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JERUSALEM
I wept until my tears were dry
I prayed until the candles flickered
I knelt until the floor creaked
I asked about Mohammed and Christ
Oh Jerusalem, the fragrance of prophets
The shortest path between earth and sky
Oh Jerusalem, the citadel of laws
A beautiful child with fingers charred
and downcast eyes
You are the shady oasis passed by the
Prophet
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Your streets are melancholy
Your minarets are mourning
You, the young maiden dressed in black
Who rings the bells in the Nativity
On Saturday morning?
Who brings toys for the children
On Christmas eve?
Oh Jerusalem, the city of sorrow
A big tear wandering in the eye
Who will halt the aggression
On you, the pearl of religions?
Who will wash your bloody walls?
Who will safeguard the Bible?
Who will rescue the Quran?
Who will save Christ?
Who will save man?
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Oh Jerusalem my town
Oh Jerusalem my love
Tomorrow the lemon trees will blossom
And the olive trees will rejoice
Your eyes will dance
The migrant pigeons will return
To your sacred roofs
And your children will play again
And fathers and sons will meet
On your rosy hills
My town
The town of peace and olives
3000 BC : The Canaanites were the earliest
known inhabitants of Palestine. They became
urbanized and lived in city-states, one of which
was Jericho . They developed an alphabet. Later,
the Hebrews, a tribe from Mesopotamia settled
in the area. Palestine's location at the center of
routes linking three continents made it the
meeting place for religious and cultural
influences from Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, and
Asia Minor. It was also the natural battleground
for the great powers of the region and subject to
domination by bordering empires beginning with
Egypt in the 3d millennium BC.
2000 BC : Egyptian control and Canaanite
independence were constantly challenged
by invaders such as the Amorites, Hittites,
and Hurrians. These invaders, however,
were defeated by the Egyptians and
absorbed by the Canaanites, who at that
time may have numbered about 200,000
people. Under control of the Egyptians
and actually taken to Egypt as slaves, the
Hebrews- led by Moses eventually escape
from Egypt seeking a return to their
homeland as promised by the One God in
whom they believed.
Biblical References
to “Eretz Israel”
According to
Genesis, 15:18 –
“from the river of
Egypt to the great
river, the river
Euphrates”
1400 BC : Egyptian power was challenged by
new invaders including the Hebrews, a group
of Semitic tribes from Mesopotamia, and the
Philistines (after whom the country was later
named), an Aegean people of Indo-European
stock.
1230 BC : Joshua and the Hebrews
conquered parts of “Palestine.” The
conquerors settled in the hill country, but they
were unable to conquer all of Palestine.
Israel/Palestine Early History
•
•
Jews a nomadic people till about 1250 BCE-conquest of
Canaan
Jerusalem founded by King David c. 1000 BCE
–
•
586 BCE Conquered by Babylonians under
Nebuchadnezzer
–
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First Temple established c. 950 BCE by King Solomon
Jews exiled to Babylon, Temple destroyed
539 BCE Persian control – allowed Jews return and
rebuild Temple
333 BCE: Alexander the Great brings Jerusalem under
Greek rule
323 BCE: Alexander dies: alternating rule by Egypt and
Syria
165 BCE: Maccabees revolt, establish independent
state
63 BCE Under Roman rule
1125 BC : The Israelites, a confederation of
Hebrew tribes, finally defeated the
Canaanites but found the struggle with the
Philistines more difficult . Philistines had
established an independent state on the
southern coast of Palestine and controlled the
Canaanite town of Jerusalem.
1050 BC : Philistines with superiority in
military organization and using iron weapons,
severely defeated the Israelites about 1050
BC .
1000 BC : David, Israel's great king, finally
defeated the Philistines, and they eventually
assimilated with the Canaanites . The unity of Israel
enabled David to establish a large independent
state, with its capital at Jerusalem, including
building the first major Temple of Judaism in
Jerusalem.
922 BC : Under David's son and successor,
Solomon, Israel enjoyed peace and prosperity , but
at his death in 922 BC the kingdom was divided
into Israel in the north and Judah in the south .
722-721 BC : When nearby empires resumed their
expansion, the divided Israelites could no longer
maintain their independence . Israel fell to Assyria.
