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Palestine-Israel Conflict Historical & Geopolitical

Perspective

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The history of the Palestine-Israel Conflict

• From ancient times to the end of World War I

•The British Mandate of Palestine – 1917-1948

•The establishment of the state of Israel and the Israel-Arab Wars (1948-1982)

• Peace talks, the 1st and 2nd Intifada, to the present

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Ancient Times to the End of World War I

1250 BCE - Israelites conquer Canaan; King David, Solomon (965-928) and other Hebrew rulers

586 BCE -    Jews driven out by Assyrian conqueror Nebuchadnezzer

Succession of Assyrian, Persian (539BC), Greek (333BC), Egyptian, Syrian, Roman Byzantine (63 BC), and Arab rulers from Damascus (661-750), Iraq (750-1258), and Cairo (969-1099, 1187-1516), and the Crusaders (1099-1187) .

Palestine incorporated into the Ottoman Empire from 1516-1917

Zionism – the movement to establish a separate Jewish state in Palestine – was born at the end of the 19th century

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The Middle East in 1917

Middle East in 1917

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The British Mandate (1917-48)

The Balfour Declaration of 1917 pledged Britain’s support for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people” and also stated “nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine…”

Successive waves of migrations increased Jewish population in Palestine from less than 6% in 1903 to 31% in 1945

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UNITED NATIONS RESOLUTION 181

PAVES WAY FOR THE

ESTABLISHMENT OF ISRAEL IN PALESTINE

29 Nov 1947 - UN Resolution 181 – partitioning Palestine into a Jewish state (56.5% of Palestine) and a Palestinian state (43%); rejected by the Palestinians and Arab states.

14 May 1948 - State of Israel proclaimed in Tel Aviv at 4:00 P.M. , recognized by US President Truman

15 May 1948 - British Mandate ends. Declaration of State of Israel goes into effect.

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The Arab-Israeli Wars

1949 – First Arab-Israeli War 1956 – Suez Campaign (Oct 29-Nov 5) 1967 - Six-Day War (June 5-10) 1973 - October War (Yom Kippur) 1982 - Israeli invasion of Lebanon

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Six-Day War

1967

June 5-10

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October 1973 War

(Yom Kippur)

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Peace Talks and the Intifada

•1978 - Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt; Israel turns over Sinai to Egypt in exchange for recognition of right to exist

•1987 - Outbreak of the first Palestinian intifada in December 1987 triggered by death of Palestinian youths run over by Israeli lorry (military personnel carrier)

•1988 - Yassir Arafat's condemnation of terrorism and recognition of the State of Israel in December 1988.

•1991 October - The Madrid Peace Conference  

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POST-COLD WAR (1992- PRESENT)

1992 - Secret Israeli-Palestinian talks in Oslo, Norway

1993 - Declaration of Principles (DoP), signed by Yassir Arafat and Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin:o        Establish the Palestinian Authority, but o        Failed to resolve the issues of : §         Return of Palestinian refugees §         Status of Jerusalem §         Israeli settlements §         Finalize Palestine-Israel borders

1994 – Arafat returned to Gaza Strip and West Bank to head the Palestinian Authority

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Israelwielded full authority and control by frequently sealing off the Palestinian-governed areas from the rest of the Occupied Territories and from Israel.

Some highlights in recent history of Palestine1974 - The Arab Summit in Rabat recognized the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.

1987 - Relations between Israel and the Palestinians entered a new phase with the intifada, a series of uprisings in the occupied

territories that included demonstrations, strikes, and rock-throwing attacks on Israeli soldiers.

1988 - The Palestinian National Conference meeting in Algiers declared the State of Palestine as outlined in the UN Partition Plan 181.

1993 – Israeli PM Rabin and PLO Chairman Yassir Arafat signed an historic peace agreement wherein Israel agreed to allow for Palestinian self-rule (Palestinian National Authority), first in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank town of Jericho, and later in other areas of the West Bank. However it failed to resolve the issues of return of Palestinians to Palestine, Jewish settlements, Jerusalem and final Israel-Palestine borders.

1994 Jan - PLO Chairman Yassir Arafat elected President of the PNA.

2001 – Renewal of Intifada

Camp David Summit, 11 July 2000

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, US President Bill Clinton and Palestinian President Yassir Arafat failed to reach an agreement on resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict.

September 2000 – Opposition Likud Party candidate

Ariel Sharon’s visit to Jerusalem sparks 2nd Intifada,

which lasts throughout 2001.

