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The Balfour Declaration
In 1917, the British created a the Balfour Declaration to win the support of the European Jews, and they also supported setting up a home for them in Palestine. However, the declaration noted that, "nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine.” These communities were Arab, so the situation would soon start a huge conflict between the Jews and Arabs. -
The United Nations Interject
There were a group of Jewish nationalists called Zionists wanted to conquer Palestine as the Jewish homeland. This led to a lot of fighting because of the overwhelming amount of Jews that were moving to Palestine. Finally after lots of fighting, the United Nations decided to interject and use a medieval strategy that uses outside powers to divide up the land. -
The Official Start of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
After the British created the Balfour, Jews started moving to Palestine where the Arabs lived. The Arabs were alarmed that the Jews just came in and expected them to leave their home that they have been their for many generations. The Arabs weren't happy with this, hence starting the conflict between Jews and Arabs. -
The Palestinian Liberation Organization
The Palestinians wanted to make themselves, independent so they set up the Palestinian Liberation Organization, or the PLO. Yasser Arafat took over the chairmanship of the PLO in 1969, and was a great asset to the PLO. The PLO's goal was to bring Arab groups together under one main organization. -
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The Six-Day War
On May 22, Egypt closed off the Straits of Tiran to all Israeli shipping. This blockade cut off Israel's only supply route to Asia and the route for oil from Iran; a huge supplier of oil. Syria assembled a large number of troops on Golan Heights, then Israel launched strikes against Egypt. Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan all fought in the Six-Day War, but Israel decisively won.This created a new phase in the conflict because hundreds of thousands of refugees were under Israeli rule. -
The Munich Olympics
On September 7, 1972, members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage by a Palestinian group, Black September. They disguised themselves as athletes and snuck into the quarters were the Israeli Olympic team was. The terrorists then took the hostages in blindfolds and transported them to helicopters to get killed later on. -
The United Nations and Yasser Arafat
The PLO was still trying to liberate all of Palestine. While that was happening, Arafat paid a visit to the United Nations having thought of a peaceful solution. He blamed the Zionist project, but his speech was a watershed in the Palestinians' search for recognition for their cause. -
Jordan and Israel Make Peace
The Prime Minister Mr. Rabin of Jordan and King Hussein of signed a peace agreement ending 46 years of war and difficult relations.
The agreement, which was signed at the White House in the presence of United States President Bill Clinton, laid the groundwork for a full peace treaty. An ally of Palestine was now "friends" with Israel, which caused some more problems as well. -
A New President
Arafat dies on November 11, 2004 at the age of 75. A new president, Mahmoud Abbas, wins the votes of the Palestinian people. During Abbas's acceptance speech in Ramallah(where the West Bank is located), he said that "there is a difficult mission ahead to build our state, to achieve security for our people ... to give our prisoners freedom, our fugitives a life in dignity, to reach our goal of an independent state." This speech was a new hope for the Palestinians. -
Israeli and Palestinians Blaming Each Other
In April 2014, the two leaders started blaming each other more and more about the conflict they were having. Both Abbas and Peres (later Rivlin), argued over having the holy city of Jerusalem as their capital. The United Nations estimates that there are over 700,00 Palestinian refugees in he world; and most are held by the Israelis.
The two sides have still failed to come to an agreement to this day. -
Works Cited