586 BC : Judah was conquered by Babylonia,
which destroyed Jerusalem and exiled most of
the Jews living there. Nebuchadnezzar entered
Jerusalem. The Temple was sacked and set fire
to, and razed to the ground. The Royal Palace
and all the great houses were destroyed, the
population carried off in chains to Babylon. And
they lamented on their long march into exile.
539 BC : Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered
Babylonia and he permitted the Jews to return to
Judea, a district of Palestine. Under Persian rule
the Jews were allowed considerable autonomy.
They rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem and codified
the Mosaic law, the Torah, which became the
code of social life and religious observance. The
Jews were bound to a universal God.
333 BC : Persian domination of Palestine was
replaced by Greek rule when Alexander the
Great of Macedonia took the region. Alexander's
successors, the Ptolemies of Egypt and the
Seleucids of Syria , continued to rule the
country . The Seleucids tried to impose
Hellenistic (Greek) culture and religion on the
population.
141-63 BC : Jews revolted under the Maccabees
and set up an independent state.
132-35 BC : Jews revolts erupted, numerous
Jews were killed, many were sold into slavery,
and the rest were not allowed to visit Jerusalem.
Judea was renamed Syria Palaistina.
63 BC : Jerusalem was overrun by Rome. Herod
was appointed King of Judea. A period of great
civil disorder followed with strife and riots
against the Roman authorities.
37-4 BC : During the rule of King Herod, Jesus of
Nazareth, was born. And years after, he began
his teaching mission. His attempts to call people
back to the pure teachings of Abraham and
Moses were judged subversive by the
authorities. He was tried and sentenced to
death.
Israel/Palestine Early History
• 0-36 CE-Birth and Death of Jesus under continuing
Roman Rule
• 66 CE Jewish revolt
• 2nd Temple destroyed (Western Wall still standing)
• Jews forbidden in Jerusalem Diaspora
– 2 main branches:
Ashkenazic (German) – of Central and E. Europe –
spoke Yiddish - European beliefs (e.g.
Socialism)
Sephardic (Mediterranean) - Spain, later
Arab Countries.
70 AD : Titus of Rome attacked Jerusalem. The
fiercely defended Temple eventually fell, and
with it the whole city. Seeking a complete and
enduring victory, Titus ordered the total
destruction of the Herodian Temple. A new city
named Aelia was built by the Romans on the
ruins of Jerusalem, and a temple dedicated to
Jupitor raised up.
313 AD : Palestine received special attention
when the Roman emperor Constantine I
legalized Christianity and conquered Jerusalem.
His mother, Helena, visited Jerusalem, and
Palestine, as the Holy Land, became a focus of
Christian pilgrimage. A golden age of prosperity,
security, and culture followed. Most of the
population became Christianized .
Israel/Palestine Early History
• C. 135- Emperor Hadrian builds new
pagan city on ruins of Jerusalem
• 330-638-Palestine under Byzantine rule:
Emperor Constantine: Christianity
spreads
• 630-Death of Muhammad/spread of
Islam
• 638: Arabs capture Jerusalem
• 661-750: Palestine administered from
Damascus, Syria. Dome of the Rock
and Al Aqsa mosque constructed
.
29-614 AD : Byzantine (Roman) rule was
interrupted , however , by a brief Persian
occupation and ended altogether when
Muslim Arab armies invaded Palestine and
captured Jerusalem in AD 638
638 AD : The Arab conquest began 1300 years of
Muslim presence in what then became known as
Filastin. Eager to be rid of their Byzantine
overlords and aware of their shared heritage
with the Arabs, the descendants of Ishmael, as
well as the Muslims reputation for mercy and
compassion in victory, the people of Jerusalem
handed over the city after a brief siege. They
made only one condition, that the terms of their
surrender be negotiated directly with the Khalif
'Umar in person. 'Umar entered Jerusalem on
foot. There was no bloodshed. There were no
massacres. Those who wanted to leave were
allowed to, with all their goods. Those who
wanted to stay were guaranteed protection for
their lives, their property and places of worship
Palestine was holy to Muslims because the Prophet
Muhammad had designated Jerusalem as the first
qibla (the direction Muslims face when praying) and
because he was believed to have ascended to
heaven from the the old city of Jerusalem (al-Aqsa
Mosque today) , where the Dome of the Rock was
later built. Jerusalem became the third holiest city of
Islam.
