[No history is truly objective,
but rather betrays the outlook
of the person writing it. I have
attempted to be as objective as
possible but welcome comments
and corrections. Send them to my blog on this website or
contact me today. I
have no desire to misrepresent
any people group or religious
group, but rather to help people
understand the historical
background in order to pray for
and promote reconciliation. I
shall avoid using the
term
“Jew” or “Jews,” except in
quotations, out of sensitivity
to Jewish people, because the
terms have so often be used with
an anti-Semitic emphasis. If it
is clear that a correction- or a
balancing comment - needs to be
made, I shall readily make it.
Tony Higton. © Tony Higton]
A. THE GENERAL HISTORICAL
BACKGROUND: CONQUERORS OF THE
LAND
AD 70
Jerusalem was sacked by the
Romans. Many Jewish people were
killed or driven from the land.
113
The Jewish people in Israel
rebelled against Rome under the
leadership of Simon Bar Kochba,
who was regarded by many as the
Messiah. The rebellion was
suppressed and Bar Kochba
killed.
135
The Romans drove the Jewish
people out of Jerusalem
following the Bar Kochba revolt,
and re-named Judea Palaestina.
Most Jewish people left the land
but a Jewish community remained,
mainly in Galilee.
[313-636 Byzantines persecuted
Jewish people in the land]
319
The Roman Emperor Constantine,
who converted to Christianity
promoted Christianity in the
land and was intolerant of
Jewish people.
614
The Persians invaded the land
and were welcomed by the Jewish
residents.
629
The Byzantines re-occupied the
land, restored Christianity and
expelled the Jewish residents.
638
Jerusalem was conquered by
Caliph Omar. Jewish people and
Christians were given
protection. Muslim
rule lasted almost uninterrupted
until the early 20th
century, except for the Crusader
periods.
1009
The Arabs persecuted the Jewish
people.
1071
The Seljuks (Turkish Muslims)
conquered Jerusalem.
1098
The Egyptian Fatimids formed an
alliance with the Christian
crusaders and captured
Jerusalem, Jaffa, etc.
1099
The First Crusade from the
Christian West took place and
many inhabitants of the land
were killed. Synagogues were
destroyed. The crusaders broke
their alliance with the Seljuks.
They banned Jewish people from
Jerusalem. The Crusader Kingdom
lasted for 200 years except for
a brief period of rule by the
Muslim leader Saladin which was
welcomed by the inhabitants.
1187
The Muslim leader Saladin
conquered Jerusalem. The
Crusaders made and broke
alliances with Saladin.
Subsequent Crusades failed to
re-conquer the city.
1291
The Muslims captured Acre in
1291 and the Crusaders finally
left, except for mounting raids
on the coast. The Muslim rulers
therefore depopulated and
destroyed coastal towns which
impoverished the coastal area
for centuries.
1260
Palestine became part of the
Mameluke Empire. The Mamelukes
were originally slaves of
Egyptian Arabs. They practised
tolerance but the land became
impoverished.
Late 1300s
Jewish
people migrated to Jerusalem and
other parts of Palestine from
various Mediterranean countries
particularly Spain.
1517
The Ottoman Turks defeated the
Mamelukes. The Turkish Sultan
invited Jewish people who fled
the Spanish Inquisition to
settle in the land (as well as
other parts of the Turkish
Empire).
1798
Napoleon invaded Palestine.
Arabs and Jewish people fled the
land. Palestinian nationalism
probably began to develop at
this time because Palestinian
Arabs revolted against Turkish
rule.
1858
The Turkish authorities created
the Ottoman Land Code requiring
individual owners of
agricultural land to register
it. Most land had never been
registered and it led to
peasants being deprived of the
right to live on their
traditionally-held land. The
ruling classes took advantage of
this and registered huge areas
of land as their own, depriving
the peasants.
1880
Arab and Jewish immigration
increased and there were now
some 24,000 Jewish people in
Palestine. The Ottomans
then severely restricted Jewish
immigration and encouraged
Muslims from around the empire
to move to Palestine.
ARGUMENTS THAT PALESTINE
WAS “A LAND WITHOUT A
PEOPLE”
Some Zionists claim
that:
1.
Palestine was
basically sparsely populated
in the 19th
century: it was “a land
without a people.”
2.
There was large-scale
Arab immigration into the
land.
3.
Palestinians are
descended from a variety of
invaders of the land:
Persians, Greeks, Romans,
Mongols, Europeans, Arabs,
Turks and Jewish people.
ARGUMENTS THAT PALESTINE
WAS A WELL-POPULATED LAND
WHICH WAS DISPOSSESSED
1.
In fact, there were
about 500,000 Arabs in
Palestine in 1890, 700,000
in 1919 and 1,324,000 in
1947.
2.
The population growth
is said to be due to natural
growth, which is credible.
An Israeli scholar wrote
that between 1931 and 1945
Arab immigration averaged
only about 900 per annum.
3.
Palestinians claim
they are descended from
original Semite descendants
of the original occupants of
the land over 2-3,000 years.
4.
