THE HOLY LAND SINCE 1947

IN SEARCH OF A PEACE

ARAB ANGER AT THE UN PLAN

REVIEW: WHAT WAS THE UNITED

NATIONS’ PLAN FOR ISRAEL? WHY

WERE SO MANY ARABS ANGRY AT

IT?

ISRAEL’S WAR OF LIBERATION

•May 1948: Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria sent soldiers to help liberate the Palestinians.

•Despite early success, the Israelis pushed back & forced to them to sign a truce giving Israel 80% of

Palestine.•Most Palestinians fled to Jordan & Syria, where they

became a refugee group of 750,000. At the same time, 700,000 Jews came to Israel under the Law of

Return.

MAJOR CONSEQUENCE ALERT: NO PALESTINIAN STATE (THEN OR NOW)

CYCLE OF VIOLENCE

Cross border attacks by Fedayeen

Cross border attacks by Israeli army.

Because each side believes they are protecting their rights, each side feels justified (right) in attacking the other. This

then causes retaliation by the other side.

Fedayeen= Palestinian refugees who became guerrilla fighters

THE COLD WAR CONTEXT

After World War II the world was divided between the American led capitalist nations and the Soviet led socialist nations.

This ideological (ideas) war was known as the Cold War. Both sides used persuasion and force to gain control of the globe

The United States and its allies supported Israel in her

fight to survive

The Soviet Union allied itself with many of the Arab nations

in the Middle East

THE COLD WAR WORLD

██  NATO states members

██  Other allies of the USA

██  Colonized countries

██  Warsaw Pact states members

██  Other allies of the USSR

██  Non-aligned nations

THE SUEZ-SINAI WAR (1956)

• Arabs waged economic warfare, boycotting Israeli goods. Shut off access to Suez canal.

•Nasser (Egypt) wanted to unite Arabs, take back Palestine, and make Egypt a military leader

•He got weapons from the Soviet Union (USSR)

•USA and Britain then cut off loans to Egypt. Britain invaded the Suez zone with the help of the French and

Israelis.

•UN & US feared World War III would result so they cut off oil supplies to B, F, and I, who then retreated

THE SIX DAY WAR* (1967)

*Also known as the 8,640 minute war

Disagreements over land on the Syrian-Israeli border led to yet another conflict. Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Iraq Saudi

Arabia, Jordan, Sudan, Algeria vs Israel.

An Israeli pre-emptive (expect someone to attack you so you attack

first) strike at the enemies’ airfields really won the war in one day

VS

CONSEQUENCES OF THE 518,400 SECOND WAR*

*Also known as the Six Day War

Israel controlled Occupied Territories of Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, and the

West Bank.

Arab countries demoralized (less hopeful)

Most importantly, Palestinian people lost faith in the Arab countries to protect them.

They would then turn to more radical groups, like Fatah and the PLO, for help**

**Major Consequence Alert

WAR BY OTHER MEANS

Many hoped the UN would step in & force Israel to return the Occupied Territories, but

an agreement never happened.

Many militant, or violent, Palestinian organizations formed and stepped up their

guerrilla attacks* on Israeli soldiers and civilians.

Can you guess what Israel did?

*A group that fights against an organized army

THE PLO AND FATAHPLO: Palestinian Liberation Organization

Fatah: Palestinian National Liberation Movement

Joined in 1967 and Yasir Arafat, the leader of Fatah, took over leadership of the PLO

Arafat in the Early days of Fatah

Arafat in 2006

THE POPULAR FRONT FOR THE LIBERATION OF PALESTINE (PLFP)

This group used hijackings of planes to get the world’s attention

In 1970, 3 airplanes were hijacked and blown up at Dawson’s field in Jordan. This action caused some Arab governments

to crackdown ( try to stop) on militant groups.

“When we hijack a plane it has more effect than if we killed a hundred Israelis in battle. For decades, world public opinion has been neither for or against Palestinians. It simply

ignored us. At least the world is talking about us now”

“We are not terrorists. We do not bomb women and children. The world should know this. We are

against Israel and imperialism. Nor are we against the Jews. We do not understand anti-Semitism, that

is European. We want our land back. When a commando goes into Israel, he puts a bomb in a

place defended by Israelis; he attacks offices and public places which are the centers of imperialism. The bombs are for the soldiers. If we place a bomb

in a bus, it is a bus carrying soldiers, a military target. They are not civilians. If women and children

are killed it is by mistake and we regret it, but we have no alternative.”-a Palestinian teenager

MUNICH 1972

•The group Black September took Israeli soldiers hostage

at the 1972 Olympics.•In the attack and during the

failed rescue attempt, 11 Israeli athletes were killed.

•In response, the Israeli government sent its elite

secret intelligence agency, the Mossad, to assassinate

the people behind the attack

THE YOM KIPPUR WAR (1973)

The new leader of Egypt, Anwar Sadat, set out to reverse Israeli gains from the Six Day War

With the help of weapons from the USSR, Egypt & Syria attacked Israel during the holiest Jewish

holiday, Yom Kippur.

