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