There is evidence
that many of the early
Zionists were aiming at the
dispossession of the Arab
inhabitants of Palestine.[1]
5.
Land was sold to
Jewish purchasers by
absentee landlords under the
1858 Ottoman Land Code and
sometimes this was the first
time peasant farmers
realised their land was no
longer their own.
B. ANTI-SEMITISM
The history
of anti-Semitism is an important
factor in understanding Jewish
Zionists’ determination to have
and maintain a safe Jewish
homeland and their fears of
losing it. The notes for this
will be found in “An outline
history of Anti-Semitism”
C. ARAB PROBLEMS WITH THE
WEST
The history
of Arab problems with the
Western world is an important
factor in understanding Arab
suspicions and resentments. The
notes for this will be found in
“An Outline History of Arab
Problems with the West.”
D. THE PERIOD LEADING TO THE
DECLARATION OF THE STATE OF
ISRAEL
1882
The first
Aliyah (“going up to the Land”)
of Jewish people took place as
they fled from the Russian
pogroms (persecutions of Jewish
people). The Ottoman Turks were
hostile to this return.
1895
The Dreyfus
Affair stimulated Theodore Herzl
to begin the Zionist Movement
(Jewish movement to promote
return to the land). Zionists
were a minority amongst Jewish
people until after World War
II.
1897
The First
Zionist Congress was held in
Basle, Switzerland. Herzl
stated: “The aim of Zionism is
to create a homeland for the
Jewish people in Palestine,
secured by public law.” He
later wrote in his diary: “In
Basle I established a Jewish
State. If I were to say that
aloud today, universal laughter
would be the response. Maybe in
5 years, certainly in 50,
everybody will recognise it.”
Most Zionists gave no thought to
the Arabs in Palestine but
assumed they would agree to
emigrate. The Zionists set up
agricultural settlements at
places like Petah Tikva, Zichron
Jacob and Rishon Letzion.
1905
The second
Aliyah from Russia took place
and Tel Aviv was founded by the
Zionists.
1914-15
Between
85,000 and 100,000 Jewish people
lived in Palestine by 1914,
together with about
615,000 Arabs.
1916
The
Anglo-French Sykes-Picot
Agreement planned to divide
Palestine between the British
and the Allies with France being
given Lebanon and Syria. However
the British also said they would
back Arab independence in these
same territories in exchange for
Arab support in the war. The
Arab Revolt against the Turks,
led by Lawrence of Arabia, took
place on this understanding.
Other countries, including the
US supported Arab independence.
1917
Victorious
British General Allenby entered
Jerusalem and established
British rule over the land. Also
Arthur Balfour, the British
Foreign Secretary, following
representations from Chaim
Weizmann, made the Balfour
Declaration: “His Majesty’s
Government view with favour the
establishment in Palestine of a
national home for the Jewish
people and will use their best
endeavours 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, or the rights and
political status enjoyed by Jews
in any other country.” This was
approved by the Cabinet and the
Americans. The Arabs felt
betrayed and let down by both
the Balfour Declaration and the
handing over of Syria to the
French because of the British
promises of independence. The
British denied that they had
included Palestine in the offer
of Arab independence.
1918
The British
Administration in Jerusalem
showed little sympathy for the
Jewish people and withheld the
publication of the Balfour
Declaration. They were
supportive of Haj Amin al-Husseini
and helped him become the Mufti
of Jerusalem.
1919
The
American King-Crane Commission
was sent to Palestine to seek
local opinion and the Arabs
lobbied for Palestine to be
annexed to Syria.
The Jewish
Yishuv (community in Palestine)
met to hear David Ben Gurion
say: “We as a nation want this
country to be ours. The Arabs as
a nation, want this country to
be theirs.” The inevitability
of conflict was being
recognised.
The Paris
Peace Conference was more
concerned with the interests of
Britain and France than of the
local people.
1920
The San
Remo conference provisionally
granted the Palestine Mandate to
Britain. It included what is now
Jordan. Arab nationalists,
feeling betrayed by the British,
rioted in 1920 and again in
1921, attacking Jewish people
under the leadership of
Hajj Amin El Husseini,
who was later to become Grand
Mufti of Jerusalem. Jewish
nationalists organised
themselves into the Haganah, a
self-defence organisation.
1921
The British
removed Transjordan (renamed
Jordan in 1953), which formed
78% of the British Mandate of
Palestine and closed it to
Jewish people. So 78% of the
British Mandate of Palestine
became an Arab (Palestinian
state). However it remained
legally part of the Mandate
until 1946.
THE EXTENT OF PALESTINE
Zionists claim that
Jordan should therefore be
the only Palestinian state.
Extreme Zionists hold that
Palestinians should move
from the West Bank (7% of
Mandate Palestine) and
Israel (15% of Mandate
Palestine) into what is now
called Jordan.
Palestinians claim
that the whole of the
Mandated territory belonged
to them, so they claim the
right to a Palestinian State
on the West Bank and Gaza.
Extreme Palestinians believe
the State of Israel must be
dismantled and removed so
that the Palestinian State
can comprise the whole of
the land West of the Jordan,
including Israel.
