Conflict in the Middle East

Background
Ground Zero for Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.
Judaism: Israel = Biblical Promised Land

Occupied by Moses and Hebrews around 1000 B.C.

Invaded and occupied by Philistines

Greeks and Romans call it Land of Philistines, which becomes

Palestine.

Region of Jesus Christs birth, ministry, and death.

Ownership changes hands frequently.
Muslims capture in 640

built Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem in 691

Spot where Mohammed stopped on his way to heaven.

Holiest site in Islam outside Saudi Arabia.

Ottoman Turks control from 1500s-1900s.

Balfour Declaration
European Jews face persecution in late 1800s.

Founded movement called Zionism to establish Jewish

homeland in Palestine.

Begin establishing communities in Palestine prior to World War

One.

British Foreign Secretary Balfour supported the idea

of a national home for the Jews.

Hoped to gain Jewish support for World War One.

Balfour Declaration endorses this homeland as well as an
independent state for Arabs.

Arabs interpret the independent state clause to specify Palestine;

Brits say that isnt what they had in mind.

The British Mandate

Ottoman Turks on losing side of WW I;
control of Palestine in 1920.

British gain

90k Jews

Palestinians and Jews begin arming themselves and

conducting terrorist attacks against their counterparts.
Rise of Nazism brings flood of new Jewish settlers to
Palestine from Europe in 1930s.
UN votes to divide Palestine into Jewish and Arab states
in 1947, giving the Jews 55% of the land west of the
Jordan River and designating Jerusalem as an
international enclave.

Arab-Israeli War of 1948

14 May 1948: Zionist leader David Ben-Gurion
declares that Israel is an independent state.
Egypt, Syria, Transjordan, Lebanon, and Iraq invade
on 15 May.
Fighting continues until Jan 1949.
Israel prevails and gains territory in Galilee to the
north and the Negev Desert to the south.
Jerusalem is divided between Israel and Jordan.
Fate of 700k Palestinian refugees is left undecided.

Arab-Israeli War of 1956

USSR signs arms agreement with Egypt in 1955.
Israelis feel threatened by arms build up and
launch pre-emptive strike against Egypt.

Attack and seize the Sinai and Gaza Strip.

Relinquished in 1957.

French and British retake Suez Canal which Egypt

had seized several months earlier.
UN establishes peace keeping force in Sinai that is
still in place today.

Arafat and the PLO

Arafat forms Al-Fatah (Palestinian National Liberation
Front) in 1959.

Goal was to liberate Palestine from Israel through guerilla warfare.

Variety of Palestinian factions form the Palestinian

Liberation Organization in 1964.

Arafat becomes chairman in 1969.

Charter calls for elimination of state of Israel.

Hussein feels threatened and expels PLO from Jordan in

1970.

Arafat moves HQ to Lebanon.

PLO driven out of Lebanon by Israel in 1982.

Six Day War

5-10 June 1967
Egypt, Jordan, and Syria begin military mobilization.
Israel launches surprise pre-emptive strike.

Destroys most of Egyptian Air Force on the ground.

Knocked out 350 aircraft in first three hours.

Armored forces supported by air and infantry quickly take

Sinai, Golan Heights, West Bank (including Arab portion of
Jerusalem, and Gaza.

Destroyed over 200 Arab tanks in two days.

UN arranges cease-fire, but terms did not specify

exactly what land Israel was required to give up.

Yom Kippur War

6 Oct 1973 Egypt and Syria launch surprise attack on holiest
day of Jewish year.
IDF not fully mobilized and is initially pushed back.
Arab integrated air defenses and anti-tank missiles take heavy
toll on IDF.
10-14 Oct IDF pushed Syrians out of Golan and entered Syria.
15-24 Oct IDF pushes Egyptians back across the Suez.

Soviets threaten to intervene when Egyptians are surrounded.

Kissinger/US convince Israel to accept truce.

Israeli invincibility brought into question; Arabs emboldened.

OPEC doubles oil prices and embargoes Israeli supporters.

Lebanon
Israel launches air strikes against PLO positions
in Lebanon in retaliation for terrorist attacks.
Subsequently invades Lebanon and surrounds
Beirut in 1982.

US-led UN coalition establishes presence ashore to

keep the peace.

