History Assignment: Truman's Speech Analysis and Palestine Conflict

This history assignment delves into two primary areas: President Truman's views on democracy and communism, and the evolution of the Palestine conflict. The assignment begins by examining Truman's perspective on the differing ways of life represented by democracy and communism, emphasizing the importance of free elections, individual liberty, and resistance to oppression. The second part of the assignment focuses on the British mandate's impact on Palestine, the creation of Israel, and the ensuing conflicts, including the 1948 and 1967 wars. It highlights the role of the United Nations, land disputes, and the ongoing challenges related to Israeli settlements and Palestinian territories, emphasizing the potential for future conflicts and the daily reality of friction and violence due to the proximity of settlements. The assignment draws upon provided sources to support its arguments.

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Question 1.
To begin with, President Truman’s first way of life is the will of the majority also
referred to as democracy. Democracy is distinguished/characterized by aspects such as freedom
of speech and religion, free elections, free institutions, freedom from political oppression,
representative government, and also the guarantee of individual liberty (Cribb, 208). It is based
on the will of the majority. The second way of life as addressed by President Truman is based
upon the will of a minority taking over the will of the majority (Cribb, 208). This is termed as
communism. Communism relies on aspects such as controlled press and radio, fixed elections,
terror and oppression, and suppression of personal freedom. President Truman believed that it
was the mandate of the United States to assist free people who were resisting the attempted
control by the armed minorities. He believed assisting the free people would allow them to work
out their own destinies based on their desires.
Question 2
To begin with, the British mandate on Palestine promoted the change of boundaries.
After world war one, the British mandate encouraged more Jews to move into Palestine. The
international support for Jews acquiring more Palestinian land grew and therefore, after world
war two, the United Nations divided Palestine into two parts thereby one becoming Israel (Cribb
275). However, the Arabs refused to recognize Israel as part of Palestine. Therefore, in 1948,
Arab attacked Israel so as to reclaim their land. However, Israel overcame the Arab armies and
conquered much of the land the Arabs had been allocated by the United Nations (Cribb 276).
Lastly, the six-day war of 1967 that was a fight for the control of water, tripled Israel boundaries
since the Arabs fled from their land due to the war.
In the future, there may be conflicts since the Israeli government controls both the water
and a huge percentage of the land deemed as Palestinian land. Besides, due to the proximity of

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settlements between Israeli homes and Palestinian homes, friction and violence can be a daily
reality (Tahhan).

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Works Cited
Cribb, John T. E et al. The Human Odyssey: From Modern Times to Our Contemporary Era.
Vol. 3, K12, 2007, pp. 8-385.
Tahhan, Zena. "Israel's Settlements: 50 Years of Land Theft Explained". 2017,
https://interactive.aljazeera.com/aje/2017/50-years-illegal-settlements/index.html.
Accessed 5 Nov 2018.