Despite providing weapons to the warring countries, both the US & USSR called for a ceasefire at the UN

175 shells per secondLargest tank battle in the 20th century at Sinai

THE CAMP DAVID ACCORDS (1979)

In a HUGE surprise, Sadat went to visit Israel and spoke at the Israeli parliament (the Knesset) in 1977.

By doing so, Sadat had to admit that Israel existed as a country

This visit led to further talks of peace, which brought about the

Camp David Accords mediated by US President Jimmy Carter

In exchange for peace, the Israelis agreed to leave the Sinai ANWAR SADAT

THE ASSASSINATION OF SADAT

Angry Egyptian soldiers assassinated Sadat in 1981.

INTIFADA (1980s)

Means “Uprising”

Tactics (Methods) used by Palestinians

Roadblocks

Throwing Rocks

Small arms attacks

WHAT WAS GOING ON DURING THE INTIFADA?

PLOAssassinations & kidnapping Attacks on Israel from southern Lebanon

Big protests in Gaza and West Bank

Young Palestinians Set up roadblocks would not allow the Israeli army inIsraeli soldiers were attacked and killed

Strikes/Boycotts of Israeli goods

Israel

Iron Fist Policy- used bullets, beatings and detaining to stop Palestinians

International CommunityNews reports and pictures caused the international community to condemn (blame) the Israeli soldiers and govt.

PLO gained sympathy by saying that it would no longer use violence to achieve its goals

99 countries then officially recognized the state of Palestine, even though it controlled no land. Arafat became president

At the same time, the intifada continued and Israelis argued about how to deal with the problem

OSLO PEACE ACCORD (1993)

US President Bill Clinton with

Yitzhak Rabin and Yasir Arafat

in 1993

Rabin and Arafat met & came up with an agreement that gave Palestinians more rights

in the Occupied Territories in exchange for PLO efforts to stop terrorism.

However, key points of the conflict remained, and many of the accord’s points have not been followed

OSLO PEACE ACCORD (1993)

• First face to face agreement between two groups

• First time Palestinians groups said that Israel had the right to exist

• Palestinian Authority- West Bank and Gaza– Security and civilian issues – 5 year plan for peace– Permanent issues such as Jerusalem,

Palestinian refuges, borders, were deliberately excluded from the Accords (not decided)

RABIN KILLED BY AN ORTHODOX JEW

SECOND INTIFADA (2000-)Began when Israeli leader Ariel Sharon visited the

Temple Mount, a Jewish and Muslim holy site.

More attacks by Palestinians using remote controlled mines & suicide attacks

Israeli rocket attacks, raids, and firing on unarmed Palestinians

ISRAEL AND LEBANON (2006)

Hezbollah (a political party in Lebanon) paramilitary forces attacked 2 Israel Humvees patrolling the

Lebanese border. 2 Israelis were killed, 2 wounded, & 2 taken prisoner

Israeli air strikes killed 1000 Lebanese civilians. Hezbollah then launched rockets into Israel.

UN ceasefire: called for Israel to withdraw from Lebanon and for the Lebanese government to

disarm Hezbollah

ANTI-SEMITISM AND THE ARAB WORLD

Anti-Semitism is anti-Jewish beliefs and actions

Jews have been attacked and used as a scapegoat (group blamed for something not

their fault) throughout their history

Romans, Spanish, Germans, and ArabsBecause of the formation of Israel, many Arabs

believe that the Jews and Israel are evil and need to be destroyed.

Some Islamic countries like Iran have expressed a desire to “wipe Israel off the map” and push the

Jews into the sea.

ISRAEL AND IRANPresident Mahmoud

Ahmadinejad of Iran says he hopes to destroy Israel. He

also claims that the Holocaust never happened.

Iran wants to produce its own nuclear energy. Israel and the United States fear

that Iran will use this power to make nuclear weapons to

attack Israel.

I will make Israel into Wasreal

Hamas– Calls for the destruction of Israel to replace it

will a Islamic Palestinian state– Do not recognize Israel– Increased attacks after the Oslo Peace Accords– Majority power of the PA-2006

• Considered a terrorist/political group by Israel, US, Japan, Britain, Australia, Jordan

2007 Fatah and Hamas conflict– Combined but then started arguing over policy

of Gaza • Fatah willing to negotiate with Israel-Hamas is not

Hamas

• Poverty- gets much food from UN• Economic problems

– Intifada• Loss of family members• Strikes/boycott• Destruction of property

– Loss support after Hamas won elections• Travel Problems

– Over 500 road blocks in Gaza

Life in Gaza/West Bank

Discussion Questions…

• What started the Arab Israeli conflict?• Why does the conflict continue?• What steps have been taken to resolve

conflict?• What is the intifada and what is its effect on

both sides of the conflict?• How has the international community (other

countries) gotten involved in this conflict?