Historical Background

to the Palestine-Israel
Conflict

Prepared for the Forum on the Palestine-Israel Conflict

09 May 2002 at the UP PCED Hostel
By Rey Claro Casambre
of the PHILIPPINE PEACE CENTER
and the
INTERNATONAL LEAGUE OF PEOPLES’ STRUGGLE
Study Commission on Peace

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Introduction

 This paper aims to provide a brief

historical background on the war
currently raging in the Occupied
Territories, especially at the West
Bank, between the Palestinians
and the Israelis

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The history of the
Palestine-Israel conflict may
be discussed in four periods

From ancient times to the end of World War I

The British Mandate of Palestine – 1917-1948

The establishment of the state of Israel and

the Israel-Arab Wars (1948-1982)

Peace talks and the First Intefada

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 Ancient Times to the End of World War I

 1250 BC - Israelites conquer Canaan; King David,

Solomon (965-928)and other Hebrew rulers
 586BC - Jews driven out by Assyrian conqueror
Nebuchadnezzer
 Succession of Assyrian, Persian (539BC), Greek
(333BC), Egyptian, Syrian, Roman Byzantine (63
BC), and Arab rulers from Damascus (661-750), Iraq
(750-1258), and Cairo (969-1099, 1187-1516), and
the Crusaders (1099-1187) .
 Palestine incorporated into the Ottoman Empire from
1516-1917
 Zionism – the movement to establish a separate
Jewish state in Palestine – was born in the end of the
19th century 4
The Middle East in 1917

 Middle East in 1917

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The British Mandate (1917-48)

 The Balfour Declaration of 1917 pledged

Britain’s support for “the establishment
in Palestine of a national home for the
Jewish people” and paid lip service to
safeguarding the civil and political rights
of the non-Jewish communities in
Palestine

 Successive waves of migrations

increased Jewish population in Palestine
from less than 6% in 1903 to 31% in 1945

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 UN RESOLUTION 181 PAVES WAY TO THE
ESTABLISHMENT OF ISRAEL IN PALESTINE

 29 Nov 1947 - UN Resolution 181 – partitioning

Palestine into a Jewish state (56.5% of Palestine)
and a Palestinian state (43%); rejected by the
Palestinians and Arab states.
 14 May 1948 - State of Israel proclaimed in Tel
Aviv at 4:00 P.M. , recognized by US President
Truman
 15 May 1948 - British Mandate ends. Declaration
of State of Israel comes into effect.
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The Arab-Israeli Wars

 1949 – First Arab-Israeli War

 1956 – Suez Campaign (Oct 29-Nov 5)
 1967 - Six-Day War (June 5-10)
 1973 - October War (Yom Kippur)
 1982 - Israeli invasion of Lebanon

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11
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Six-Day War

1967

June 5-10

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October 1973 War

(Yom Kippur)

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Peace Talks
and the Intefada
•         1978 Camp David Accords between Israel and 
Egypt; Israel turns over Sinai to Egypt in exchange for 
recognition of right to exist

•         1987 - the outbreak of the first Palestinian intefada 
in December 1987 triggered by death of Palestinian youths 
run over by Israeli lorry (military personnel carrier)

•         1988 - Yasser Arafat's condemnation of terrorism 
and recognition of the state of Israel in December 1988.

•         1991 October - The Madrid peace conference 
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 1992 - secret Israeli-Palestinian talks in Oslo, Norway

 1993 Declaration of Principles (DoP), signed by Yasser

Arafat and Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin:
o set up the Palestinian Authority, but
o failed to resolve the issues of :
§ return of Palestinian refugees
§ the status of Jerusalem
§ Israeli settlements
§ final Palestine-Israel borders

 1994 – Arafat returned to Gaza Strip and West bank to

head the Palestinian Authority

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However, Israel
wielded full authority
and control by
frequently sealing off
the Palestinian-
governed areas from
the rest of the
Occupied Territories
and from Israel.

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 July 2000 – Camp David Summit 
called by US President Bill Clinton. 
After two weeks of intensive 
negotiation with Arafat and Barak, the 
talks end without a deal. Barak resigns 
shortly after and Ariel Sharon elected 
Prime Minister 
 27 September 2000-  Second Intefada 
erupts

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