1922
Britain
formally received the Mandate
and was supposed to further the
aims of the Balfour Declaration.
However, Jewish immigration to
Palestine was limited to numbers
which could be “economically
absorbed.”
1929
The Jewish
Agency, envisaged by the
Mandate, was set up in Palestine
and became a de facto Jewish
government of the Yishuv. There
were more Arab nationalist riots
this year, partly caused by Arab
fears that Jewish people were
going to undermine Arab control
of Temple Mount and the Al Aqsa
Mosque. The British Passfield
White Paper stated that only a
further 20,000 Jewish families
should be allowed into
Palestine. However Britain
backed off from that position.
In fact, during the 1930s Jewish
immigration increased largely
because of the growth of Nazism
in Germany.
1936
The Arab
Revolt took place after the
British killed a prominent Arab
anti-British and anti-Jewish
agitator. Hundreds of Jewish
people and Arabs were killed.
The extreme, right wing Zionist
group, the Irgun, carried out
terror attacks against both the
Arabs and the British. One of
its leaders was Menachem Begin
who later became Prime Minister
of Israel.
1937
The British
Peel Commission recommended
partition of the land into an
Arab state and a smaller Jewish
state but this was firmly
rejected by the Arabs.
1939-47
During
World War II Jewish immigration
was reduced further to 15,000
per year. The British ruthlessly
suppressed the riots and
Husseini fled to Iraq where he
became a strong supporter of
Germany. After the war 100,000
Jewish survivors of the
Holocaust were denied entry to
Palestine by the British. There
were many attempts at illegal
immigration but boats of Jewish
refugees and holocaust survivors
were turned back. Tragically
some sank. The Zionists came to
regard Britain as an enemy and
on November 6 1942 Jewish
extremists members assassinated
Lord Moyne, the British Minister
of State for the Middle East.
Pressure increased on Britain to
allow greater Jewish immigration
and this led to Britain deciding
to return the Mandate to the
League of Nations, forerunner of
the UN. In 1947 only 700 per
month were allowed in to the
land by the British.
November 29th
1947
On the recommendation of the
United Nations Special
Commission on Palestine (UNSCOP),
the United Nations General
Assembly decided by a two-thirds
majority that the land should be
partitioned into Arab and Jewish
states. The US under President
Truman worked hard to achieve
this result. 65% of Americans
favoured it and in the Autumn
(Fall) of 1947 the President
received 62,850 postcards, 1,100
letters and 1,400 telegrams
urging him to use his influence
in the UN in favour of a Jewish
state. However the State
Department and Defense
Department tried to dissuade
him.
The
Jewish State was to be basically
the Negev desert, the Coastal
plain from Jaffa to Haifa and
Eastern Galilee. The rest,
including the West Bank and
Gaza, was to be an Arab State.
Almost half of Palestine (West
of the Jordan) was already owned
by 1.2 million Arabs, 8% was
owned by 600,000 Jewish people
and the rest (almost 50%)
belonged to the state.
The Jewish people
accepted the plan but the Arabs
rejected it.
December 17th 1947
The
Arab League Council decided to
fight against the Jewish people
and was allowed to use British
bases and equipment. So began
what Jewish people called the
War of Independence and
Palestinians call the Nakhba
(“Disaster”). The Arabs rioted
and besieged Jerusalem.
Tragically there were massacres
on both sides. Jewish people
were massacred at
Gush Etzion
and Arabs were massacred in
Deir
Yassin.
There were well-documented
instances (e.g. Ain al-Zeitoum
and Er-Rama) where the Israelis
demanded Muslims left their
villages for Lebanon on pain of
death. Some Israeli historians
claim that many war crimes:
murders, massacres, and rapes
took place. But most
Palestinian refugees made their
own decision to flee the country
for fear of their lives. In
April 1948 most Arabs left
Haifa. Some Arabs were told by
Jewish forces that they were to
be removed from their homes
temporarily. But in many cases
this led to permanent exile. In
1952 a memorandum from the
Higher Arab Committee shows that
Arab states did agree to take
Palestinians until fledgling
Israel could be destroyed,
although some Israeli historians
claim that the Arab governments
really wanted the refugees to
stay in Palestine.
ARGUMENTS FOR THE
REPATRIATION OF PALESTINIAN
REFUGEES
Palestinians (and some
Israelis) argue that:
1.
The refugees were
forced out of their homes by
the Israelis.
According to a 1948
(Israeli) Haganah report:
55% of
refugees left because of
Haganah (IDF) action
15% left
because of action by the
Irgun and Lehi
2% were
directly expelled by the
Israeli military
1% fled
because of psychological
warfare
22% left
out of general fears
5% left at
the encouragement of Arab
governments.
2.
UN Resolutions 194
(1948) and 3236 call for the
repatriation of the
refugees. Resolution 242
calls for a just settlement
but is not specific.
ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE
REPATRIATION OF PALESTINIAN
REFUGEES
Many
Israelis argue that:
1.
The refugee flight
was voluntary, often
encouraged by Arab
governments (although no
evidence of such
encouragement has been
found).
2.
