Look at the timeline of facts and events and determine for yourself the true nature of this conflict and how it impacts the world.
February 20, 2005 (Press Release) --
70
Romans massacre Jews and sack Jerusalem.
135
Romans crush Jewish revolts. Large numbers are killed. The land is renamed Palestine.
638
Arab-Muslim conquest of the Holy Land. There is religious tolerance of Jews and Christians.
1099
During the 1st Crusade, 100,000 Muslims, Jews and Christians are slaughtered in the attack on Jerusalem. Later Crusades also wreak havoc on the general population of the Middle East.
1400s
Spanish Inquisition persecutes Jews and Muslims -both flee to Muslim states.
1517
Ottoman Turks conquer Palestine. Muslims, Jews and Christians live together in relative peace.
1881-1884
Russian Pogroms incited by the Czar’s secret police, result in mass persecution of Jews.
1897
Inspired by nationalist movements in Europe, Zionism is founded as a political movement by Theodore Herzl. It aims to secure a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
1914
Outbreak of World War I. The Middle East is largely under Turkish (Ottoman Empire) control. The Turks are also allies of Germany. An Anglo-Arab alliance agrees to fight the Turks, on the condition that Arabs are granted their independence once the Turks are defeated (dramatically portrayed in the film Lawrence of Arabia).
Zionists in Britain offer to use their influence and assist the government in the war, in return for a homeland in Palestine.
1916
Balfour Declaration, by the British Foreign Minister, promises Jews a homeland in Palestine, on land already promised to and populated by Arabs, and for which they are at that time engaged in a war of independence against the Turks. Arthur Koestler, the noted Jewish author wrote - “one nation solemnly promised to a second nation the country of a third”.
Sykes-Picot Agreement between the Foreign Ministers of Britain and France secretly divides the Middle East between their two countries. The Agreement disregards Arab aspirations for independence. Kurdish aspirations are also completely ignored – there is to be no Kurdistan, independent or otherwise.
1917
Bolshevik revolution in Russia. Jews play a highly significant role. Lenin’s first decree is to make anti-Semitism punishable by death. This association of Jews with communism later becomes a motivating factor behind Nazi hatred of Jews.
1919
End of World War I and defeat of the Turks. British and French establish their control over the Middle East. Arab hopes are betrayed - their struggle for independence has merely exchanged Turkish rule for European colonization.
Treaty of Versailles - British given the mandate for Palestine and Mesopotamia (later Iraq). Palestine is divided between Trans-Jordan (later Jordan) and Palestine. France gets Syria and Lebanon (the latter separated from Syria to create a country with a Christian majority). The Balfour Declaration is affirmed. Germans are incensed by a perceived betrayal, and anti Jewish feelings emerge.
1920
League of Nations formalizes mandates.
1920-30s
Palestinian Arabs are alarmed at the increasing Jewish immigration being allowed by the British authorities. They agitate for change. Jewish population becomes increasingly militarized and forms ‘self-defense’ groups.
1936-39
Arabs in Palestine revolt against British rule.
1939
Start of World War II.
1939-1945
The Nazi Holocaust - an estimated 11 million are executed, including 6 million Jews. The Soviet Union loses somewhere between 20 and 30 million people.
Jewish desire for a homeland intensifies. Many are of the opinion that many lives would have been saved if such a refuge had existed. Much of Europe agrees.
Influx of Jews to Palestine significantly increases – there is increasing instability.
1946
The King David Hotel in Jerusalem is blown up by Jewish terrorists. There are 92 people killed and 58 wounded. It is part of a series of atrocities carried out by the Jewish terrorist groups, Irgun and Stern (headed by Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir - both would later become Prime Ministers of Israel).
1947
Continued Jewish terrorist attacks force the British to give up their mandate. They formally ask the UN to decide the fate of Palestine’s inhabitants. There are two plans: partition into two states, favored by the Jews, and the formation of a unitary state with proportional representation favored by the Arabs.
1948
The British leave and Palestine is partitioned: 54% becomes the state of Israel. The rest, except Jerusalem, which is declared an international city, is granted to the Arabs, even though they outnumber Jews by more than 2:1. The Arabs object.
Arab states launch a war, which they lose. Over 700,000 Arab villagers become refugees. They settle in Lebanon and Jordan. Israelis claim the refugees are a result of the war. Arabs claim that it is due to terrorism, killings and the destruction of Arab villages such as Deir Yassin. A quote attributed to Ben Gurion, Israel’s first Prime Minister, seems to support the latter explanation - “We must use terror, assassination, intimidation, land confiscation, and the cutting of all social services to rid the Galilee of its Arab population.”
The Stern Gang assassinates Count Folk Bernadotte, the UN mediator, for his insistence that Palestinians should be allowed to return to their homes. The peace talks are stalled and the refugees are never allowed to return.
