The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
- How Did it Start?
- When Will it End?
-
What Role does the U.S. play?
-
Any hope for a peaceful solution?
Basic Dates Regarding “Palestine”
- Empire of David and Solomon
(1000-925 BC)
- Kingdoms of Judah and Israel
(10th century BC – 6th century BC)
- Babylonian Exile (586 BC)
(1st Jewish Diaspora)
- Babylonia overthrown by Cyrus the
Great in 537 BC
- Alexander the Great in 331 BC
- Roman Emperor Pompey in 63 BC
- destruction of second temple in 70 AD
(2nd Jewish Diaspora)
- Islam arrives in the 7th century AD
Waves of History Crushing on Middle Eastern Shores
- Starting with the 2nd Jewish Diaspora, Ashkenazi and
Sephardic Jews disperse throughout Mediterranean and Europe;
small number of Jewish people remained in Middle East (< 8%)
- Experience of anti-Semitism throughout Christian Europe,
particularly during the Middle Ages
- Continued anti-Semitism and pogroms of 19th century Russia led
to the foundation of the Zionist movement (e.g. Theodor Herzl)
- First World Zionist Congress held in 1897 in Basel, Switzerland
- “Right of Self-Determination” claimed by Zionists;
Zionism as outgrowth of European “nationalism”
- Goal of Zionism: the creation of a Jewish State for “a people
without a land for a land without people” … but is it?
Myth 1: Palestine was a wasteland before
the Jews started immigrating there
Fact: Palestine was an inhabited, cultivated land
"Britain's high commissioner for Palestine, John Chancellor [in
1930], recommended total suspension of Jewish immigration
and land purchase to protect Arab agriculture. He said ‘all
cultivable land was occupied; that no cultivable land now in
possession of the indigenous population could be sold to Jews
without creating a class of landless Arab cultivators'...The
Colonial Office rejected the recommendation.“
(Palestine and Israel: A Challenge to Justice, John Quigley)
Myth 2: Zionism is about refuge from Nazis
Fact: Zionism existed before Nazis emerged
“I have already gone exhaustively into the reason for our
being here, reasons that I as a pioneer of 1906 can affirm
have nothing to do with the Nazis…. Nazism and our history
of martyrdom abroad do not concern our presence in Israel
directly.”
(David Ben-Gurion, First Israeli Prime-Minister, Memoirs, 1970)
Myth 3: Zionism is about Judaism
Fact: Orthodox Jewish communities like Neturei Karta,
Satmar, and others are anti-Zionists
"Zionism is diametrically opposed to Judaism. Zionism wishes
to define the Jewish people as a nationalistic entity. The
Zionists say, in effect, 'look here, God. We do not like exile.
Take us back, and if you don't, we'll just roll up our sleeves
and take ourselves back…. This, of course, equals heresy.
The Jewish people are charged by Divine oath not to force
themselves back to the Holy Land against the wishes of those
residing there....“
(Rabbi Hirsch, Jerusalem, Washington Post, October 3, 1978 )
Demographics and Politics
-
In the late 19th century less than 8% of the people in the
Middle East were Jewish
-
Inspired by the idea of Zionism, a steady flow of Jewish
immigrants (legal and illegal) leads to first tensions at the
turn of the century
-
During WW I, the Allied Forces (esp. the British) seek
help amongst Arabs in their fight against Ottoman Turks
in exchange for promises of independence
-
Simultaneously the Allied Forces seek the help of Zionists
in their fight for control of the Middle East
-
French and British have their own territorial claims
-
Sykes-Picot Agreement in 1916
Balfour Declaration in 1917
Balfour Declaration: “His Majesty’s Government view with
favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the
Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate
the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that
nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and
religious right of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine,
or the rights and political status by Jews in any other country.”
-
As Europe slips into heightened anti-Semitism, continued flow
of Jewish immigrants increases existing tensions in Palestine,
leading to acts of violence on both sides. Arab pleas for
intervention by the British falls on deaf ears
-
Churchill “White Paper” of 1922 tries to further clarify Balfour
Declaration: it does not contemplate that Palestine as a whole
should be converted into a Jewish National Home.
-
Still, by 1945 one third of the population have become Jewish
-
1946: radical Jews blow up King David Hotel, killing 91
-
1947: King Abdullah “As the Arabs see the Jews”
-
1948: ethnic cleansing of “Dayr Yasin” and many other
communities by terror Jewish groups of “Irgun Zvai Leumi”
and “Stern Gang”
> 500 villages
Anyone you recognize?
-
Ever heard the story of the S.S. St. Louis? How about a
-
When the new state of Israel was created in 1948, the U.S.
was one of the first to recognize it. Why?
