The Middle East has long been a center of ethnic, religious, and political rivalries. One issue that illustrates the persistent nature of these conflicts is the Arab-Israeli dispute. After World War I, Palestine, a region of land southeast of the Mediterranean Sea, came under British administrative rule. At this time, Palestine was populated by Arabs—Muslims and Christians—and Jews, who comprised 10 percent of the population. The number of Jews in Palestine increased, however, after the Nazi Holocaust of 6 million European Jews during World War II, which bolstered efforts on the part of Zionists to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine. In 1947, the United Nations voted to divide Palestine into Jewish and Arab states—a decision that was rejected by neighboring Arab nations. Jewish nationalists proclaimed the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, accepting the...