The Palestinian-Israeli conflict

WHAT IS THE CONFLICT? It is a conflict over land that comprised the

ancient Kingdom of Israel, which existed nearly 3,000 years ago and remained the land of the Jewish people, although not independently, until approximately 2,000 years ago.

This land became Palestine within Islamic dynasties centered elsewhere with a predominantly Muslim population approximately 1,400 years ago.

WHAT WAS THE ANCIENT LAND OF PALESTINE/ISRAEL?

It included Israel, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and much of Jordan.

Jerusalem is sacred to all three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Islam and Christianity.

Significance of Holy Land for Judaism For Jews, East Jerusalem, the "Old City," is

the site of the Temple, which was the central place of Jewish worship.

There is one wall remaining of the second temple, known as the Western Wall, and that is the focal point of Jewish prayer today.

http://www.travel-images.com/rosto.html

Significance for Muslims The Temple Mount, above the Western Wall, holds two

ancient Muslim holy places: the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. This site is called "Haram al-Sharif," The Noble Sanctuary, by Muslims.

The Dome of the Rock commemorates Muslim belief in the ascension of the prophet Muhammad to heaven to meet God and then return to Earth.

Jerusalem is considered by Muslims to be the third holiest site of Islam, after Mecca and Medina.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Al-aqsa-mosque01_cropped.JPG

4 minute drive from each other according to Google Maps

Significance for Christians Christians venerate Israel/Palestine as the

birthplace of Jesus in Bethlehem. Jerusalem is considered the center of Christian faith, symbolized in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, presumed to be the site of the crucifixion of Jesus.

Church of Holy Sepulchure

WHEN DID THIS CONFLICT BEGIN? The conflict followed the creation of a Jewish national

movement known as Zionism. Zionism called for the return of Jews to the ancient land of Israel, then Palestine, which was under the rule of the Ottoman Turkish Empire. Only there could they attain independence and be free of European persecution and discrimination.

The World Zionist Organization was created in 1897. Zionist leaders who entered Palestine were often militant in their statements. In their view, the Palestinian Arabs, 90 percent of the population, had no right to be there. Only Jews had the right to build a country in Palestine.

HOW WAS THE ZIONIST MOVEMENT ABLE TO ESTABLISH ITSELF IN PALESTINE? During World War I, Great Britain issued a statement known

as the Balfour Declaration, named after Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour. This declaration stated that Britain would support a "national home" in Palestine for the Jewish people, with the civil and religious rights of the non-Jewish inhabitants being safeguarded.

The term "national home" really meant a state. The statement was worded so that only Jews would have political rights in Palestine, not the Arabs who were referred to as the "non-Jewish inhabitants." Britain could enforce the declaration as the major victorious power in Europe after World War I.

WHAT TYPE OF CONTROL WAS ESTABLISHED FOR

PALESTINE AND OTHER REGIONS? Britain and France awarded themselves "mandates" over the

Arab lands of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine. Mandates meant that Britain and France were obligated to prepare the inhabitants of each region for self-government and independence.

The Balfour Declaration was written into the Palestine mandate. This meant that the people being prepared for self-government in Palestine were not the indigenous Arabs, still 90 percent of the population, but the Jews who were about 10 percent of the population.

Palestine would achieve independence only after enough Jews had entered the country so that a Jewish majority had been created. British rule was designed to deprive Palestinians of the self-determination expected by Arabs under the other mandates.

HOW LONG DID THE MANDATE LAST?

The Palestine mandate lasted, officially, from 1922 to 1948 when the state of Israel was declared on May 14, 1948.

WHAT WERE THE MAJOR EVENTS EXPERIENCED BY

JEWS AND ARABS DURING THE MANDATE?

There were occasional outbreaks of Arab violence against Jews during the 1920s but no major outburst until 1929 when Arabs rioted out of fear of supposed Jewish changes to the status of the Western Wall, which was under Muslim supervision. About 100 Jews were killed, and the Jewish population of Hebron was evacuated.

In addition, a major event affecting Palestine was Adolf Hitler's accession to power in Germany in 1933. Hitler and his Nazi regime quickly implemented anti-Semitic edicts against Jews. This led to greatly increased Jewish emigration from Germany and Poland to Palestine, with the Jewish population tripling between 1933-1937.

This led to the Arab Revolt from 1936-1939, a major upheaval finally crushed by massive British force on the eve of World War II.

Post WWII Israel and the UN

Events during World War II had a major impact on support for a Jewish state afterward. Knowledge of the Holocaust convinced many of the need for a Jewish state in Palestine.

This led to the United Nations recommending partitioning of Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state in November 1947. Jews accepted the awarding of a state as international recognition of their right to independence.

Arabs viewed it as deciding the fate of the majority population without their consent; Arabs were still 67 percent of the population in Palestine. Palestinian Arabs rejected the partition.

WHAT HAPPENED? After much strife between Jews and Arabs, the

Jewish forces triumphed, owing to superiority of training, weaponry and numbers of combatants, and the state of Israel was declared on May 14, 1948.

The vast majority of Palestinian Arabs, about 700,000, became refugees. Many fled in terror because of the war and Zionist threats.

Many more were encouraged to leave or were deliberately expelled by Israeli forces during the Arab-Israeli war that erupted once Israel was declared a state.

