History of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict

The history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the account of events of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict beginning in the 1880s and continuing to present day.

In the 1880s, the Zionist movement was initiated in Europe. This movement held that the Jewish people had a right to a state of their own, and that the state should be in a part of their historic homeland, the area then known as Palestine. At that time Palestine was a part of the Ottoman Empire. Under Ottoman rule, Palestine had substantial regional independence, and the area was inhabitated predominantly by Palestinian Arabs (about 95%, mostly Muslims, some Christians), and Jews (about 5%).

In 1917 the British army took control of Palestine and Transjordan from the Ottomans. In that year, its government issued the Balfour Declaration, viewing "with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people ... it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine".

The Zionists interpreted that as a promise from the British that they would help them build a state in Palestine, in part because of divided opinions in British government, with some endorsing that view and some not.

1918. Emir Feisal I and Chaim Weizmann (left, also wearing Arab outfit as a sign of friendship).

Signed in January 1919, the Faisal-Weizmann Agreement promoted Arab-Jewish cooperation on the development of a Jewish National Homeland in Palestine and an Arab nation in a large part of the Middle East.

In 1920, the San Remo conference largely endorsed the 1916 Anglo-French Sykes-Picot Agreement, allocating to Britain the area of present day Jordan, the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea and Iraq, while France received Syria and Lebanon. In 1922, the League of Nations formally established the British mandate for Palestine and Transjordan, at least partially fulfilling Britain's commitments from the 1915-1916 Hussein-McMahon Correspondence by assigning all of the land east of the Jordan River to the Emirate of Jordan, ruled by Hashemite King Abdullah but closely dependent on Britain, leaving the remainder west of the Jordan as the League of Nations British mandate of Palestine.

Arabs opposed the division of their lands into multiple territories under the control of various European powers, arguing that it was unjust and imperialist. Some of them—led by Grand Mufti Muhammed Amin al-Husseini—also opposed the idea of turning part of Palestine into a Jewish state, objecting to any form of Jewish homeland. This was the source of much of the Palestinian and Arab resentment against British rule. It also extended to the growing number of Jews immigrating to Palestine.

See the related articles on the British Mandate of Palestine and the History of Jordan.

Jewish immigration

Initially, the trickle of Jewish immigration emerging in the 1880s met with little opposition from the local population. However, in the 1920s and 1930s, as Anti-Semitism grew in Europe, Jewish immigration began to increase markedly, causing Arab resentment of British immigration policies to explode. Zionist agencies purchased land from absentee landlords and replaced the Palestinian Arab tenants with European Jewish settlers. In addition, the influental Jewish trade union Histadrut demanded that Jewish employers hire only Jews. As a result, Arabs feared that they would become alienated. As many European Jews entered Palestine illegally, British attempts at immigration restrictions were largely ineffective. Arab resentment towards the British continued to grow.

The Great Uprising

In 1936, the British proposed a partition of Palestine between Jews and Arabs. The partition was rejected by both the Arabs and the Zionist Congress.

File:Havlagah bus in Palestine during Great Arab revolt.jpg

The Great Uprising in Palestine. A Jewish bus equipped with wire screens to protect against rock and grenade throwing

During the years 1936-1939 there was an upsurge in militant Arab nationalism that later became known as the "Great Uprising". The uprising came as Palestinian Arabs felt they were being marginalized. In addition to non-violent strikes and protests, some resorted to acts of violence targeting British military personnel and Jewish civilians. The uprising was put down by the British forces. The British placed restrictions on Jewish land purchases in the remaining land to limit the socio-political damage already done. Jews alleged that this contradicted the League of Nations Mandate which said:

... the administration of Palestine ... shall encourage, in cooperation with the Jewish Agency ... close settlements by Jews on the land, including State lands and waste lands not acquired for public purposes.

Jews argued that the British had alloted twice as much land to Arabs as Jews instead of the same amount. Arabs held that the contract was disproportionately in favour of Jewish settlement when the relative size of the two populations at the time was considered.

World War II and its aftermath

During the war and after, the British forbade European Jews entry into Palestine. This was partly a calculated move to maximize support for their cause in World War II among Arabs. That the Zionists would support the anti-semitic Axis was unlikely and the British considered it more important to sacrifice Jewish sentiment in favour of Arab support. The immigration policy was also in response to the fact that security in Palestine had begun to tie up troops much needed elsewhere.

