Crisis and Conflict in the Middle East

1
Crisis and Conflict in the Middle East

• Introduction

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The European contest to control the Arab world

• The Arab-Israeli conflict originated in the
  contest among European powers to control the Arab
  territories of the Ottoman empire.
• Developing Arab nationalism in the late 19th
  century was contested by European ambitions and a
  growing Jewish nationalist movement in Europe.

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The Ottoman Empire

• Spread from Anatolia (now Turkey) along the
  eastern Mediterranean coast to Morocco and down
  the Arabian Peninsula to Mecca and Medina. By
  1529 it reached to Vienna.
• By the 19th century it had become weakened
  politically and economically.
• European powers seized territory in Europe and
  North Africa

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Britain takes territory

• Britain wanted to control the trade routes to
  India.
• By WW1 Britain controlled Gibraltar, Malta,
  Cyprus, Egypt, Sudan, Aden South Africa.
• Britain also established special relations with
  local Arab rulers along the Persian Gulf

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France Italy counter

• France countered by seizing Algeria, Tunisia
  Morocco
• Italy grabbed Libya.
• The Ottoman Empire shrank to Anatolia and the
  Arab provinces on the eastern Mediterranean
  (Syria, Lebanon, Palestine), the Red Sea coast
  (Hejaz, Yemen), and Mesopotamia (Iraq).

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Zionism

• Jewish nationalism growing in Europe in the 1880s
  because of deep-seated anti-Semitism
• Zionists felt that Jews needed their own
  independent state.
• Jewish immigration to Palestine increased from
  1882 to 1914 until they were 10 of the
  population
• WZO (f.1897) assisted with purchase of land in
  Palestine with the aim of creating an independent
  state.

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WW1

• Ottoman empire fought on the side of Germany and
  the Austro-Hungarian Empire
• Russia, France and England competed for the
  potential spoils of war carving up the
  territory of the Ottoman empire.
• To achieve this Britain made 3 contradictory
  agreements.

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1. The Hussein-McMahon Correspondence 1915 1916

• Britain gained support of the ruler of the Hejaz
  (who was also the religious leader of Mecca and
  Medina)
• Britain persuaded Sharif Hussein of Mecca to
  launch an Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire
  and seek Arab independence
• Hussein and Arab nationalists thought that this
  would avoid European rule

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• But Britain insisted in ruling Iraq, kept
  protectorates in the Persian Gulf and Aden. They
  hinted that France would have a role in Lebanon.
• Palestine was not mentioned as being excluded
  from the Arab zone.
• Sharif Husseins forces helped the British take
  Palestine, Transjordan and Syria during 1917-18
• Britain seized Iraq and Husseins son, Faisal was
  made ruler of Syria.

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2. The Sykes-Picot Agreement of May 16, 1916

• A secret agreement between France and Britain.
• France to control Lebanon, Syria and Northern
  Iraq
• Britain to dominate Transjordan and southern
  Iraq.
• Palestine to be under international control and
  not in Arab areas that would receive
  independence.

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• The Arab area shrank to a small part of the
  Arabian peninsula
• This agreement was the basis for the post war
  settlement that the League of Nations ratified.

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3. The Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917

• Britain told the Zionist movement that it
  favoured the establishment of a national home
  for the Jewish people in Palestine
• Britain hoped this would encourage American and
  Russian Jews to press their governments to fight
  harder in Europe.
• Forming a Jewish national home under British
  protection would circumvent the promises to the
  French to internationalize Palestine and the
  inclusion of Palestine in the Arab zone.

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• By offering to help the Zionists establish a home
  in Palestine, Britain could place its own troops
  there and control the strategic territory near
  the Suez Canal and control the holy places in
  Jerusalem.

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The League of Nations

• These deals were sanctioned by the League of
  Nations.
• Britain and France were given mandates to rule
  areas on behalf of their residents
• Syria Lebanon went to France. Iraq, Palestine,
  Transjordan to Britain.
• The Balfour Declaration was written into
  Britains mandate over Palestine.

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• European colonial rule prevailed in the Middle
  East, at the expense of Arab independence.
• Jewish nationalism was given priority over the
  rights of the Palestinians
• Arabs felt betrayed and bitter at the carving up
  and colonisation of their territories.

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1946-67

• Israel and Palestine

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Why was the state of Israel created in 1948?

• The Holocaust created great sympathy for the
  Jews. Many western countries wanted to create a
  homeland where they could settle and feel safe.
• Jews had been arriving in the area since the
  1890s. Jews believed that Palestine was the
  Promised Land of the Old Testament.

