Partition of Palestine and Political Stability: Ottoman Legacy and International Influences (1922 – 1948)

The Mediterranean Programme The Mediterranean Programme was set up at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies of the European University Institute in 1998. The Programme focuses on research that concerns the Euro- Mediterranean area, thus embracing Southern Europe, the Balkans, the Middle East and North Africa, including the countries involved in the Barcelona Process. As a part of the Mediterranean Programme, the annual Mediterranean Research Meeting (MRM) brings together scholars from across the region. The MRM has been organised annually since March 2000. It has become one of the major gatherings in Europe of social and political scientists, economists, lawyers and historians working on topics related to the Middle East & North Africa, and recently also to Southern & South-Eastern Europe, their mutual relationships and their relations with Europe. The Mediterranean Programme and its activities have been financed by: Banca d’Italia, Capitalia, Compagnia di San Paolo, Comune di Firenze, Eni S.p.A., European Investment Bank, Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Ministero degli Affari Esteri, Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze, the European Commission, and Regione Toscana.Political stability in the Middle East seems an illusion, particularly in Palestine. This paper compares three variables (religious, political and international interests) that, through a four-period partition (the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the millet system, the British Mandate, the partition plans and the constitutional forms proposed, and the system adopted afterwards), led Palestine to the present situation. With the creation of the Mandate in 1922, the primary task of the British Government was to find a convenient solution to lead Palestine to independence with a constitutional structure and later with a convenient partition between Arabs and Jews. An impossible task due to the conflicting interests of the two communities, of the other international actors and to the outbreak of the Second World War.(Product of workshop No. 5 at the 11th MRM 2010