The fact that none of
the 900,000 Jewish refugees
who fled Arab countries were
compensated or repatriated
shows that it is the
responsibility of the
receiving countries to
assimilate them.
3.
Repatriation would
destroy Israel because there
would be an Arab majority in
a democratic state. Thus the
safe Jewish homeland would
be destroyed by democratic
vote.
May 14th
1948
The Jewish
people declared the State of
Israel and the British left
Palestine.
E. THE PERIOD SINCE THE
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STATE OF
ISRAEL
May 15th
1948
Egypt,
Transjordan, Iraq, Syria,
Lebanon and some Saudi Arabian
forces entered the land. They
were superior in numbers to the
Jewish fighters but not
well-equipped and with no
central command structure. The
Egyptians advanced to 30km from
Tel Aviv. Transjordan did not
invade territory which the UN
had designated for a Jewish
state and Palestinians claim
that was the general Arab
position. Iraq advanced to 15km
from the sea and Syria entered
Upper Galilee. The Arab Legion
took up a position at Latrun
(half way between Tel Aviv and
Jerusalem) to block Jewish
access to Jerusalem so the
Jewish forces built a “Burma
Road” to bypass it in June 1948,
breaking the siege of Jerusalem.
There was a ceasefire which
allowed the Jewish forces to
bring in reinforcements. The
various Jewish resistance groups
came together as the Israel
Defence Force (IDF). The IDF
captured Ramle and Lod and
destroyed Arab villages in the
area.
1949
Jordan
occupied the West Bank. The
Arab-Israeli fighting ended with
Israel controlling 78% of the
territory West of the Jordan.
Some 726,000 Arabs fled or were
driven out as refugees. A
similar number of Jewish
refugees left Arab countries.
1950
Jordan
unilaterally annexed the West
Bank. The Arab League was
unhappy about this but Britain
(and Pakistan) recognised the
annexation. Egypt began training
and sending out fedayeen
(Palestinian guerrillas) to
attack Israeli targets. 884
Israelis were injured or
killed.
1956
Israel,
France and Britain collaborated
to stop President Nasser of
Egypt nationalizing the Suez
Canal. The UN called for a
withdrawal. Israel occupied the
areas it had conquered in the
Sinai Peninsular for some
months.
1957
Fatah (The
Movement for Liberation of
Palestine) was founded.
1964
Yasser
Arafat began the Palestinian
Liberation Organisation (PLO).
May 30th
1967
Egypt, Iraq
and Syria mobilized
June 5th
1967
The Six
Day War began and Israel
destroyed the Egyptian Air Force
and Army in the Negev Desert in
Southern Israel. Israel went on
to take over the Sinai
Peninsular from Egypt, the Golan
Heights from Syria and the West
Bank and East Jerusalem from
Jordan. Jewish people had access
to the Wailing Wall and declared
Jerusalem the capital of Israel.
November 22nd
1967
The UN
passed resolution 242
calling for the withdrawal of
Israeli armed forces from
territories occupied in June
1967 and for the recognition of
Israel’s right to exist within
secure borders. The 1967 war
frustrated the united Arab
approach to Israel and
encouraged Islamic
fundamentalists. It also meant a
million Palestinians were under
Israel’s rule. Arafat became
head of Fatah as well as the PLO
and the PLO became increasingly
recognised as the voice of the
Palestinians.
1970
The PLO was
expelled from Jordan after it
revolted against the government
and it moved to Lebanon.
October 6th
1973
The Yom
Kippur War: On Yom Kippur
(the holiest day in the Jewish
calendar when Israel “closes
down”) Egypt and Syria launched
a surprise attack on Israel.
After two days of Arab advance
the tide turned and Israel drove
Syria out of the Golan Heights
and pushed Egypt back beyond the
Suez Canal.
1974
Arafat
addressed the United Nations
General Assembly and the UN
granted the PLO observer status.
1975-6
Civil war
in Lebanon between the Muslims
and Christians. The Syrians were
called in to help the
situation.
March 1976
Israel
invaded Lebanon after PLO
shelling of Israel from South
Lebanon.
September 5th-17th
1978
Camp
David Peace Accords: Sadat
(Egypt), Begin (Israel) and
Jimmy Carter met at Camp David
September 5 -17, 1978, and
agreed a peace plan based on UN
Security Council Resolution 242
with Egypt, Israel and Jordan
participating in resolving the
Palestinian problem to ensure
autonomy for the West Bank and
Gaza within five years. Peace
and normal relations between
Israel and Egypt were also
agreed as was a pledge to use
the same principles to achieve
peace treaties between Israel
and Jordan and Syria.
1980
Israel
passed the Jerusalem Law
declaring all of
Jerusalem the "eternal and
indivisible capital of the State
of Israel."
1981
Ceasefire
in Lebanon.
1982
Israel
withdrew from Sinai.
June 1982
Israel
re-entered Lebanon after a
Palestinian faction assassinated
the Israeli Ambassador in
London. Iranian-backed Hezbollah
was founded in Lebanon.
August 1982
The PLO was
expelled from Lebanon and moved
to Tunis.