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• From 1921 Palestine was controlled by Britain.
  But in 1947 the British handed Palestine over to
  the United Nations.
• The United Nations recommended dividing Palestine
  between Arabs and Jews. The plan was published in
  November 1947.

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Why did the Arabs reject the UN Plan?

• They believed that Palestine was theirs by right.
  
• The Jews had been given 60 percent of the land.
• The Arabs seemed to have been allocated the worst
  land.

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• As the British withdrew, the Palestinians fought
  to gain control of every town.
• Israeli terrorist gangs forced Arabs to leave
  their homes and flee for their lives.

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What was Israel like?

• It was a secular state. All people living within
  its borders would have the full rights of
  citizenship.
• Arabs would qualify as citizens and be able to
  vote and stand for the Knesset,
• This did not satisfy many Arabs. They did not
  want to live in Israel. They wanted a state of
  their own.

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• Israel was created on 14 May 1948. On 15 May 1948
  the armies of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Transjordan,
  Saudi Arabia and Egypt attacked Israel.

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Why did the Israelis win the war of 1948-9?

• The numbers of soldiers on both sides were about
  equal. But the Israeli army was well trained and
  used to fighting
• The Arab armies were inexperienced and divided.
• Israels forces were also much better armed and
  supplied than those of the Arabs.
• There was great financial support for the new
  state of Israel in the USA.

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What effects did the war have?

• The Israelis took over all of the areas that the
  United Nations had set aside for Arabs.
• About 800,000 Arabs left the new state of Israel.
  This created the Palestinian refugee problem.
• The refugee camps became the training grounds for
  the freedom fighters or 'Fedayeen'. Attacks began
  almost immediately upon targets in Israel.

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• More Jewish immigrants began to arrive and new
  settlements were begun to house the new
  immigrants. Many of these were in areas that
  Israel had occupied during the war of 1948-9.
• There were no peace treaties afterwards only
  ceasefires. Another attack could be expected at
  any time.
• The Israeli government tried to encourage more
  immigration in an effort to increase the Israeli
  population.

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• The Law of Return gave every Jew the right to
  return to Israel. The population rose rapidly as
  a result.
• Arab states began to look towards the Soviet
  Union for support.
• The war led to increased support for Arab
  nationalists such as Nasser in Egypt and led to
  the downfall of King Farouq of Egypt who was
  overthrown in a coup.

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Why was there a Suez Crisis in 1956?

• In Egypt in July 1952, there was a revolution.
  The new leader of Egypt was Colonel Gamal Abdul
  Nasser.

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Nasser

• Nasser wanted to force the British to leave the
  bases that they still held in Egypt and unite the
  Arab nations in one single movement with Egypt at
  its head.
• In 1954 British agreed to evacuate all troops
  from Suez by April 1956, but retained the right
  to reoccupy the base in the event of an attack by
  any outside power on an Arab League state or
  Turkey.

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US Policy

• At this time the USA was attempting to build a
  barrier against Soviet expansion.
• Baghdad Pact Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq and
  Britain signed interlocking agreements in 1954
  -55 and received generous US economic and
  military aid.
• Nasser refused to allow Egypt to join. Syria and
  Jordan declined too. - claiming imperialist aims
  of the west.

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• Nasser appealed to the USA for arms, but was
  refused. Instead he agreed to buy 200m Soviet
  arms from Czechoslovakia.
• The US government offered 50,000,000 for the
  Aswan Dam project. But when Nasser also asked for
  help from the Soviet Union, the US government
  withdrew the offer.

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Nassers response

• Annoyed by the US refusal to help fund the 1
  billion Aswan project, Nasser retaliated by
  nationalising the Suez Canal on 26 July 1956
• He said he would use the revenues to fund
  development projects the West refused to help.
• Suez was operated by a French company

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How did the West and Israel react?

• The British government regarded Nasser's actions
  as a threat to the Commonwealth, which, it
  believed, depended upon the Canal for trade
  links. Anthony Eden called the nationalisation
  theft.
• The French sent Israel 75 of their latest fighter
  aircraft.
• The Israelis wanted to take advantage of the
  situation to launch an attack on Egypt.

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• On 29 October the Israeli army attacked Egypt
  through Sinai without warning.
• On 30 October the British and French governments
  demanded that Egypt withdraw its forces from the
  Suez Canal, or they would intervene within twelve
  hours.