Departs after bombing of barracks.

PLO agrees to leave Beirut.

Israel completes withdrawal of its troops from

Lebanon in May 2000.

Nearly 1k IDF soldiers killed during 22 year

occupation.

Peace Accords
Camp David 1979

Egypt recognizes Israels right to exist.

Israel returns Sinai to Egypt.
Leads to Sadats assassination in 1981.

Oslo Accords 1993

Israel and PLO accept each others right to exist.

Allows limited Palestinian self-rule in Gaza and Jericho.
Establishes framework for settlement of Gaza and West
Bank issues.
Leads to Rabins assassination in 1995.

Peace Accords
Wye River Accords 1998
Arafat agrees to crack down on terrorists.
Israeli will pull troops back from occupied
territories.
14.2 percent of the West Bank land will be
transferred to Palestinian control.
Safe passage corridors will be established for
Palestinians between Gaza and the West Bank.
750 Palestinians will be released from Israeli
prisons.

Israel / Palestine: Arab / Jewish Population

(1914-2000)

West Bank
(2004)
86%

14%

*Includes 190,000 Jewish settlers in the West Bank and 180,000

Jewish Settlers in East Jerusalem

Gaza Strip
(2004)
99%

1%

The Green Line marks the

territories of the West Bank and
Gaza Strip which were
conquered from Jordan and
Egypt during the 1967 war.
These territories comprise 22%
of pre-1948 Palestine.
LEGEND
The green line
Palestinian territory
Israeli territory

Following the outbreak of the Intifada in 2000,

more and more Israelis supported complete
physical separation from the Palestinians. The
majority of the Israeli public assumed that the
Separation Wall would follow the Green Line
and become the border between Israel and
Palestine.
However, due to pressure from
the extreme right wing in Israel,
the route of the Separation Wall
was changed to include Israeli
settlements.

LEGEND
The green line
Palestinian territory
Israeli territory
Wall under
construction

The government of Ariel Sharon claimed that the Separation

Wall is a security project. Upon completion, the Separation
Wall is projected to be 788 kilometers long, twice the length
of the Green Line.

LEGEND
The green line
Palestinian territory
Israeli territory
Wall under
construction
Approved path
of the wall
Suggested path
of the wall

The Eastern Barrier will be the last major phase of the

Separation Wall. This part of the Wall will ensure that
Israel will control all Palestinian contacts with the
outside world, including entries and exits, as well as
aerial and electromagnetic space.
1.5 million Palestinians will be inside the Wall.
Another 500,000 Palestinians will be find themselves
between the Wall and the Green Line.
LEGEND

The green line

Palestinian territory
Israeli territory
Wall under
construction
Approved path
of the wall
Suggested path
of the wall

The planned and suggested path of the Wall will

leave some 500,000 Palestinians outside the Wall,
but inside the Green Line. In order to prevent these
Palestinians from moving freely outside the Wall, a
sub-system of smaller enclaves will be constructed
outside the main Wall.
Palestinians who live in these
small enclaves will be allowed
in or out of them only
according to the instructions
of the Israeli army.

LEGEND

The green line

Palestinian territory
Israeli territory
Wall under
construction
Approved path
of the wall
Suggested path
of the wall
Enclave under
construction
Suggested
enclave

What does the wall look like? Here it is!

Security Wall
Temporary security
measure?
Route to further
annexation of
Palestinian land?
Justifiable? Just?

Hamas Victory in Palestinian

Elections
Fundamentalist group that
wants to establish an Islamic
state on what it considers
"historic Palestine," including
modern-day Israel.
Political wing won a landslide
victory in Palestinian
parliamentary elections
Charter calls for Israels
destruction
Should Hamas be recognized by
the international community?

On-going violence since 2000

According to BBC:

3,300 Palestinians killed by

Israelis
1,000 Israelis killed by
Palestinians
Most Pal. deaths by Israeli
military
Most Israeli deaths by acts of
terrorism

Can peace be made while

violence persists?
What will stop the violence?

Why Americans Should Care

$96,765,000,000

How Should the U.S. Effectively

Use its Power?
Policeman?

Enforcer of laws

Nation-builder?

Democratization

Humanitarian?
Imperialist?
Peace Keeper?

Disinterested 3rd Party

Stay out!