The Muslim rulers did not force their religion on the
Palestinians, and more than a century passed
before the majority converted to Islam. The
remaining Christians and Jews were considered
People of the Book. They were allowed autonomous
control in their communities and guaranteed
security and freedom of worship. Most Palestinians
also adopted Arabic and Islamic culture.
Spread of Islam
Jerusalem
Dome of
the Rock/
Al Quds
Al Aqsa
Mosque
750 AD : The power shifted to Baghdad
with the Abbasids, Palestine became
neglected. It suffered unrest and
successive domination by Seljuks,
Fatimids, and European Crusaders. It
shared, however, in the glory of Muslim
civilization, when the Muslim world
enjoyed a golden age of science, art,
philosophy, and literature. Muslims
preserved Greek learning and broke new
ground in several fields, all of which later
contributed to the Renaissance in Europe.
Eventually Palestine came under the
control of the Mamelukes.
Israel/Palestine Early History
• 750-1250: Palestine administered from
Baghdad (Iraq) with brief periods of control by
rulers from Egypt and other areas
• 1099-1187: Crusades, establishment of “Latin
Kingdom of Jerusalem”
• Crusaders vanquished: Jerusalem
administered out of Cairo
• 1516-1917: Palestine incorporated into
Ottoman Empire and administered from
Istanbul
– Recognition of 3 religions
– They protected the different religious sites/kept
them alive
1517 AD : The Ottoman Turks defeated the
Mamelukes, with few interruptions, ruled
Palestine until the winter of 1917-18. The country
was divided into several districts (sanjaks), such
as that of Jerusalem. The administration of the
districts was placed largely in the hands of Arab
Palestinians, who were descendants of the
Canaanites. The Christian and Jewish
communities, however, were allowed a large
measure of independence. Palestine shared in
the glory of the Ottoman Empire during the 16th
century, but declined again when the empire
began to decline in the 17th century.
1897 the first Zionist (people dedicated to
returning Jewish people to Isreal/Palestine)
Congress held Basle, Switzerland, issued the
Basle program on colonizing of Palestine
1845 Jewish presence in Palestine was 12,000.
This number increased to 85,000 by 1914.
Zionism
 GOALS:
The spiritual and
political renewal of
the Jewish people
in its ancestral
homeland of
Palestine.
 Freedom from
Western anti-Semitism.
Theodore Herzl
1860-1904
Zionism as a 19th century nationalist
movement
• Rejection of Torah as “symbolic land” – as
moveable land – Jewish people need territory
like other nations.
 Theodor Herzl (Poland) “Der Judenstaat”
Jewish State as a result of increased pogroms
etc… in E. Europe
 1878-1903: First wave of Zionists (25,000)
enter Palestine
 1st Zionist Congress – Basel, Switzerland,
1897
The Middle East in 1914
The Ottoman Empire in WW1
1904 the Fourth Zionist Congress decided to establish a
national home for Jews in Argentina.
1906 the Zionist congress decided the Jewish homeland
should be Palestine.
1914 With the outbreak of World War I, Britain promised
the independence of Arab lands under Ottoman rule,
including Palestine, in return for Arab support against
Turkey which had entered the war on the side of
Germany.
1916 Britain and France signed the Sykes-Picot
Agreement, which divided the Arab region into zones of
influence. Lebanon and Syria were assigned to France,
Jordan, Iraq and Palestine to Britain and Palestine was
to be internationalized.
1914 With the outbreak of World War I, Britain
promised the independence of Arab lands under
Ottoman rule, including Palestine, in return for
Arab support against Turkey which had entered
the war on the side of Germany.
1916 Britain and France signed the Sykes-Picot
Agreement, which divided the Arab region into
zones of influence. Lebanon and Syria were
assigned to France, Jordan, Iraq and Palestine to
Britain and Palestine was to be internationalized.
