Israel-Palestine

An overview of the history behind the conflict

How did it come to this?

Early History

• Pre 1500 BCE Canaan before the Hebrews

– collection of city states under Egyptian pharoahs• 1500BCE +

– 12 tribes - followed by kingdom of Israel under Saul, David ( 1000bce) and Solomon

• Dual Kingdoms - after Solomon Israel split into two kingdoms - Israel and Judea - overrun by invaders.

– Persians allowed rebuilding of temple in Jerusalem. – Greeks took over - Alexander the Great - Syrian up to 164 BCE

• Roman Palestine– 61 CE Pompeii invades- becomes province in Roman Empire with local kings allowed to have

power– Herod -built towns and fortifications - Massada– 70CE rebellion and fall of Jerusalem- large numbers of Jews exiled– 133 more revolts and exiles – Christian Rome - area part of Christian Patriarchate of Jerusalem

– Good source http://www.mideastweb.org/timeline.htm

Early history continued• Palestine under the Caliphs

– 614 CE Persians took over

– 640 CE Jerusalem falls to Arabs under Islam

– Jews allies of Arabs

• Crusader Palestine

– 1095 Crusades conquer Palestine - savage treatment of Muslims and Jews

– Salah-e-din takes over

• Turkish Palestine - The Ottomans - Palestine divided into 3 administrative areas

Early history continued

• Palestine under the Caliphs– 614 CE Persians took over – 640 CE Jerusalem falls to

Arabs under Islam– Jews allies of Arabs

• Crusader Palestine – 1095 Crusades conquer

Palestine - savage treatment of Muslims and Jews

– 1187 Salah-e-din takes over• Turkish Palestine -1517 -1918 The

Ottomans - Palestine divided into 3 administrative areas

• Meanwhile…..• 1881+ economic/political instability

and pogroms in Eastern Europe

– some Jews go to Palestine

– 2 million move to USA by 1914

• 1894-1906 Dreyfus Affair - deep anti-semitism in France - trial covered by Theodor Herzl- ( the father of Zionism)

• 1896 Herzl writes The Jewish State

• 1897 First Zionist Congress declares Palestine -the Jewish Homeland

The impact of World War 1

• 1914 - Britain, France and Russia -v- Germany and The Ottoman Empire (Turks)

• Defeating the Turks– Britain promises to create an Arab

State (to Arab Leaders)– Arabs revolt against Turks in 1916

• Defeating the Germans– Britain promises Jewish leaders

support for Jewish homeland in return for support for USA entry into war

• (Oil discovered in Iraq in 1915)

• 1916 Sykes -Picot Accords - secret British-French agreement to slice up post war Middle East

• 1917 - The Balfour Declaration

– Britain promises Jews a “national home” in Palestine (without prejudice to the “civil and religious rights” of the non-jewish population)

• 1919 Palestinians announce rejection of Balfour

British Mandate over Palestine• “To the victors go the

spoils”

• Britain - Palestine, Jordan and Iraq

• France - Syria and Lebanon• Mandate specified Jewish homeland

and protected rights for Palestinians

• 1930s - series of Palestinian uprisings against British

• 1937 - Peel Report - suggested splitting into 2 states, Jewish and Palestinian and expulsion of 250,000 Palestinians

British Mandate over Palestine• “To the victors go the

spoils”

• Britain - Palestine, Jordan and Iraq

• France - Syria and Lebanon• Mandate specified Jewish homeland

and protected rights for Palestinians

• 1930s - series of Palestinian uprisings against British

• 1937 - Peel Report - suggested splitting into 2 states, Jewish and Palestinian and expulsion of 250,000 Palestinians

Impact of World War 2

• Holocaust kills 6 million Jews.

• Many survivors look to Palestine for refuge

• 1944-47 Jewish-British war– 3 main Jewish forces

– Hagana under David Ben Gurion

( became Israel Army)

– Irgun Zvai Leumi under Menachen Begin

– Stern Gang under Yitzhak Shamir

• 1947 Britain decides to hand matter over to United Nations

Acre Prison after Jewish attack

Turning Point no.1 Partition of Palestine 1947

• Jewish View

– determined to have a Jewish State

– felt that it was promised by victors of WW2

– Holocaust clearly showed that without their own state they were powerless

– only a Jewish state on Jewish territory with a Jewish army could stop a repeat

– Historical homeland

– Balfour Declaration

• Palestinian View

– offered to let Jews live as minority in Palestine

– should not have to pay for wrongs of Nazis in Europe

– question legality of proposal for Jewish state - quoting British Mandate …” will of the Arab majority”