WHAT WAS THE FATE OF THE PALESTINIAN REFUGEES?

Jordan gave them citizenship. No other Arab state did so.

WHEN DO PALESTINIANS REAPPEAR AS A FACTOR IN MIDDLE EAST POLITICS? The period after 1948 saw the emergence of the Arab-Israeli

conflict, a state conflict with several wars. Palestinians did not reappear in specific groups until the mid-1960s. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was formed in 1964.

Yasser Arafat, who had formed his own group, Fatah, in the late 1950s, became head of the PLO after the 1967 War, which resulted in Israel taking over the Sinai Peninsula, the West Bank and the Golan Heights.

The PLO was made up of many independent groups, which often were loyal to individual Arab state sponsors rather than following a united PLO policy. Certain groups sought, but failed, to overthrow the Jordanian regime in 1970, forcing the PLO infrastructure, then based in Jordan, to move to Lebanon; Lebanon then became the major center of Palestinian activity and assaults and terror attacks against Israel.

Yasser Arafat and the PLO

Post War Arab-Israeli Conflict Arab monarchies and

those who had benefitted under British/French control were often overthrown (Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Libya)

This saw an increase in Arab nationalism and was lead by Egypt’s Gamal Abd al-Nasser (1952)

Egypt-Israel in mid 1960’s Nasser gained strength throughout the

region by condemning Israel. Soviet military support helped make

Nasser’s voice get heard. U.S. gives aide to Egypt and Israel (and

anti aircraft missiles) starting with Kennedy The UN had helped hold a fragile peace

between Israel and Egypt on the Sinai

1967, and June 5-10

Nasser orders withdrawal of UN peacekeepers in May of 1967, and closes the Suez Canal to Israeli ships

American diplomacy failed (Israel objected) Israel launches surprise attack in June and

destroys most Egyptian and Syrian air forces, then use tanks to cross Sinai, and drove Jordanian army out of Jerusalem and West Bank.

Sinai Peninsula

Israel push in the West Bank area

Six Day War Outcomes After two days of fighting Jordan and Egypt

claimed they were ready to accept a cease fire, but Israeli military continued fighting

American ship USS Liberty was also attacked (34 killed) in an event that was explained as “friendly fire”

Main result of the Six-Day War: Complete military victory for Israel

Importance of the Six-Day War The political importance of the 1967 War:

Israel showed that it was able and willing, to initiate strategic strikes that could change the regional balance.

300,000 Palestinians fled to Jordan, 80,000 residents of the Golan Heights fled to Syria

Israel is finally recognized by Arab leaders as a nation

Anwar al-Sadat Nasser has a heart attack in

September 1970, and Sadat takes over…goes to war

Sadat as seen as a hero for his leadership during the October War

Turns into a villain for negotiating peace with Israel, and later would be assassinated for it.

Yom Kippur, Ramadan, or October War

Egypt and Syria launch a successful two front attack on Yom Kippur

Israel was able to split Egyptian forces on the Sinai and regain Syrian controlled Golan Heights (by the end of the war Israel was 40 km to Damascus, 100 from Cairo)

War becomes an example of a Cold War showdown (i.e. Cuban Missile Crisis)

Outcomes of the October War The Arab World, which had been humiliated by the lopsided defeat

of the Egyptian-Syrian-Jordanian alliance during the Six-Day War, felt psychologically vindicated by successes early in the conflict.

In Israel, the war effectively ended the sense of invincibility and complacency.

The Camp David Accords that followed brought the return of the Sinai to Egypt and normalized relations—the first peaceful recognition of Israel by an Arab country.

Egypt continued its drift away from the Soviet Union and left the Soviet sphere entirely.

This paved the way for economic reform and liberalizations in Egypt under the infitah policy. (definition to follow)

Infitah Policy is an Arabic word meaning "open door" and refers to Egyptian

President Anwar Sadat's policy of "opening the door" to private investment in Egypt.

In the years following the October War Sadat brought a number of reforms to Egypt, including economic reforms that ended the domination of Egypt's economy by the public sector and encouraged both domestic and foreign investment in the private sector, a policy dubbed infitah.

In 1977 there were massive riots protesting these policies

Camp David Accords United States President Jimmy Carter

invited both Sadat and Begin to a summit at Camp David to negotiate a final peace. The talks took place from September 5–17, 1978. Ultimately, the talks succeeded, and Israel and Egypt signed the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty in 1979. Israel withdrew its troops and settlers from the Sinai, in exchange for normal relations with Egypt and a lasting peace.

Many in the Arab community were outraged at Egypt's peace with Israel. Egypt was expelled from the Arab League.

1 Gilo: 850 homes approved for publication and planning objections in Nov 2009

2 Pisgat Zeev: 600 homes approved for publication and planning objections in Jan 2010

3 Sheikh Jarrah: Several Palestinian families evicted in past 18 months to make way for Jewish settlers after court ruled in ownership dispute

4 Ramat Shlomo: 1,600 homes approved for publication and planning objections in Mar 2010

5 Silwan: Demolition orders on 88 Palestinian homes built without difficult-to-get permits - Israel planning controversial renewal project

6. West Bank barrier: Making Palestinian movement between West Bank and Jerusalem harder - Israel says it's for security