March 2002 - Saudi Peace Initiative

Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia proposed a Saudi peace initiative in March 2002 that formally changed the Arab world’s position on Israel.

The proposal, endorsed by the Arab League, asked Israel to withdraw to the 1949 borders and establish an independent and sovereign state of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital. It stipulated that displaced refugees should either be allowed to return to their homes or be compensated for their loss of property.

In return, the Arab states would consider the Arab-Israeli conflict over, sign comprehensive peace treaties with Israel, and normalize relations.

The proposal was received with skepticism by Israel and had little practical effect.

United Nations Resolution 1397

13 March 2002

The U.S. pushes through the passage of United Nations Resolution 1397 by the Security Council, demanding an "immediate cessation of all acts of violence" and "affirming a vision of a region where two states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side within secure and recognized borders."

March 2002 - Israeli forces attack Palestinian cities

Operation Defensive Shield, Israel's largest military operation in the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War. Its goals was launched purportedly

to enter cities and villages which have become havens for terrorists;

to catch and arrest terrorists and, primarily, their dispatchers and those who finance and support them;

to confiscate weapons intended to be used against Israeli citizens;

to expose and destroy terrorist facilities and explosives, laboratories, weapons production factories and secret installations.

Attack on Arafat’s HQ at Ramallah

- 14 March 2002

12 April 2002 – Massacre at Jenin Refugee Camp

IDF used heavy armored bulldozers to flatten apartment buildings in Jenin, burying trapped occupants alive. Foreign media was prevented from entering the camps for two weeks after the operation.

IDF troops occupy Bethlehem and attack the

Church of the Nativity, where 200

Palestinians sought refuge for 39 days

June 2002 – Israel starts construction of the West Bank Barrier/Wall

The Wall runs over 650 km deep inside West Bank

The Wall takes on a variety of forms, but always with watchtowers, concertina wire,

and bulldozed buffer zones.

The Wall is a violation of international law,

particularly on the annexation of occupied land

(United Nations Charter, Art. 2.4).

The Wall has changed the way both Israelis and

Palestinians live in the West Bank. It has come

under criticism by the international community.

US, European Union, Russia and the UN

propose a “Road Map to Peace”

Called for an independent Palestinian state peacefully coexisting with Israel

Requires the PNA to undertake democratic reforms and abandon the use of terrorism.

Israel must support and accept the emergence of a reformed Palestinian government and end settlement activity of the Gaza Strip and West Bank as the Palestinian threat is removed.

June 2003 Arab Summit

Arab leaders held a two-day summit in Egypt, announcing their support for the US-EU-Russia-UN Road Map and promised to work on cutting off funding to terrorist groups.

US Role in the Conflict

1948 - Israel won the first war against its Arab neighbors leading to the establishment of the State of Israel. The US lobbied for Israel and was the first country to recognize Israel in the United Nations.

1956 Suez Crisis - Israel, France, and Britain attacked Egypt in October of 1956 after the Suez crisis but the US came out against the war forcing UN intervention and an end to hostilities.

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cont. US Role in Conflict

1967 Six-Day War - US backs Israel in its third war in the region against the armies of Egypt, Jordan and Syria. Israel gains control of the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, Syria's Golan Heights, and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

1973 -October/Yom Kippur War - Egypt and Syria attack Israel in October of 1973 in an attempt to reclaim lands lost in the Six-Day War. Israel initially suffers major losses until the United States arranged a massive airlift of weapons which helped Israel in its counteroffensive.

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1978 Camp David Accords - US President Jimmy Carter mediates negotiations between Egypt's Anwar Sadat and Israel's Menachem Begin leading to the Camp David Accords, the prerequisite to the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty.

1982 War of Lebanon -- Israel gets explicitly involved in the Lebanese Civil War, attacking Syrian and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) forces. The US mediates an agreement with the PLO to withdrawal which leads to American troop deployment in Lebanon.

1991 Current Peace Process -- The US has played a mediating role between Israel and its neighboring Arab countries, leading to the Madrid Conference (1991), Oslo Process/Accords (1993), the Israeli-Jordanian Peace Treaty (1994), and most recently the Road Map for Peace.

2006 War with Lebanon - Israel attacks Lebanon in retaliation for the Hezbollah kidnapping of Israeli soldiers. Questions arose about whether or not Israel used American supplied weapons during the conflict.

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