Download Slide 1

Arab-Israeli Conflict
The Palestine Question
The History of Palestine
•Originally Palestine had always
been a disputed land
•Jews claim that Palestine
belongs to them, a claim that
goes back 3,000 years when the
Jews ruled Jerusalem.
•This would all change when the
Romans took control of Palestine
in 63 BCE
•The Romans forced the Jews to
pay tribute to Rome and
effectively ended Jewish political
control of Palestine
Daispora
• Romans ruled the area of Palestine and allowed to the
Jews to remain until the Jewish revolt of 66-70 CE.
• The Romans put down the revolt, captured Jerusalem
and destroyed the Temple, the centre of the national
and religious life of the Jews throughout the world.
• The destruction of Jerselum and the settlement of
several Grecian and Roman colonies in Judea,
indicated the express intention of the Roman
government to prevent the political regeneration of the
Jewish nation.
• Jews attempted to set up colonies around Judea
however after a second revolt by Jews in 133 CE the
Romans destroyed all the colonies and dispursed the
Jews by selling them into slavery or pushing them to
other areas of the Empire
Palestine Arab Control
•With the rise of Islam in 600 CE
Muslims began to move into
Palestine.
•From 636 CE to about the 15th
Century the area of Palestine fell
under Arab and Turkish control.
•The area was also disputed by
Muslims and Christians during
the Crusades.
•In the 15th Century the Ottoman
Empire finally took control and
ruled until 1917 when the Empire
fell apart.
Treaty of Versailles
•One of the results from the
Treaty of Versailles was
that Britain and France
gained territorial land in
the Middle East.
•In 1918 the British
Colonial Army took control
of Palestine and was to
prepare Palestine to gain
it’s self-determination.
•However this did not
happen.
Zionist Movement
•Jews or Zionist those who
believed in creating a
Jewish homeland, began
migrating to Palestine in
the late 1800’s.
•Imputous for the Zionist
movement began as a
direct result of Anti-Semitic
feelings in Europe.
•In the 1800’s there were
violent assaults of Jews
called pogroms especially
in Eastern European
nations like Russia and
Poland
Zionist Movement
•In 1870 Leon Prinsker, a
Jewish intellectual, felt that
Jewish assimilation into
Eastern European society
was impossible and called
for Jewish return to the
Holy Land
•Soon after the Zionist
Organization, The Society
for the Colonialization of
Israel was set up.
•Zionist began moving to
Palestine and purchasing
land and setting up
communities
Zionist Movement-Dreyfus Affair
In Western Europe Jews resisited
the Zionist movement because they
did enjoy some political and social
rights especially in places like
Germany
However in 1897 French Army
Captain and Jew, Alfred Dreyfus,
was fasley accused by the French
Army for selling military secrets to
the Germans.
The French people rioted in the
streets calling for the “Death to
Jews”
Seven years later Dreyfus was found
innocent of the charges, made up by
his superiors, to discredit his
military carrer the Zionist movement
was now in full swing in Western
Europe
Zionist Movement
•Theodor Herzl and
Austrian journalist began
publishing articles about
the need for Jewish to form
a Zionist Organization and
move to Israel.
•The World Zionist
Organzation was formed
•However Herzl showed
indifference for the Arabs
that controlled Palestine
stating that Palestine was a
land without people for a
people (Jews) without a
land
The Arabs
After World War One many
Arabs felt betrayed by
western powers who now
replaced the Ottoman
Empire as a controlling
factor in the Middle east.
Arab nations expected that
the Treaty of Vesailles was
going to liberate them and
instead they now came
under the control of either
the French or British who
would keep these areas as
conlonies
The Arabs
•Furthermore the Arabs in
Palestine now saw an even
greater threat to their land
as Jews began to move into
Palestine setting up
comminities and buying
large portions of land.
•Arabs began to channel
this hostility of the lack of
self-determination coupled
with frustrations with
Jewish immigration into
violence towards the Jews.