-
As a result of this new state, about 750,000 Palestinians were
forcefully uprooted from their land. (Al-Nakabah)
-
On the following slides images of this “catastrophe”
PBS production called America and the Holocaust?
Borders and Colonial Powers
Matters of Scale
- In order to appreciate the geography and scale
of Palestine, one needs to realize how small it is!
- Israel is about 14% (1/7) the size of Georgia
- West Bank is four times larger than Lowndes Co.
- Gaza is about 27% (1/4) the size of Lowndes Co.
- Based on U.N. Partition Plan, Jewish State would control
56% of Palestine
- At the time Jewish people made up about one third of the
population, and owned only about 7% of the land
- Jerusalem was meant to become an internationally
administered city with access to all religions
- Zionists accepted the proposal, Arabs did not. Why?
- Result is Arab-Israeli War of 1948-49
- Israel wins and further expands its territory, now 78%
- Jerusalem is declared national capital in 1950 (In 1980 the
Knesset will declare Jerusalem the eternal capital of Israel.)
- Suez Canal War in 1956
- Over Egyptian control over Suez Canal under Nasser
- Israeli-British-French challenge control, temporarily occupy
Sinai Peninsula
- Six-Day-War of 1967 as pre-emptive strike by Israel
• Role of Cold War and USSR
• Occupation of Sinai, Gaza Strip, West Bank, Golan Heights
• Reunification of Jerusalem
• U.N. Resolution 242
• PLO, which emerged in 1964, becomes more organized
• Ever heard of the USS Liberty?
- Yom-Kippur War of 1973
• Attack by Egypt and Syria to regain Sinai and Golan Heights
- Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon in 1978-82
• Massacres at Sabra and Shatilla / radical Hizballah surfaces
- Peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel in 1979
- Intifadas (“uprisings”) of 1987 and 2000
Excluding the Palestinian Diaspora of about 4 million, in the combined territories of
Israel, West Bank and Gaza , Palestinians constitute about 50% of the total population
- Natural increase rates for Palestinians is 3.5% and for Israelis 1.5%
- Impact on the question of a one-state solution versus a two-state solution?
- International challenges to continued illegal Israeli settlement policies
• The Oslo agreements in 1993 brings some progress
• Increasing control of occupied territories by
Palestinians; vision of a Palestinian state after a
transitional period; stop of economic sanctions
• PLO (under Arafat) recognizes Israel, and Israel
recognizes the PLO
• But in 1994 the assassination of the Israeli Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin by a radical Jew* derails progress
• For the coming years stagnation and increasing
frustration in the peace process
• Under Clinton renewed efforts and talk at Camp David
lead to “Barak’s Generous Offer” in 2000
* What happened to Mahatma Gandhi in 1948 and Anwar El Sadat in 1981?
Beginning the construction of a “Security Fence in 2002
A “Security Fence”?
A One State Solution or a Two_State Solution?
►
Yassir Arafat, who lead the PLO since the 1960s, dies
in 2004
►
Radical group of Hamas gains control of many seats in
parliamentary election in 2006, particularly in the
Gaza Strip [Hamas came out of the 1987 intifada!]
►
2005 withdrawal of Israeli troops and 8,000 Jewish
settlers from the Gaza Strip
►
Gaza Strip (139 square miles small) is inhabited by 1.4
million Palestinians
[Lowndes County is almost four times larger]
►
US financial support to Israel: >120 billion since 1949
►Palestinians:
available water per capita per day 16-18 gallons
[Israelis: available water per capita per day about 86 gallons]
Palestinians youth from Kofor Qaddoum, a village east of the
West Bank city of Qalqilia, take water from a reservoir after
being cut by the Israeli company (August 2006).
[The average water consumption in the US is about 100 gallons per day!]
A Jew Child and a Jew Woman publicly harassing a
Muslim Women in the presence of Israeli Soldiers.
- Make no mistake, there are victims on both sides
- Ratio is about 1:8, in other words for every Israeli killed
in this ongoing conflict, 8 Palestinians die
• Importance of the Jewish vote in the United States / Israeli lobby
• other lobbying groups (e.g. AIPAC)
What IS the Truth?
Is There a Solution to This Conflict?
► Carefully
Examine the Historical Role of
the United States in this Conflict
► Compare Media coverage of the issue in
European newspapers versus newspapers
in the U.S.. What do you observe?
► Can the U.S. ever be an honest broker?
► How do YOU think can we resolve the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
By the way, do you know about Rachel Corrie?
Rachel Corrie? 23-year old American peace activist, crushed to death by a
bulldozer in 2003 as she tried to prevent the Israeli army from destroying
homes in the Gaza Strip. (But you might remember Jessica Lynch. Why?)