Sophia Tayeh
Honors U.S. History
Mr.Roaldi
20 February 2014
Palestinian Immigration History
Immigration is what carves the picture of the modern world. Immigration is the action of coming to live permanently in a foreign country.”The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians, are the modern descendants of the peoples who have lived in Palestine over the centuries, and who today are largely culturally and linguistically Arab due to Arabization of the region(Wikipedia).” A big majority of “native-palestinians” are the Muslims, but a big amount of them are several other religions.The Palestinians made the U.S. already more powerful then it is by contributing to various factors. Several components brought the Palestinians to America. When coming from their homelands to America, they faced several barriers. The Palestinians had several problems with discrimination in employment/society, health problems and living conditions.
The most significant number of Palestinians immigrants came to the United States in the years of 1800 and 1920. They left Palestine for many reasons. Most of them came to seek better job opportunities. Their culture background and experience makes the Arab ethnic group very different. Most early Arab immigrants around the late 19th century were from Lebanon, and Syria and were mostly Christian. Most Arabs left for different reasons. Some listened to Arab leaders’ call to get out of the way of the advancing armies, many were expelled, yet most of them fled so they would not be caught in the middle of the war and many left because of the war.”Had Arabs accepted the 1947 United Nations resolution not a single Palestinian would have become a refugee and an independent Arab state would exist besides ...
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...My dad was very successful that he now owns The Union Drive Thru, Sophia’s Food Market, and the Harvard Deli all in Cleveland. Throughout his entire life he had been a very hard working man and never had anything handed to him. My dad told a story to me, it was when my uncles started working in their cousins Deli, there would be drunk men coming in the store and my dad told me they all didn’t even know anything about being drunk or what it even was. I love hearing the stories my dad and uncle have to tell me through their long journey, it shows me how successful they were. I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for my dad I have a nice house, a new car and a ton of things handed to me that my dad never had. Palestinians have gone through so much privation and some big troubles to come to the United States. It’s good to know we are such a great diverse country now.
On November 29, 1947, the United Nations voted for a partition resolution that led to the establishment of the nation of Israel in May, 1948. This was great news for Jews in Palestine and the diaspora as it meant the fulfillment of the quest for the rebirth of their nation in their previous homeland after many years of wandering (Pappe, 2006, p. 12). However, their Palestinian Arab counterparts opposed to the establishment from the start felt cheated by the international community and remained categorical that the final answer to the Jewish problem would only be solved in blood and fire (Karsh, 2002, p. 8).
U.S. immigration law is very complex, and there is much uncertainty as to how it works. The Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA), the body of law governing current immigration policy, provides for an annual worldwide limit of 675,000 permanent immigrants, with certain exceptions for close family members ("How the United States Immigration System Works: A Fact Sheet"). Around the world there are so many immigrants/refugees who are in the hunt for a fitter life. Some come from places where civil war occurs or some suffer economically trying to support their family. Knowing the fact that they are desperate to seek for a better life, the best option is to migrate to the U.S, the land of opportunities. The problem lies in the migration to the U.S. What are the quotas for new immigrants arriving to the U.S? What are the eligibility requirements to becoming a permanent citizen in the U.S? With much inquiry, this topic has become very intriguing. What people must understand is that
“There is no such thing as a Palestinian.” Stated former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir after three fourths of one million Palestinians had been made refugees, over five hundred towns and cities had been obliterated, and a new regional map was drawn. Every vestige of the Palestinian culture was to be erased. Resolution 181, adopted in 1947 by the United Nations declared the end of British rule over Palestine (the region between the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River) and it divided the area into two parts; a state for the Jewish and one for the Arab people, Palestine. While Israel was given statehood, Palestine was not. Since 1947, one of the most controversial issues in the Middle East, and of course the world, is the question of a Palestinian state. Because of what seems a simple question, there have been regional wars among Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq, terrorist attacks that happen, sometimes daily, displacement of families from their homes, and growing numbers of people living in poverty. Granting Palestinian statehood would significantly reduce, or alleviate, tensions in the Middle East by defining, once and for all, the area that should be Palestine and eliminating the bloodshed and battles that has been going on for many years over this land.
Immigrants were first welcomed in the late 1700s. European explorers like Walter Raleigh, Lord Baltimore, Roger William, William Penn, Francis Drake, John Smith, and others explored to the New World for religious purposes and industrial growth. The first European settlers that settled in the late 1700s were the Pilgrims. After the Pilgrims first settled in Virginia, the expansion of immigrants started. Then in 1860 to 1915, America was growing with its industries, technology, and education. America’s growing empire attracted many people from Europe. The factors that attracted many people to the American cities where job opportunities with higher income, better education, and factory production growth. As the population grew in the American
Since the Arabs were living in Palestine when the Ottoman Empire control it. Since the Arabs defeated the Ottoman Empire with the help of from Germany, “Just short of 6 months the Palestinians were crushed, militarily and psychologically” (document 8) On the other hand, Israel grew beyond the partition lines, gained more defensible borders and they destroyed Arab homes reducing their population. The Palestinians rightly felt that the Israelis were taking over the area and were pushing out of lands promised to them in both the Balfour Declaration and the UN 1947 Partition.