Sykes-Picot Agreement, 1916
Hussein-McMahon Letters, 1915
....Britain is prepared to
recognize and uphold the
independence of the Arabs
in all regions lying within
the frontiers proposed by
the Sharif of Mecca....
Hussein ibn Ali,
Sharif of Mecca
The Arab Revolt: 1916-1918
1917 The British government issued the Balfour
Declaration on November 2, in the form of a letter to a
British Zionist leader from the foreign secretary Arthur J.
Balfour promising him the establishment of a national
home for the Jewish people in Palestine.
1917-1918 Aided by the Arabs, the British captured Palestine
from the Ottoman Turks. The Arabs revolted against the
Turks because the British had promised them the
independence of their countries after the war. Britain,
however, also made other, conflicting commitments in the
secret Sykes-Picot agreement with France and Russia
(1916), it promised to divide and rule the region with its allies.
In a third agreement, the Balfour Declaration of 1917, Britain
promised the Jews a Jewish "national home" in Palestine .
• Because no other peoples had ever
established a national homeland in
"Palestine" since the Jews had done it 2,000
years before, the British "looked favorably"
upon the creation of a Jewish National
Homeland throughout ALL of Palestine, or
because they needed the support of Jewish
leaders in England and the US during WW1.
• The Jews had already begun mass immigration
into Palestine in the 1880's in an effort to rid the
land of swamps and malaria and prepare for the
rebirth of Israel. This Jewish effort to revitalize
the land attracted an equally large immigration
of Arabs from neighboring areas who were
drawn by employment opportunities and
healthier living conditions.
British Promise to the Jews: Balfour
Declaration, 1917
His Majesty’s Government views 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 rights of existing non-Jewish
communities in Palestine…
Sir Arthur James Balfour
Br. Foreign Secretary
1918 After WW I ended, Jews began to
migrate to Palestine, which was set aside as
a British mandate with the approval of the
League of Nations in 1922. Large-scale
Jewish settlement and extensive Zionist
agricultural and industrial enterprises in
Palestine began during the British period,
which lasted until 1948.
1919 The Palestinians convened their first
National Conference and expressed their
opposition to the Balfour Declaration
The League of Nations Mandates
“New” Countries & Ruling Families Emerge!
 Prince Faisal  “ruler” of Trans-Jordan.
 Prince Abdullah  “ruler” of a newly-created
Iraq [pasted together from three distinct
geographic regions].
 The House of Saud  put on the throne of the
newly-created Saudi Arabia.
 The Pahlavi Family  put on the throne of a
new Iran.
 Mustafa Kemal  leads a military/nationalist
movement in Turkey.
1920 The San Remo Conference granted Britain a mandate
over Palestine. and two years later Palestine was effectively
under British administration. Sir Herbert Samuel, a declared
Zionist, was sent as Britain's first High Commissioner to
Palestine.
1922 The Council of the League of Nations issued a
Mandate for Palestine.
1929 Large-scale attacks on Jews by Arabs rocked
Jerusalem. Palestinians killed 133 Jews and suffered 116
deaths. Sparked by a dispute over use of the Western Wall
of Al-Aqsa Mosque ( this site is sacred to Muslims, but Jews
claimed it is the remainder of the first Jewish Temple)
Oil Discovered in Mesopotamia!
 First discovered on Masjid-I Suleiman in Persia
in 1908.
 Turkish-Petroleum Co. [TPC] founded in 1911 
drill for oil in Mosul, Mesopotamia.
 Britain signed a secret agreement with the sheikh of Kuwait who, while
outwardly pledging
allegiance to the Ottoman Sultan in Istanbul,
promised exclusive oil rights to the British.
 Kuwait became a British protectorate in November, 1914.
 In 1927, oil was struck in Kirkuk, Iraq, and the
Iraq Petroleum Co. [IPC] was created.
Oil Becomes the New International
“Coin of the Realm!”
 American oil companies
[Texaco & Chevron], gain
oil concessions in Bahrain
in 1929.
 In 1933, American oil
companies win an oil
concession in Saudi Arabia.
 ARAMCO [Arab-American
Oil Co,] is created in 1939.