The UN partition plan (1947)

The Zionist leadership decided to begin an illegal immigration (haa'pala) using small boats operating in security. About 70,000 Jews were brought to Palestine in this way between 1946 and 1947. A similar number was captured at sea by the British and imprisoned in camps on Cyprus. Details of the Holocaust (through which the German Nazi government was responsible for the deaths of approximately six million European Jews) had a major effect on the situation in Palestine. It propelled large support for the Zionist cause and lead to the 1947 UN Partition plan for Palestine.

The 1947 partition plan

The United Nations, the successor of the League of Nations, tried to solve the dispute between Zionists and Palestinians. The UN appointed a committee, UNSCOP, and considered two main proposals. The first called for the creation of independent Arab and Jewish states in Palestine, with Jerusalem and its surroundings to be placed under international supervision. The second called for the creation of a single federal state containing both Jewish and Arab constituent states. Seven out of ten UNSCOP delegates voted in favour of the first proposal.

The partition plan was non-binding and was rejected by the Palestinians and the surrounding Arab states because they felt it was unfair that the Zionists should receive half of Palestine when they owned less than 6% of land and constituted only one third of the population. The official Zionist leadership accepted the plan, but some notable Zionists rejected it, like Menachem Begin, Irgun's leader.

Main article: 1947 UN Partition plan

The war for Palestine

Shortly after the adoption of the 1947 partition plan, war broke out in Palestine between Zionists and Palestinians. On May 14, 1948, the Zionists announced the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel. Simultaneously Palestine's five neighbour states entered the war to destroy the Jewish state.

A current map of Israel

The 1949 Armistice Agreements that Israel signed with its neighbours, left 78% of Palestine (17.5% of the original territory of the Mandate which included Jordan) in its hands. The remaining territory was annexed, the Gaza Strip by Egypt and the West Bank by Transjordan.

Additionally, the war created about 750,000 Palestinian refugees who lived inside Israel's borders. Israel didn't allow them to return, and with the exception of Transjordan, they were not granted citizenship in the host countries were they ended up. Most of them, and their offspring, still today live in refugee camps. The question on how their situation should be resolved is one of the main issues of the whole Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

About the same number of Jewish refugees were expelled or left voluntarily their Arab homelands in the Middle East and North Africa.

Main article: 1948 Arab-Israeli war, See also: Palestinian Exodus, Immigration to Israel from Arab lands

The founding of PLO

In 1964, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) was founded. It was the first Palestinian organization that worked for the right of Palestinian refugees to return, and, initially, for the destruction of Israel. From the start, the organization used armed struggle in the conflict with Israel. Since 1969, the PLO has been lead by Yasser Arafat. At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, the Palestinian Black September group, a militant faction of the PLO, carried out the Munich massacre, resulting in the deaths of eleven Israeli Olympic athletes. It was among the first Palestinian attacks to become world news.

Since this period, the PLO has officially renounced armed struggle. It has become recognized as the legitimate representative organization of the Palestinian people when on the 31st July 1988 Jordan revoked the Jordanian citizenship of all the Arabs living in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.

Main article: Palestine Liberation Organization

The Six-Day War

During the Six-Day War (June 5-June 11 1967), Israel conquered the West Bank from Jordan, the Gaza Strip and the Sinai from Egypt, and the Golan Heights from Syria. Sinai has since been returned to Egypt, but the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are still occupied. These areas have become known as the "Occupied Territories". The war also created a new wave of 200,000 to 300,000 Palestinian refugees. They also have neither been allowed to return nor granted citizenship in their host countries.

1982 Lebanon War

After the PLO was ousted from Jordan, its previous base, in 1970 it relocated to southern Lebanon. From there it carried out attacks into Israel. That was the reason for the 1982 Lebanon War in which Israel invaded Lebanon and forced PLO to relocate to Tunisia.

During the war, the bloody Sabra and Shatila Massacre took place. It was carried out by Phalangist Christian Arab militias, allied to Israel, on September 16-17, 1982. The International Committee of the Red Cross counted 2,750 victims. For its involvement in the Lebanese war and its indirect responsibility for the Sabra and Shatila Massacre, Israel was heavily criticized.

Main article: 1982 Lebanon War

The first intifada

The First Intifada began in 1987. It was a spontaneous uprising among Palestinians in the Occupied Territories against Israeli repression. Daily, the riots escalated throughout the territories and were especially severe in the Gaza Strip. The intifada soon became an international concern. On December 22 that year the UN Security Council passed United Nations Security Council Resolution 605 which condemned Israel's handling of the first Intifada.

See also Israeli-Palestinian conflict