The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict

3 million in West
Bank
2.2 million in Gaza

7 million in “greater”
Israel

Founded
 The Region in Question
• Israel is closest
in size to which
US state?
 Why is this land important?

• Two historically
persecuted people
fighting for a
homeland

• Holy Land for both

 What is being fought over?
• Boundaries • Transportation lines
• Water • Communication lines
• Farmland • Buffer Zone
• Mineral Resources • HOMELAND
• How could this data
be used to support
the Israeli side?
• How could this data
be used to support
the Palestinian side?
 Former Control of the Region
• Roman Empire
– Diaspora – scattering of the
Jews ca. 70 C.E. by the
Romans
– Romans gave the name
Syria Palaestina to the
geographic area, in an
attempt to erase Jewish ties
to the land
• Byzantine Empire
• Ottoman Empire Palestine in the Ottoman
Empire around 1900
 Setting the Stage
• Ottoman Empire (1299-1922)

• WWI (1914 – 1918)

– Ottoman Empire dissolved
• 39 states formed out of the old O.E.
• Palestine placed under the control of the British from
1920-1947
Limits of the Ottoman Empire
 Arab Nationalist Movements
• Palestine was a
former Arab territory
owned by the
Ottoman Empire
• 1916 Arab
Nationalism
– Nationalist
independence
movements
 British Support of Arab
Nationalism
• McMahon-Hussein Correspondence (1915)
• “Lawrence of Arabia”

Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca Sir Henry McMahon “Lawrence of Arabia”
 British Support of Zionism
• Balfour Declaration (1917)
• Zionism - Political
movement supporting a
homeland for Jewish
people in the land of Israel
• Theodore Herzl led the
Zionist movement in the
1890s
Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916)
 Mandate System
• Following WWI, the League of Nations established a
system of mandates

• Mandate System – system supposed to prepare

“natives” for self government, but really distributed the
spoils of war to the victors

• Palestine was among the several former Ottoman Arab

territories which were placed under the administration of
Great Britain

• All but one of these mandated territories became fully

independent states. The exception was…
 British Mandate
Independent ME Nations
comes later!
 Estimated Population by Religious
Affiliation (in thousands)
Year Jews Christians Muslims Total

1800 7 22 246 275

1890 43 57 432 532
1914 94 70 525 689
1922 104 71 589 752
1931 175 89 760 1,033
1947 630 143 1,181 1,970
Surge in Jewish Immigration
• Arabs felt they
were losing control
of their “country”
 Arab Revolt 1936 - 1939
• Goals:
– End Jewish immigration in Palestine
– End of transfer of Arab land to Jews
– A representative government
 Results of the Arab Revolt
• Failed to achieve goals
• Suppressed by the British
– 5,000 Arabs killed
• Solidified Palestinian identity
• Led to the Peel Commission Partition Plan
and the issuance of the White Paper
• Left Arabs ill-equipped to fight in 1948
Peel Commission (1936 - 1937)
• Recommended
partition of Jews and
Arabs as a way to
reduce violence
• Plan required
population transfers
• Ultimately shelved
The British White Paper of 1939
• Renounced creation of a Jewish national
home in Palestine
• Palestinian independence within 10 years
– “The independent State should be one in
which Arabs and Jews share government in
such a way as to ensure that the essential
interests of each community are
safeguarded.”
• Limited Jewish immigration to Palestine to
75,000 over the next five years
 WWII (1939 – 1945)
• Rise of Nazism and the
Holocaust increased
Jewish immigration to the
region
– 11% of the population was
Jewish in 1922
– 30% by 1940
• By the end of WWII, the
number of Jews in
Palestine was around
600,000
Population of Palestine, 1946
The British Mandate (1920 – 1947)
• After WWII, Britain’s position
in Palestine worsened
– Public opinion down
– Cost of maintaining a 100,000-
man army in Palestine
• In 1947 Britain announced
their desire to terminate the
Mandate
• Passed the responsibility over
Palestine to the UN
 UN Partition Plan
• 1947 Britain “washed its
hands” of Palestine
• (Transjordan gained
independence and was
henceforth called Jordan)
• 1948 UN divided Palestine
into an Arab state (45%)
and a Jewish state (55%)
 Israel is Born
• Israel was proclaimed May 14, 1948
– Ben Gurion named first Prime Minister
• Arab nations rejected the UN’s plan
• Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq
declared war on Israel on May 15, 1948
 1948 Arab-Israeli War
• Alternate Names
– “The War of Liberation”
– “The Catastrophe”
(al-Nakba)
• Aftermath:
– The Green Line (Armistice
Line separating Israel from
the West Bank)
– Israel occupied 50% more
than what the UN partition
called for
Before and After the 1948 War
Arab Refugees, 1948