For centuries, migrating has been a life changing decision for people that choose to enter the United States in search of a better future. Therefore, immigration is the permanent residency of people that choose to move to a new country. There are debates concerning the immigrants who enter the United Stated illegally and as the daughter of immigrant parents, I am fortunate to be born in this country.
Immigration has been a topic that has caused multiple discussions on why people migrate from one country to another, also how it affects both the migraters and the lands they go. Immigration is the movement from one location to another to live there permanently. This topic has been usually been associated with sociology to better explain how it affects people, cultures and societies. Sociology has three forms of thinking that are used to describe and analyze this topic. There are three forms of thinking that are used to tell and describe immigration to society; structural functionalist, symbolic interactionist, and conflict theory. Each of these theories uses different forms of thinking and rationality to describe and explain socio topics.
Among other things, Leeser produced an Anglo-Jewish translation of the Bible, founded the Jewish Publication Society, and edited a Jewish periodical, The Occident and American Jewish Advocate, which attempted in its pages to unite the diverse voices of the American Jewish community. He also rallied his community to respond to incidents of anti-Jewish persecution around the world.
Immigration has always been a large conflict people have faced all across the world. There are plenty of reasons why people migrate to a country, whether it may be the United States or any other particular one. Many people often come in an attempt to escape poverty, crime, or to simply have a better opportunity to better their lifestyle. Although there are people who migrate and commit severe crimes, there are others who sacrifice themselves in order to live a better life. In addition to that, I believe the government should approve new immigration laws in favor of immigrants who come to better their life and achieve their dreams.
Today, in most cases, people don’t spend very much time thinking about why the society we live in presently, is the way it is. Most people would actually be surprised about all that has happened throughout America’s history. Many factors have influenced America and it’s society today, but one of the most profound ways was the way the “Old Immigrants” and “New Immigrants” came to America in the early to mid 1800s. The “Old Immigrants were categorized as the ones who came before 1860 and the “New Immigrants” being the ones who came between 1865 and 1920. The immigrants came to the United States, not only seeking freedom, but also education. Many immigrants also wanted to practice their religion without hindrance. What happened after the immigrants
Who is an Immigrant? An Immigrant is someone who chooses to leave his country of origin or country of birth to another country, and in this case immigrates to Canada. Likewise, it’s important to note that in Canada that they are two ways in which one can migrate to Canada. According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (2016), one can migrate through the family class immigrants (being sponsored by a family members or relatives who are permanent residents and Canadian citizen), and through economic class immigrants (provincial/territorial nominees, skilled workers, and business immigrants with financial independence).
For many centuries, Judaic and Arabian societies have engaged in one of the most complicated and lengthy conflicts known to mankind, the makings of a highly difficult peace process. Unfortunately for all the world’s peacemakers the Arab-Israeli conflict, particularly the war between Israel and the Palestinian Territories, is rooted in far more then ethnic tensions. Instead of drawing attention towards high-ranking officials of the Israeli government and Hamas, focus needs to be diverted towards the more suspect and subtle international relations theory of realism which, has imposed more problems than solutions.
Being exposed for such a long time to other cultures, Palestinians have had to deal with the effects of transculturation. Transculturation, as defined by ethnographers, is “to describe processes whereby members of a subordinate or marginal groups select and invent from materials transmitted by a dominant or metropolitan culture” (Pratt 491). In other words Palestinians have absorbed parts of the different cultures they are now part of due to the nakba, or catastrophe, which marks the exile of more than 700,000 Palestinian Arabs from what is known today as Israel. On November 30, 1947 the United Nations v...
When Yasser Arafat addressed the United Nations General Assembly, he tried to articulate the actions the Palestinian Liberation Organization had taken and to justify those actions. Arafat points out that the struggles with Imperialism and Zionism began in 1881 when the first large wave of immigrants began arriving in Palestine. Prior to this date, the Muslims, Jews (20,000) and Christians all cohabitated peacefully (pop. 1/2 million). In 1917, the Belfour Declaration authorized increased immigration of European Jews to Palestine. 1 From 1917 to 1947, the Jewish population in Palestine increased to 600,000 and they rightfully owned only 6% of the Palestinian arable land. Palestine population at this time was now up to 1,250,000. 1
(Arabs and Zionists Struggle over Palestine, 167) Since the British and French already had control over the surrounding areas and Palestine was an international zone, it was essential that the Jews acknowledge and abide by the Europeans’ influence over the land and its inhabitants. Likewise, it was vital for the Arabs to have the approval of not only the European powers, but America as well. As described in Vindication of Arab National Rights, the Arab Government of the Hijaz explained, “It cannot but expect sympathy and friendship from the great American nation.” (95) Both the Jews and Arabs essentially complimented both the British and French to evoke the