September
1982
Israel’s
allies, the Lebanese Phalangist
Christians massacred about 700
people in the Sabra and Shatilla
Palestinian refugee camps. An
Israeli commission of enquiry
conclude that Israeli Minister
of Defence Ariel Sharon and
others should have foreseen this
and could have prevented it.
Sharon resigned. Israel
eventually withdrew from
Lebanon.
1987
The first
Palestinian Intifada (uprising)
began in the West Bank and
lasted until 1991. The violence
consisted mainly of
rock-throwing together with
demonstrations, civil
disobedience, strikes,
demonstrations, tax resistance
and boycotts of Israeli
products.
July 31st
1988
Jordan
renounced its claim to the West
Bank.
15th
November
The
Palestine National Council
declared the independence of the
Palestinian State (in
principle). The
PLO accepted UN
Resolution 242 (the withdrawal
of Israeli armed forces from
territories occupied in June
1967 and recognition of Israel’s
right to exist within secure
borders).
October
1991
The
Madrid Conference,
hosted by Spain
and co-sponsored by the USA and
the USSR, invited Israel, Syria,
Lebanon, Jordan, and the
Palestinians to negotiate
towards peace treaties and a two
stage plan for Palestinian
self-government. These were the
first-ever public bilateral
talks between Israel and its
neighbours (except Egypt).
August 20th
– September 13th 1993
The Oslo Accords:
The “Declaration of Principles
on Interim Self-Government
Arrangements” was finalized in
Oslo, Aug 20, 1993, and publicly
signed by Arafat (PLO), Rabin
(Israel), Russia and the US at
the White House Sep 13, 1993 in
the presence of Bill Clinton
following secret negotiations
(esp. the Madrid Conference). It
agreed to Palestinian
self-government after a 5-year
interim with the Palestinian
areas divided into Area A - full
control of the Palestinian
Authority, Area B - Palestinian
civil control, Israeli security
control and Area C - full
Israeli control, except over
Palestinian civilians (Israeli
settlements and security zones).
Israel recognised the PLO as the
legitimate representative of the
Palestinian people and the PLO
recognized the right of the
state of Israel to exist and
renounced terrorism, violence
and its desire for the
destruction of Israel. Economic
co-operation was agreed. However
violence, particularly suicide
bombing, increased.
1994
The
Israel-Jordan peace treaty
resulted from the Madrid
Conference.
November 4,
1995,
Yitzhak
Rabin, the Israeli Prime
Minister, was assassinated by an
extreme right wing Israeli,
Yigal Amir, whilst attending a
peace rally.
September 28th
1995
The Oslo Interim
Agreement
(Oslo 2)
gave the Palestinians self-rule
in Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin,
Qalqilya, Ramallah, Tulkarm and
some 450 villages.
THE
POLITICS OF WATER
Water is a
contentious political issue
in the Middle East.
Israel
extracts much of its water
from two large aquifers
which straddle the Green
Line (the 1967 borders which
could become the border
between Israel and a new
state of Palestine). Israel
consumes 82% of the water of
one aquifer and 80% of the
other.
In Oslo 2
both sides agreed to
maintain “existing
quantities of utilization
from resources.” Israel
agreed to supplement the
Palestinians’ water
production and allow
drilling in one aquifer.
January 1996
The Palestinian
National Authority was formed
with Yasser Arafat as chairman.
Violence, particularly suicide
bombing, increased.
October 23rd
1998
The Wye River
Memorandum:
This was an agreement
between Israeli Prime Minister
Netenyahu, Arafat (PLO) and Bill
Clinton to implement the Interim
Agreement on the West Bank and
Gaza (Sep 23, 1995), calling for
setting up of Area A – under
full control of the Palestinian
Authority, Area B – under
Palestinian civil control and
Israeli military control and
Area C – under full Israeli
control, stopping terrorism,
co-operating over security,
promote Palestinian economic
development. It was agreed by
the Knesset but failed because
of the 2000 Al Aksa Intifada.
1999
Sharm
el-Sheikh meeting restored
Palestinian rule over the Gaza
Strip.
July 2000
The Camp
David meeting chaired by
President Clinton failed to
achieve agreement over the
return of Palestinian refugees
to Israel.
September
28th 2000
The
second Intifada began
precipitated by Ariel Sharon’s
visit to Temple Mount.
VIOLENCE IN THE SECOND
INTIFADA
Over 1000 Israelis were
killed (1300 from September
2000 to December 2006) in
terror attacks, including
suicide bombing and Qassam
rocket attacks from the Gaza
Strip.
Israel’s response included:
·
limiting the
flow of Palestinian workers
to Israel to exclude
terrorists,
·
stricter
checks (sometimes with
humiliating searches with
excessive waits) at border
checkpoints.
·
closing the
border, so undermining
Palestinian standard of
living. Jerusalem
checkpoints hindered
Palestinians getting to work
or travelling to other
Palestinian towns.
Palestinian towns were
subject to extended curfew.
·
assassinating
wanted terrorists.
·
killing over
3,500 Palestinians,
demolishing houses (now
discontinued) and uprooting
olive groves.
