Presentation on Palestine issue by Sir Waqas Khan Virk

2. In The Name of Allah
the entirely merciful the
espacially merciful

5. Introduction
Claims to the land
vIsraelis
Jewish people
with the
religious and
historical ties
to the land.
vPalestinians
Muslim Arabs
with religious and
historical ties to
the land.

6. 1947 The U.N Partition
• Post- WWIl, Britain sends the issue to the United
Nations
• U.N. partitioned British-controlled Palestine into
Arab and Jewish states.
Ø Results:
• Jews accepted partition plan & were happy.
• Received 55% of land even though they had only
34% of the population All Islamic countries voted
against it and Palestinians rejected it outright World
supported it because they felt bad about the holocaust.

7. 1947 British Withdrawal
• British withdraws from Palestine. United
Nations approves the partition of British-
mandated Palestine into a Arab state and a
Jewish State. Accepted by Israel, but not by
Palestinians as it was considered highly
illegitimate with Israel given larger swaths of
land. Neighboring Arab states launched a
ground invasion to crush the Israel state which
it was able to defend with the helo from West.

8. 1948 First Arab-Israel War
• May 15, 1948 - Israel declared itself an independent
state. Led to first Arab-Israel
War.
• Israel immediately attacked by five Arab countries.
Ø Egypt
Ø Syria
Ø Jordan
Ø iraq
Ø Lebanon

9. Result
Ø Israel defeated the
combined Arab countries
and seized territory UN had
designated for the
Palestinians.
Ø Cease-fire agreement ended
fighting, but Arabs refused to
sign peace treaty.
Ø No Arab country recognized
Israel.
Ø 750,000 Palestinian
refugees fled to Arab states.

10. 1967 The Six Day War
ØIsrael launched surprise attack to destroy
Egyptian and Syrian air forces.
ØTook control of the Sinai Peninsula.
ØDrove Jordanian army out of the West
Bank.
ØTook control of strategic position of Golan
Heights in Syria.

11. Results of Six
Day War
Israel captured this territory in
1967:
Ø Golan Heights from Syrid.
Ø West Bank and
East Jerusalem from
Jordan.
Ø Sinai Peninsula and
Gaza Strip from
Egypt.

13. Rise of The PLO
(Palestinian Liberation Organization)
Ø Yasser Arafat's group, Fatah, took control of
the PLO (1969).
Ø Actions - Under Arafat, PLO fought a decades
long guerilla war against Israel to "liberate
Palestine."
Ø Goals: Destruction of Israel and establishment
of secular Palestinian state.

14. 1973 Yom Kippur War
Ø Egypt and
Syria attacked
Israel on Jewish
holy day.
Ø Israel repelled
attack and
cease fire
declared.

15. 1979 Camp David Accords
Ø Peace treaty signed by
Israel and Egypt.
ØEgypt became first Arab
state to recognize Israel.
Ø Israel returned Sinai
ØPeninsula to Egypt.
ØAnwar Sadat assassinated
by Islamic extremists in
1981.

16. 1987-1990 First Intifada
Ø Palestinian uprising
against Israeli
occupation of West
Bank and Gaza.
Ø First suicide attacks
in Israel.
Ø 1,500 Palestinians
and 400 Israeli's died
over six years.

17. 1993 Oslo Accords
Ø President Clinton brokered peace agreement
between Israel and the PLO.
Ø PLO recognized Israel's right to exist and
renounced use of violence.
Ø PLO goal now a Palestinian state next to Israel.
Oslo Accords: "Land for Peace"
Ø Israel agreed to gradual Palestinian self-rule in
Gaza and West Bank as first steps towards
establishment of Palestinian state.
Ø Palestinian Authority (PA) created to govern
Palestinian territories.
Ø Arafat became first leader of the
PA.

18. 2000 - 2005 Second Intifada
Ø Clinton's attempt to reach
final settlement between
Israel and Palestinians in
2000 failed.
Ø Led to second, more violent,
Palestinian uprising.
Ø Dozens of suicide
bombings in Israel and
Israeli crackdown in Gaza /
West Bank left thousands
dead.

