Includes bibliographical references and index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Debating the Promise of a Jewish Homeland -- The Jews Need a National Home in Palestine / Richard Gottheil -- Early Promises of Arab Independence / Husayn ibn 'Ali, Henry McMahon -- The British Promise a Home for the Jews in Palestine / Arthur James Balfour -- Palestine Should Not Become a Jewish State / the Inter-Allied Commission on Mandates in Turkey -- A Jewish State Will Hurt the Arabs / King Abdallah of Jordan -- Britain Does Not Support a Jewish State in Palestine / the British Government -- The United States Will Consult the Arabs and Jews on Palestine / Franklin D. Roosevelt -- The Arabs Demand Independence for Palestine / Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry -- Partition and War: The Birth of Israel -- Palestine Should Be Partitioned into Jewish and Arab States / the UN Special Committee on Palestine -- The Jews Must Govern Themselves / David Ben-Gurion -- Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel / the Jewish People's Council -- The Arab League's War Against Israel Is Justified / the Arab League -- Looking Back at the Creation of Israel -- The Creation of Israel Was a Miracle / Paul Johnson -- The Creation of Israel Was a Heroic Response to Genocide / Ben Kamin.

Zionists began calling for a national Jewish home in Palestine in the nineteenth century, but the birth of Israel did not take place until 1948. This anthology presents the debates between Arab inhabitants and Jewish settlers--both of whom claim historic rights to the territory that is now Israel.