Conflict in the Middle East

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Conflict in the Middle East
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Background

• Ground Zero for Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.
• Judaism Israel Biblical Promised Land
• Occupied by Moses and Hebrews around 1000 B.C.
• Invaded and occupied by Philistines
• Greeks and Romans call it Land of Philistines,
  which becomes Palestine.
• Region of Jesus Christs birth, ministry, and
  death.
• Ownership changes hands frequently.
• Muslims capture in 640
• built Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem in 691
• Spot where Mohammed stopped on his way to heaven.
• Holiest site in Islam outside Saudi Arabia.
• Ottoman Turks control from 1500s-1900s.

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Balfour Declaration

• European Jews face persecution in late 1800s.
• Founded movement called Zionism to establish
  Jewish homeland in Palestine.
• Begin establishing communities in Palestine prior
  to World War One.
• British Foreign Secretary Balfour supported the
  idea of a national home for the Jews.
• Hoped to gain Jewish support for World War One.
• Balfour Declaration endorses this homeland as
  well as an independent state for Arabs.
• Arabs interpret the independent state clause to
  specify Palestine Brits say that isnt what they
  had in mind.

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The British Mandate

• Ottoman Turks on losing side of WW I
  British gain control of Palestine in 1920.
• 90k Jews
• Palestinians and Jews begin arming themselves and
  conducting terrorist attacks against their
  counterparts.
• Rise of Nazism brings flood of new Jewish
  settlers to Palestine from Europe in 1930s.
• UN votes to divide Palestine into Jewish and Arab
  states in 1947, giving the Jews 55 of the land
  west of the Jordan River and designating
  Jerusalem as an international enclave.

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Arab-Israeli War of 1948

• 14 May 1948 Zionist leader David Ben-Gurion
  declares that Israel is an independent state.
• Egypt, Syria, Transjordan, Lebanon, and Iraq
  invade on 15 May.
• Fighting continues until Jan 1949.
• Israel prevails and gains territory in Galilee to
  the north and the Negev Desert to the south.
• Jerusalem is divided between Israel and Jordan.
• Fate of 700k Palestinian refugees is left
  undecided.

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Arab-Israeli War of 1956

• USSR signs arms agreement with Egypt in 1955.
• Israelis feel threatened by arms build up and
  launch pre-emptive strike against Egypt.
• Attack and seize the Sinai and Gaza Strip.
• Relinquished in 1957.
• French and British retake Suez Canal which Egypt
  had seized several months earlier.
• UN establishes peace keeping force in Sinai that
  is still in place today.

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Arafat and the PLO

• Arafat forms Al-Fatah (Palestinian National
  Liberation Front) in 1959.
• Goal was to liberate Palestine from Israel
  through guerilla warfare.
• Variety of Palestinian factions form the
  Palestinian Liberation Organization in 1964.
• Arafat becomes chairman in 1969.
• Charter calls for elimination of state of Israel.
• Hussein feels threatened and expels PLO from
  Jordan in 1970.
• Arafat moves HQ to Lebanon.
• PLO driven out of Lebanon by Israel in 1982.

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Six Day War

• 5-10 June 1967
• Egypt, Jordan, and Syria begin military
  mobilization.
• Israel launches surprise pre-emptive strike.
• Destroys most of Egyptian Air Force on the
  ground.
• Knocked out 350 aircraft in first three hours.
• Armored forces supported by air and infantry
  quickly take Sinai, Golan Heights, West Bank
  (including Arab portion of Jerusalem, and Gaza.
• Destroyed over 200 Arab tanks in two days.
• UN arranges cease-fire, but terms did not specify
  exactly what land Israel was required to give up.

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Yom Kippur War

• 6 Oct 1973 Egypt and Syria launch surprise attack
  on holiest day of Jewish year.
• IDF not fully mobilized and is initially pushed
  back.
• Arab integrated air defenses and anti-tank
  missiles take heavy toll on IDF.
• 10-14 Oct IDF pushed Syrians out of Golan and
  entered Syria.
• 15-24 Oct IDF pushes Egyptians back across the
  Suez.
• Soviets threaten to intervene when Egyptians are
  surrounded.
• Kissinger/US convince Israel to accept truce.
• Israeli invincibility brought into question
  Arabs emboldened.
• OPEC doubles oil prices and embargoes Israeli
  supporters.

