The Roots of the Middle
Eastern Conflict
Chapter 18.4
Palestine –
830 BCE
So a Palestinian is…
 Anyone, Arab, Christian, Jew, Muslim, who lives in the
area known as Palestine
Anyone who lives
here is technically
a Palestinian
Judea
 When ruled by
Hasmoneans it was
changed to Judea to
reflect the 12 tribes
of Israel
Enter the Romans
 63 BCE Romans show up
 66 CE – The Great Jewish
Revolt

Vespasian put it down

70 CE – Temple of Solomon
was destroyed and Romans
captured Jerusalem
 2nd Jewish Revolt (132-135 CE)
led to destruction of Judea and
all inhabitants were expelled
 Only Jews in Galilee and
Samaria allowed to stay
The Arch of
Titus
Hadrian’s
Punishment
 Renames area Palaestina to
disassociate it with the Jews
 Insulting the Jews by naming the
territory after their enemies the
Philistines
 After this Hebrew is almost nonexistent in the area
Coming of the Muslims
 400 CE until 638 CE Christians held Jerusalem
 In 638 CE Muslims conquer Jerusalem
 Allow a few Jewish families settle
 Arab Bedouins start to come into the area and settle as
soldiers of the Muslim forces
 Starts the claim of Arab/Arab Palestinians for the land
The Crusades
Fast Forward to
Zionism
 Goals (1900s)
 Spiritual and political
renewal of Jewish
people in ancestral
homeland of Palestine
 Freedom from
Western antiSemitism
Theodore Herzl
1860-1904
The British Meddle
 Hussein-McMahon Letters
 Btw Sharif Hussein ibn Ali and
Sir Henry McMahon (British
leader in Egypt)
 Britain recognizes the
independence of Arabs
 Balfour Declaration (1917)
 Sets time for establishment of a
Jewish homeland
 Doesn’t happen
The Holocaust
 After Holocaust, UN
decided Jewish people
should get their own
nation.
 Opposition in the
Middle East was strong
U.N. Partition Plan of 1947
Israel Becomes a State
 Palestine Mandate (1921) meant
Israel was made up of Arabs and
Jews
 UN partitioned the Palestine
Mandate in 1947 to give Jews own
nation
 Divided btw Arabs and Jews
around population centers
 Jerusalem was to be international
city owned by neither side
 All Islamic countries voted
against this
Israel Becomes a Nation
 14 May 1948
Chaim Weizmann,
1st President
David Ben-Gurion,
1st Prime Minister
Conflict Between Israel
and Palestine
“The Twins in the Sand”
War Begins
First Arab-Israeli War
 15 May 1948
 Day after Israel was declared
a nation
 Six Islamic countries attacked
 Egypt, Iraq, Jordan,
Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and
Syria
 Israel won because w/
Western tech and backing
 Was the War of Independence
for the Israeli state
 Armistice was signed in 1949
1956 Suez Canal Crisis
2nd Arab/Israeli Conflict
 Egypt took over Suez Canal from British
 Egyptian pres. Gamel Nasser was angry
the US and Britain did not help
construct Aswan Dam so took the canal
 Nasser also blockaded Israeli shipping
 British are angry
 Join w/ France and Israel to take back
canal
 Easily defeat Egypt but US and USSR
pressure Britain to back off

Worried about starting a new global
conflict
 Egypt keeps canal
Suez
Canal
Crisis
 2 Arab/Israeli War
nd
6 Day War (1967)
 3rd Arab/Israeli War
 Arabs to never recognize Israel
 Egypt leads Arab countries in new
war
 Begins blockade of Israel
 Israel wins again
 Launch air attacks on airfields in
Egypt, Iran, Syria, and Jordan
 Sent troops to attack on 3 fronts
 Won after 6 days of conflict
 Gains Sinai Peninsula, Golan
Heights, and Palestine
 Served as a buffer zone
Yom Kippur War
4th Arab/Israeli Conflict
 Nasser was replaced by
Anwar Sadat in Egypt
 1973 he attacked Israel
after Yom Kippur
 Caught Israel by surprise
 Conquered some land
 Israel, under PM Goulda
Meir, launched a
counterattack and gained
back lost land
 After a few weeks they
agreed to a ceasefire
Sadat Goes to Israel
 1977 – Egyptian Prez Sadat
went to Israel
 First Arab leader EVER to
travel to Jewish state
 Met with parliament to
discuss a peace mov’t
 Required that Israel would:
 Recognize Palestinian
rights
 Withdraw from land gained
in 1967
 Assassinated by Egyptian
radicals for this attempt in
1981
Camp David Accords
 Brokered by Jimmy Carter at
Camp David
 Agreements:
 Egypt will recognizes Israel
 First Arab state to do so
 Israel leaves Sinai Peninsula
 Israel would remove troops
from the West Bank and
Gaza Strip
After the Accords
 Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO) created
to fight for a free Palestine
and remove the Israeli state
 Goal: unite Israel and
Palestine into Arab
Palestine
 Guerilla fighters
dominated PLO
 Led by Yasser Arafat
Bus Bombing in Israel
Israel-Palestinian Tensions Increase
 Many Palestinians live in West Bank and Gaza Strip
 Controlled by Israel
 PLO continued to attack Israeli towns throughout the
1970s and 1980s
 Israel responded by attacking Palestinian bases
 1982 Israel invaded Lebanon to take out Palestinian rebels
 Had to leave after Lebanese Civil War broke out
The First Intifada
 First Intifada launched in
1987
 Widespread uprisings
against the Israeli’s
 Boycotts, shootings,
violent demonstrations,
bombings, etc…
 Gained international
attention
 Lasted until 1991 when
the world pressured them
to find peace
HOPE(ISH) IN THE 1990s:
THE OSLO PEACE ACCORDS
 Oslo Peace Accords (1993)
 Israel granted
Palestinians self rule in
the West Bank and Gaza
Strip
 Palestinians agreed to
end violence toward
Israel
 1997
 Israel made plans to
withdraw from West Bank
but
 2000
 Second Intifada was started
that continued until 2007
Peace Slips Away
 Still no stable peace
agreement
 Series of conflicts
and leaders btw
1999-present but
it has solved little
 US supports
Israel but has
been increasingly
working to
encourage peace
on both sides