How could the ruthless expropriation of an entire people happen? In this short film, John Rees, a national officer of Stop the War Coalition, presents the history of how the state of Israel was born out of terror, war, conquest and dispossession of the Palestinian people.

The film argues that two factors made the founding of the state of Israel possible.

Firstly, was the support for the Zionists -- a tiny minority among Jews worldwide -- by the major powers, initially Britain and latterly the United States.

The second factor was the impact of the holocaust -- the industrial extermination of European Jewry by Hitler and the Nazis -- which increased the sympathy for the Zionist cause, among Jews and non-Jews alike.

But, argues Rees, the establishment of the state of Israel deepened the tragedy of the Jewish people, because it allowed the horror of the holocaust to be used as an excuse for the dipossession of the Palestinians, Thus one tragedy is used to justify a second, one great crime used to hide another.

This is why, Israel has been in a virtually continual state of war since its creation in 1948. But how has this tiny state, with a population of six million -- approximately the same as London -- been able to survive? Only, as the film shows through imperial intervention in the Middle East, most notably by the United States.

As Palestinian resistance to brutal occupation of their land continues 60 years after the creation of Israel, the film concludes by indicating how peace and justice can be achieved for a dispossessed people and for the Middle East region.

This 20 minute film is part of the Timeline series produced by the Islam Channel.

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