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• On 1 November British and French planes began to
  bomb the Egyptian airforce, destroying most of
  Nassers planes on the ground.
• On 5 November, when the British and French
  dropped paratroops at Port Said.
• On 6 November 200 British and French warships
  bombarded Port Said and then landed a further
  22,000 troops many by helicopter. Nasser ordered
  the Canal to be blocked.

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What effects did the Suez War have?

• There was overwhelming condemnation of the
  invasion.
• The General Assembly of the UN voted 64-5 for a
  cease-fire on the same day.
• The Soviet Union threatened to send troops to
  support Egypt

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• President Eisenhower told the British government
  that it must withdraw.
• On 7 November Britain and France announced a
  cease-fire.

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• The Israelis withdrew six months later and a UN
  peacekeeping force was put in place for ten
  years.
• Israel was guaranteed the use of the Gulf of
  Aqaba. The port of Eilat, which had been
  blockaded by the Egyptians before the war, was
  now reopened.
• This was a great victory for Nasser and the Arab
  countries.

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Damage to Britain

• The Sunday Times of London wrote
• Eden was the last British Prime Minister to
  believe that Britain was a Great Power and the
  first to confront a crisis which proved beyond
  doubt that she was not.
• January 16 1977

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What effects did Suez have in the Middle East?

• Arab hostility to Israel increased still further.
  
• The pro-western regime in Iraq was overthrown in
  1958 and Syria and Libya both began to look to
  the Soviet Union for military aid.
• In 1958 Syria and Egypt formed the United Arab
  Republic, which lasted for three years.
• In 1964 Nasser supported the setting up of the
  Palestine Liberation Organisation

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Why did Superpower involvement increase in the
Middle East?

• To try to protect Israel and other countries from
  Soviet influence, the Eisenhower Doctrine was
  announced in 1957.
• US aid was offered to any country in the Middle
  East threatened by communism.
• The Soviet Union began to send military advisers
  to Egypt. By 1970 there were an estimated 20,000
  and military aid worth more than 12,000,000,000
  had been sent to the Arab countries.

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• All the equipment and weapons lost by Syria and
  Egypt in the wars of 1967 and 1973 were
  apparently immediately replaced by the Soviet
  Union.
• From 1968 to 1973 the Soviet Union sent
  2,600,000,000 worth of aid to the Arab states of
  Syria and Egypt.
• Increased Soviet aid to the Arabs meant increased
  American aid to Israel. In the late 1960s and
  early 1970s the USA sent 2,000,000,000 to
  Israel.

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What caused the Six Day War?

• In May 1967 the Egyptian government began to make
  claims that the Israelis were building up forces
  for an attack.
• President Nasser sent Egyptian forces into Sharm
  el Sheikh close to the Israeli border and ordered
  the UN forces (UNEF) to leave Egypt.

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• Nasser was hoping that the tone of his speeches
  and the increased strength of the Arab states,
  which were now equipped with modern Soviet
  weapons, would force Israel to back down.
• The Israelis accused Nasser of threatening war.
  Nasser believed that his aggressive stance would
  gain him the approval and support of the other
  Arab nations.

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• On 5 June 1967 the Israeli armed forces attacked
  the Arab countries without warning. The Egyptian
  air force was virtually wiped out on the ground.
• All of Sinai was occupied by the Israelis. The
  Jordanian army was pushed back across the Jordan
  River and the Israelis occupied all of the West
  Bank.

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• In the north the Israelis seized the Golan
  Heights from Syria and began to advance on
  Damascus.
• The UN called for a cease-fire, which was
  accepted by Jordan on 7 June and then by Egypt
  and Syria. By 10 June the fighting had finished
  and the Arab states had been defeated.

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Why did the Israelis win so easily?

• It is almost certain that the Israelis planned
  and then executed an unprovoked attack to knock
  out their enemies before they could do anything
  about it.
• The Arab states were caught completely off guard.

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• They had the best-equipped troops in the Middle
  East. Not only their weapons, but also their
  training, was vastly superior to their opponents.
  
• Israel could put 300,000 trained and experienced
  soldiers into the field against 180,000.

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What effects did the Six Day War have?

• Israel now had fixed boundaries that could be
  defended much more easily.
• Israel had a great deal more territory.
• The Israeli government believed that it could
  exchange territory for concessions, which would
  guarantee the security of Israel.

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• Israel now had fixed boundaries that could be
  defended much more easily.
• Israel had a great deal more territory.
• The Israeli government believed that it could
  exchange territory for concessions, which would
  guarantee the security of Israel.

