How did the relations between the Arabs and the Jews change between 1919 and 1948?

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CONFLICT IN THE MIDDLE EAST: In what ways did the relations between the Arabs and Jews change between 1919 and 1948?

There was a great deal of change in the relations between the Arabs and Jews in the period 1919-48,which generally saw the relations between the Arabs and the Jews deteriorate further. At the start of the period, in 1919 Palestine was a country with a majority Arab population although Jewish immigration had begun to rise prior to 1919 with 40,000 Jews migrating to Palestine between 1904-14. This increase in immigration raised tensions, as the Arabs were beginning to feel threatened and deeply suspicious towards this rather sudden influx in immigration. However, despite the tensions, at the beginning of the period relations were still reasonably high between the Arabs and Jews, evidenced by the fact violence and clashes were uncommon in 1919 (although there were some notable incidents in in Jaffa 1921 for example) but it was still clear that the immigration was eventually leading towards violence which provides a compelling argument that Jewish immigration was the most important factor in the fall of relations.

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Indeed, this was the case as in 1936 relations deteriorated during the Arab revolt, which was as a direct result of the increased Jewish immigration. The Arabs saw Jewish immigration as a grave injustice and a sign that the British were favouring the Jews. As a result, the Arabs not only began a general strike, refusing to cooperate with the Jews or the British but there were often fierce clashes and by 1939 it is estimated that roughly 130 Jews were killed compared with 5000 deaths for the Arabs in total. This shows how there was a significant deterioration in ...

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