Two People, One Land

The Arab-Israeli Conflict has continued since the early part of the 20th century.

Key Differences:Most Jewish people in Israel speak Hebrew and English, and practice Judaism.

Most Palestinians speak Arabic and practice Islam or Christianity. The majority live in the West Bank, East Jerusalem or Gaza.

Essential Questions: • What are the root causes

of this conflict?• How should this conflict be

resolved?

Origins of the Judaism

The Jewish tradition teaches that the prophet Abraham led the Hebrew people form Ur in Mespotamia to Canaan, present-day Israel.

A drought led to the Exodus of the Hebrews, whereby a tribe wound up in Egypt, where they were enslaved under the pharaoh.

Eventually, the prophet Moses led the Hebrews across Sinai, where he received the Ten Commandments, thus marking the beginning of Judaism. His followers eventually reached the present area of Jerusalem.

The Kingdom of Israel

In time, the Jewish people were unified under King David. During his reign, the Jewish kingdom expanded, yet faced threats from the kingdoms of Mesopotamia and Assyria.

David’s son, Solomon built a great temple. But in 70 AD, the Romans launched an attack on the Jewish people and destroyed it. In that year, Jewish people fled the Promised Land and went into exile for 2,000 years, a period known as the diaspora.

The Western Wall is believed to be the last remaining wall of the Solomon’s Temple.

The Promised Land During the Diaspora During this time of separation known as the diaspora (70 AD – 1897 AD), the “Promised Land” was ruled subsequently by Romans, Byzantines, Arabs and Ottoman Turks. But under the different rulers, Palestinian Arab communities grew, setting the stage for conflict once the Jewish return known as Zionism began.

Pictured: The Western Wall,The Dome of the Rock and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

Church of the Holy SepulcherChurch in Jerusalem.Built circa 325 C.E.during the rule of the Emperor Constantine to mark the spot where Jesuswas crucified.

Jerusalem - The holy city of Jerusalem is sacred to all three monotheistic faiths. Pictured at right: Western Wall, Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. The Dome of the Rock was built (687 – 691 AD) during the period of the Arab Islamic rule known as the Ummayad Caliphate. It has come to represent the continuous Muslim presence in the land.

The Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire rose in the late 14th century. By 1453 it conquered the Byzantine capital of Constantinople which it renamed Istanbul. It went on to rule key areas of the Middle East and the Balkan peninsula, reaching its height under the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent (r. 1520 – 1556). Like its Arab predecessors, the Ottomans advanced Islamic civilization.

The empire fell after WWI when it sided with the losing Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary) and left only with the modern nation of Turkey.

At right: Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, built by Byzantine emperor Justinian I AD in 537. It was later adapted for use as an Islamic mosque and today houses a museum. Also illustrations of Suleimanye Mosque and Suleiman the Magnificent. Suleimanye Mosque

Image – Library, University of Toronto

Palestine During The First World War

WWI (1914-1918) was fought between the Triple Entente - Britain, France, Russia (and later the U.S.) and Central Powers - Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire.

The Ottoman decision to side with Germany gave hope to Jewish and Palestinian leaders that they might gain an independent homeland around Jerusalem.

Colonel T.E. Lawrence – “Lawrence of Arabia” was a British officer who helped spur the Arab revolt in Arabia against Ottoman rule.

Lawrence came to love both Arab and desert culture, and firmly believed he was assisting the Arabs in their quest for independent

homelands.

WWI and the British Mandate Period

During the war, Britain issued the Balfour Declaration, a promise to Jewish leaders for a homeland around Jerusalem. Yet it also signed the McMahon -Husayn Agreement, which promised independence to the Arabs. In secret, Britain and France agreed to divide the Ottoman territories.

After WWI, the League of Nations created the Mandate System, which handed control of Palestine, Jordan and Iraq to Britain, and Syria and Lebanon to France. Meanwhile, Jewish émigrés from Europe continued to come to Palestine.

The Holocaust Between 1941-1945 approximately 6 million Jews were killed in Eastern Europe as the result of Hitler’s program to eliminate the Jewish race. Anti-Semitism had grown since the start of the 18th century in many parts of Europe. This had prompted calls from Jewish leaders to create a Jewish state in Palestine.

While the number of Jews emigrating to Palestine before 1945 was in the hundreds of thousands, that number eventually increased.

Buchenwald Concentration Camp,Germany 1945 (Photo: National Archives)

1947 UN Partition Plan and Creation of Israel

In 1947 the UN drew up plans for the creation of an Arab and Jewish state in Israel. Arab territories are depicted in light gray, while Jewish territories are depicted in dark gray.

• What side do you think accepted the plan and what side do you think rejected the plan?

• Why?

The “War of Remembrance” 1948-49In reaction to the UN Partition Plan the surrounding Arab states launched attacks on Israel. Israel won the 1948 War and Palestinians fled deeper into the West Bank and Gaza, or other nations such as Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon. They became refugees. ID “Right of Return”

After the 1948 War, Jordan took control of the West Bank, and Egypt took control of Gaza. Jerusalem fell under UN control.

