Publication |
2011.
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Summary/Abstract |
While modern Israel was born in the aftermath of the British Mandate for Palestine, which called for a Jewish national home, its roots preceded the arrival of the British to the Middle East. In that sense Britain was not Israel's mother-country, like France was for Algeria. Indeed, the Jews were already reestablishing their presence independently in their land well before the British and French dismantled the Ottoman Empire. As time went on, it became clear that the British Empire was not the handmaiden of Israel's re-birth, but rather its main obstacle. The accusation that Israel has colonialist roots because of its connection to the British Mandate is ironic, since most of the Arab states owe their origins to the entry and domination of the European powers.
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