Quick Background
Palestine After WWII
• After World War II, new independent states
emerged in the Middle East.
• The states were mostly Muslim.
• Between the two world wars, many Jews had
immigrated to Palestine, believing this area
to be their promised land.
• Tensions between Jews and Arabs
intensified in the 1930s.
• Great Britain, under a UN mandate to govern
Palestine, rejected proposals for an
independent Jewish state in Palestine
Continued
• The Zionists still wanted Palestine as a
home for Jews.
• The Holocaust caused sympathy for the
Jewish proposal for an independent
Jewish state in Palestine.
• In 1948, the UN divided Palestine into two
states–an Arab state and a Jewish state,
Israel.
Problems: Arabs and Israels
• Several Arab countries invaded Israel,
but the invasion failed.
• Arabs, however, refused to recognize
Israel’s right to exist.
• The issue of a homeland and selfgovernance for the Palestinians remains
a problem today.
Arab-Israeli Dispute 1950s1960s
Conflict
• During the 1950s and 1960s, the disputes
between Israel and other states in the Middle
East became more heated.
• In 1967, Nasser blockaded Israeli shipping
through the Gulf of Aqaba.
• This led to the Six-Day War, in which Israel
occupied the Sinai Peninsula and tripled the
size of its territory, controlling land in the West
Bank, Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights.
• Arab states demanded that Israel return the
occupied territories.
A Brief History of the PLO
PLO
• In 1964, the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO) was formed to
represent the interests of the Palestinians.
• At the same time, al-Fatah, headed by
PLO leader Yasir Arafat, launched
terrorist attacks on Israeli territory.
PLO 1980-1990
• At the same time, al-Fatah, headed by
PLO leader Yasir Arafat, launched
terrorist attacks on Israeli territory.
• In 1993, Israel and the PLO reached an
agreement calling for Palestinian
autonomy in certain areas of Israel.
• In return, the PLO recognized Israel.
Directions: Answer all the following questions using
complete sentences. The answers will be found in the
powerpoint presentation.
1. What two ethnic groups primarily settled in Palestine after World War II?
2. Who wanted Palestine for the Jewish
people?
3. What did the Arabs refuse after Palestine
was splint into two by the UN?
4. What did Nasser do in 1967 and what did it
lead to?
5. What does PLO stand for?
6. Who headed the al-Fatah?
7. What happened in 1993?