·
Extreme
Israeli settlers harassing
and even killing
Palestinians, destroying
their property and uprooting
olive trees.
October
2000
Another
Sharm el-Sheikh meeting was
arranged by the US and both
sides agreed to return to
negotiations.
April 30th
2001
The
Mitchell Plan: Following the
Sharm el-Sheikh meetings in 1999
& 2000, this called for an end
to violence, co-operation over
security, the PA to stop
terrorism, Israel to freeze
settlement activity, lift
closures, transfer Palestinian
taxes to the PA, and cease
destroying Palestinian
property.
April 30th
2001
The Road
Map: This was a 3-phase
peace process drafted April 30,
2003 to achieve a full
settlement by 2005 (but it
failed to do so).
Phase 1
(Spring 2003): Ending violence,
normalising Palestinian life and
building Palestinian
institutions, affirming Israel’s
right to exist and aiming at a
two-state solution.
Phase 2
(June-Dec 2003): an
international conference to be
held after Palestinian elections
to support Palestinian economic
recovery.
Phase 3
(2004-5): second international
conference on Palestinian state
with provisional borders leading
to a final, permanent status
resolution in 2005, including on
borders, Jerusalem, refugees,
settlements; and, a
comprehensive Middle East
settlement between Israel and
Lebanon and Israel and Syria, to
be achieved as soon as possible.
The resolution on Jerusalem
would protect the interests of
Jews, Christians and Muslims.
June 13th
2001
The
Tenet Plan: This was
proposed by CIA Director George
Tenet and called for a
cease-fire, Israeli-Palestinian
co-operation over security,
arrest of terrorists by the PA,
release of non-terrorist
prisoners, end of closures and
minimizing of checkpoints by
Israel.
2002-3
The
Saudi Peace Plan: This plan,
drawn up by Saudi Crown Prince
Abdullah, requires Israel to
withdraw from all territories
seized in 1967 (West Bank, Gaza,
East Jerusalem and the Golan
Heights) in return for all Arab
states recognising Israel's
right to exist with secure
borders. It seems to allow
Israel to have sovereignty over
the Wailing Wall, to transfer
some Israeli land in exchange
for West Bank land. It does not
mention the right of return to
Israel of Palestinian refugees.
The Arab League adopted the
plan.
THE
ISSUE OF ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS
ON THE WEST BANK
The Jewish settlements in
the West Bank (or Judea and
Samaria, as the settlers
call it) are a constant
source of friction, with the
international community
saying they are illegal, a
violation of the fourth
Geneva Convention and a
barrier to peace.
By 2006 267,163 Israelis
lived within the West bank
and East Jerusalem.
Settlements have
appropriated agricultural
land and diverted water and
other resources. There
presence heightens security
concerns and this leads to
Palestinians being
restricted in their movement
along local roads.
The Palestinian argument for
removal of the settlements
is obvious.
Israel, on the other hand,
claims it needs to keep some
land in the West Bank for
security reasons. They also
claim that some settlements
were established when there
were no diplomatic relations
and so they did not violate
any agreement.
The position of the US is
that Israel might need to
retain some settlements near
the 1967 borders and
therefore should compensate
the Palestinians by giving
them Israeli land elsewhere.
12th
March 2002
The UN
passed Resolution 1397
calling for a Two-State
solution. It welcomed the Saudi
Initiative and called for
cessation of violence and
implementation of the Tenet plan
and Mitchell report
October
2003
The
Geneva Accord, a meeting
between Israeli opposition
leaders and the Palestinians
agreed in principle that Israel
would hand over Arab areas of
Jerusalem and the Palestinians
would renounce the right of
return of Palestinian refugees
to Israel.
2003
The
Israelis began to build the
security wall (which is
mostly a fence) dividing Israel
from the Palestinian areas. The
wall has led to great
difficulties for the
Palestinians as some of it is on
Palestinian land and farmers are
sometimes separated from their
land.
19th
November 2003
The UN
passed Resolution 1515
calling for implementation of
the Road Map.
May 4th
2004
The
Quartet Plan: The Middle
East Quartet (US, Europe, Russia
and UN) issued a communique in
New York, calling for a two
state solution, a freeze on
Israeli settlements, PA action
to stop terrorism, Israel to
avoid civilian casualties, ease
the humanitarian and economic
plight of the Palestinian people
and cease deportations,
confiscation and/or demolition
of Palestinian homes and
property and destruction of
Palestinian institutions and
infrastructure.
November 11th
2004
Yasser
Arafat died.
January 9
2005
Mahmoud
Abbas was elected President
of the Palestine National
Authority
February 8,
2005
A Sharm
el-Sheikh conference brought
together Israeli and Palestinian
leaders together with King
Abdullah of Jordan and President
Mubarak of Egypt. They agreed to
end violence. Israel agreed to
release some 900 Palestinian
prisoners and begin withdrawing
from Palestinian cities. But the
violence continued.
2005
Israel
unilaterally withdrew from Gaza.
January,
26, 2006
Hamas,
a radical Islamic group, won a
surprise victory in the
Palestinian elections.
