1. Jewish people purchased lands from desperate Ottomans and established communities, Palestine and
Israel.
Basel Declaration 1897
Conquer new area by Jews through the establishment of agricultural communities (Moshav and Kibbutz).
Strengthening and fostering of a Jewish national sentiment and consciousness.
European and American Jews were buying land and settling in the region of today’s Palestine and Israel.
Hussein-McMahon Correspondence
During WWI, the British made contradictory promises to both the Jews and the Arabs to gain their
support during the war and after it.
Arabs: The Arabs an independent Arab kingdom within the parameters defined by the Sharif of Makkah,
and the inviolability of the holy places.
The Balfour Declaration
In 1917, when Britain conquered Southern Syria, the British government released the “Balfour
Declaration”, in which the creation of an independent Palestinian state for Jews, without however,
compromising Arab culture and independence, was favored.
The Balfour Declaration caused a great discontent in the, now marginalized, Arab world, calling it to be a
betrayal despite preWWI promises.
Establishment of the British Mandate
In 1920, Syria and Lebanon became French Mandates and Palestine became a Mandate of
Britain.
Britain was given land which comprises today’s Israel, West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jordan.
In 1922, Britain barred Jewish settlement. Thus the area available for a Jewish homeland was reduced by
more than 75%.
The Arab population nearly doubled from natural increase and immigration from neighboring Arab
countries.
The Jewish population formed community organizations, labor unions, political bodies, and built roads,
schools, hospitals and other infrastructure for an independent state.
Arab resistance to Jewish immigration grew, causing the British to sharply limit Jewish immigration.
World War II; rise of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust

2. Nazi’s murder of 6 million Jews by Holocaust.
Jews Support Britain, Jews resistance against British.
UN Partition Plan 1947
Tensions between Arabs, Jews and the British.
Britain announced its plan to pull out of the region and turned the question of sovereignty over to the
United Nations.
General Assembly voted Palestine Mandate into an Arab state and a Jewish state and to internationalize
the city of Jerusalem.
Jews comprising of 1/3 of the population attained more than half of the territory.
Territories received by the Arabs contained a very small Jewish minority while the territories received by
the Israeli had a more balanced distribution of population.
War of 1948 started the day after the state of Israel was created. It was Syria, Transjordan,
Lebanon, Egypt and Iraq against Israel. Israel won and increased their land share from 56% to 77%.
Arabs were forced to flee to other countries on grounds of violence and minority discrimination in the
Jewish majority regions.
The Israeli government quickly passed the Absentees’ Property Laws which confiscated all lands of the
“missing” Arabs. Roughly 160,000 Arabs stayed under Jewish rule.
The Law of Return was passed in 1950, much to the dismay of Arabs, calling back all Jewish settlers
abroad to inhabit the land of Israel as a full citizen. This violated all promises made to the Arabs under the
British Mandate, and fulfilled the Zionist agenda.
The Six Day War 1967
Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Iraq moved their armies to Israel’s borders. Egypt closed the international water
way, the Straits of Tiran, to all Israeli shipping, an act of war according to international law.
Israel had captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, the Golan
Heights from Syria, and the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt.
PLO attacked Israeli military personnel and civilians from bases in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt.
The Jordanian army attacked PLO forces in what became known as “Black September.”
Jordan succeeded in evicting the PLO from the country. The PLO moved its base of operations to
Lebanon.
The October War / Yom Kippur War 1973
Israel retained the territories captured in 1967, but did not keep any additional land.
Egypt and Israel sign peace treaty in 1979
Egypt became the first Arab country to recognize Israel and to enter into a peace treaty with it. Egypt’s
President, Anwar Sadat realized that a continuing state of war with Israel was harming the Egyptian
economy and the well-being of his people.

