Conflict in the Middle East

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Conflict in the Middle East
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Learning Objectives

• Understand the historical roots of the Middle
  East Conflict.
• Describe the outcome of each of the wars fought
  by Israel and her neighbors.
• Describe the terms of the various peace accords
  signed by Israel and her opponents.

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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.
• Hussien 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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Where Do We Stand?

• Israel has begun implementing its provisions from
  Wye.
• Many blame Arafat for terrorism he argues it is
  beyond his control.
• Both sides constrained by hard-liners among their
  backers.
• Former Israeli Prime Minister Sharon visits
  Temple Mount in Jerusalem in Sept 2000, spurring
  a rash of riots and terrorism by Palestinians.
• Israel responds to riots with force.
• Guns beat rocks
• Status of Jerusalem and religious sites is the
  critical issue for both sides, and the issue that
  is least open to compromise.
• Both sides claim as their capital.
• Boundaries of Palestinian state also still at
  issue.

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For Further Study

• From Beirut to Jerusalem Friedman
• A History of the Middle East Mansfield
• Six Days in June Hammel
• No Victor, No Vanquished Yom Kippur
  War OBalance
• The Root Hammel
• The Haj Uris