June 26th
2006
Qassam
rocket attacks from Gaza
continued and Gilad Shalit, a
19-year old Israeli soldier was
kidnapped. As a result Israel
launched Operation Summer Rains
against Gaza but Olmert made it
clear Israel had no intention of
re-taking Gaza.
July 2006
The
Lebanon War: Following
rocket attacks on Northern
Israel by Hezbollah, Israel
attacked Lebanon. A ceasefire
took place on August 14th.
Israel was humiliated by being
unable to destroy Hezbollah and
the government of Ehud Olmert
became very unpopular.
November 26th
A ceasefire
in Gaza was signed between the
Palestinians and Israelis, and
the latter withdrew but it was
broken by the extreme Islamic
Jihad. Israel exercised some
restraint.
December 23rd
2006
Mahmoud
Abbas and Ehud Olmert met
for the first time and Olmert
agreed to release Palestinian
taxes frozen by Israel, to
release some Palestinian
prisoners and to remove some
checkpoints.
February 8th
2007
Tensions
grew between Fatah and Hamas but
with the backing of the Saudis,
both sides agreed to form a
Palestinian Unity government.
It was short-lived, lasting only
until June 14th.
June 14th
2007
Anarchy
reigned in Gaza and Hamas drove
Fatah out of the Gaza Strip.
Abbas dissolved the unity
government and announced he
would set up a new government
based in the West Bank. Fatah
proceeded to taken action
against Hamas people in the West
Bank.
ISRAELI SECURITY CONCERNS
Israel is a very powerful
nation, the sixth most
powerful in military terms
in the world. However, it
does have real concerns and
fears about security:
1.
It is a very small
country (the size of one of
the bigger English
counties). From the West
Bank to:
·
Tel Aviv (a
main centre for trade and
industry) is only 11 miles
·
Haifa, its
chief port, is only 21 miles
·
Ben Gurion
Airport is only 6 miles
The country is only 9 miles
across near Tel Aviv (75
seconds flying time). And
the West Bank is high
ground overlooking the
important coastal plain of
Israel, which has strategic
military value.
2.
It is surrounded by
enemies or countries it
feels it cannot trust,
including:
·
Hamas with its
Qassam rockets in Gaza
·
Hezbollah with
its long-range rockets in
Lebanon
·
Syria which
indulges in war-like
statements at times
·
Iran which
threatens its destruction
3.
A Palestinian State,
although hopefully peaceable
initially, could easily turn
against Israel, which would
mean an enemy on its
doorstep.
4.
Israel is under
constant threat of
terrorism.
5.
It is dependent
largely on US assistance and
finance and could collapse
if this were to be radically
reduced.
6.
It is threatened with
extinction as a Jewish state
demographically. If the Arab
Israeli birthrate continues
to be higher than that of
Jewish Israelis this could
mean that, as a democracy,
Israel could become an Arab
State within a few decades.
This causes Israeli Jewish
people to feel threatened at
a very fundamental level,
after almost 2000 years of
persecution, as a people
without a land, culminating
in the Holocaust (a vivid,
present memory for them).
They cannot contemplate
losing their (relatively)
safe Jewish homeland and
returning to that.
7.
It knows that Islamic
theology teaches that once a
country is ruled by Muslims
(as Palestine was for
centuries) committed Muslims
will not rest until it
returns to Muslim rule.
Islam thinks in the long
term and is very patient,
waiting until the time for
this to happen arrives.
PALESTINIAN NATIONAL
ASPIRATIONS
Palestinians affirm that:
1.
Palestine has been an
Arab country since the 7th
century AD.
2.
The Israelis acquired
much Arab land illegally in
the 1940s and directly or in
effect drove out many
Palestinian people from the
land during the Nakhba
3.
Israel occupied the
Palestinian West Bank in
1967.
4.
A Palestinian state
will restore the dignity and
freedom of the Palestinian
people after decades of
humiliation and oppression.
[1]
The well-known Zionist
humanist, Ahad Ha'am
warned that the settlers
must under no
circumstances arouse the
wrath of the natives ...
'Yet what do our
brethren do in
Palestine? Just the very
opposite! Serfs they
were in the lands of the
Diaspora and suddenly
they find themselves in
unrestricted freedom and
this change has awakened
in them an inclination
to despotism. They treat
the Arabs with hostility
and cruelty, deprive
them of their rights,
offend them without
cause and even boast of
these deeds; and nobody
among us opposes this
despicable and dangerous
inclination ..'
"... The same lack of
understanding he found
in the boycott of Arab
labour proclaimed by
Jewish labour ... 'Apart
from the political
danger, I can't put up
with the idea that our
brethren are morally
capable of behaving in
such a way to humans of
another people, and
unwittingly the thought
comes to my mind: if it
is so now, what will be
our relation to the
others if in truth we
shall achieve at the end
of times power in Eretz
Yisrael? And if this be
the "Messiah": I do not
wish to see his coming.'
