Israel A.Balfour Declaration B.Creation of Israel C.Wars over Israel D.The Palestinians E.Peace in...

Israel

A. Balfour DeclarationB. Creation of IsraelC. Wars over IsraelD. The PalestiniansE. Peace in the Middle East?

A. Balfour Declaration• Zionists (Jews who wanted a homeland in

Palestine) began to settle in Palestine during the 19th century

• Angered the Palestinians (Arabs & Christians) who had lived there since 7th Century

• Violence between the 2 groups began

• Britain gained control over the area after WWI

• Balfour Declaration was a letter written in 1917 stating Britain’s support for a Jewish homeland

• Following WWII, massive migration of Jews to the area

• The Palestinians and Jews could not live together, Britain recommended partitioning (dividing) the area

• Just made the problems worse• Britain could not handle the

situation, turned it over to UN in 1947

B. Creation of Israel

• UN recommended partition giving 55% of land to the Jews (b/c of sympathy from the Holocaust) even though they were only 34% of the population

• May 14, 1948 Israel becomes an independent nation

• Arabs rejected the U.N. partition and did not accept this new country – swore they would not allow it to exist

C. Wars over Israel• May 15, 1948: Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon,

Saudi Arabia, & Syria attack Israel.

• Israel was able to win and gains territory.

• Palestinians lose all of their territory to the Israelis and neighboring nations

• 1956 Suez Crisis – Egypt seized the canal.

• Britain & France made a deal with Israel to take the canal back and gain Egyptian land.

• Israel forced to give the land & canal back to Egypt by world pressures

• 1967 Six-Day War: Israel attacks Egypt, Iran, Jordan, and Syria b/c of continuing threats against them.

• Israel wins and is able to gain more territory.

• The 1973 War: Arabs attacked on Yom Kippur catching Israel by surprise, but Israel able to gain back lost territory. Cease-fire declared.

D. The Palestinians• Palestinian state was never created b/c land

that was promised to them was seized during the 1948-49 war

• Many stayed in Israel and created the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) led by Yasir Arafat violently attacking the Israelis

• Intifada – 1987 civil disobedience campaign (non-violent) against Israeli rule which won worldwide support

E. Peace• Egypt was the 1st Arab country to recognize

Israel in 1977

• Camp David Accords: signed agreement in 1979 ending hostilities between Egypt & Israel

• Declaration of Principals: 1993 Israel agreed to give the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to the Palestinians

• Israel continues to negotiate for peace with the Palestinians using land as a bargaining piece

• Warfare over the land is still common today