Israel-Palestine conflict: A brief history

This stemmed from the Balfour Declaration of 1917, a pledge made by then Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Britain's Jewish community. The declaration was enshrined in the British mandate over Palestine and endorsed by the newly-created League of Nations - forerunner of the United Nations - in 1922. To Jews Palestine was their ancestral home, but Palestinian Arabs also claimed the land and opposed the move.