Arab-Israeli ConflictSurvey: What issues are most important in understanding the conflict?

Sources of conflict since 1945Ethnic and religious conflict within the region

Palestinian / Israeli conflict

Western influence and intervention

Secularism vs. religious fundamentalism often a reaction against modernity and Western influence

The Middle East and the WestEnd of the Ottoman Empire Republic of Turkey

After WWI: mandate system in Gulf States:Britain Palestine, Iraq, TransjordanFrance Syria, Lebanon

Independent by end of WWII but Western oil interests remained

Cold War and competition for oil meant Middle East remained an area of Western intervention and influence

Sources of anti-U.S. sentimentHistory: betrayal of Woodrow Wilsons ideal of self-determination

U.S. actions during the Cold War

Growing U.S. presence in 1970s: bases in Gulf States

U.S. support for Israel; supporting dictatorships in Arab states

Cultural imperialism

Palestinian Israeli ConflictOriginated after WWI

Promise of independence to Middle East after WWI was broken; instead Palestine and other territories became mandates

Two Different NarrativesReligiousHistoricalPoliticalEconomic/CulturalIdentityMoral

What were the goals and strategies of Zionism?

What promises were made to the Jews (Zionists) and to the Arabs?

Promises to the ArabsMcMahon Correspondence1. Subject to the above modifications, Great Britain is prepared to recognize and support the independence of the Arabs in all the regions within the limits demanded by the Sherif of Mecca. 2. Great Britain will guarantee the Holy Places against all external aggression and will recognize their inviolability. 3. When the situation admits, Great Britain will give to the Arabs her advice and will assist them to establish what may appear to be the most suitable forms of government in those various territories. ME, pp. 115-116

Zionist rationale:Everywhere we are rejected. We are pushed out of everywhere. We are considered aliens. . .But Judea shall rise again. Let our own lives be an example to our people. Let us forsake our lives in foreign lands and stand on firm ground on the land of our forefathers. Let us reach for shovels and plows.

The Balfour Declaration,1917

Expressing support for the establishment in Palestine of a nationalhome for the Jewishpeopleit being clearlyunderstood that nothingshall be done which mayprejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in PalestineSee ME, pp. 170-171

Three events that save political ZionismTheodore Herzls message secular and desire to gain Great Power okay.See ME., pp. 165-167.

immigration aliyahs, but gradually, to proceed slowly without revealing their longtime goal (ME, p. 149)

World War I and need of British for allies in the Middle East and in Britain.

ME, pp. 117-118Too much promised landProf. Sarsar

King-Crane Commission, 1919a national home for the Jewish people is not equivalent to making Palestine into a Jewish state

nor can the erection of such a Jewish state be accomplished without the gravest trespass upon the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine

the fact came out repeatedly in the Commissions conference with Jewish representatives that the Zionists looked forward toa practically complete dispossession of the present non-Jewishinhabitants of Palestine

the initial claim, often submitted by Zionist representatives, that they have a right to Palestine, based on an occupation of two thousand years ago, can hardly be seriously considered

Balfours Response:

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 tradition, 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.

What role did Great Britain play in Palestine after WWI?

Why was partition decided on as a solution to the conflict?

Factors Contributing to the ConflictImmigration

Economic dislocations the kibbutzim

Land transfers

The British role.

Jewish Immigration (Aliyahs)

People for a land in a land without peopleBen Gurion, 1917 1882-1903 20-30,000 1905-1914 35-40,000(Most in late teens, socialist leanings, kibbutzim) 1917-1923 35,000 1924-1931 82,000 1932-1938 217,000(By 1938, 413,000 Jews in Palestine) 1,100,000 non-Jews(Between 1922-1939 the population doubled)

Jewish migration to PalestineBegan in the 1920s

1920: 95% Palestinian; 5% Jewish [29,000]1947: 68% Palestinian; 32% Jewish [630,000] Jewish population after the creation of Israel:1948: 0.8 million 1964: 2.4 millionNow: approximately 6.4 millionLatest population influx after the disintegration of USSR

1939 British suspends ALL immigration to Palestine

Key Events in Interwar Period1939-1949 Tragic Decade1929 and 1936 Arab Revolts. See ME, pp. 177-182 (Role of al-Qassam)1937 Peel Commission recommend eventual partition. See ME, pp. 184-186.1939 White Paper halt Jewish immigration.Zionist Terrorist Groups Irgun, Haganah, Stern Gang. See ME, pp. 174-176.WWII and the Holocaust.

