CASE STUDY: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

1
CASE STUDY The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
2
HISTORIC BACKGROUND

• Palestinians
• United by a strong anti-colonial and ethnic
  nationalism
• Arabs, primarily Muslims
• Use violent and non-violent means to achieve
  their goals
• Main goal national self-determination

• Israelis
• United by a strong sense of religious and ethnic
  nationalism
• Israel a Jewish state with non-Jewish
  minorities
• Use violent and non-violent means to achieve
  their goals
• Main goal maintaining sovereignty

3
Jewish and Arab Nationalism

• Jewish Nationalism
• Zionism Jewish political movement with the goal
  of creating a homeland for Jews
• Theodore Herzl
• Response to violent anti-semitism in Europe

• Arab Nationalism
• Anti-colonialism and drive for Arab
  self-determination and independence from European
  colonizers
• Response to European involvement in the Middle
  East and Zionism

4
Jewish Claims

• Biblical claim
• And I will give to you, and to your
  descendants after you, the land of your
  sojourning, all the land of Canaan, for an
  everlasting possession and I will be their God."
  Genesis 17v1-8.

5
Jewish Claims (cont.)

• Continuous presence in the region
• Political sovereignty granted by the
  international community (the United Nations)
• Territory captured in defensive wars (see
  classroom handout)

6
(No Transcript)
7
Palestinian claims

• Abrahamic connection through Ishmael (considered
  the father of the Arab people)
• Palestinians descendants of Canaanites, the
  original inhabitants of Palestine
• Palestinian (Arab) controlled land in Palestine
  before the partition

8
Palestinian Claims (cont.)

• Jewish immigration to Palestine before 1947 led
  to displacement of Palestinians
• The UN partition plan did not reflect Palestinian
  claims and interests in the area
• --53 of land to the Jews (30 of the
  population)
• --47 of land to the Arabs (70 of the
  population)
• Israel occupied Palestinian land after 1947

9
(No Transcript)
10
Foreign Involvement and Influence20th Century
Overview

• Early 20th century Arabs were under control of
  the Ottoman Empire

11
Foreign Involvement and Influence (cont.)

• Ottoman Empire allied with Germany during World
  War I
• The British encourage Arab nationalism against
  the Ottoman Turks and promise Arabs
  self-determination after the war
• Conflicting Promises The Balfour Declaration
  (1917) vs. The Hussein-McMahon Letters (1915)
• British interests in the region oil and trade
  route to India (proximity to the Suez Canal)

12
Foreign Involvement and Interests (cont.)

• Sharif Hussein of Mecca
  Sir Henry McMahon

• (1) Subject to the above modifications, Great
  Britain is prepared to recognise and support the
  independence of the Arabs in all the regions
  within the limits demanded by the Sherif of
  Mecca.
• (2) Great Britain will guarantee the Holy Places
  against all external aggression and will
  recognise their inviolability.

13
The Balfour Declaration

• His Majestys Government views with favor the
  establishment in Palestine of a national home for
  the Jewish people and will use their best
  endeavours to facilitate the achievement of that
  object, nothing shall be done which may
  prejudice the civil and religious rights of
  existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine.
• The Balfour Declaration, 1917

14
Promises Betrayed

• The Sykes Picot Agreement

• The Treaty of Versailles and the Mandate System

15
World War II and Its Aftermath

• The Allied nations refused to open their borders
  to Jewish refugees
• The Holocaust solicits sympathy and guilt for the
  Jewish people in the West
• The United Nations, dominated by the winners of
  the war, partitions Palestine

16
Arab Israeli Wars and Uprisings(after
Israels independence)

• War of 1947-1948
• War of 1956
• War of 1967 (Six Day War)
• War of 1973 (Yom Kippur War)
• The First Lebanon War - 1982
• The first intifada
• (uprising) 1987-1993
• The second intifada
• 2000-2004 (?)

• The Second Lebanon War (Israel-Hezbollah War) -
  2006
• Gaza War 2009

17
Arab-Israeli Wars and Current Major Obstacles to
Peace

• a). Borders and Israeli Settlements
• (including East Jerusalem)
• b). Palestinian Refugees Right of Return
• c). Terrorism
• See this web-site
• http//www.cfr.org/israel/crisis-guide-israeli-pal
  estinian-conflict/p13850