3. Israel returned to Egypt all of the Sinai that had been captured during the 1967 war and removed Jewish
families from the homes they had established there.
Egypt got suspended from the Arab League during the years 1979-1989, in response to the visit of
President Anwar Sadat to Jerusalem, the signed Camp David Accords and the Egyptian Israeli Peace
Treaty of 1979.
The First Lebanon War 1982
The First Infitada 1987-1993
Palestinians attacked Israelis with improvised weapons and firearms supplied by the PLO, which
organized much of the uprising. Suicide attacks against civilians in Israel began at this time. Israel used
military force to contain the violence. The Israeli army, trained to fight regular armies, was not well
prepared to respond to these kinds of attacks.
Approximately equal number of Palestinians were killed in Palestinian in-fighting.
Oslo Accords 1993
Israel demanded to gradually withdraw its military presence from the Gaza Strip and a small area around
Jericho. It left Israel the right to defend itself and its citizens, including those in the territories.
Israel and Jordan sign peace treaty 1994
Jordan became the second Arab country to recognize Israel. Trade, business relations, tourism, cultural
exchanges, and scientific collaboration between the two countries have multiplied, but at a slow pace.
Camp David Summit 2000
Offer: They reported that Barak made key compromises including withdrawing from the vast majority of
the West Bank to create an independent Palestinian state with a capital in East Jerusalem.
Arafat refused the offer as he did not feel the offer was enough. He made no counter-proposals. The goal
of the summit, two states living side by side in peace, was not achieved and further conflict ensued.
The Second Intifada 2000
Many Palestinians claimed that Sharon’s visit was provocative and began to riot. Many Israelis claimed
that Sharon's visit was an excuse for violence, not its cause.
This conflict caused great bloodshed and suffering, on both sides, due to suicide bombings and military
operations in the civilian territories.
Construction of security barrier by Israel (2002)
Arab Peace Initiative is proposed
The proposal offered Israel peace in return for Israeli withdrawal from all territories captured in the 1967
War, recognition of an independent Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, and a “just solution” for
Palestinian refugees.

4. Israel has welcomed the proposal, but does not accept all of its demands. Israel especially rejects the
demand that it withdraw to the pre-1967 borders as a precondition to negotiations.
This was the first time that the Arab League sent an official delegation to Israel.
The Roadmap for Peace 2003
The United States, Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations.
The Roadmap is divided into three phases.
There has yet to be significant progress as a result of the Roadmap or the Annapolis Conference.
Israel disengages from Gaza 2005
The Gaza disengagement was very controversial domestically, because Israeli soldiers were required to
uproot Israeli citizens who wanted to remain in their communities in Gaza.
Israel decided to remove itself from this territory so that the Palestinians living there could govern
themselves.
After Israel withdrew from Gaza, the number of rockets fired by terrorists from Gaza into Israel increased
dramatically; so did the bombings into the Gaza strip by the Israeli military.
Hamas is elected 2006
Palestinians saw the previous government as corrupt. In its charter, Hamas calls for the destruction of
Israel.
Western nations imposed sanctions and suspended aid to the Palestinian Authority that they declared
would be lifted once Hamas recognized Israel’s right to exist, stopped acts of violence, and accepted
previous Palestinian-Israeli agreements.
The Second Lebanon War 2006
Hezbollah is a radical organization committed to destroying Israel. It is based in Lebanon and is believed
to be heavily supported by Iran and Syria.
It crossed the Lebanon Israel border and attacked an Israeli army unit, killing eight soldiers and
kidnapping two more who were later murdered.
Hezbollah used a human shield strategy by imbedding its fighters and rocket launchers in civilian
neighborhoods and homes.
This resulted in the loss of civilian lives as well as property damage when Israel retaliated.
Israel also damaged Lebanese transportation infrastructure in an attempt to prevent Hezbollah from
resupplying and redeploying.
Hostilities officially ended with UN Cease Fire Resolution 1701 passed on August 11, 2006.

5. The Battle of Gaza 2007
Today, there are, in effect, two Palestinian governments. Hamas controls Gaza and the Palestinian
Authority controls the West Bank.
Annapolis Conference 2007
The Annapolis conference marked the first time that a two state solution was publicly referred to as the
mutually agreed-upon framework for a solution to the conflict. Nonetheless, Israelis and Palestinians have
not reached a formal agreement and conflict continues.
The Gaza War 2008-09
Israel attacked Hamas targets in Gaza claiming to do it so in order to stop rocket attacks on southern
Israel and to disrupt terrorist infrastructure and weapons smuggling. Because Hamas was based in and
launched attacks from urban areas, there were much civilian causality and Gaza’s buildings and economy
were heavily damaged.
The Freedom Flotilla Incident 2010
After Hamas seized control from the Palestinian Authority, Israel and Egypt began a blockade of
Gaza. They required all goods to be inspected before entering Gaza to prevent Hamas from smuggling in
weapons. Some groups argue the blockade is collective punishment and is illegal.
A UN investigative committee has ruled it is legal.
In May, Six ships set sail to break the blockade, 9 Turkish activists were killed. (Mavi Marmara).
Israel gained control of the ship and directed it to Ashdod along with the other 5 ships, which were taken
there without incident.
Turkey has demanded an apology from Israel. Israel states that its actions were justified and instead
expressed regret at the loss of life.
STATUS OF THE ARAB-ISRAEL CONFLICT
ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT, INVOLVEMENT OF INTERGOVERNMENTAL
ORGANISATIONS
Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the most serious disputes in today’s world. Due to the geographic
importance and the political sensitivity, not only are directly affected parties concerned about the issue,
but also the international community, which is why the United Nations has a key role in the conflict.
Europe and it is a key factor for the resolution of other problems in the Middle Eastern Region.
UNITED NATIONS
PLO accused the Security Council of displaying pro-Israel bias, claiming, “The international community
has both condemned violations of international law and has taken action to ensure that the violations
cease.

