Palestinian-Israeli Conflict
Palestinian and Israeli propaganda maps
Israeli map lumping together Arab states;
depicting tiny defenseless Israel
Palestinian Map
without Israel
Israel
Palestinians
(in West Bank and Gaza Strip)
Zionism:
Jewish (religious)
territoriality
Israelis are multiethnic
European, Middle Eastern,
Newer Russian, Ethiopian
immigrants
Arab Israeli minority
Arab (ethnic) territoriality
Palestinians are
multireligious
Muslims and Christians
Ethnic nationalist
movement,
but some newer Muslim
groups
Zionism - Theodore Herzl, 1896
British Palestine 1917- 48
Arab ethnic initial majority (90%)
1917, Balfour Declaration
supports Zionism; immigration begins
1936-39 The “Great Uprising” - first
Arab protests as Jews increasingly
Jewish religious
minority grew rapidly in 1920-40s,
especially during rise of Anti-semitism.
British did not allow European Jewish
immigration during WWII.
UN Partition Plan, 1948
• Jewish State (Israel)
• Arab State (Palestine)
• International Zone
(Jerusalem)
- never implemented
The day after the state of Israel was
declared in 1848 five Arab armies from
Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq
invaded but were repulsed and Israel
took all of the U.N. designated lands
plus much of Palestinian territory (see
next slide).
Jewish militia massacred scores
of Palestinians. Moreover
hundreds of thousands were
displaced and have been refugees
ever since.
Jerusalem
West (Israeli);
East (Arab)
with Israeli settlements
Jerusalem: Holy City to Jews, Muslims, and Christians
Israeli Settlements
and Palestinian
towns in the
West Bank, 2000
Israeli settlers see as
historic Jewish homeland
Palestinians compare
illegal settlements to
Apartheid
Palestinian
Autonomy, 2000
Gradual turnover of IsraeliOccupied areas to Palestinians
for “Two-State Solution”
Plan collapsing as
killings increase
Second Intifada since Sept. 2000
Israeli Defense Force reoccupies
West Bank and Gaza
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
1970s Unable to win support in U.N.;
Palestinians turned to terrrorism.
1972 Munich Olympics, 11 Israeli athletes killed by
PLO operatives
1974 Yasser Arafat speaks to U.N.
"Today I have come bearing an olive branch and a freedom
fighter's gun. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand."
Financial support for many years came from surrounding
Arab nations and the U.S.S.R.
1992 PLO (Arafat) and Israel (Yitzhak Rabin)
formally acknowledge one another as part of the Oslo
Accord talks with Clinton.
Splinter Groups: Hamas, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade,
Hezbollah
2005 Arafat dies.
2006 Hamas wins substantial portion of Palestinian
vote.
Key Israeli Figures
David Ben Gurion - Zionist founder/victor in 1948
Yitzhak Rabin (74-77; 92-95) - recognized PLO; killed
by Israeli radical after making peace overtures.
Menachem Begin (78-83) - Camp David Accord; peace
with Egypt. Sadat killed by extremists in 1981.
Ehud Barak - aggressive Labor party peacemaker;
lost power to right wing Sharon during violence of
Second Intifada
Ariel Sharon - current prime minister; Likud Party
right winger considered war criminal by many for his
role is slaughter in Lebannon; in coma after stroke of
early 2006. (Ehud Olmert takes over role.)
Main Issues
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Palestinian
Land
Right of Return
End to Settlements
Water Rights
Economics
Self-determination
End of Occupation
Access to Jerusalem
Israeli
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Land
Security
Access to Jerusalem
Right to exist
Demographic Data
Palestinian
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Pop: 3,500,000
Migration: 2.1/1000
Infant mortality: 26/1000
Fertility rate: 6.55
Life expectancy: 70.8
GDP per capita: $625
GDP growth rate: - 35%
Religions: Muslim (predominantly
Sunni) 98.7%, Christian 0.7%, Jewish
0.6%
Israeli
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Pop: 6,000,000
Migration: 1/1000
Infant Mortality: 6.55/1000
Fertility rate: 2.54
Life Expectancy: 78.8
GDP per capita: $19,000
GDP growth rate: -1%
Religions: Jewish 80.1%, Muslim
14.6% (mostly Sunni Muslim),
Christian 2.1%, other 3.2% (1996 est.)