The Belfour Declaration
•After World War One Arabs had
been told that they would be left
in charge of the areas of
Palestine they controlled.
•However in 1917 Lord Balfour of
Great Britain had promised
Zionist leaders that Great Britain
would promote a Jewish State in
Palestine with the Balfour
Declaration.
•Great Britain had made
promises to both the Arabs and
Jews that would now have
repercussions even today.
The Belfour Declaration
•Soon after the Balfour Declaration
was issued Jews and Arabs began to
violently clash over rights to
Palestine.
•Rising Arab opposition to the
British support of a Jewish state lead
the British to re-think their support
of a Zionist movement.
•The British began to restrain
Zionist support in Palestine which
lead Zionist in Palestine to mistrust
the British.
•Soon both Arabs and Jews were
building up defenses and openly
clashing in the cities and towns
•The British tried to limited Jewish
immigration in the 1930’s and 40’s
however after World war Two and
the Holocaust Jewish immigration
exploded.
Readings on Palestinian Conflict
• Arab Opposition to a State of Israel
• Israel’s Proclamation of Independence
• Question discussion to follow
Formation of Israel
•In 1947 Britain could no longer
control the area and looked to the
United nations for help.
•The U.N. drew up a plan to divide
Palestine into an Arab and Jewish
state.
•The Jews agreed to the plan the
Arabs did not.
•In 1948 Britain withdrew
•The Jews proclaimed Israel an
independent state.
•The U.S. and Soviet Union both
recognized Israel as a state.
Formation of Israel
•Because the Arab states did not
recognize Israel, they began to
attack Israel.
•In 1948 the Israeli’s fought the
War for Independence.
•Arab forces from Syria, Jordan,
Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon
attacked Israel.
•Israel won the war and doubled
it’s land and gained one half of
Jerusalem.
Israel’s Wars
•The Arab-Israeli Wars occurred
between 1948 and 1979.
–1948 the War for Independence
–1958 the Suez Crisis (Israel was
denied use of the Suez Canal by
Egypt) Israel won.
–1967 Six Day War (Egypt and
Syria attack Israel. In six days
Israel takes over the Sinai
Peninsula, Golan Heights, and
all of Jerusalem)
–1973 Yom Kippur(Egypt and
Syria attack Israel to try to regain lost land) Israel holds off
both countries.
Camp David Accords
•In 1973 Egypt and Israel began
to seek peace.
•In 1979 Egypt and Israel signed
the Camp David Accords ending
a state of war between both
countries.
•In 1994 Jordan also signs a
peace agreement with Israel.
Displacement of the Arabs
•After the war 700,000 Arabs fled
to neighboring countries.
•Many Arabs had to live in
camps as refugees.
•The Arabs lived in both poverty
and were discriminated against
by the Israeli’s
•Many terrorist groups grew out
of these Arabs refugees.
The PLO
•In 1964 the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO) was formed.
•The leader is Yasir Arafat.
•They used terrorist tactics against
the Israelis.
•In 1987 young Palestinians started a
form of civil disobedience an
intifada or uprising. Teenagers
threw rocks at the Israeli army.
•The Israelis began a crackdown of
the uprising which created further
conflict.
A Sort of Peace
•In 1993 talks were held
between Israel and the
PLO.
•Yasir Arafat and Israeli
Prime Minister Yitzhak
Rabin agreed to give
Palestinians self rule in
Gaza and Jericho.
Renewed Violence
•In 2001 Israel invaded Palestinian
ruled areas of the West Bank in
retaliation of terrorist attacks against
Israel.
•Since that time there has been
renewed attacks against Israelis by
Palestinian groups namely Hamas.
•The Israeli army and Government
has also renewed attacks against
Palestinians and terrorist groups in
the region.
Classwork
• Video Palestine 1890 to 1990 (35 minutes)
Homework
• Political cartoons on the Arab/Israel Problem.
• Find a newspaper/magazine article on the
conflict in the Middle East. You may not use
Iraq or Afghanistan. Read the article and write
a summary of the article. You will be
presenting your article in class.