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A Brief History of the Israeli-Palestinian Arab Conflict 2000 BC to Today Mediterranean Sea I s r a e l Jordan Syria Sinai Peninsula (Egypt) Gaza Strip West Bank Jerusalem Golan Heights
A Brief History of the Israeli-Palestinian Arab Conflict 2000 BC to Today
Mediterranean Sea
I s r a e l Jordan
Syria
Sinai Peninsula
(Egypt)
Gaza Strip
West Bank
Jerusalem
Golan Heights
2000 BC or so…
ISRAEL PALESTINIAN ARABS
God promises Abraham & his descendants the Palestine region. Through his son Isaac he
becomes the father of the Jewish people
Jews settle in Palestine and build their
temple in Jerusalem
God promises Abraham the Palestine region. Through his son Ishmael he
becomes the father of the Arab people
Ishmael is banished to the Arabian
Peninsula, where he builds the Kaaba in Mecca
70 AD 636 AD
ISRAEL PALESTINIAN ARABS
The Romans kick the Jews out of Palestine and destroy the Temple.
Jews are dispersed throughout the Middle
East and Europe for almost 1900 years.
The Arab Empire conquers Palestine.
Arabs build two mosques on the old Temple Mount – Al Aqsa and the
Dome of the Rock
Arab peasants living in Palestine eek out a living farming the land, which
is owned by urban Arabs.
Late 19th Century
ISRAEL PALESTINIAN ARABS
The Zionist Movement – a nationalist Jewish movement that wants to move
Jews out of Europe and back to Palestine - begins buying land in
Palestine. European Jews move there.
Palestinian Arab peasants begin losing their farms to Jewish settlers – urban Arabs sell
the land to the Jews.
World War I
ISRAEL PALESTINIAN ARABS
With the Balfour Declaration, Britain “promises” to support a Jewish
“homeland” in Palestine
To get Arab support against the Ottoman Empire, Britain issues the McMahon-Hussein
Agreement, which “promises” to give Palestine to an Arab state
1920-1947
ISRAEL PALESTINIAN ARABS
Britain keeps Palestine as a colony. Jews get mad and fight the British. They also fight the Arabs over land and influence.
As the Nazis take control of Germany
(and then the rest of Europe), more Jews try to move to Palestine. Some are sent home
by British authorities and die in the Holocaust, which kills 6 million Jews.
When WWII ends, what’s left of Europe’s
Jews mostly move to Palestine.
Britain keeps Palestine as a colony. Arabs get mad and fight the British. They also fight the Jews over land and influence.
As more Jews move in, more Palestinian
Arabs are displaced
1947
ISRAEL PALESTINIAN ARABS
Britain leaves Palestine and hands it over to the United Nations. The U.N. announces
a partition plan, which will create two states in Palestine – one Jewish and one
Arab.
Jews embrace partition.
Britain leaves Palestine and hands it over to the United Nations. The U.N. announces
a partition plan, which will create two states in Palestine – one Jewish and one
Arab.
Arabs reject partition.
1948-1949
ISRAEL PALESTINIAN ARABS
In May, 1948 the Partition Plan goes into effect and Jews celebrate the foundation of Israel as a
Jewish State
Palestinian Arabs and a bunch of Arab states attack Israel and try to “push it into the Mediterranean.”
The Israeli army fights and defeats the Arabs. They
gain control of more territory than expected, including the western half of Jerusalem
In May, 1948 the Partition Plan goes into effect. Palestinian Arabs reject partition and, backed by
their Arab neighbors, fight Israel
The Arabs lose the war.
About 400,000 Palestinian Arabs leave / are forced to leave Palestine. They become refugees
in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, etc. None of the countries really want them or give them
citizenship.
Arabs who stay in Palestine live in Israel, the West Bank, East Jerusalem
(both ruled by Jordan) and the Gaza Strip (ruled by Egypt)
1949-1967
ISRAEL PALESTINIAN ARABS
Arab States and Palestinian Arab militant groups launch constant attacks on Israel.
The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) gets stronger as time goes on and begins
to launch raids into the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and refugee camps in neighboring countries
Organize the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) to coordinate attacks on Israel by militant groups
such as Fatah.
Yasser Arafat emerges as the leader of Fatah & the PLO.
Refugees continue to languish without citizenship in neighboring countries
1967
ISRAEL PALESTINIAN ARABS
The Six Days War:
Facing imminent attack by Egypt, Israel launches a preemptive strike against Egypt, Syria,
and Jordan and defeats all three.
The IDF occupies the Sinai Peninsula, West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, and Golan Heights,
& now controls the lives of millions of Palestinian Arabs.
Millions now live under Israeli military rule.