6. THE LEAUGE OF ARAB STATES
The Arab League opposed to any attempt to establish a Jewish state.
The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine rejected by the Arab League and all its members and
leaders.
Eight leaders of Arab countries issued the Khartoum Resolution in 1967 and it has become known as the
Three No’s:
"No peace with Israel, No recognition of Israel, No negotiations with it."
The Arab Peace Initiative was proposed by Saudi Arabia in 2002, it made more demands such as calling
for Israel’s withdrawal to the 1967 borders in return for normalized relations with Arab states.
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peters Said:
“It’s liable to founder if terrorism is not stopped.”
Secretary-General of the Arab League, Moussa, stated that Arab leaders are “fed up” with Israel’s
policies.
NATO
As NATO is not a party in the Middle East Peace Process, the conflict is not on NATO’s agenda;
The Secretary General of NATO mentioned three Big Ifs, and they are as follows:
1. If the parties involved came to an agreement,
2. If they requested NATO to help them implement,
3. If there’s a UN Security Council Resolution.
When these three requirements are met, NATO member states will need to discuss it.
EUROPEAN UNION
Europe’s main aim has been to maintain its influence as a mediator in the region, however in recent years
the EU has come close to establishing policies about the conflict. The EU established its relations with the
PLO in 1975 as part of the Euro-Arab dialogue, while the diplomatic relations between the EU and Israel
were established as early as 1959.
Religious claims to the region
The truth is that present-day Israel/Palestine has historically been claimed by three of the world’s major
religious groups;
Christians, Jews and Muslims; as the site of their holy city. The reason of these claims is that the place
has part in the teachings of all three religions as the place where some major and important events
occurred.

7. Jews see it as the place where Moses, a prophet according to the Jewish religion, brought its people, the
Israelites, after freeing them from Egyptian slavery in 13BC. Their claim is that this was the land
promised to them at the time.
Christians see it as the Birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth, the founder of Christianity. It is also the place
where the Last Supper happened, as well as the crucifixion and rebirth of Jesus.
Muslims see this as the place of the Arab conquest that took place in the 7th century.
BLOC POSITIONS
Arab states like Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon have been in the state of war with Israel regarding
Palestinian statehood, numerous times since the creation of Israel in 1948.
In 1967, the Arab League had come to a consensus which stated, “No peace with
Israel, No recognition of Israel, No negotiations with Israel.”
All the Member States of the Arab League tend to take the issue of sovereignty extremely serious and
therefore interventions are not to be taken softly.
Where members do agree on a common grounds, such as support for the Palestinians under Israeli
occupation, this rarely if ever goes beyond the issuing of declarations.
The Ceasefire
Due to Hamas and Israel’s refusal to deal with each other directly, negotiations were conducted through
intermediaries, officials from the US and Egypt acting as facilitators.
Turkish foreign ministers and Arab League diplomats were sent to Gaza to promote a truce between the
warring parties.
Israel said that it had achieved its aim of crippling Hamas's rocket-launching ability, while Hamas stated
that Israel's option of invading Gaza had ended.
The Future
Israeli atrocities against Arabs and Palestinians, the occupation and brutal treatment of Palestinians by
Israel and the denial of the ‘right of return’ from Palestinian refugees into Israel.
The Arab League has been on record as accepting a comprehensive peace with Israel, provided that the
old problem of Palestinian rights and Israeli occupation gets resolved.
Saudi Arabia offered a peace plan in The New York Times and at a summit meeting of the Arab League
in Beirut demanding full withdrawal to the 1949 borders in return for fully normalized relations with the
whole Arab world.
Egypt-Israel relations seems to face an uncertain future. The Peace Treaty between Egypt and
Israel is said to be not a deal between peoples but a deal between leaderships and the Egyptian drift of
events since the revolution has not been encouraging in regard to Egypt-Israel Peace.
What is the future of Arab-Israeli relationship?