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Lebanon

• Israel launches air strikes against PLO positions
  in Lebanon in retaliation for terrorist attacks.
• Subsequently invades Lebanon and surrounds Beirut
  in 1982.
• US-led UN coalition establishes presence ashore
  to keep the peace.
• Departs after bombing of barracks.
• PLO agrees to leave Beirut.
• Israel completes withdrawal of its troops from
  Lebanon in May 2000.
• Nearly 1k IDF soldiers killed during 22 year
  occupation.

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Peace Accords

• Camp David 1979
• Egypt recognizes Israels right to exist.
• Israel returns Sinai to Egypt.
• Leads to Sadats assassination in 1981.
• Oslo Accords 1993
• Israel and PLO accept each others right to
  exist.
• Allows limited Palestinian self-rule in Gaza and
  Jericho.
• Establishes framework for settlement of Gaza and
  West Bank issues.
• Leads to Rabins assassination in 1995.

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Peace Accords

• Wye River Accords 1998
• Arafat agrees to crack down on terrorists.
• Israeli will pull troops back from occupied
  territories.
• 14.2 percent of the West Bank land will be
  transferred to Palestinian control.
• Safe passage corridors will be established for
  Palestinians between Gaza and the West Bank.
• 750 Palestinians will be released from Israeli
  prisons.

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Israel / Palestine Arab / Jewish Population
(1914-2000)
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West Bank (2004)
86
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Includes 190,000 Jewish settlers in the West
Bank and 180,000 Jewish Settlers in East
Jerusalem
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Gaza Strip (2004)
99
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The Green Line marks the territories of the West
Bank and Gaza Strip which were conquered from
Jordan and Egypt during the 1967 war. These
territories comprise 22 of pre-1948 Palestine.
LEGEND The green line Palestinian
territory Israeli territory
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Following the outbreak of the Intifada in 2000,
more and more Israelis supported complete
physical separation from the Palestinians. The
majority of the Israeli public assumed that the
Separation Wall would follow the Green Line and
become the border between Israel and
Palestine. However, due to pressure from the
extreme right wing in Israel, the route of the
Separation Wall was changed to include Israeli
settlements.
LEGEND The green line Palestinian
territory Israeli territory Wall
under construction
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The government of Ariel Sharon claimed that the
Separation Wall is a security project. Upon
completion, the Separation Wall is projected to
be 788 kilometers long, twice the length of the
Green Line.
LEGEND The green line Palestinian
territory Israeli territory Wall
under construction Approved path of the
wall Suggested path of the wall
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The Eastern Barrier will be the last major phase
of the Separation Wall. This part of the Wall
will ensure that Israel will control all
Palestinian contacts with the outside world,
including entries and exits, as well as aerial
and electromagnetic space. 1.5 million
Palestinians will be inside the Wall. Another
500,000 Palestinians will be find themselves
between the Wall and the Green Line.
LEGEND The green line Palestinian
territory Israeli territory Wall
under construction Approved path of the
wall Suggested path of the wall
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The planned and suggested path of the Wall will
leave some 500,000 Palestinians outside the Wall,
but inside the Green Line. In order to prevent
these Palestinians from moving freely outside the
Wall, a sub-system of smaller enclaves will be
constructed outside the main Wall. Palestinians
who live in these small enclaves will be allowed
in or out of them only according to the
instructions of the Israeli army.
LEGEND The green line Palestinian
territory Israeli territory Wall
under construction Approved path of the
wall Suggested path of the wall Enclave
under construction Suggested enclave
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• What does the wall look like? Here it is!

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Security Wall

• Temporary security measure?
• Route to further annexation of Palestinian
  land?
• Justifiable? Just?

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Hamas Victory in Palestinian Elections

• Fundamentalist group that wants to establish an
  Islamic state on what it considers "historic
  Palestine," including modern-day Israel.
• Political wing won a landslide victory in
  Palestinian parliamentary elections
• Charter calls for Israels destruction
• Should Hamas be recognized by the international
  community?

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On-going violence since 2000

• According to BBC
• 3,300 Palestinians killed by Israelis
• 1,000 Israelis killed by Palestinians
• Most Pal. deaths by Israeli military
• Most Israeli deaths by acts of terrorism
• Can peace be made while violence persists?
• What will stop the violence?

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Why Americans Should Care

• 96,765,000,000

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How Should the U.S. Effectively Use its Power?

• Policeman?
• Enforcer of laws
• Nation-builder?
• Democratization
• Humanitarian?
• Imperialist?
• Peace Keeper?
• Disinterested 3rd Party
• Stay out!