The Arab-Israeli Conflict

Question 2: 10 marks

THERE HAS BEEN A SIGNIFICANT PALESTINIAN REFUGEE PROBLEM FOR

THE LAST FIFTY YEARS. DO THESE SOURCES ALLOW YOU TO COME TO A

FIRM CONCLUSION ABOUT WHO OR WHAT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PROBLEM?

What is a refugee?What is the problem?

Why is there a problem?Who’s to blame for the problem?

What is a refugee?

• A refugee is a person who has been displaced from their home due to conflict or war and it would be difficult/dangerous to return

• or

person who flees for refuge or safety, especially to a foreign country, as in time of political upheaval, war

What is the problem?• Palestinians have become refugees over the last 50 years as a

result of the numerous conflicts in Israel• Many Palestinians live in very poor conditions • Palestinians have not been able to return to the land they left• Palestinian territory given in the UNSCOP plan was put under Israeli

control; Occupied territories; until very recently• Israelis feel that letting some Palestinians back and/or to give them

their own land would threaten the Jewish state of Israel and their national security

• Other world powers have become heavily involved in trying to solve the problem by supporting certain sides which had created new problems

Why is there a problem?

• Israel feels threatened by Palestinians• Palestinians feel baldy treated by Israel and the western

world• World powers have made the issue more complicated at

times• Extremists on both sides are preventing compromises

from taking place• Palestinian terrorists have used suicide bombing as a

effective weapon of fear• Israel's army often acts very harshly towards the

Palestinians • A solution that every body is happy with is difficult to find

Who’s to blame for the problem?

• Both sides blame the other side for the problem.

• In question 2 you will look at a range of sources and judge who the source blames and if they help you to come to a firm conclusion as to why there is a problem. To do this you will need to consider the sources utility and reliability

AAUTHOR Who wrote/produced it? Where they an

eyewitness? Might they have a reason to exaggerate?

DDATE When was it written/produced? Is it

primary or secondary? How might this effect it

PPURPOSE Why was the source written/produced?

Was it to persuade, entertain, educate?

AAUDIENCE Who was it written/produced for? Who

was going to see it? How might this affect it?

HHISTORICAL

VALUEConsidering all these things how valuable

is it to us as historians? Is it biased? Reliable or unreliable – does that mean it’s not useful?