8. First, the Arabs were able to achieve virtually complete surprise for their initial thrust, and this in turn had
crucial consequences. It gave them the initiative for a while, dictated to the Israelis the kind of war to be
fought at least at several stages, caused the war to be costly and prolonged, made outside intervention
necessary and possible, and in all these ways and others determined the general outcome of the war. It has
already been pointed out that the failure of Israeli and American intelligence was due not to any dearth of
information about the Arabs' war preparations, but to an incorrect evaluation of that information. Israeli
analysts started from the premise that Sadat was convinced that Israel enjoyed a great margin of military
superiority over any military coalition he could form; consequently, they could only view the vast
ostensible war preparations as an attempt to bluff Israel and the United States, and/or to force Israel into
going through the psychological strain, trouble and cost of mobilization as a means of pressure on it. Such
a conclusion appeared all the more plausible since Egypt and Syria had gone through similar military
motions several times in the past. However, had the analysts started from a different-a political-premise,
they might well have reached different conclusions. They might then have seen that, given the
predicament in which Sadat found himself, any war short of one that was certain to end in quick and total
disaster would be preferable to staying still. This observation may sound like wisdom after the fact, but at
least one observer proceeding in the latter way had publicly anticipated the probability of war. At any
rate, the point of the observation is that the faulty evaluation may well have had a structural rather than an
accidental basis-the absence of appropriate or sufficient representation of political analysts in the
intelligence-evaluation apparatus concerned
Can Palestine and Israel co-exist?
The Palestinians are willing to accept a 2-state solution, where they establish their state over 100% of the
West Bank and Gaza Strip (all lands militarily occupied by Israel in 1967 including East Jerusalem), and
that state to be 100% sovereign over its borders and resources. They also want the right of return and
compensation for the refugees who were forced out of their homes in 1948 war. That is a huge concession
considering that the West bank and Gaza make less than half of what was allocated to them in the 1947
UN Partition Plan.
The Israeli offer on a 2-state solution differs hugely from the Palestinians' expectation. Israelis offer:
1) Only parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip
2) No East Jerusalem
3) No borders with the outside world
4) Majority of illegal settlements in West Bank to be annexed to Israel
5) No return for refugees
6) Water resources in the West Bank to be shared with Israel (currently Israel took over 83% of the water
resources in the West Bank to the settlers who make 12% of the population of the West Bank)
Even if the two sides agree on a 2-state solution, it will be a matter of time before Israel violates this
treaty and cause conflict to start again, as Israel still has to deal with its progressively increasing Arab
population, which is expected to become a majority in 2048.
Ways to prevent future wars?
1. Educate yourself on the issues.
To stop terror and avoid war, we must first understand what causes it, and what approaches have, and
haven't, been successful in the past. It can only help if we learn more about the history, culture, religions
and economies of those parts of the world; the West's historic and current religious, military, political and
economic relationships with them and with Islam; and how those conditions, from colonialism through

9. global economic changes and geopolitical rivalries, have contributed to poverty, desperation, hatred and,
at times, religious fanaticism today. People interested in stopping terror and avoiding war cannot afford to
repeat that mistake.
2. Develop a closer, more respectful relationship to Muslims and the Islamic world.
As the world shrinks, this is actually something we should be doing with all cultures and religions, but for
the purposes of our current War on Terrorism, it is particularly important that, much as Christianity and
Judaism have learned to live in greater harmony after two millenia of tension, Western cultures and
religions must find and develop our common interests with the Islamic world. Just as with any minority or
"other," the more we each work with and understand people of the Islamic faith, the less they will seem
strange and threatening and the more we will recognize each other as individuals and as human beings.
3. Communicate!
Don't be afraid to speak out, and to listen: talk with your neighbors, your friends, relatives, co-workers,
classmates. Learn from the people you disagree with, but don't shy away from voicing your opinions in
places where they're unpopular. Call in to radio and television talk shows. Write letters to the editor and
opinion articles for your local community newspapers. Visit their editorial boards.
4. Take your case to the community.
Set up community forums, teach-ins and panels, to educate the public, to air out differing opinions and to
force politicians to go on the record with their beliefs. Table at community events. Write and circulate
flyers, with information on the issue, lobbying and contact information, publicizing events or putting out
powerful graphic images. Circulate petitions that you can then use both to notify people of future events
(and to recruit volunteers to help organize them!) and to lobby elected officials or other prominent
community figures. Take out ads in your local newspapers. Make your advocacy visible, so people will
think -- even if local media is hostile -- that your cause is popular and widespread. Set up and publicize
your own web site or list-serve.
5. Raise money for the Third World.
6. Publicize and oppose racial profiling, the curbing of civil liberties and the backlash against
immigrants.
7. Participate in or create visible public events for the same goals.
8. Reclaim patriotism!
We all want the most effective possible course for stopping terrorism. Disagreeing with our government's
proposed strategies isn't treason -- it's the highest form of citizenship in a participatory democracy. We're
becoming activists on this issue because we love our country, as well as our community and the world.
Don't let anybody claim that you're "blaming America" or "betraying the President." We're proud to live
in a country where we have the right, and the obligation, to speak out when our government is wrong.
We're speaking out because we care. Unthinking obedience is the point at which our democracy has
broken down.