1949
The UN (Security Resolution 63) negotiates an Armistice. Israel now controls 78% of Palestine. Jordan takes over the West Bank. Egypt controls Gaza. Arab states refuse to recognize the newly expanded borders of Israel.
1954
The Lavon Affair - Israeli agents are caught hatching a plot to blow up British and American interests in the Middle East and blame it on Egypt. A wave of anti-Israeli sentiment sweeps through Egypt and many Jews are forced to leave. Shimon Peres and David Ben Gurion are amongst those implicated in the plot.
1955
Egyptian Intelligence recruits Arafat - the beginning of Fatah.
1956
Coordinated invasion of the Sinai Peninsula by Britain, France and Israel, in order to reopen the Suez Canal. The US objects, and forces their withdrawal.
1964
Arab leaders ratify the establishment of the PLO.
1967
The USSR warns Arab leaders that Israel is planning an invasion, an assertion that later proved to be false. Arab states prepare for war. Israel executes a pre-emptive strike, and defeats the Arab forces in 6 days.
Israel occupies the Sinai and then proceeds to occupy the Golan Heights after ethnically cleansing it of some 130,000 Syrian citizens. The West Bank and Gaza - the remaining 22% of Palestine - also come under Israeli control as well as for the first time, the entire city of Jerusalem. Arab East Jerusalem is annexed. An additional 300,000 Palestinians become refugees. They flee to Jordan.
UN Resolution calls for the withdrawal of Israeli of forces from “territories conquered”. The Israelis interpret this as back to the land occupied at the beginning of the war - 78% of mandated Palestine. The Arab states interpret it as back to the 1948 borders or 54% of mandated Palestine - they ultimately reject the resolution. The ‘1967 borders’ become the de facto state of Israel.
Israel decides to build ‘settlements’ in the newly conquered territories.
1969
Arafat, having gained popularity for his stand against the Israelis at Karamah, assumes leadership of the PLO.
1970
Settler population in the West Bank - 1,514
1973
Arab-Israeli War followed by Arab oil embargo due to US support for Israel.
1974
PLO recognized by Arab states as the legitimate representative of Palestinians.
1979
Camp David Accords – peace between Israel and Egypt –land traded for peace.
1981
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat killed for making peace with Israel.
1982
Israel completes withdrawal from the Sinai.
Israel invasion of Lebanon in response to PLO raids. Beirut is pounded into ruins and thousands die. A further 2,000 Palestinians in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila are killed by Israel’s allies the Christian Phalangists. Israeli commission of inquiry holds Defense Minister Ariel Sharon indirectly responsible.
PLO forced to withdraw to Tunisia.
Hezbollah guerrilla group formed in Southern Lebanon to repel invasion.
1987
First Intifada or uprising of Palestinians against Israeli occupation.
Hamas is formed. Israel aids the group – sees it as a counterweight to the PLO.
1990
Settler population in the West Bank - 76,000.
1993
Oslo Accords signed. PLO renounces violence and accepts Israel’s right to exist. Israel recognizes the PLO. The status of Jerusalem, the right of refugees to return, and settlements in the occupied territories are excluded from the Accord.
Settler population in the West Bank - 136,109
1994
Arafat returns from exile in Tunisia, ostensibly to lead Palestinians to statehood.
1996
Yitzhak Rabin assassinated by extremist Jew in order to derail peace process.
Extremist Palestinians launch suicide attacks to further undermine the process.
1999
Ehud Barak elected President of Israel.
2000
Israel withdraws from Lebanon due to relentless Hezbollah pressure.
Talks at Camp David between Arafat, Barak and Clinton. The deal offered excluded the right of return for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan. Israel would have also held onto its settlements, giving it effective control of about 85% of the state partitioned by the UN in 1947. Arafat rejects the deal.
Settler population in the West Bank - 203,000.
Second Intifada sparked by visit of Ariel Sharon to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.
2001
Ariel Sharon elected Prime Minister of Israel.
9/11 terrorist attacks on the twin towers and the Pentagon - 3,000 killed. Arab-Israeli conflict cited as one reason for the atrocity.
Ariel Sharon determines that conflict with the Palestinians is the same as America’s war on terror - he adopts a more aggressive response to Palestinians.
2002
Saudi proposal for recognition of Israel in return for withdrawal from occupied territories is adopted by Arab League. Israel and the US ignore it.
Citing security reasons, Israel commences building a barrier. It further increases the land area under Israeli control.
2004
Settler population in the West Bank - 243,000.
World Court of Justice declares the Israeli barrier illegal. Israel ignores ruling.
Number of Israelis killed since first Intifada in 1987 – 1,142.
Number of Palestinians killed since first Intifada in 1987 – 3,650.
US vetoes UN Security Council resolution critical of Israel for the 40th time. Each time it is the only no vote.