• In 1923, the British divided the "Palestine"
portion of the Ottoman Empire into two
administrative districts. Jews would be
permitted only west of the Jordan river. In
effect, the British had "chopped off" 75% of the
originally proposed Jewish Palestinian
homeland to form an Arab Palestinian nation
called Trans-Jordan (meaning "across the
Jordan River"). This territory east of the
Jordan River was given to Emir Abdullah (from
Hejaz, now Saudi Arabia) who was not even an
Arab-"Palestinian!" This portion of Palestine
was renamed Trans-Jordan. Trans-Jordan and
would again be renamed "Jordan" in 1946..
The Middle East Between the Wars
British
Mandate in
Palestine
Created
July, 1922
• The remaining 25% of Palestine (now WEST
of the Jordan River) was to be the Jewish
Palestinian homeland. Encouraged and
incited by growing Arab nationalism
throughout the Middle East, the Arabs of
that small remaining Palestinian territory
west of the Jordan River launched attacks
upon the Jewish Palestinians in an effort
to drive them out. Most terrifying were the
Hebron massacres of 1929 and later during
the 1936-39 "Arab Revolt." The British at first
tried to maintain order but soon (due to the large
oil deposits being discovered throughout the
Arab Middle East) turned a blind eye. It became
clear to the Jews in Palestine that they must
fight the Arabs and force out the British if they
wanted a homeland.
Jews & Arabs in Palestine, 1920

In 1920, there
was 1 Jew to
every 10 Arabs in
Palestine.

By 1947, the ratio
was 1 jew for every 2
Arabs
The Arabs felt that they
were losing control of their
“country!”
Jewish Settlements:
The Kibbutz System
 First one founded in 1908.
 Communal living.
 “Make the Desert
Bloom!”
1929 Arab Riots
IZBAH AL-YAHUD!
[“Slaughter All the Jews!”]
Jewish
Immigration
1919
1,806
1931
4,075
1920
8,223
1932
12,533
1921
8,294
1933
37,337
1922
8,685
1934
45,267
1923
8,175
1935
66,472
1924
13,892
1936
29,595
1925
34,386
1937
10,629
1926
13,855
1938
14,675
1927
3,034
1939
31,195
1928
2,178
1940
10,643
1929
5,249
1941
4,592
1930
4,944
1936 The Palestinians held a
six-month General Strike to
protest against the Jewish
“confiscation” of land and
Jewish immigration.
Palestine Arab Revolt:
1936-1939
Their Goals:
 An end to Jewish
immigration to Palestine.
 An end to the transfer
of lands to Jewish
owners.
 A new “general
representative
government.”
The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem,
Haj Amin al-Hussani, with
Adolf Hitler.
1937 Peel Commission, headed by Lord
Robert Peel, issued a report. Basically,
the commission concluded, the
mandate in Palestine was unworkable
There was no hope of any cooperative
national entity there that included both
Arabs and Jews. The commission
went on to recommend the partition
of Palestine into a Jewish state, an
Arab state, and a neutral sacred-site
state to be administered by Britain.
The Peel
Commission
Partition Plan,
1937
1939 The British government
published a White Paper
restricting Jewish immigration
and offering independence for
Palestine within ten years. This
was rejected by the Zionists,
who then organized terrorist
groups and launched a bloody
campaign against the British and
the Palestinians.
British White Paper of 1939
 Limited Jewish
immigration to
Palestine to 75,000 over
the next five years.
 It ended Jewish land
purchases.
 Independence for
Palestine within 10 years.
 It is NOT British policy
that Palestine become a
Jewish state.
Hitler’s
“Final
Solution”
The Jewish population in each country in 1942.
Nazi Concentration
& Extermination Camps
The Nazi Holocaust
 6,000,00 Jews killed
by the Nazis [1/2 in
the concentration
camps.]
The “Arab Legion” of the
British Army During WW2
The “Jewish Brigade” of the
British Army During WW2
Aliyah Bet : Illegal Jewish Immigration
Aliyah Bet
 Illegal Jewish immigration to Palestine.
 The Exodus, 1947.
British “Detention” Camps
in Cyprus : 1946-1948
1947 Great Britain decided to leave Palestine
and called on the United Nations (UN) to make
recommendations. In response, the UN
convened its first special session and on
November 29, 1947, it adopted a plan calling for
partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab
states, with Jerusalem as an international zone
under UN jurisdiction.
