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The 1940's

A New Jewish Homeland

A New Jewish Homeland
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 7 to 9
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   7.16

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    positively, somewhat, compromise, religion, favor, jerusalem, beginning, connection, committee, interfere, homeland, death, itself, establish, separate, sympathy
     content words:    Middle East, Many Jewish, Balfour Declaration, World War, Great Britain, United States, President Franklin Roosevelt, President Harry Truman, Soviet Union, United Nations

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A New Jewish Homeland
By Jane Runyon 		  
1     The Jewish religion began thousands of years ago in the Middle East. Jerusalem is a holy city to the Jews. Many Jewish families moved to Europe over the years. In the early 1900's, Jews began to mount a movement to reestablish a homeland for themselves in what is now Palestine. The British government issued the Balfour Declaration in 1917. It stated that they were in favor of the Jews establishing their homeland in the area. The League of Nations, established after World War I, went along with the Balfour Declaration. In 1922, they put Great Britain in charge of Palestine.
 
2     You can imagine that the Arabs living in Palestine did not like this idea at all. They felt that foreign nations were coming into their country and telling them what to do. The Jewish people in Europe, however, started to feel hopeful that their dream of a return to their homeland would finally come true. They started moving to the area in large numbers. The Arabs resented this sudden move. It didn't take long before fighting broke out between the two sides. In 1939, the British put a restriction on the number of Jews who could immigrate to Palestine. The Arabs were somewhat satisfied. The Jews felt that the British were turning their backs on them.
 
3     The United States tended to side with the Jewish people. President Franklin Roosevelt felt sympathy for the Jewish cause. Yet, he also told the Arabs of Palestine that he would not interfere in the problem. After Roosevelt's death, President Harry Truman voiced his support of the Jewish claim more positively.

Paragraphs 4 to 7:
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