Palestinian Diaspora
 1956 Suez Crisis
• Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal and
barred Israel from using it
• Israeli, English, and French forces pushed
the Egyptians to the east bank of the Suez
Canal
• Withdrew under U.S. and UN pressure
“I am not solely fighting
against Israel itself. My task
is to deliver the Arab world
from destruction through
Israel's intrigue, which has
its roots abroad. Our hatred
is very strong. There is no
sense in talking about peace
with Israel. There is not even
the smallest place for
negotiations.”
-President Nasser of
Egypt
Six-Day War (1967)
• Egypt expelled UN
peacekeeping forces on
the Sinai Peninsula and
amassed troops along
the border with Israel
• Egypt restricted Israeli
shipping
• Arab nations supported
Egypt
 Six-Day War (1967)
• Israel launched preemptive attack June 5
• Within two hours, Israel destroyed 300
Egyptian aircraft
• Hours later, Jordan’s aircraft were
destroyed and half of Syria’s aircraft
eliminated
• Total defeat of Arabs
 Six-Day War (1967)
• Israel expanded territory
by 200%
• Gained: Golan Heights,
West Bank, Jerusalem’s
Old City, and all of Sinai
• UN called for peace in the
region
Young Israeli paratroopers
at the Western Wall after
its capture on June 7
Six-Day War Territorial Gains
 Response to the Six-Day War
• Israel controlled 750,000 Palestinians who
were hostile to the government
• American public’s sympathy for Israel
reached 56%
• American sympathy for Arabs 4%
• “Our position is neutral in thought, word,
and deed.”
-US State Department announcement after
hostilities broke out in the Middle East
 War of Attrition (1967 – 1970)
• Nasser of Egypt unwilling to stop fighting
• Begins a war of attrition (a gradual
wearing down of the enemy)
• Egypt shelled Israeli positions along the
Suez Canal
• 1,400 Israeli soldiers and 100 civilians
killed
• Nasser died in 1970
 Yom Kippur War (1973)
• October 6 – October 26
• Began on Jewish holy day
Yom Kippur with a “surprise
attack” from Egypt and Syria
• Israel had intelligence
indicating an imminent Arab
attack
– “If we strike first, we won't get
help from anybody.” ~Israeli
PM Golda Meir
 Yom Kippur War (1973)
• Initial Arab victories during the first two days
of fighting
• Israel captured the Suez Canal and pushed
Syria back 40 miles from Damascus
• Arabs failed to regain losses
• UN ceasefire negotiated between the US and
USSR ends the war (20 days of fighting)
• 2,600 Israelis and over 5,000 Arabs dead
Palestinian Narrative:
All problems stem from the foundational
premise that their land is illegally OCCUPIED by
Israel!
The lack of freedoms and opportunities is the
reason for constant resistance to Israeli rule
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
• Founded in 1964
• Describes itself as the "sole
legitimate representative of
the Palestinian people"
• Goal: Creation of
Palestinian homeland
• How? Destruction of the
state of Israel
• Yassir Arafat as leader from
1969 until his death in 2004
1972 Munich Olympics Massacre
The PLO splinter-group “Black September”
take 11 Israeli athletes hostage
Many internationally are hearing of the term
“Palestinian” for the first time
•Demanding release of Arabs imprisoned in
Israel, and their own safe passage out of
Germany
•Israel’s long-standing policy of not
negotiating with terrorists
•2 executed at the Olympic Village, and
remaining nine are killed at the airport
 Camp David Accords (1978)
• Agreement signed by
Egyptian President Anwar
Sadat and Israeli Prime
Minister Menachem Begin
on September 17, 1978
– Israel agreed to withdraw
from the Sinai
– Egypt agreed to
RECOGNIZE the state of
Israel
– allow Israel use of the Suez
• Sadat assassinated 1981 by
an Egyptian extremist
 First Intifada (1987 – 1993)
• Uprising in the West Bank
and Gaza carried out by young
Palestinian boys and girls
• Growing frustration among
Palestinians
• Palestinian violence was low-
tech, directed at Israeli
soldiers and civilians
• “War of the Stones”
• Israel successful in containing
the uprising
• Deaths (1987-1993):
– 1,162 Palestinians
– 160 Israelis
Intifada
 Young Palestinian Fighters
• 75% of the Palestinian population is younger
than 25
• Schools overcrowded and undersupplied
– Palestinian schools sometimes give students time off to fight
• Parents unemployed
• Spontaneous battles
– No weapons
– No uniforms
– No strategies
• Extremist groups can be attractive
• Martyrdom is honored
 Young Israeli Fighters
• Mandatory military service for
young people over the age of
18
– Men must serve 3 years
– Women must serve 2 years

• Highly organized, well trained,

and superbly equipped
• Daily fear of Hamas attacks
for those live in proximity to
Gaza Strip
 Oslo Accords (1993)
Yasser Arafat (PLO)

and
Yitzhak Rabin
(Israel)