Arafat dies
Jonathan Ledwidge is the author of the book A Mannequin for President www.amannequinforpresident.com
Romans massacre Jews and sack Jerusalem.
135
Romans crush Jewish revolts. Large numbers are killed. The land is renamed Palestine.
638
Arab-Muslim conquest of the Holy Land. There is religious tolerance of Jews and Christians.
1099
During the 1st Crusade, 100,000 Muslims, Jews and Christians are slaughtered in the attack on Jerusalem. Later Crusades also wreak havoc on the general population of the Middle East.
1400s
Spanish Inquisition persecutes Jews and Muslims -both flee to Muslim states.
1517
Ottoman Turks conquer Palestine. Muslims, Jews and Christians live together in relative peace.
1881-1884
Russian Pogroms incited by the Czar’s secret police, result in mass persecution of Jews.
1897
Inspired by nationalist movements in Europe, Zionism is founded as a political movement by Theodore Herzl. It aims to secure a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
1914
Outbreak of World War I. The Middle East is largely under Turkish (Ottoman Empire) control. The Turks are also allies of Germany. An Anglo-Arab alliance agrees to fight the Turks, on the condition that Arabs are granted their independence once the Turks are defeated (dramatically portrayed in the film Lawrence of Arabia).
Zionists in Britain offer to use their influence and assist the government in the war, in return for a homeland in Palestine.
1916
Balfour Declaration, by the British Foreign Minister, promises Jews a homeland in Palestine, on land already promised to and populated by Arabs, and for which they are at that time engaged in a war of independence against the Turks. Arthur Koestler, the noted Jewish author wrote - “one nation solemnly promised to a second nation the country of a third”.
Sykes-Picot Agreement between the Foreign Ministers of Britain and France secretly divides the Middle East between their two countries. The Agreement disregards Arab aspirations for independence. Kurdish aspirations are also completely ignored – there is to be no Kurdistan, independent or otherwise.
1917
Bolshevik revolution in Russia. Jews play a highly significant role. Lenin’s first decree is to make anti-Semitism punishable by death. This association of Jews with communism later becomes a motivating factor behind Nazi hatred of Jews.
1919
End of World War I and defeat of the Turks. British and French establish their control over the Middle East. Arab hopes are betrayed - their struggle for independence has merely exchanged Turkish rule for European colonization.
Treaty of Versailles - British given the mandate for Palestine and Mesopotamia (later Iraq). Palestine is divided between Trans-Jordan (later Jordan) and Palestine. France gets Syria and Lebanon (the latter separated from Syria to create a country with a Christian majority). The Balfour Declaration is affirmed. Germans are incensed by a perceived betrayal, and anti Jewish feelings emerge.
1920
League of Nations formalizes mandates.
1920-30s
Palestinian Arabs are alarmed at the increasing Jewish immigration being allowed by the British authorities. They agitate for change. Jewish population becomes increasingly militarized and forms ‘self-defense’ groups.
1936-39
Arabs in Palestine revolt against British rule.
1939
Start of World War II.
1939-1945
The Nazi Holocaust - an estimated 11 million are executed, including 6 million Jews. The Soviet Union loses somewhere between 20 and 30 million people.
Jewish desire for a homeland intensifies. Many are of the opinion that many lives would have been saved if such a refuge had existed. Much of Europe agrees.
Influx of Jews to Palestine significantly increases – there is increasing instability.
1946
The King David Hotel in Jerusalem is blown up by Jewish terrorists. There are 92 people killed and 58 wounded. It is part of a series of atrocities carried out by the Jewish terrorist groups, Irgun and Stern (headed by Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir - both would later become Prime Ministers of Israel).
1947
Continued Jewish terrorist attacks force the British to give up their mandate. They formally ask the UN to decide the fate of Palestine’s inhabitants. There are two plans: partition into two states, favored by the Jews, and the formation of a unitary state with proportional representation favored by the Arabs.
1948
The British leave and Palestine is partitioned: 54% becomes the state of Israel. The rest, except Jerusalem, which is declared an international city, is granted to the Arabs, even though they outnumber Jews by more than 2:1. The Arabs object.
Arab states launch a war, which they lose. Over 700,000 Arab villagers become refugees. They settle in Lebanon and Jordan. Israelis claim the refugees are a result of the war. Arabs claim that it is due to terrorism, killings and the destruction of Arab villages such as Deir Yassin. A quote attributed to Ben Gurion, Israel’s first Prime Minister, seems to support the latter explanation - “We must use terror, assassination, intimidation, land confiscation, and the cutting of all social services to rid the Galilee of its Arab population.”
The Stern Gang assassinates Count Folk Bernadotte, the UN mediator, for his insistence that Palestinians should be allowed to return to their homes. The peace talks are stalled and the refugees are never allowed to return.
