History of Palestine, Part IV : Wars and Terror

The previous post demonstrated how Palestinian leaders are mostly responsible for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and showed how false rumors spread by Arab leaders about Jews trying to dispossess Arabs of land became a self-fulfilling prophecy.

This post will discuss some of the major historic developments since the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 until today.

1948 Arab-Israeli War

During the 1948 war, between 650,000 and 730,000 Palestinian Arabs were expelled or fled from the area that became Israel, and became refugees. On the other hand, around 10,000 Jews were forced to leave their homes in Palestine. In 1949, Israel signed separate armistices with Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. By the end of the war territory under Israeli control encompassed approximately three-quarters of Mandate Palestine.

From 1948 to 1970 between 750,000 and 1,000,000 Jews were expelled or fled from Arab countries. Today, fewer than 7,000 Jews remain in Arab countries. It is estimated that Jewish-owned real-estate left behind or confiscated in Arab countries covers a total of about 100,000 square kilometers (more than four times the size of the state of Israel). Additional 200,000 Jews from [non-Arab] Muslim countries left their homes due to increasing insecurity and growing hostility since 1948. Today over 60% of Israeli Jews are the descendants of displaced Jews from Arab countries.

In 1959, Fatah, the “Palestinian National Liberation Movement,” was founded by Yasser Arafat . The main goal of Fatah, as stated in Article 12 of its constitution, is the “complete liberation of Palestine, and eradication of Zionist economic, political, military and cultural existence.”

In the Cairo Summit of 1964, the Arab League initiated the creation of an organization representing the Palestinian people. On June 2, 1964, the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) was founded and proclaimed: “… the right of the Palestinian Arab people to its sacred homeland Palestine and affirming the inevitability of the battle to liberate the usurped part from it…” (it is important to note here that until 1967 the West Bank and Gaza Strip were under the control of Jordan and Egypt – not Israel). Shortly after, the PLO launched a series of terror attacks on Israeli civilians and Infrastructure.

1967 Arab-Israeli War

After the 1956 Suez Crisis, Egypt agreed to the stationing of a U.N. Emergency Force (UNEF) in the Sinai to ensure all parties would comply with the 1949 Armistice Agreements. In November 1966, Egypt signed a mutual defense agreement with Syria. On May 1967, Egyptian President Nasser began massing troops in the Sinai Peninsula on Israel’s border, and expelled the UNEF from Gaza and Sinai. On May 19, Egyptian forces took up positions at Sharm el-Sheikh, overlooking the Straits of Tiran. Israel reiterated declarations made in 1957 that any closure of the Straits would be considered an act of war. Nasser declared the Straits closed to Israeli shipping on May 22–23. After signing the defense pact with Jordan on May 30, Nasser announced:

“The armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon are poised on the borders of Israel … to face the challenge, while standing behind us are the armies of Iraq, Algeria, Kuwait, Sudan and the whole Arab nation. This act will astound the world. Today they will know that the Arabs are arranged for battle, the critical hour has arrived. We have reached the stage of serious action and not of more declarations.”

On June 5 Israel Defense Forces launched a surprise aerial campaign against Egypt and destroyed virtually all of the Egyptian Air Force on the ground. Between June 5 and June 10 Israel scored decisive victories against the armies of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. As a result of the war Israel took control of the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria.

On June 19, 1967, the Israeli government voted unanimously to return the Sinai to Egypt and the Golan Heights to Syria in return for peace agreements. The Golan would have to be demilitarized and special arrangement would be negotiated for the Straits of Tiran. The government also resolved to open negotiations with King Hussein of Jordan regarding the Eastern border.

In September 1967, the Arab League met in Khartoum to discuss the Arab position toward Israel. It reached a consensus that there should be no recognition, no peace, and no negotiations with the State of Israel. In addition, it urged the continued state of belligerency with Israel.

On November 22, 1967 the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 242, which called for:

“… the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East which should include the application of both the following principles:

(i) Withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict;
(ii) Termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force.”

In 1973, war broke out again when the armies of Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack against Israel.

The war began with a successful Egyptian campaign of crossing the Suez Canal and digging in. At the same time the Syrians made some gains against the greatly outnumbered Israelis on the Golan Heights. Within a week, Israel recovered and launched a counter-offensive, driving deep into Syria. In response, Egyptian forces went back on the offensive, but were decisively defeated. By the end of the war Israeli forces were 25 miles from Damascus and 63 miles from Cairo.

While Israel made impressive achievements on the battlefield, the war ended the Israeli sense of invincibility. At the same time the early successes in the conflict psychologically uplifted the Arab states, who felt humiliated after the 1967 war.

In 1979 Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty, and Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt. This was followed by Egypt’s suspension from the Arab League (readmitted in 1989) and from the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) (readmitted in 1984).

1982 Lebanon War

In 1982 Israel invaded Southern Lebanon, with the intent of driving PLO forces away from Israel’s northern border. By the 1980s, Palestinian refugees in Lebanon numbered more than 300,000, and the PLO effectively created a state within a state in Southern Lebanon.