1947 Arab protests against partition erupted in
violence, with attacks on Jewish settlements in
retaliation against the attacks of Jewish terrorist
groups in Arab towns and villages and
massacres of hundred of unarmed Palestinians
in there homes.
• Finally in 1947 the British had enough
and turned the Palestine matter over to
the United Nations.
The 1947 U.N. Resolution 181
partition plan was to divide the
remaining 25% of Palestine into a
Jewish Palestinian State and a
SECOND Arab Palestinian State (TransJordan being the first) based upon
population concentrations. The Jewish
population accepted... the Arab
population rejected. The Arabs still
wanted all of Palestine... both east AND
west of the Jordan River.
.
U. N. Partition Plan of 1947
15 May 1948 British decided to leave on this day,
Jewish leaders established the Jewish state of
Israel. The same day, the armies of Egypt,
Transjordan (now Jordan), Syria, Lebanon,
Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Iraq joined Palestinian
and other Arab guerrillas in a full-scale war
against Israel (first Arab-Israeli War). The Arabs
failed to prevent establishment of a Jewish
state, and the war ended with four UN-arranged
armistice agreements between Israel and Egypt,
Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria. The small Gaza
Strip was left under Egyptian control, and the
West Bank was controlled by Jordan.
War Begins!: May 15, 1948
Israel Becomes a Nation:
May 14, 1948
Chaim Weizmann,
1st President
David Ben-Gurion,
1st Prime Minister
The Arabs failed to prevent establishment of a
Jewish state, and the war ended with four UNarranged armistice agreements between Israel and
Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria. The small
Gaza Strip was left under Egyptian control, and the
West Bank was controlled by Jordan.
Of the more than 800,000 Arabs who lived in
Israeli-held territory before 1948, only about
170,000 remained. The rest became refugees in
the surrounding Arab countries, ending the
Arab majority in the Jewish state
Arab Refugees, 1948
Israel is going to be forced to deal with the issue of a
homeland for the Palestinians for the next 60 + years
Armistice Signed, 1949
.
1956 Refugee guerrilla bands and attacks by Arab military
units were made, Egypt refused to permit Israeli ships to use
the Suez Canal and blockaded the Straits of Tiran erupting
in the second Arab-Israeli War.
Great Britain and France joined the attack on the side of
Israel because of their dispute with Egypt's president Gamal
Abdel Nasser, who had nationalized the Suez Canal. Seizing
the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula within a few days.
The fighting was halted by the UN after a few days, and a UN
Emergency Force (UNEF) was sent to supervise the ceasefire in the Canal zone. By the end of the year their forces
withdrew from Egypt, but Israel refused to leave Gaza until
early 1957.
1965 The Palestine Liberation Organization was
established.
Developments in Palestine/Israel 19481993
• 1949: War of Independence – Neighboring states
attack Israel.
• After war, borders expanded –
• ethnic cleansing of Arabs and Arab flight to
refugee camps
• Establishment of the “Green Line” (Borders at
1948/49)
• defeat of Arab armies
• Rest of Palestine grabbed by Jordan and Egypt
• Arab Refugees to surrounding areas:
• Arab population mostly in Galilee
• Creation of Palestinian nationalism in camps
• 1965: Palestine Liberation Organization PLO
founded
Developments in Palestine/Israel 1948-1993
• 1956: Suez crisis:
• Israel invades Egypt (with secret
support from Britain and France) to
recapture nationalized Suez Canal
• “Six Day War” 1967 – Israel occupied
West Bank, Gaza,Golan Heights, and
Jerusalem, Sinai Peninsula
•
1967 Nasser's insistence in 1967 that the UNEF
leave Egypt, led Israel to attack Egypt, Jordan,
and Syria simultaneously on 5th of June in what
became known as the Six Day War
The war ended six days later with an Israeli victory.
Israel occupied Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula, Arab
East Jerusalem, West Bank, Golan Heights.
After 1967 war, several guerrilla organizations within
the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) carried
out guerrillas attacks on Israeli military targets, with
the stated objective of "redeeming Palestine."