1949
The UN (Security Resolution 63) negotiates an Armistice. Israel now controls 78% of Palestine. Jordan takes over the West Bank. Egypt controls Gaza. Arab states refuse to recognize the newly expanded borders of Israel.
1954
The Lavon Affair - Israeli agents are caught hatching a plot to blow up British and American interests in the Middle East and blame it on Egypt. A wave of anti-Israeli sentiment sweeps through Egypt and many Jews are forced to leave. Shimon Peres and David Ben Gurion are amongst those implicated in the plot.
1955
Egyptian Intelligence recruits Arafat - the beginning of Fatah.
1956
Coordinated invasion of the Sinai Peninsula by Britain, France and Israel, in order to reopen the Suez Canal. The US objects, and forces their withdrawal.
1964
Arab leaders ratify the establishment of the PLO.
1967
The USSR warns Arab leaders that Israel is planning an invasion, an assertion that later proved to be false. Arab states prepare for war. Israel executes a pre-emptive strike, and defeats the Arab forces in 6 days.
Israel occupies the Sinai and then proceeds to occupy the Golan Heights after ethnically cleansing it of some 130,000 Syrian citizens. The West Bank and Gaza - the remaining 22% of Palestine - also come under Israeli control as well as for the first time, the entire city of Jerusalem. Arab East Jerusalem is annexed. An additional 300,000 Palestinians become refugees. They flee to Jordan.
UN Resolution calls for the withdrawal of Israeli of forces from “territories conquered”. The Israelis interpret this as back to the land occupied at the beginning of the war - 78% of mandated Palestine. The Arab states interpret it as back to the 1948 borders or 54% of mandated Palestine - they ultimately reject the resolution. The ‘1967 borders’ become the de facto state of Israel.
Israel decides to build ‘settlements’ in the newly conquered territories.
1969
Arafat, having gained popularity for his stand against the Israelis at Karamah, assumes leadership of the PLO.
1970
Settler population in the West Bank - 1,514
1973
Arab-Israeli War followed by Arab oil embargo due to US support for Israel.
1974
PLO recognized by Arab states as the legitimate representative of Palestinians.
1979
Camp David Accords – peace between Israel and Egypt –land traded for peace.
1981
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat killed for making peace with Israel.
1982
Israel completes withdrawal from the Sinai.
Israel invasion of Lebanon in response to PLO raids. Beirut is pounded into ruins and thousands die. A further 2,000 Palestinians in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila are killed by Israel’s allies the Christian Phalangists. Israeli commission of inquiry holds Defense Minister Ariel Sharon indirectly responsible.
PLO forced to withdraw to Tunisia.
Hezbollah guerrilla group formed in Southern Lebanon to repel invasion.
1987
First Intifada or uprising of Palestinians against Israeli occupation.
Hamas is formed. Israel aids the group – sees it as a counterweight to the PLO.
1990
Settler population in the West Bank - 76,000.
1993
Oslo Accords signed. PLO renounces violence and accepts Israel’s right to exist. Israel recognizes the PLO. The status of Jerusalem, the right of refugees to return, and settlements in the occupied territories are excluded from the Accord.
Settler population in the West Bank - 136,109
1994
Arafat returns from exile in Tunisia, ostensibly to lead Palestinians to statehood.
1996
Yitzhak Rabin assassinated by extremist Jew in order to derail peace process.
Extremist Palestinians launch suicide attacks to further undermine the process.
1999
Ehud Barak elected President of Israel.
2000
Israel withdraws from Lebanon due to relentless Hezbollah pressure.
Talks at Camp David between Arafat, Barak and Clinton. The deal offered excluded the right of return for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan. Israel would have also held onto its settlements, giving it effective control of about 85% of the state partitioned by the UN in 1947. Arafat rejects the deal.
Settler population in the West Bank - 203,000.
Second Intifada sparked by visit of Ariel Sharon to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.
2001
Ariel Sharon elected Prime Minister of Israel.
9/11 terrorist attacks on the twin towers and the Pentagon - 3,000 killed. Arab-Israeli conflict cited as one reason for the atrocity.
Ariel Sharon determines that conflict with the Palestinians is the same as America’s war on terror - he adopts a more aggressive response to Palestinians.
2002
Saudi proposal for recognition of Israel in return for withdrawal from occupied territories is adopted by Arab League. Israel and the US ignore it.
Citing security reasons, Israel commences building a barrier. It further increases the land area under Israeli control.
2004
Settler population in the West Bank - 243,000.
World Court of Justice declares the Israeli barrier illegal. Israel ignores ruling.
Number of Israelis killed since first Intifada in 1987 – 1,142.
Number of Palestinians killed since first Intifada in 1987 – 3,650.
US vetoes UN Security Council resolution critical of Israel for the 40th time. Each time it is the only no vote.
Arafat dies
Jonathan Ledwidge is the author of the book A Mannequin for President www.amannequinforpresident.com
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