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• Both governments forced the Palestinians out for
  fear of reprisals from Israel. The Palestine
  Liberation Organisation (PLO) left to set up
  bases in Jordan.
• Civil war broke out in Jordan as the guerrillas
  fought the government
• Other Arab groups became convinced that the only
  way of defeating Israel was by international
  terrorism.

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1967-96
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International terrorism

• From the late 1960s terrorism was directed
  against any country that supported Israel.
• The aim was to force countries to withdraw
  support from Israel and so isolate it in the
  Middle East
• Most of the international terrorism was carried
  out by extremist groups.

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• In 1968 the PFLP began to hijack aircraft and
  killed more than fifty hostages.
• In 1970 the PFLP hijacked four airliners with 600
  passengers and then destroyed three on the ground
  at Dawsons Field in Jordan.

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• In 1972 Black September received a 5,000,000
  ransom for a German airliner and then killed
  eleven Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic
  Games.
• Arafat decided that the PLO proper would only
  carry out raids against Israel.

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• In the same year an Israeli aeroplane was
  hi-jacked and flown to Entebbe in Uganda. The
  passengers were rescued, however, by an operation
  carried out by Israeli Special Forces.

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What caused the war of Yom Kippur?

• In 1970 Nasser died and was succeeded as
  President of Egypt by Anwar Sadat.
• Sadat wanted to force Israel to return the land
  that had been occupied in 1967 and then reach an
  agreement with the Israeli government.
• Sadat wanted to inflict a military defeat upon
  Israel to force it to the negotiating table.

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• On 6 October 1973 Egypt and Syria suddenly
  attacked Israel.
• On this day most Jews spent their time fasting or
  in prayer
• The Egyptian forces crossed the Suex Canal and
  advanced across Sinai, but moved too quickly and
  allowed the Israelis an opportunity to
  counter-attack.

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• On 15 October the Israelis once again crossed the
  Suez Canal and encircled the Egyptian Third Army.
  
• In the north Syrian forces took the Golan
  Heights, but were forced back by Israeli
  reinforcements.

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• At this point the Soviet Union USA ordered the
  Israelis to agree to a truce. When the war ended
  on 24 October, little had changed, but massive
  casualties and damage had been caused.

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What were the effects of the war?

• Both sides were convinced that peace talks were
  necessary.
• The Arab forces had fought well and shown that
  Israel was not invincible.
• The Israeli armed forces had been shaken and
  their losses had been proportionally much greater
  than their opponents.

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• The Arab states placed an oil embargo on the USA
  and reduced shipments to the West. Petrol
  rationing was put into effect in Britain.
• When the crisis was over, the Arab states raised
  the price of oil by 600 percent to try to force
  the West to stop backing Israel.
• They soon realised that controlling the price of
  oil gave them a powerful weapon that could be
  used to support the Palestinians.

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Why was the Palestinian Liberation Organisation
important?

• The PLO (Palestine Liberation Organisation) was
  set up in 1964. It was an umbrella organisation.
• Some groups were violent, others, like Al-Fatah,
  were more moderate
• Nevertheless, Al Fatah carried out major
  terrorist raids. In 1967 it killed 97 Israeli
  soldiers.

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• The PLO was based at first in Egypt, but was
  forced to leave in 1968 after the Six Day war and
  moved to Jordan.
• In September 1970 war broke out between the PLO
  and the Jordanian army.
• The USA, however, promised aid and the Jordanian
  army was able to defeat the PLO, and force it to
  move to Lebanon and Syria.

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• The defeat of the PLO led to the creation of a
  new and much more violent organisation, Black
  September.
• In October 1974 the PLO was recognised by the
  Arab governments as the only organisation that
  could speak on behalf of the Palestinians.
• It was then recognised by the United Nations and
  Arafat addressed the UN General Assembly.

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How did Arafat try to change the PLO?

• In 1985 Arafat, along with King Hussein of
  Jordan, recognised the state of Israel and in
  1988 persuaded the PLO to accept the right of the
  state of Israel to exist. The PLO subsequently
  renounced violence.
• This led to official contacts between the USA and
  the PLO for the first time and increased
  international support for the PLO.

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• These changes made possible the agreement between
  Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli
  prime minister in 1993.
• This resulted in the creation of Palestinian
  self-rule in the Gaza Strip and parts of the West
  Bank.

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Why did fighting break out in Lebanon?

• Lebanon had a mixed population of Christians and
  Muslims.
• In 1975 civil war broke out between Muslims and
  Christians.
• Israel was drawn into the conflict in Lebanon in
  1978 to destroy PLO bases

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• A UN peacekeeping force was installed, but failed
  to keep the two sides apart.
• The Israelis invaded for a second time in 1982
  and drove the PLO out of the country.

