 B.C.), but

archaeological evidence shows they only arrived in 1230
B.C.. One of the reasons why the dates vary is that the
records were based on oral reports and over the years could
have been distorted.
The Hebrews were the first recorded monotheist people
(they believed in one god). They were a group of nomad
tribes who settled down, in antiquity,

in the Palestine

region, having been guided there by Abraham, who lived in

Mesopotamia (Iraq), in response to a message from God to
lead his people to a land where milk and honey would be
abundant.
In approximately the 20th Century B.C., running from
starvation, they end up in Egypt where they were forced
into

slavery.

After

six

centuries,

in

the

15th

Century

B.C., they escaped, guided by Moses. Forty 40 years later,

they managed to return to Palestine.
The first big dispersion of the Hebrews happened in
586 B.C. when the Jews were expelled to Babylonia. The
second

dispersion

happened

in

70

A.C.,

after

failed

Jewish rebellion against the Roman Empire. As a result, the

Romans destroyed the Jerusalem Temple, leaving only the
outside part of the wall intact, which is now known as the
Wailing Wall.
After

2000

years

of

exile,

most

of

the

Jewish

community settled in Western Europe, and there they created

a new idea of Jewish Nationalism.

3.2

The rise of the Zionist movement

The term Zionism comes from Sion, the ancient name

of

one

of

the

hills

of

Jerusalem,

and

which

came

to

symbolize the city and the Land of Israel as a whole. The

movement - the idea of building in Palestine a new State
for the Jewish people - gained strength in 1880, period in
which

number

of

different

nationalist

movements

were

emerging in Europe.
In the year 1897, Theodor Herzl headed the 1st Zionist
Congress, in Switzerland. His main purpose was to create a
paper,

internationally

recognized,

that

legitimized

the

setting up of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

Thousands of young people from Eastern Europe, mainly
Russia, started to settle in Palestine. The poverty they
used

to

suffer,

the

lack

of

opportunities

to

grow

in

societies that were going through a period of crisis, as

well as the frequent persecutions that occurred, in which
many

Jewish

communities

were

destroyed

by

crowds

of

unemployed and infuriated peasants and workers under the

influence of the czar all these factors stimulated a mass
exodus of Jewish traders and craftsmen.
The

refugees

decided

to

start

new

existence

in

Eretz Israel, the Land of Israel. They were determined to

leave behind the image of an oppressed and helpless Jewish
people, to become owners of their own land, working with
their hands and rebuilding the glorious Jewish nation of
the Bible.
The
socialist

Zionist

movement

ideals that

was

also

were spreading

influenced

by

the

throughout Russia.

They believed in the fight of deprived workers against

their

opulent

bosses,

aiming

to

create

new

type

of

society, more fair and equal, and no longer into social

classes. As a result, a new model of colonization appeared:
the

kibutz,

an

agricultural

community

based

on

the

collective property of lands, tools and other means of

production.
The kibutz (the Hebrew word for reunion) was the
best expression of the socialist spirit that motivated that

pioneers. The Arabs who lived in Palestine and neighboring

countries at that time didnt object to the selling of
their lands to Jewish colonists. Between 1904 and 1914, a
second migratory wave arrived.
Thus, just before World War II, the Jewish community
in

Palestine

stood

at

approximately

60

thousand

inhabitants. However, then the turbulence of the worldwide

conflict changed the background of forces in the region,
compromising

significantly

the

prospect

of

peaceful

coexistence between the Arab and Jewish neighbors.

3.3

From the Ottoman Empire to the British Mandate

In 1915, during the first World War, the English High

Commissioner in Egypt promised to the chiefs of local Arab

families the support of his country in organizing a general
insurgence against the declining Ottoman Empire. In the
following year, Britain concluded an agreement with France
(the Sykes-Picot Agreement), in which the Middle East would
be shared between the two countries.
At

the

same

time,

the

British

Empire

conceded

to

Chaim Weizmann (leader of Zionist movement in England) a

document formalizing the creation of a Jewish National
Homeland
Jewish

in

Palestine

and Arabian

lands.

The

conflict

peoples therefore

between

the

became inevitable,

since both were disputing the same territory.