Compare the 1947 UN Partition map (L) with the borders after the ’48 war (R) Arab Refugees in northern Israel – Photo NY Times

The 1967 Six Day War

In June,1967 Israel launched a pre-emptive strike after Egypt had threatened to close the Strait of Tiran. The 1967 Six Day War turned out to be the most important of the wars as Israel gained control of the West Bank, Gaza Strip (“occupied territories”) and some two million Palestinians.

• What prompted the Six-Day War?

• Why was the Six-Day War a disaster for the Arabs?

• Why was Israel’s acquisition of control over the West Bank and Gaza both good and bad for Israel? Egyptian President

Gamel Abdel NasserIsraeli Tanks Cross the Sinai During Six-Day War - Photo NY Times

Late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat

The PLOAfter the Arab loss in the Six Day War, Palestinians turned their hopes to the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) and its leader Yasser Arafat.

Initially the organization relied on high profile acts of terror such as the abduction of the 1972 Israeli Olympic team at Munich. The PLO was outlawed by Israel and not recognized by most Western nations.

After the rise of the more militant Hamas, the PLO emerged as the only representative body that Israel and the West could deal with.

Images: (Top left): Palestinian boy hurling rock. (Top Right): Israeli Soldier and Jewish Settler on the West Bank. (Bottom): Palestinian near security fence.

The Intifada In 1987 Palestinian youths launched the intifada (“awakening”), a grassroots revolt among young Palestinians against Israeli rule and soldiers.

The movement, which witnessed months of protests, boycotts and youths hurling rocks at Israeli soldiers caught the Israeli government as well as Palestinian leaders by surprise.

It also renewed awareness on the part of the outside world regarding life in the occupied territories.

Emergence of HamasHamas often described as an extremist or radical Palestinian organization rose to prominence among Palestinians in the 1990’s. They became a political rival to the PLO.

Hamas has come to represent a more hard line stance against Israel, and many of their members have advocated violence and renounced plans that would limit a Palestinian state to the West Bank and Gaza.

Hamas entered the political process in 2006 and won legislative elections in the West Bank. Al-Aqsa is another militant group. Hamas celebrates political victory in 2006.

2008-9 War in Gaza

Mosque Destroyed in Beit Hanoun, GazaPhoto courtesy of New York Times.

Hilmi al-Samuli mourned over the bodies of his two sons and a nephew killed during Israel’s Gaza incursion. Photo NY Times.

An Israeli mother protects her daughter as they hide under a restaurant table at Kibbutz Yad Mordechi. Rockets were launched from Gaza.

Martyrs and VictimsSometimes described as the Second Intifada, the use of suicide bombers and martyrdom has become a strategy in the Palestinians’ war against Israel.

One group, the Al Aqsa Martyr’s Brigade formed after former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visited the Haram-e-Sharif or Noble Sanctuary, home to the Temple Mount where Muslims believe Muhammad ascended to heaven for a preview of the afterlife.

Bus blown up by suicide bomber in which eight Israelis were killed in northern Israel in 2002.

Palestinians mourn deaths of suicide bombers.

The 1978 Camp David Peace AccordsIn 1978 U.S. President Jimmy Carter invited Egyptian President Anwar Sadat (man on left) and Israeli Prime Minister Monachem Begin to Camp David. Egypt became the first Arab nation to officially recognize Israel and in return received back full control of the Sinai Peninsula. Sadat was gunned down two years later by Egyptian extremists (picture right courtesy of The Guardian.)

Other Attempts at Peace

Since the 1978 Camp David Peace Accords, there have been numerous attempts to forge peace between Israel and the various Arab parties. Some of the negotiations have been bi-lateral, while others have been multi-lateral.

Notable attempts have included the 1993 Oslo Accords which brought PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli P.M. Yitzhak Rabin together for mutual recognition.

Common stumbling blocks have included the question of final borders, mutual recognition of the right to exist, control of Jerusalem, the settlements, the right of return, and other issues.

Above: Another famous handshake – this time between Arafat and Rabin. Rabin was assassinated shortly after by a Jewish extremist.

Note: The format for peace can be tricky - what comes first the treaty, or the state of peace?

Security Fence

Obstacles to Peace and the Two-State Solution

Resolving the Arab-Israeli Conflict will not be easy. Despite general agreement on a “two-state solution” many obstacles exist including:

• Who will control Jerusalem?

• The presence of Israeli settlements in the territories.

• Palestinian demand of the “right of return” of refugees.

• The presence of extremists.

The New Status of Palestine Within the UN

On November 29, 2012 the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to grant Palestine “Non-Member Observer State”.

The key word in the above phrase is “State”, as prior to this, since 1974 Palestine had only held “Non-Member Observer Entity”.

The difference between these two designations is that:• Palestinians can now fully participate in General Assembly

debates in a non-voting capacity.

• Palestinians can join some UN agencies well as the International Criminal Court (ICC).

• The new status is expected to raise international recognition for Palestine as an independent state (West Bank and Gaza); and lead to more bilateral recognition on the part of some nations.

Pertinent StatsPalestinian Refugees abroad = approx. 4 mill (2004, UNRWA Stat)

Over ½ million Israeli Settlers living in the West Bank

JerusalemFounded in 1000 BC by King David, Jerusalem is today important to Jews, Christians and Muslims alike. The question of who will get control of it is important.