– 66% of people were Arabs

– Jews held only 6% of land

– Neighboring Arab states feared use of such a state by “west” to dominate region

The Partition Plan 1947• UN Resolution 181

– vote to partition Palestine into Jewish and Palestinian states

– international enclave around Jerusalem and Bethlehem

– Arab leaders reject plan insist on united Palestine

– Fighting begins, many Palestinians become refugees

1948 - Creation of State of Israel

Gaza Strip held by Egypt

Jordan annexes West Bank

May 1948 David Ben Gurion declares the State of Israel

Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon attack

Israel takes over large Palestinian areas

Population Shifts• Palestinian Refugees• 85% of Palestinians refugees

by Dec 31– Jordan ( 425,000)– West Bank (40,000)– Gaza– Lebanon– Syria– Kuwait

• 1948 Pop of Jordan doubled• UN Resolution 194

– right to return/compensation

• by 1950 1,000,000 live in UN refugee camps

• Jewish Refugees

• over next few years 880,00 Jews came to Israel

– refugees from Eastern Europe

– from Arab countries

– very few from USA or Western Europe

Arab refugees leaving Galilee

Downtown Haifa

1948-1966

• 1949 Armistice leaves “Palestine” split into 3 parts

• 1956 Suez War • 1964 PLO formed• Jordan becomes main

base for guerrilla operations

Turning Point no2 - 1967 The Six Day War

• 2 different views on its cause

– Israeli aggression and desire to control Sinai, West Bank, Jerusalem, and Jordan river headwaters in Golan

– Arab aggression - threat to cut of shipping to Israel via Red Sea

• Israel defeated combined armies of Egypt, Jordan and Syria + units from Iraq and Saudi Arabia

• Israel gained Sinai, Golan, West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza

• 200,000 additional refugees

Israel forces movement

Post 1967 Territory

Golan Heights

1968-1977• 1969 Yasser Arafat becomes head

of PLO• 1970 “Black September” attempt to

overthrow King Hussein of Jordan ( 3,000 killed)

• 3 Airliners hijacked• Palestinian bases move to Lebanon• 1973 Ramadan/ Yom Kippur War -

Arab Oil Boycott - Oil Crisis• 1974 Arafat addresses UN• carries “The Olive Branch and The

Gun”• 1975 Lebanese Civil War

Turning Point no3Menachen Begin becomes P.M.

• 1977 Begin becomes PM

• committed to holding “occupied territories” and settling them

• Settlement campaign begins

• by 1990

• 100,000 Jews move to West Bank and Gaza

• 120,000 Jews move to East Jerusalem

• Jerusalem’s “quarters’ settled

• Increase in tension -US brokers peace

• 1978 Camp David Accord

Lebanon- Intifada

• 1978 Israel invades S. Lebanon - PLO strongholds - security zone established

• 1982- Israel reinvades- Beirut under siege

• US troops -peacekeepers following massacre of Palestinians in Sabra/Shatilla camps

• 1984 US troops leave after bomb kills 241 Marines

• 1987 Intifada uprising begins

1993/4 - Rabin and Arafat

• September 1993 - handshake and sign documents to promise end to conflict

• The beginning of the end????

                           

1993 Boundaries - simple lines?

The Future?• Possible Outcomes

– Status Quo • things remain as they are today

– Unification of Israel and Palestine

• one secular nation tolerating religious and ethnic differences

– Partition into 2 states - Israel and Palestine

– Expulsion of Palestinians • they find somewhere else to

live

– Elimination of Israel• they find somewhere else to

live

Opposing Viewpoints

• Palestinans are launching rocket attacks on Israel

• Israel MFA Evidence

False dawns - continued conflict• 1996 -

– series of attacks by Hamas– Israeli bombardment of S. Lebanon

• 2000– Israeli - assassination of militant

leaders, air strikes and incursions into Palestinian areas

– Palestinian - series of suicide bombings• 2002

– More bombings by Palestinians– Israel reoccupies West Bank, blockades

Yasser Arafat - begins building of security barrier

• 2004– 11 Nov Arafat dies– Mahmoud Abbas succeeds as leader

• 2005 Israel pulls out of Gaza

Useful websites•Maps

•http://www.cfi-usa.org/mapdata/historicalmaps.html

•Lessons about the History of the Conflict (my chief source!)•http://www.umich.edu/~iinet/worldreach/assets/docs/israeli-palestinian_conflict/

index.html •http://www.us-israel.org/

•News Sources•http://www.jpost.com/

•http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ •Israel Government Site

•http://www.israel.org/mfa/

•Palestinian National Authority•http://www.sis.gov.ps/english/index.html