Arab - Israeli Conflict

Content:– Review key events contributing to

the Arab-Israeli ConflictThinking Skills:

– Display an understanding of concepts

Key Questions:

Who is fighting?

Where are they fighting?

Why are they fighting?

Will there ever be peace?

Background

• For centuries the Jews had been persecuted

– Romans destroy temples

– Diaspora

– Anti-Semitism

– Pogroms

– Holocaust

• Gave rise to the Zionist Movement

– Wanted to set up an independent Jewish state

Background• During the same time…• Ottoman Empire controlled the Arab

people (Palestine)• Palestinian Arabs wanted

independence

World War I• McMahon-Hussein Correspondence

(1915)– British promise independence of

Arab states• After WWI…Victorious nations given

areas to oversee• British Mandate of Palestine

World War I

• Balfour Declaration (1917)– letter from Great Britain that

endorsed national Jewish state in Palestine

• Jewish immigration increases --> Arabs protest

Holocaust• Entire world feels guilt

• United Nations Partition Plan (1947)– Offers to create a Jewish and Arab state in Palestine– Jews accept - Arabs decline– Creation of Israel (David Ben-Gurion)

• What is the effect on the Palestinian Arabs?

Israeli War for Independence (1948)• Israel attacked by Arab nations

– Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon

• Israel wins war --> annex more territory

• More Jews come to Israel (refugees)

• More Palestinian Arabs look for refuge (500,000)– Set up camps

• What were the conditions like in these camps?• Why didn’t they move on?

Palestinian refugeesThis picture, dated 1948, shows a Palestinian refugee and her child separated from their home by the "green line" after the 1948 war. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced because of the war and the creation of Israel. One of the most contentious issues in the ongoing Arab-Israeli crisis is the "right of return," the demand by Palestinians to return to land seized in 1948.

Why is the refugee problem so important to the conflict?

Six Day War (1967)

Rapid Israeli attack devastates Arab armies

Israel wins -->

Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights, West Bank

Map after 1967 WarIsrael gains the

following territory after the war

1. Sinai Peninsula / Gaza Strip (from Egypt)

2. Golan Heights (from Syria)

3. West Bank (from Jordan)

UN Resolution 242 (1967)• UN condemns Israel

for taking Arab territory and asks for Israel to return it

• Israel refuses…cites security concerns

• “Land for Peace”• Basis for future peace

talks

Palestine Liberation Organization (1964)

• Palestinian Arabs key to peace– Refugee camps– Wanted self rule

• PLO use terrorism to get self rule / destroy Israel

• Israel forced to respond

Munich Olympics 1972

• Eleven Israeli athletes murdered at Olympics by Palestinian gunmen

• World is outraged by killings

Yom Kippur War (1973)

• Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack• Israel’s government, led by Golda Meir, was not

fully prepared• Attained U.S. support• Cease-fire• *During war-Arab members of OPEC

(Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) declared an oil embargo to countries supporting Israel

Camp David Accords (1978)

• Egyptian President Sadat, Israel Prime Minister Begin, and US President Carter negotiated a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel in 1979

• Return Sinai to Egypt

• Egypt recognized Israel

Sadat Assassination

Lebanon 1978 & 1982

• Israel invades in an effort to stop PLO attacks

• Expels PLO

Conflict

• Israel surrounded by hostiles– Long history of conflict

• West Bank / Gaza Strip– Jewish settlements created– 1.7 Million Palestinians live under Israeli

control– No power / no voice

Occupied Territories: Gaza Strip, West Bank, Golan Heights

Palestinian Intifada

-In 1987 Palestinians begin to violently protest Israeli rule over the West Bank

-Some Palestinians follow the PLO under Yassir Arafat

-Some Palestinians follow Islamic organization…Hammas.

How are they different?

1993 Oslo Peace Accord

• Recognize each other• Israel agrees to PLO

self-rule, regain control over some lost territories

• PLO agrees to stop terrorism

• Rabin and Arafat win Nobel Peace Prize

Rabin Assassination

Right wing Israeli activist assassinate Rabin.

Significance?

Since 2000• 2000-a second Intifada• Operation Defensive Shield • 2004-Yasser Arafat died-Mahmoud Abbas takes over• Israeli P.M. Ariel Sharon decided that Israel would

withdraw from Gaza and parts of West Bank (2005)• Hamas wins control of Palestinian Parliament 2006• Border issues and air strikes followed• Attacks on Israel have increased since 2010 as

Hamas tries to disrupt peace talks

Israeli Water Source Map

The Continuing Arab-Israeli Conflict

• Split up into groups of 4• Review: Main themes of the current issues

involved in the Arab-Israeli Conflict– 2 from Palestinian Authority perspective– 2 from Israeli perspective

• Present: The argument from your side to the group

• Debate: What should happen?

Why is a resolution so difficult?

Chronology Closure

• With your groups of 4…– Identify the terms in your envelopes (you

should explain the significance of each term)– Organize the terms in chronological order

Consider…

• How do you think the conflict should be resolved?

• What prevents a resolution?• Will there ever be a resolution?

• Take the “Arab-Israeli Strips” and put them in chronological order (and identify them) with a partner