West
Bank –
Jewish
Settlemen
ts
U.N. Resolution 242 – creation of
Palestinian homeland on West Bank and
Gaza
1967 – Jewish Settlements in Judea and
Samaria
3 kinds – military (nahal), suburban
Jerusalem and religious (Gush
Emunim)
Expanded dramatically after Likud in
power 1977
1973 Egypt joined Syria in a war on Israel to regain the
territories lost in 1967 this is known as the Yom Kippur War
in Israel. The two Arab states struck unexpectedly on
October 6. After crossing the Suez channel the Arab forces
gain a lot of advanced positions in Sinai Peninsula and
Golan Heights and manage to defeat the Israeli forces for
more then three weeks. Israeli forces with a massive U.S.
economic and military assistance managed to stop the Arab
forces after a three-week struggle. The Arab oil-producing
states cut off petroleum exports to the United States and
other Western nations in retaliation for their aid to Israel.
In an effort to encourage a peace settlement, U.S. secretary
of state, Henry Kissinger, managed to work out military
disengagements between Israel and Egypt in the Sinai and
between Israel and Syria in the Golan Heights during 1974.
• 1974 Arab Summit The PLO is recognized
as the “sole legitimate representative of
the Palestinian people.”
1979 Camp David Agreements – return
of Sinai to Egypt
Jimmy Carter- US
Menachem Begin- Israel
Anwar Sadat- Egypt
1982 Israel launched an invasion of Lebanon aimed at
wiping out the PLO presence there. By mid-August, after
intensive fighting in and around Beirut, the PLO agreed to
withdraw its guerrillas from the city. Israeli troops remained
in southern Lebanon.
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 PNC meeting in Algiers
declared the State of Palestine as
outlined in the UN Partition Plan
181 and recognized the existence of
Israel.
1990 Yasser Arafat addressed the UN Security Council In
Geneva demanding UN emergency force to provide
international protection for the Palestinian people to
safeguard their lives, properties and holy places.
1991 The first comprehensive peace talks between Israel
and delegations representing the Palestinians and
neighboring Arab states
1993 Israel deported 415 Palestinian men to a buffer zone in
southern Lebanon. The deported Palestinians were said by
Israeli authorities to be active members of the militant Islamic
resistance movement Hammas.
1993 After secret negotiations based on the Oslo
Accords PM Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yassar
Arafat signed an historic peace agreement. Israel agreed
to allow for Palestinian self-rule, first in the Gaza Strip
and the West Bank town of Jericho, and later in other
areas of the West Bank
Feb 1994 An American-born Jewish settler in
Hebron, Baruch Goldstein, opened fire in al-Haran
al-Ebrahime crowded mosque, killing 29 Muslims
and wounding 150 more.
May 1994 In Cairo - Egypt, Yassar Arafat, and
Yitzhak Rabin, signed the final version of the
Declaration of Principles. Within 24 hours of the
signing, Israeli military forces were scheduled to
leave the Gaza Strip and Jericho.
July 1994 Yassar Arafat returned to Palestine.
Oct 1994 The Nobel Committee in Oslo,
Norway, announced that the peace prize was
being awarded to Israel's Foreign Minister
Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Yitzhak
Rabin, and to Yasser Arafat.
.
Sept. 1995 Israeli and PLO officials meeting in Taba, Egypt,
finalized agreement on the second stage of eventual Israeli
withdrawal from Palestinian lands. Special arrangements
were agreed upon for Hebron, where Israeli soldiers will
remain to protect the 450 Jewish settlers living there.
Nov. 1995 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, was
assassinated in Tel Aviv by a right-wing extremist.
Jan. 1996 PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat elected President of
the Palestinian National Authority.
June 1996 Right-wing Likud Party leader, Benjamin
Netanyahu become the new Prime Minister of Israel.
Dec. 1996 Israeli authorities release plans to
expand the Jewish settlements in Arab east
Jerusalem, which causes outrage among
Palestinians.
Jan. 1997 Israel and the Palestinian Authority
reached an agreement for an Israeli redeployment
from the West Bank city of Hebron.