Many more leave for refugee camps in neighboring countries
1967-1987
ISRAEL PALESTINIAN ARABS
Israel continues to fight off militant attacks by the PLO and other groups. As time progresses, Israel begins to implement the policy of “disproportionate
retaliation,” by which they meet violent attacks with much greater violence (you kill 5, we kill 20).
Israel begins building Jewish “settlements”
in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, allowing Israeli citizens to move there.
In 1979, they make peace with Egypt and hand back the Sinai Peninsula. The concept of land
for peace is born.
In 1982, Israel invades Lebanon, defeats the PLO, and send its leadership into exile.
The PLO and other Palestinian Arab militant groups continue to launch attacks on Israel, but Israeli counter-attacks against countries helping
the PLO causes those nations to ban it.
By the late 1970’s, Lebanon – in the midst of a nasty civil war – is the only territory
left from which to stage attacks.
Israeli settlement activity displaces Palestinian Arab families in the West Bank and East Jerusalem
In 1982, PLO leadership is defeated in Lebanon and forced into exile in Tunisia. The Palestinian
Arabs under IDF control are now leaderless.
1987-1994
ISRAEL PALESTINIAN ARABS
Settlements continue to be built in the West Bank.
Israel allows the PLO leadership to return from exile in exchange for its vow to end violence and begin peace
negotiations, whose end goal is a Palestinian State in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The Oslo Accords are announced in 1993,
which officially start planning for two-states.
An extremist Israeli assassinates Israeli P.M. Yitzhak Rabin in 1994.
Israeli civilians are killed in a series of suicide
bombings by Hamas, a new Islamist Palestinian Arab militant group.
Palestinian Arabs continue to be displaced by settlements.
PLO leadership returns and announces their intention to stop fighting against & thus seek
peace with Israel, in exchange for a Palestinian Arab state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip,
and East Jerusalem.
The Oslo Accords are announced in 1993, which officially start planning for two-states.
Hamas, an Islamist Palestinian militant group, is
founded in 1987 and vows to keep attacking Israel.
The PLO agrees to the Oslo Accords in 1993; Hamas
answers with a wave of suicide bombings
1994-2000
ISRAEL PALESTINIAN ARABS
Settlement activity continues in the West Bank.
Civilian casualties from suicide bombings continue
Peace negotiations continue, and “final talks” take place in the summer of 2000. P.M.
Ehud Barak offers Yasser Arafat about 90% of what the Palestinian Arabs want. Arafat rejects
the deal and storms out of the meeting.
Palestinian Arabs continue to be displaced by Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
The Palestinian Authority is created to run
increasingly autonomous areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. International aid flows in to
help out the fledgling future state Average Palestinians enjoy more freedoms, but are frustrated by the divisions created in the West Bank by the boundaries set up by the Oslo Accords – some areas are controlled by the Palestinian Authority, some by the IDF, and some by Jewish settlements. Peace negotiations continue, and “final talks” take place in the summer of 2000. Yasser Arafat believes the offer from Israel at the talks isn’t enough, and storms out of the meeting.
Late 2000-2004: “Intifada”
ISRAEL PALESTINIAN ARABS
Settlement activity continues in the West Bank.
The breakdown of peace talks leads to an unprecedented spiral of violence – thousands
of Israelis are killed or injured in Hamas suicide bombings aimed at buses,
schools, stores, etc.
The IDF cracks down and places most Palestinian Arab territory under martial law, putting in place
hundreds of checkpoints and starting construction on a security barrier to stop would-be bombers.
Israelis shift emphasis from peace to security.
Palestinian Arabs continue to be displaced by Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
The breakdown of peace talks leads to
an unprecedented spiral of violence – thousands Palestinian Arabs are killed or injured in IDF
military operations aimed at stopping Hamas.
Hamas steps up recruitment, largely aimed at at-risk youth. Parents lock their kids inside.
Palestinian Arabs face a gauntlet of checkpoints,
military interrogations, and the prospect of being walled in by Israel’s new security barrier.
Getting to work, school, hospitals is never a certainty.
2005-Today
ISRAEL PALESTINIAN ARABS
Settlement activity continues in the West Bank.
Israel continues to build its security barrier. Thanks to its and other measures, suicide bombings stop.
Hamas tries to attack Israel with missiles from the Gaza Strip, but the threat is rapidly dealt
with through harsh military force.
Security has been secured without a peace agreement or two states in Palestine.
Palestinian Arabs continue to be displaced by Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
Israeli security measures disrupt daily life more than
ever – poverty and joblessness rises.
Yasser Arafat dies and replaced as PLO, Fatah, and Palestinian Authority head by Mahmoud Abbas, who
continues to pursue peace with Israel.
The PLO/Fatah and Hamas fight over control of the Gaza Strip – Hamas wins. This splits the Palestinian people.
The IDF gains the upper hand against Hamas, smashing
them in the Gaza Strip at the smallest provocation.
