tary movement developed, known as Zionism, which set out to create an exclusively Jewish homeland in Palestine, was established by Jewish writer and journalist, Theodor Herzl. By 1914 the two rival groups were beginning to view their territory as a homeland. The situation in the Middle East was further complicated when Britain, eager for support against Turkey in the First World War, promised both Arab independence from Turkish rule, which would have enabled Arabs and Palestinians to establish their own nations states, and a Palestinian homeland for the Jews. Eventually, with the help of some of the victors of the Second World War, the state of Israel was established.
             The consequences of this final action has impacted the world to this day: the Middle East was destabilized, making it one of the world's most troubled regions; Arabs were both divided and united; a large number of Palestinian Arabs became second class citizens in a foreign state; Palestinians were moved to form their own resistance organization (the Palestine Liberation Organization, or PLO), dedicated to opposing the Israelis by whatever means they could, including terrorism and hostage taking; citizens of the new state were suspicious, intolerant and defensive; four major wars and countless bloody skirmishes ensued, which distorted and disturbed the economies of Israel and its neighbours; the conflict was linked with an oil embargo that rocked the world economy; the United States came to verge of war with the Soviet Union; politicians were brought down, tortured and assassinated. The causes of the Arab-Israel conflict were deep-rooted and intractable. They included the rise of nationalism among both Jewish and Arab peoples as well as misguided and contradictory British statements of promising to support the struggle for independence of Arabs from Turkey, while also making an open statement in assisting the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine so t...