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• A UN peacekeeping force was installed, but failed
  to keep the two sides apart.
• The Israelis invaded for a second time in 1982
  and drove the PLO out of the country.

70
What effects did the Israeli actions have?

• The massacres had a dramatic impact upon
  international opinion, which had hitherto tended
  to back Israel. Inside Israel, an effective Peace
  Movement emerged for the first time.
• Some PLO guerrillas returned from Tunisia and set
  up Hizbollah, a new and more violent terrorist
  organisation.

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• The massacres had a dramatic impact upon
  international opinion, which had hitherto tended
  to back Israel. Inside Israel, an effective Peace
  Movement emerged for the first time.
• Some PLO guerrillas returned from Tunisia and set
  up Hizbollah, a new and more violent terrorist
  organisation.

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What caused the Intifada?

• In the 1980s many Arab states paid less attention
  to Israel.
• The PLO was relatively inactive because of its
  break up in 1983.

73

• Palestinians in the Occupied Territories began to
  take matters into their own hands.
• The Intifada began with protests, strikes
  non-payment of taxes and refusal to use identity
  documents.

74

• The PLO moved in and the Intifada became more
  serious.
• The Israelis retaliated mostly with curfews and
  tear gas, but some soldiers used their firearms
  and by 1991 697 Palestinians had been killed.

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What were the results of the Intifada?

• Palestinians came to believe that their destiny
  was in their own hands.
• Some Israeli politicians saw the futility of
  attempting to retain control of areas, which were
  valueless and which were costing Israeli lives.

76

• International opinion also swung against Israeli
  tactics in Gaza and the West Bank.
• Yasser Arafat announced that the PLO was
  renouncing violence.

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How successful were attempts at peace?

• In 1977 Menachem Begin became Prime Minister of
  Israel. He showed that he was prepared to make
  agreements with the Arab states and this led to
  the Camp David Talks with Egypt in 1978.
• Begin was a realist. Since 1967 Israel had
  occupied Sinai, which was almost entirely desert
  and of no real value. He could see no point in
  holding on to it and so continuing to anger the
  Egyptians.

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• Begin was also coming under increasing pressure
  from the USA to reach some sort of agreement with
  Israels neighbours.
• The Camp David Agreement was signed by President
  Sadat of Egypt and Menachem Begin the Israeli
  Prime Minister in 1978.

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• Israel promised to evacuate all land taken from
  Egypt, except the Gaza Strip, within three years.
  This was completed on time in 1982.
• In return Israel would have free use of the Suez
  Canal and the Gulf of Aqaba.

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What effects did the Camp David Agreement have?

• This was the first agreement between Israel and
  any of her Arab neighbours. But it did nothing
  for the Palestinians.
• Sadat was seen as having betrayed the Palestinian
  cause and in1981 he was assassinated by Muslim
  extremists in his own guards.

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• In 1988 Yasser Arafat renounced the use of
  violence. The USA accepted Arafats statements
  and made its first official contacts with the
  PLO.
• In 1991 the USA sponsored a peace conference in
  Madrid. Many Palestinian delegates were members
  of the PLO and their attitude impressed the
  Americans.

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What effects did Yitzhak Rabin have?

• In June 1992 the Labour Party was elected to
  power in Israel. Yitzhak Rabin, the new Prime
  Minister, lifted the official ban on contact with
  the PLO in January 1993.
• Rabin announced that Palestinian rights would be
  restored in every respect. Rabin was convinced
  that the only way to end the violence was by
  negotiation.

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• All building on the West Bank was stopped and the
  Israeli army was refused permission to search the
  Palestinian University campus.
• 800 of the 7,429 Palestinians being held by the
  Israelis were released.
• Secret talks took place in Oslo between the
  Israeli government and the PLO in January 1993.

84

• The PLO agreed to recognise Israel, renounce
  terrorism and accept responsibility for all
  groups within the PLO.
• Israel agreed to recognise the PLO as the
  representative of the Palestinian people.
• Israeli troops would be withdrawn from Gaza and
  Jericho. The Palestinians would govern these
  areas and take over responsibility for law and
  order.

85

• On 1 July Yasser Arafat returned to head the new
  Palestinian Authority. A second agreement was
  signed in 1995.
• Palestinian attacks on Israelis continued and
  fighting broke out between extremist groups and
  Arafats Palestinian police force.

86

• The Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was shot
  while attending a peace rally by an Israeli
  extremist, who believed that Rabin had given away
  too much in his agreements with the Palestinians.