Conflict in the Middle East

David Ben Gurion

• Israel’s 1st Prime Minister• 1st Prime Minister of Defense• Joined the Zionist Movement – helped Jews come to Israel

Menachem Begin

• Leader of Zionist militia group• Led revolt against British control• 6th Prime Minister of Israel• Opposed Palestinian liberation• Signed Camp David Agreement• Won Nobel Prize

Yitzak Rabin

• 5th Prime Minister• 1st Native born Prime Minister• Assassinated in 1995• Fought in War for Independence and Six Day War• Signed Oslo Peace Agreement

Israeli Defense Force (IDF)

• Israeli Army• Ground, Air, and Navy forces• Supported by the United States• Involved in all major conflicts from War for Independence to the

Intifada

Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO)• Led by Yassar Arafat• 1993 – Agreed to stop terrorist acts against Israel in exchange for

recognition as Palestinian leadership• Works to create a Palestinian state

Yassar Arafat

• Head of the PLO• Signed Oslo Peace Agreement• Received Nobel Peace Prize

Intifada

• Means tremor or shudder• Palestinian uprising from 1987-1991 against Israel• Palestinian’s used civil disobedience and boycotts of Israeli goods• Turned to violence, although Palestinian’s used rocks against more

heavily armed IDF• Large number of Palestinians killed

Hamas

• Took part in the first Intifada• Known for hatred of Israel and U.S.• Militant Palestinian group vowed to destroy Israel• Militant and Political group

Anwar Sadat

• President of Egypt• Signed the Camp David Accords with Israel• Got back the Sinai Peninsula in exchange for acknowledging Israeli right to

exist • Was assassinated for this

• First Muslim to win Nobel Prize

Jimmy Carter

• 39th President of U.S.• Middle East became priority in his foreign policy• Tried to manage weapons getting into the Middle East from U.S. and

Soviet Union• President during Iran Hostage Crisis and Soviet invasion of

Afghanistan• Helps negotiate Camp David Accords

Camp David Accords 1979

• Peace Treaty signed by Egypt and Israel• Egypt got by the Sinai Peninsula in exchange to recognition of Israeli

right to exist • Joint Peace Prize won for Egypt and Israel• Signed at Camp David

Oslo Peace Agreement 1993

• Peace treaty between PLO and Israel• Israel agreed to recognize PLO and not call them a terrorist group• PLO agreed to stop terrorist attacks• Did not create a Palestinian state

Gaza Strip

• Southeast strip of land in Israel• Palestinian refugees sent here when Israel was created in 1948• Source of modern conflict as refugees still live here• Israel and Palestine still debate over this area

Golan Heights

• Land on the Jordan River that separates Israel from Syria• Over 30 Jewish settlements located here• 1970 – Israel annexed the land which starts the Yom Kippur War• Israel offered to return land is Syria stopped hostilities towards Israel• Syria declined the offer• Israel still occupies 95% of the Golan Heights

West Bank

• Located on the West bank of the Jordan River• Palestinian refugees sent here when Israel was created in 1948• Captured by Israel in 1967• Source of modern conflict as refugees still live here• Israel and Palestine still debate over this area• Causes conflict between Israel and her Arab neighbors

Israeli War for Independence

• First Arab-Israeli War• After Israeli declared Independence, they were immediately attacked

by their Arab neighbors• 10 months of fighting• Israeli dominated the Arab neighbors and increased its land

Suez War 1956

• War between Egypt vs Israel, England, and France• U.S. backs Israel, Soviet Union backs Egypt• Gamal Nassar nationalizes the Suez Canal – cuts off Israeli access to

the Red Sea

Six Day War 1967

• Israel vs Egypt, Jordan, and Syria• June 5th – June 10th………..• IDF had an overwhelming victory over the Arab coalition• Israel gains control of Jerusalem and gains massive amounts of

territory – triples in size• Over 20,000 Arabs are killed while less than 1,000 Israeli forces are

killed

Yom Kippur War 1973

• Also known as the 4th Arab Israeli war• Israel vs Egypt and Syria• Egypt and Syria looked to regain control over territory lost in the 6

