1. Colonial Conspiracy

The Balfour Declaration & British Mandate, 1917-1947

In our first Sumud session, we will discuss Palestine prior to partition. This was a time fraught with imperial interference. Colonial powers — namely the British and French — plotted to carve up and seize control of the Eastern Mediterranean, including Palestine. Against the backdrop of rising antisemitism in Europe, Jewish nationalism infused with a colonizing political ideology called Zionism emerged, and Jews began to flee persecution to Palestine and elsewhere. Christian and Jewish Zionists lobbied the British Empire to declare a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

Meanwhile, Palestinians of different faiths — including Christianity, Islam and Judaism — continued to live, work, thrive, and struggle on their land, as they had for centuries. They continued to build homes and lives and contribute to their changing society. It was very much a land with a people.

When the British Mandate over Palestine became official after the end of World War I, Palestinian political activity was banned, while the Jewish Agency para-state was promoted. As Jewish immigration to Mandate Palestine spiked with the rise of the Nazis in Europe in the 1930s, Jewish immigrants fleeing persecution and genocide found themselves the beneficiaries of British colonial rule in Palestine. Palestinian Arabs meanwhile rose up in the Arab Revolt to demand self-determination and equal political rights. As a result, the British colonial authorities rolled back their 1937 Peel Commission suggestion to partition Palestine between Jews and Arabs and promised representative government in the 1939 White Paper. Britain would never fulfill that promise.

Quaker Testimony

Our Quaker Testimony for contemplation this week is Integrity. Check out this article on the topic. Integrity is about more than just honesty and the Quaker practice of refusing to take oaths. It’s about consistency in our moral behavior, transparency in our dealings with others, accountability for our actions, repentance for harm we may do to others, and public witness of the truth. How is your understanding of Integrity informed by this week’s study on colonial plots to control the land of Israel/Palestine and colonial dealings with the indigenous population?