Israeli forces would withdraw

from Gaza Strip and parts of
West Bank and affirm Palestinian
self-government and the PLO
The PLO recognized Israel’s right
to exist and denounced terrorism
Palestinian Authority (since 1994)
• Created as a framework of
a Palestinian government
with the Oslo Accords
• Born of the PLO
• Government for the West
Bank and Gaza Strip
• Current Prime Minister
Mahmoud Abbas
Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty (1994)
• Normalized relations
• Jordan was the second Arab country to
sign an agreement with Israel
– Egypt was the first

Hussein I of Jordan, Bill

Clinton, Yitzhak Rabin
 Extremism and Terrorism Nearly
Derail Peace Process mid 1990s
February 1994, Baruch Goldstein,
an American-Israeli physician and
extremist, carried out a mass
shooting of Palestinians who were praying
at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron
•killed 29 people, and wounded 125 others

Yitzak Rabin was assassinated in

Nov. 1995 at a peace rally in Tel
Aviv by an Israeli extremist
 Second Intifada (2000 – 2005)
• Palestinians view the general
uprising to be legitimate acts
of resistance and part of the
larger struggle for freedom
• Wave of suicide bombings
• Israelis see it as terrorism
• Israelis have established
checkpoints and curfews to
curb attacks
– Further enrages Palestinians
 Israeli-West Bank “Security” Barrier
• Construction began in 2002; still unfinished
• Parts follow the Green Line,
but 85% of wall is actually inside the West Bank
• Highly controversial
– Israel: “Wall of Separation”
– Palestinians: “Wall of Apartheid”
West Bank Settlements
• More Israeli
settlements means
even more “security
walls” and
checkpoints, and thus
more Palestinian
resistance
 Road Map for Peace (2003)
The Deal
• In exchange for statehood, the road map requires the
Palestinian Authority to make democratic reforms and
abandon the use of terrorism
• Israel must support and accept the emergence of a
reformed Palestinian government and end settlement
activity of the Gaza Strip and West Bank as the
Palestinian terrorist threat is removed

Mahmoud Abbas, GWB,

and Ariel Sharon
Un-Occupied Gaza (2005)

• Israel ended the military

occupation and uprooted
Jewish settlements in Gaza
in 2005
• Hamas launches crude
missiles into Israeli territory
• Israel further responds with
a sea and air blockade in
2007 as Hamas gains power
in Gaza
Iron Dome Missile Defense System
Jewish cities and villages near the
Gaza border under constant siege from
Hamas rocket attacks (circa 2013)
Ashkelon is an Israeli city of 100,000
roughly 6 miles from Gaza border Israeli Narrative:
All
problems stem from the foundational
premise that their land has, and is
under constant attack, from Arab
neighbors and Palestinians living
within their borders – Israel has a
right to keep their people safe from
nearby countries and terrorists who
refuse to accept the only Jewish
state’s right to exist–
SECURITY!
 Two Palestinian Parties
Fatah Hamas
• West Bank • Gaza Strip
• Founded by PLO • Won a majority in
leaders 2006
• Willing to foster • Unwilling to coexist
coexistence with with Israel
Israel • US and Israel
• US supports Fatah consider Hamas a
terrorist group
 Abraham Accords (2020)
• The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and
Bahrain recognized Israel, becoming the latest
Arab nations to “make peace” with Israel
 Trump’s Peace Plan (2020)
• Different names
– “Deal of the Century”
• Trump and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu
– “Slap of the Century”
• PA President Mahmoud Abbas
• Palestinians not consulted in the drafting of the
plan
• Some terms:
– Two-state plan
• A demilitarized Palestinian state and an Israeli
state responsible for security west of the
Jordan River
– Israeli settlements affirmed
– Israel would be given Jerusalem as its
undivided capital
– Palestine’s capital would be a Jerusalem
suburb
 Israel-Hamas War 2023
• Oct. 7, 2023 – 3,000 Hamas
militants launched a surprise
attack on Israel from the land, sea,
and air in the largest terror attack
in Israel’s history
– 1,200 Israelis killed
– 240 people taken hostage
• Hamas stated their attack was in
response to the blockade of the
Gaza Strip and the expansion of
settlements
• Israel responded by launching an
aerial bombardment, total
blockade of Gaza, and a full-scale
ground invasion
Gaza after the Ceasefire
 Current Issues
• International status
• Jerusalem
• Refugees
• Resources
• Security
• Settlements
• Deeply embedded
attitudes and prejudices Current Leadership
Benjamin Netanyahu, PM of Israel (left)
Mahmoud Abbas, President of the PA
 TWO STATE Solution
– Restoring the Occupied Territories to Palestinian control,
and recognizing Palestine as a Nation
– Presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Biden have
all proposed some version of a Two State Solution
-- an Israel alongside a Palestine!
– Pros
• BOTH Israel and Palestine are recognized
nations
• Theoretically:
– Palestinian Refugees now have “homeland” and
OCCUPATION ends
– Israel no longer threatened from within

– Cons
• Palestinian borders not one continuous state
– How would Palestinians travel from one part of their country to another

• Who gets Jerusalem?

• Deep opposition from extremists
– Israeli settlements in West Bank
uprooted?