Day War• Arab states won major victories early in the war• Causes tension to build between the U.S. and Soviet Union• Causes negotiations and leads to the Camp David Accords

Israel invades Lebanon 1982

• Israel invades Lebanon due to multiple attacks launched on Israel from Lebanon• Causes civil war to break out in Lebanon

Hebron Massacre 1929 and 1994

• Massacre of 67-69 Jews, many of them teachers and students• It was rumored that Jews were going to seize control of the Temple

Mount• Arabs killed and beat many Jews and destroyed synagogues• Second Massacre was a Jewish extremist who killed 29 Muslim

Palestinians who were in prayer• Riots broke out for days which killed more Jews and Palestinians

Munich Olympics 1972

• Israeli Olympians, Israeli coaches killed by members of the terrorist group Black September• Black September was a radical Palestinian group• Black September wanted the release of over 200 Arab prisoners in

Israel• In the end 17 people were killed including the Israeli athletes,

terrorists, and German police

Iran Hostage Crisis

• 1979 – 1981• Iranian Students storm the U.S. Embassy• 52 hostages were held for 444 days• Ended only after the Iraq-Iran war caused Iran to negotiate with U.S.• President Jimmy Carter works to negotiate the release

Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

• 1979-1989• Soviet Union invades Afghanistan to keep a pro-communist

government from being overthrown• More than 1 million Afghan civilians killed• Mujahedeen – Afghan freedom fighters who were trained and

supplied by the United States• Only time Soviet forces are beaten and forced to withdraw

Persian Gulf War

• 1990 – 1991• Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait for oil• U.S. leads air strikes against Iraqi forces• Iraq forced to withdraw, as they leave they set fire to all the oil fields

September 11th Attacks

• Attacks carried out by Al-Qaeda• Attacked symbolic targets – World Trade Center, Pentagon• Caused the U.S. to declare war on Terror and go into Afghanistan

War Against Terrorism

• 10 days after 9/11 attacks, President George W. Bush declared a global war on Terror• U.S. and its allies peruse terrorist groups and their supports

Operation Iraqi Freedom

• 2003 Invasion of Iraq• Saddam Hussein’s government fell quickly• Many thousands of Iraqi citizens killed• Iraq held multi-party elections in 2005

Taliban

• Group that grew out of the mujahedeen in Afghanistan after the Soviet Invasion• Ruled Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001 when the U.S. invaded• Known for is warped teachings of Islam and brutality towards women• Supported by Al-Qaeda

ISIS

• Extremist jihadist militant group• Wants to create one Islamic State• Composed of mainly Sunni Muslims from Iraq and Syria who were

oppressed by the Shia majority• Grew out of the most extreme members of Al-Qaeda • Know for public beheadings and other acts of brutality• Denounced by most Muslim groups

Al-Qaeda

• Means “the base”• Global militant Islamic group• Began in the late 1980’s• Network of multiple terrorist groups• Responsible for 9/11 attacks• Targets citizens and other non-military targets• Also responsible for creating divisions between Muslim groups

Saddam Hussein

• Former dictator of Iraq• He was a Sunni Muslim (minority in Iraq) and violent suppressed the

Shia and Kurds in his own country• Responsible for the Persian Gulf War (invaded Kuwait)• Thought to have WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction)• U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003 and Saddam’s government feel apart• Saddam was captured and put on trial for crimes against humanity• Executed in 2006

Osama Bin Laden

• Founder of Al-Qaeda• Planned 9/11• Fought against Soviet Union in Afghanistan• Was on FBI’s 10 most wanted• In 2011 is he shot and killed by U.S. special forces• His remains would not be received by any country and he was buried

at sea

George H.W. Bush

• 41st President of the United States• President during the Persian Gulf War

George W. Bush

• 43rd President of the United States• President during 9/11 attacks• Declared War on Terror• President during the Iraq War

Malala Yousafzai

• Pakistani activist for female education• While on her school bus a gunman asked for her by name and shot

her 3 times, once in the head• The Taliban did not believe in girls going to school• Malala survived• She travels all over the world in support of education for women• She won the Nobel peace prize in 2014.