NAME: __________________________________________
PERIOD: _______
ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT: Changing Borders
INSTRUCTIONS: Mark the text while reading: Underline key ideas, circle key names/dates). Then,
complete the summary at the end of the article. Explain or identify synonyms of words that are followed by
a “(________________________)”. See sample for “state” below. Finally, complete the summary.
Two groups of people, Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs, claim the same homeland in the Middle East.
This timeline explains how its borders have changed
over the last century.
COMPETING CLAIMS
The modern-day state (_____nation/country____) of
Israel was born in 1948. Now, 57 years later, its
borders are still in dispute. Both Israeli Jews and
Palestinian Arabs claim the same land.
The Palestinians demand an independent state of their
own in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with Jerusalem
as its capital.
HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
Since 1948, the area has been beset by four wars and
continued violence between Israelis and Palestinians.
Efforts to bring about peace have failed. In recent
years, Palestinian militants (________________________) have
used street violence to protest Israeli settlements
(____________________________________) on land assigned to
Arabs by the United Nations Partition
(________________________) Plan of 1947. In return, Israel
has attacked the homes of suspected terrorists and built a wall to keep others out.
ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS PLAN
In 2005, the Israeli Parliament approved a plan by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to remove all Israeli
settlements from the Gaza Strip, and four from the West Bank, by the end of 2005. Israelis abandoned
those settlements in August (see "Trouble in Gaza,"). The future of the majority of settlements in the West
Bank remains in doubt.
WORLD WAR I POLICY: 1922
Until its defeat in World War I (1914-1918), the Turkish Ottoman Empire had controlled Palestine and
much of the Middle East for centuries. In exchange for Arab support in the war, Britain offered to back
Arabs’ desire for independence after the war. At the same time, Britain promised to support the creation
of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
After World War I, the League of Nations gave Britain a mandate (________________________) to rule Palestine.
Arabs protested as a growing number of Jews settled in Palestine to escape persecution
(________________________), especially in Nazi Germany in the 1930s.
WORLD WAR II: 1947
Demands for a Jewish state grew after 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis in World War II (19391945). But Palestinian Arabs also called on Britain to keep its promises to them. In 1947, the United
Nations proposed a partition(________________________) that would split Palestine into two independent
states, one Jewish and one Arab. The Jews in Palestine agreed to the plan. The Arabs rejected it.
On May 14, 1948, Israel proclaimed itself an independent Jewish state. Armies from neighboring Arab
countries-including Egypt, Syria, and Jordan (then known as Transjordan)-attacked Israel, but Israel won
the war.
6 DAY WAR: 1967
Israel gained territory after defeating Arab armies in the 1948-1949 Arab-Israeli War. War broke out
again in 1956,1967, and 1973.
During the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel captured the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip from Egypt, the Golan
Heights from Syria, and the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan. Israel returned the Sinai
Peninsula to Egypt in 1979. After Israeli settlers moved into the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Arab protests
led to violence. Agreements in 1993 and 2003 called for Israel to give land to the Palestinians in exchange
for peace. But these plans broke down when violence continued.
SOURCE: NEW YORK TIMES UPFRONT | November 14, 2005
SUMMARY: The(editorial/speech/video/article, etc.), ______________________________ (title) argues
that _______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________ (identify author’s argument/purpose).
To support the argument, the author states ___________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________(2-3 key supporting facts, ideas,
details, etc.). These ideas are (connected/similar) to ____________________________________
(something you learned or experienced previously) because _______________________________________
__________________________________________________________________(explanation of connection).