By the end of the war, the Ottoman Empire had been
destroyed and England held the vast area where the new
borders of Egypt, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Transjordan and
Iraq would be set, while France came to control the Syrian
and Lebanese region. The English also held the Suez Canal
and began the exploration of the newly discovered Iraqi oil
reserves.
In order to guarantee its continuing control of this
strategic zone, the British government transferred military

troops

to

Middle

Mediterranean

East,

Sea

and

built

naval

consolidated

bases

the

trade

in

the

of

its

industrial products on the local consumer markets.

3.4

The Middle East

The region known as the Middle East is one of the

oldest areas of human occupation in the world. Its where

the first cities came from. Since its an extremely dry
land,

the

villages

were

founded

near

the

few

existing

rivers. Due to this fact, these areas started to locate an

enormous variety of people from different origins, culture
and ethnicities.
Its also the region where some of the most popular
religions

were

born,

such

as

Catholicism,

Islamism

and

Judaism. Attempts to control cities considered sacred for

more than one religion have turned the Middle East into a
zone of constant conflicts.
Another issue that contributes to the conflicts in
this region is the oil: the Middle East holds seventy
percent of the worlds oil reserves, and because of this
it

suffers

continuous

interventions

from

the

global

economic powers.

3.5

First Repercussion of

Palestine
In

1918,

the

British

British Diplomacy in
Mandate

for

Palestine

(that

would extend until 1948) was established and ended four

centuries

of

Ottoman

dominance

in

the

area.

The

improvements brought by the new British administration,

such as the water supply, contributed to the influx of
Jewish

immigrants

Poland.
The

new

agricultural

to

Palestine,

immigrants
communities,

mainly

multiplied
some

of

from

Russia

and

the

number

of

whom

had

advanced

technological resources. At the same time, in cities like

Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa modern factories, schools
and hospitals were built.
It was only then that the local Arabian habitants
began

to

react

to

the

presence

of

the

Jewish.

The

traditional land owners, the efndis, controlling an army

of

servile

peasants,

considered

the

socialist

and

democratic principles of the Jewish immigrants a threat to

their authority.
Starting in 1920, the Arabian elite started to incite
the

population

to

attack

the

Jewish

settlements.

Faced

with the omission of British police, the Palestine Jewish

had to create their own defense forces: the Haganah. The
activities of this small army remained undercover.
Simultaneously, the British Parliament, preserving
their

interests

regulations

in

that

the

Arabian

restricted

the

oil

providers,

Jewish

created

colonization

of

Palestine, the White Book.

Then, in 1939, on the eve of the Second World War, a
new

rearrangement

of

international

forces

made

the

situation in this coveted region even more instable.

3.6

Time Line

1880 First Aliy, Jewish immigration to Palestine

1897 First Zionist congress hosted by Theodor Herzl
1915 Deal with England in Egypt, supporting the Arabs
against the Turkish Ottoman Empire
1916 Sykes-Picot Deal, made by the United Kingdom and
France, resolving that if they defeated Germany, they
would split the Middle East
1917 Balfour Declaration, formalized the creation of a
Jewish nation in Palestine lands.
1920 Beginning of an army riot against Jewish colonies
First
White
Book,
placed
limits
on
the
Jewish
colonization of Palestine.
Foundation of the Haganah, defense force created by the
Palestine Jews.
1929 New army riot between Arabs and Jews.
1933 Hitler became Chancellor and Prime Minister in
Germany. Upsurge
1942 Beginning
Jewish terrorist
1945- Foundation

of the Arab nationalism.

of illegal immigration to Palestine.
attacks against Arabs and British.
of Massad Aliy Beit, a department of

the Haganah, which brought Jews to Palestine illegally.

3.7

Draft Resolution Expectations

Our debates in the Historical Security Council

will relate to the issue of the situation in the

Palestine

area,

therefore

should

and

will

not

delegates

should

set

consider

occurred after this date.

the

be

in

any

1947,

events

and
that

The chair considers that

follow

their

countries

positions at the time, but should also rethink what

could be done to bring about a better ending, which,
in the context of the UN, would be a solution without
conflicts.
We would also like to remind the delegates about
the need to set agendas during the discussion so it
can

be

more

distributed.

The

productive,

relevant

responsibility

for

and
an

well-

excellent

debate lies upon each of you that are taking part in

our Historical Security Committee.
4. SOURCES
Besides the published materials, such as magazines, newspapers
and books, all the aforementioned data was collected from the
following sites:
http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/index.shtml
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/country_profiles/803257.s
tm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_ancient_Israel_and_Judah
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Israel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Palestine