19. 2005 Israeli Disengagement
Ø Israel acted to"disengage"
from Palestinians by
evacuating all Gaza
settlements and
withdrawing all troops
from Gaza.
Ø Also began construction of
a controversial security
barrier separatingIsrael
from the West ,Bank.

20. 2006 Lebanon War
Ø Hezbollah attacked Israel
civilian areas with rockets and
killed eight Israeli soldiers.
Ø Israel responded by bombing
and invading Lebanon again to
destroy Hezbollah.
Ø Month-long war leaves 1,500
dead before U.N. brokered
cease-fire agreement.

21. 2008- Present War in Gaza
Ø Almost daily rocket attacks
against Israeli towns provoked
Israeli air strikes and ground
assault against Hamas in Gaza.
Ø Three week long war killed
1,400 Palestinians and 13
Israelis.
Ø Both sides accused of war
crimes(deliberately targeting
civilians) and Israel widely
criticized for using excessive
force.

24. UNRESOLVED
ISSUES

25. Unresolved Issue # 1
Permanent Borders of Palestinian State
ØPalestinians want Israeli withdraw to pre-1967
borders and establishment of independent
Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.
ØIsrael still occupies and controls parts of the
West Bank.
Ø 300,000 Jewish settlers now live in West Bank
and Israel has annexed some West Bank
territory.

27. Peace Process Stalled Over
Settlements
ØPalestinians insist that Israel halt
expansion of all settlements before they'll
return to peace talks.
ØCurrent Israel government has so far
refused.
ØObama has backed off demands for
complete halt to construction.
ØPalestinians have accused U.S. of
“backpedaling" on settlement issue.

28. Unresolved Issue # 2
Palestinian Refugees and Right of Return
ØFour million displaced Palestinians today
living in refugee camps in occupied
territories and neighboring Arab states.
ØPalestinians want refugees or their
descendants to be able to return to homes
they lost in 1948.
ØIsrael has rejected idea of refugees
returning to Israel.
Would threaten existence of Israel as a
Jewish state.

29. Unresolved Issue # 3
Control of East Jerusalem
ØPalestinians want East Jerusalem as the
capital of their future state.
ØIsrael has annexed East Jerusalem and
has vowed it will never give it up.
ØResidents of East Jerusalem mostly
Palestinians, but 250,000 Israelis now live
there as well.

30. HOW CAN PEACE BE
ACHIEVED?
Israel - Palestine Resolution:
1)Apology and Forgiveness
Ø Both sides must forgive and accept apology.
Ø They should begin their own process of truth and
reconciliation.
2) Recognition and Acceptance
Ø Palestinians and Arabs have to accept Israel as a Jewish
State.
Ø Israel should stop intervening in Palestine's aftairs.
Ø No party should infiltrate each other's territory, thus
maintaining sovereignty.

31. 3) Sharing Process
Ø There can be no peace without economic prosperity.
Ø Mutual prosperity will provide a basis for overcoming
mistrust, paranoia and defensiveness.
4) Rights of People not States
Ø They need to recognize the rights of each other's
people.
Ø Israel should acknowledge its role in creating the
plight of Palestinian refugees and be given freedom
to live where they want.
Ø Palestinians should be compensated for the property
that they lost in conflict.

32. 5) Mutual Religious tolerance
Ø Judaism, Christianity and Islam need to acknowledge
one another.
Ø Israel needs to recognize the legitimacy of Islam and
Christianity.
Ø Palestinians need to acknowledge that Judaism has a
deep historical connection to Old City of Jerusalem.
6) Education and Communication
Ø Both should change the curricula, textbooks and other
learning sources to accept the concept of new truth.
Ø Both sides need to move towards re-humanization
and empowerment.
Ø By confronting differences they will discover
similarities.

33. THANK YOU
VERY MUCH