Oct. 1997 Sheik Ahmed Yassin (61-year-old)
founder of the militant Islamic group Hamas was
released from Israeli prison, as part of a prisoner
swap touched off by a failed Israeli assassination
attempt in Amman, the capital of Jordan.
Israeli Palestinian Socio-economics
• 1/5 of Israeli pop/ ½ of the poor
• Most are Sunni Muslims, 10% are
Christian
• 50% are under 15 years old
• History of high education: currently 30
professors (out of 6000)
• Inequality of state welfare
• Increasingly unwelcome in Israeli army,
institutions
Palestinian Diaspora
1. Israeli Citizens: 1.2 million (1/5 Israeli
Pop)
2. Palestinians in West Bank and Gaza: 2/3
million (under Israeli military control)
3. Palestinians in UN Refugee Camps in
Syria, Jordan, Lebanon: 2.3 million
4. Rest of Middle East/US/etc.: 1.5-2 million
Palestinian Diaspora
Israeli Politics – 2 main parties and 1 ultrareligious tradition
1) Labor party: Zionists (David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir,
etc) Ashkenazic tradition – elites -Kibbutzim (socialist),
want multi-ethnic state with Jewish dominant
2) Likud bloc: (Ariel Sharon) Mitzrahim (Sephardic
tradition) – major immigration in 1960s from Arab
states – pop. Change – larger families– won Knesset
elections 1977 “hard liners”
3) Haredim (ultra-Orthodox) –Religious groups –
dominant in Jerusalem – religious parties – balance
of power in Knesset after early 1980s
Knesset is all splinters
Sharon
Barak
Current Status: 1995-2003
• 1995: Rabin (Labor/Peace)
assassinated by Israeli
• 1996: Likud/Netanyahu come to power
– Jewish Fundamentalists rise in power
• 1998: Clinton tries to reach peace
accords between Netanyahu and Arafat
(Wye River talks) very lukewarm
• 1999/2000: Talks between PM Barak
and Arafat fail
Things really heat up
• 2000: Sharon goes to Temple Mount, visits
Al Aqsa mosque, establishes home in Arab
part of Jerusalem with Israeli flag
– Second Intifada
• 2000/1: Barak resigns, Sharon comes to
power.
• 2002: Sharon launches ‘Operation Defensive
Shield”
• 2003: “The Quartet” (UN, EU, US, Russia)
“Road Map”
• 2003: Arafat turns over negotiating power to
Mahmoud Abbas, as Prime Minister
Political
Archipelagoes
On the
West
Bank
2000
Hamas-the Arabic Palestinian
terror army or Palestinian
freedom fighters?
Familiar terror uniforms.
If someone had stolen your home wouldn’t
you fight back?
Bus bombers and sniper
These people are in disguise so that they, and their families, won’t be
targeted by Israeli security forces.
Children as terrorists?
Propaganda is rife from both sides.
Are children really being used as
terrorists?- or is this Israel trying to
make the Palestinians look immoral?
What do you think of this?
Women,and child, in support.
Muslim woman terrorist/freedom
fighter.
This person was a doctor. She
decided she had to fight- and
consequently die- for Palestine.
Bus bombers
The idea is to blow up buses- and themselves- and disrupt Israel’s
infrastucture.
It attracts international attention to the Palestinian/Israeli problem.
The results-notice the bodies.
-frightened soldiers aren’t
inclined to be kind and gentle.
This boy has wet himself he is so terrified. Soldiers have been
known to break arms and legs to show their authority.
Soldiers are even fearful of
children. What has the child got
in the bags? Is he a terrorist?
Jewish crowds taunting a
Muslim woman.
Here is one possible solution to the
problem…….
• A wall.
The wall dividing Palestinian
Arabs from Jews.
Is this a good solution do you
think?
Are humans so unbending that
we have to do this to the world?
New Concepts for Peace
• Post-Zionism: equalize power
– Upgrade Palestinian power
– Downgrade Jewish power
• (no longer automatic right of Israeli citizenship to
diaspora
• No Jewish work week
• Shared territories
– N. Ireland Model
• Internationalization of Holy Sites
• Limited Right of Return for Palestinians
• Geographic Link between Gaza and West
Bank
New
Concept
s for
PeaceTABA
Plan
Taba
details