"Ahad Ha'am returned to
the Arab problem ... in
February 1914 ... '[the
Zionists] wax angry
towards those who remind
them that there is still
another people in Eretz
Yisrael that has been
living there and does
not intend at all to
leave its place. In a
future when this
illusion will have been
torn from their hearts
and they will look with
open eyes upon the
reality as it is, they
will certainly
understand how important
this question is and how
great our duty to work
for its solution'."
Kohn, Hans, "Ahad Ha'am:
Nationalist with a
Difference" in Smith,
Gary (ed.):
Zionism: The Dream and
the Reality (New
York, Harper and Row,
1974), pp. 31-32. quoted
in The Origins and
Evolution of the
Palestine Problem:
1917-1988, Part I
published by the United
Nations.
In a memorandum to Lord
Curzon on 11 August
1919, Balfour wrote:
"The contradiction
between the letters of
the Covenant and the
policy of the Allies is
even more flagrant in
the case of the
'independent nation' of
Palestine than in that
of the 'independent
nation' of Syria. For in
Palestine we do not
propose even to go
through the form of
consulting the wishes of
the present inhabitants
of the country, though
the American Commission
has been going through
the form of asking what
they are.
"The four Great Powers
are committed to
Zionism. And Zionism, be
it right or wrong, good
or bad, is rooted in
age-long traditions, in
present needs, in future
hopes, of far profounder
import than the desires
and prejudices of the
700,000 Arabs who now
inhabit that ancient
land.
"In my opinion that is
right. What I have never
been able to understand
is how it can be
harmonized with the
(Anglo-French)
declaration of November
1918, the Covenant, or
the instructions to the
Commission of Enquiry.
"I do not think that
Zionism will hurt the
Arabs, but they will
never say they want it.
Whatever be the future
of Palestine, it is not
now an 'independent
nation', nor is it yet
on the way to become
one. Whatever deference
should be paid to the
view of those living
there, the Powers in
their selection of a
mandatory do not
propose, as I understand
the matter, to consult
them. In short, so far
as Palestine is
concerned, the Powers
have made no statement
of fact which is not
admittedly wrong, and no
declaration of policy
which, at least in the
letter, they have not
always intended to
violate;..." British
Government, Foreign
Office No. 371/4183
(1919),
quoted in The Origins
and Evolution of the
Palestine Problem:
1917-1988, Part I
published by the United
Nations.
A Zionist Commission to
Palestine in April 1918
(consisting of Chaim
Weizmann and Zionist
representatives from
France and Italy,
accompanied by British
officials) made
proposals to the British
Foreign Office for
consideration at the
Paris Peace Conference
of 1919. Foreign
Secretary, Lord Curzon
commented to Balfour:
"... As for Weizmann and
Palestine, I entertain
no doubt that he is out
for a Jewish Government,
if not at the moment
then in the near future
...
"What all this can mean
except Government I do
not see. Indeed a
Commonwealth as defined
in my dictionary is a
'body politic' a 'State'
an 'independent
community' a 'republic'.
"I feel tolerably sure
therefore that while
Weizmann may say one
thing to you, or while
you may mean one thing
by a national home, he
is out for something
quite different. He
contemplates a Jewish
State, a Jewish nation,
a subordinate population
of Arabs, etc. ruled by
Jews; the Jews in
possession of the fat of
the land, and directing
the Administration.
"He is trying to effect
this behind the screen
and under the shelter of
British trusteeship.
"I do not envy those who
wield the latter, when
they realize the
pressure to which they
are certain to be
exposed. ..."
British Government,
Foreign Office No.
800/215 (1919),
quoted in The Origins
and Evolution of the
Palestine Problem:
1917-1988, Part I
published by the United
Nations.
Ben Gurion: sometimes
Ben Gurion is quoted out
of context as supporting
a violent dispossession
of the Palestinians when
he says: “after we
constitute a large force
following the
establishment of the
state - we will cancel
the partition and we
will expand throughout
the Land of Israel.” In
context, Ben Gurion
opposes such violence in
favour of the method of
“mutual understanding
and Jewish-Arab
agreement.” It is
difficult to see how Ben
Gurion could have
expected this to be
acceptable to the
Palestinians and some
have said his words were
simple diplomacy. The
quotations in context
are as follows:
Ben-Gurion: The starting
point for a solution of
the question of the
Arabs in the Jewish
State is, in his view,
the need to prepare the
ground for an
Arab-Jewish agreement;
he supports the Jewish
State, not because he is
satisfied with part of
the country, but on the
basis of the assumption
that after we constitute
a large force following
the establishment of the
state - we will cancel
the partition and we
will expand throughout
the Land of Israel.
Shapira: By force as
well?
Ben-Gurion: Through
mutual understanding and
Jewish-Arab agreement.
So long as we are weak
and few the Arabs have
neither the need nor the
interest to conclude an
alliance with us... And
since the state is only
a stage in the
realization of Zionism
and it must prepare the
ground for our expansion
throughout the whole
country through
Jewish-Arab agreement -
we are obliged to run
the state in such a way
that will win us the
friendship of the Arabs
both within and outside
the state.
Paradox
Newsletter
An
Outline History and Background to the
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
© 2008
Paradox Ministries, a UK Charity: 1125582