United Nations Partition Plan, 1947 Tan: Jewish stateGrey: Arab stateWhite: International zoneSee ME, pp. 188-192

Holy City of JerusalemDome of the RockChurch of the HolySepulcherThe Western Wall

Armed conflicts over Israel1948-49: War after creation of Israel

1967: The Six-Day War initiated by IsraelPreemptive war to create protective buffer around IsraelTripled Israeli territory in six daysPlaced 1.5 million Palestinians under Israeli rule

1973: Yom Kippur War Egypt and Syria attack unsuccessfully in Sinai and Golan Heights

Before 1967After 1967

Occupied / Disputed TerritoriesAfter 1967, the focus of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict shifted from recognition of Israel to status of the occupied or disputed territories

Sinai Peninsula was returned to Egypt 1982

Jewish settlers left the Gaza Strip summer 2005

The Palestinian Liberation Organization [PLO]Created in 1964 as a government in exile

Leader: Yasir Arafat [d. 2004]

1974: PLO recognized by the U.N. as representative of the Palestinian people

1987 and 2000 used strategy of intifada [uprising] to oppose Israeli rule

Became Palestinian Authority 1993; current leader Mahmoud Abbas

Where are the Palestinians?

The largest group of refugeesin the world today.

Israel: 1 millionJordan: 1.5 millionGaza: 825,000West Bank: 583,000Saudi Arabia: 123,000Iraq: 90,000Syria: 383,200Lebanon: 376,500Egypt: 40,000N. Africa: 13,000Kuwait: 35,000

80% left in 1948.44% of Jordans population are displaced and refugee Palestinians

Israel rejects the right of return forrefugees.

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/fellows/israel/intro.html

Pursuing PeaceU.N. Resolution 242 (1967)Called for withdrawal of Israeli forces from territories occupied in 1967Called for Israel, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan to recognize one another

Separate peace agreements between Israel and Egypt (1978) and Israel and Jordan (1994)

Oslo Agreement (1993) Land for PeacePalestinians abandon armed struggle and accept Israels right to rule over 78% of mandate Palestine

In return they receive the remaining 22% (West Bank, Gaza, Arab East Jerusalem)

George W. Bush: 2002 two-state solution, Roadmap

http://www.mideastweb.org/maps.htmEgypt-Nasser, Sadat, Mubarak Arab Socialism and Pan-Arabism Iraq - Hussein-Baathist SocialismSyria Asad Baathist Socialism Libya Qadafi Green SocialismTurkey - Secular RepublicIran Shah, Khomeini, Ahmadinejad IslamismSaudi Arabia Family w/ Flags, Wahabi Islam

Final Status IssuesJerusalem who should control it?

Israeli security right of Israel to exist.

Palestinian refugees right of return

Borders how to determine?LAND FOR PEACE

Continuing ConflictHamas, Hezbollah, and other extremist groups reject right of Israel to exist and reject all negotiations with Israel

Violent acts on both sides invite violent reprisals, continuing the cycle of violence

Wall and Jewish settlement in West Bank

Gaza: Palestinian state or prison?

LebanonUntil civil war [1975-90] Lebanon was the Switzerland of the Middle East

1976-2005 Syrian forcesLebanon

1978-2000 Israeli forces S. LebanonHezbollah forms against Israel

Summer 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel

Until 1975, Beirut was consideredthe Paris of the Middle East

The cornerstone of peace in Iraq?The United States will not be able to achieve its goals in the Middle East unless [it] deals directly with the Arab-Israeli conflict.

RECOMMENDATION 13: There must be a renewed and sustained commitment by the United States to a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace on all fronts: Lebanon and Syria, and President Bushs June 2002 commitment to a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.The Iraq Study Group Report

Annapolis 11/27/07