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In the 1890s, widespread discrimination against Jews in Europe was a major issue. The matter changed from a religious one to a political one when Theodore Herzl declared that in order to protect the Jewish people, there must be a Jewish homeland. He then helped to found the World Zionist Organisation, of which he was the first president.
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Sharif of Mecca Hussein bin Ali (an important Arab leader) corresponded with Sir Henry McMahon (British High Commissioner) in Egypt. Numerous letters about the alliance between Britain and Arabs were sent between the two, these letters promised that Arabs would aid Britain in defeating the Ottoman Empire as long the land previously Ottoman-occupied land be given back to the Arabs after the defeat of the Ottomans.
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The Sykes-Picot agreement was essentially a deal between the French and British which was agreed upon by Russia. It divided the land previously occupied by the Ottomans between the nations. This caused Palestine to be controlled by numerous countries as many desired control over the land.
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The Balfour Declaration was a letter written by the foreign secretary for Britain to Lionel Walter Rothschild (member of the infamous Rothschild banking family). It stated that Britain supported claiming the Palestinian land as a home for the Jewish people. This caused a spike in Jewish migration to Palestine and provided the Zionist movement with an enormous boost.
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As the persecution of Jews in Europe became even more common and led to a genocide, many Jews fled to Palestine, where the percentage of the population being Jews rose by over 15% across these years. This forced Britain to ban Jewish migration to Palestine.
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In 1948, Israel declared itself a nation and the USA recognized it the same day as a de facto nation. The USSR was the first to recognize it as a legitimate nation. This lead to Israel being attacked immediately by neighboring Arab countries but Israel took 78% of the land after defeating these nations.
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Israel has occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip since 1967. Resources in these regions are scarce, the people are oppressed by Israeli authorities and often killed. On top of this, Israeli settlements on what little land the Palestinians have left are built every day. These settlements destroy Palestinian homes and schools and cripple communities. These acts are all illegal yet face little to no scrutiny from worldwide authorities.
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From the fifth of June to June the tenth in 1967, Israel fought against Jordan, Egypt, Iraq and Syria. Israel was the clear victor and the claimed East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, the West Bank, the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip. Israel had just over 1000 casualties, whereas an estimated 20000 Arabs killed.
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The Camp David Accords were agreements between Egypt and Israel. This was the first peace deal with any Arabic neighbours of Israel. American President Jimmy Carter brokered the deal at th Presidential retreat.
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In 1987, an Israeli driver killed Palestinians, starting uprisings and riots against both Israeli settlements and occupation of West Bank and Gaza. Hamas was founded on the ideals of taking Palestine back by any means necessary, and has run the Gaza Strip since 2007 when they won the majority of seats in parliament.
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The First Intifada was a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation and oppression. The Intifada also involved boycotting Israeli products. Palestine suffered thousands of fatalities while Israel suffered two hundred. The Oslo Accords marked the end of the Intifada and worldwide sympathy for Palestinians grew after images of kids throwing stones at Israeli tanks surfaced.
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Bill Clinton attended the first real peace talks between Israel and Palestine. Israel accepted the Palestinian Liberation Organisation as a legitimate organisation representing the Palestinian people and Palestine renounced terrorism and accepted Israel's right to peace. It was also agreed that a Palestinian authoritative body would govern the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
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The wall along West Bank is said to be for security purposes yet it has been constructed away from the border and has many concerned that it is a ploy to claim Palestinian land.
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Israel has been restricting Gaza's borders since the 1990s. Since Hamas gained control of Gaza in 2006, Israel has developed a blockade around Gaza. Israel controls Gaza's airspace, water and land around Gaza and controls who goes in and out of Gaza. Due to the 1.8 million people trapped in such a small area, Gaza is very crowded.
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Israel's mission to stop rocket fire from Gaza sparked a seven-week war that cost lives and homes. In these fifty days, damage was done that has not been repaired to this day. Thousands of Gaza residents were killed and more were left homeless. The UN stated that both sides committed war crimes.
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On the fourteenth of May, Ivanka Trump traveled to Israel with husband Jared Kushner, where they announced that the US would be moving its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The controversial move had strong support from Israelis but sparked Palestinian riots. Israeli guards killed many dozens of Palestinian protestors.