In July 1981, violence erupted in South Lebanon and Northern Israel after the PLO began shelling northern Israel. In response the Israel Air Force launched a massive attack on PLO buildings in downtown Beirut, and the Israeli army targeted PLO positions in south Lebanon. Yet, the Israeli army was not successful in suppressing Palestinian rocket launches from south Lebanon on Israeli civilians. Between July 1981 and June 1982 a ceasefire was in effect between Israel and the PLO.

On 6 June 1982 Israeli forces invaded Lebanon after an assassination attempt on the Israeli ambassador in London by Palestinian dissidents. During the course of combat operations, the Israeli Air Force conducted successful ground attack missions against Syrian and PLO targets. Israeli warplanes shot down some 85 Syrian aircraft in aerial combat, without sustaining any losses. This was the largest aerial combat battle of the jet age with over 150 fighters from both sides engaged.

The complete dominance of U.S. and Israeli technology and tactics during the war was one of the factors that changed Soviet mind-set, leading to Glasnost and ultimately, the fall of the Soviet Union.

In an agreement that was reached later in 1982 the PLO leadership and more than 14,000 PLO combatants evacuated Lebanon, and the extensive PLO infrastructure that was built over the previous 15 years was destroyed. Between 1985 and 2000 Israel maintained a 3 to 16 mile security buffer within Southern Lebanon, to keep Israel’s border towns out of range of rocket and mortar fire. Israeli military presence was a direct response to the rise of Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Hezbollah’s 1985 manifesto states: “our struggle will end only when this entity [Israel] is obliterated.” A Hezbollah statement in 1992 declared:

“It is an open war until the elimination of Israel and until the death of the last Jew on earth.”

1987 First Intifada (“Uprising”)

Since the 1967 War, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza were living under Israeli occupation. While U.N. Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 242 called for an Arab-Israeli agreement based on “territories for peace,” there have not been any serious negotiations between the sides regarding the fate of the West Bank and Gaza Strip for over two decades. The Arab League refused to recognize or negotiate with Israel following the 1967 summit at Khartoum, Jordan maintained its claims to the West Bank until 1988, and the Palestinian leadership (PLO) rejected UNSCR 242 in favor of armed struggle against Israel (which manifested itself in terror attacks against Israelis, Jews, and later Westerners).

In addition to the stagnation in Arab-Israeli relations, other factors also contributed to the sense of frustration among Palestinians: While Palestinians were permitted to work inside Israel, by 1987 unemployment was increasing in the West Bank and Gaza. Israel continued constructing settlements in the occupied territories (which are illegal under international law). The PLO leadership was struggling to maintain its relevance after being forced to relocate from Beirut to Tunis in 1982, and the Palestinian issue was sidelined for the first time in the Arab summit because of the Iran–Iraq War.

The uprising began in the Jabalya refugee camp in December 1987 and quickly spread throughout Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. During the first four years of the uprising, the IDF reported more than 3,600 Molotov cocktail attacks, 100 hand grenade attacks and 600 assaults with guns or explosives. The attacks were directed at Israeli soldiers and civilians alike.

While the Intifada was largely a popular uprising – and included nonviolent civil disobedience, general strikes, boycotts on Israeli products, and refusal to pay taxes – throughout the intifada the PLO played a lead role in orchestrating the violence.

Throughout the First Intifada the Palestinians killed 100 Israeli civilians and 60 soldiers. The Israeli army killed more than 1,000 Palestinians. At the same time, Palestinians killed over 1,100 Palestinians who they accused of collaborating with Israel.

1993 Oslo Accords

Following the 1991 First Gulf War, the US decided to use the political capital generated by its victory to revitalize the Arab-Israeli peace process, and organized the Madrid Conference of 1991. In this conference Israel entered into direct, face-to-face negotiations with Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and the Palestinians for the first time in history.

Although nothing substantive was accomplished at the conference, a secret meeting between Israeli and PLO representatives took place, which led to another series of meetings in Oslo, Norway between Israeli and PLO delegations. In August 1993, the delegations had reached an agreement of principles, which later became the Oslo Accords.

According to the agreement, the PLO would acknowledge the state of Israel and pledge to reject violence, and Israel would recognize the PLO as the official Palestinian authority. The accords called for the phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from parts of Gaza and West Bank, and the establishment of an autonomous Palestinian Interim self-governing Authority. Palestinian rule was to last for a five-year interim period during which “permanent status negotiations” would commence. The major issues of Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, Israeli settlements, and security and borders were to be decided at these permanent status negotiations.

Following the Oslo Accords, in 1994 a peace treaty was signed between Israel and Jordan.

On November 4, 1995, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish extremist during a peace rally in support of the Oslo Accords.

Between 1995 and 2000 the peace process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority progressed slowly. The period was marked by periodic suicide bombings, which claimed the lives of over 250 Israelis. Over the same period, the settlements’ population in the West Bank nearly doubled.

2000 Second Intifada

In 2000, US President Bill Clinton convened a peace summit in Camp David, between Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

The Israeli PM reportedly offered the Palestinian leader approximately 95% of the West Bank and the entire Gaza Strip, while 85% of the West Bank’s settlers would be ceded to Israel. East Jerusalem was to be mostly under Israeli sovereignty, with the exception of most suburbs with heavy non-Jewish populations. The issue of the Palestinian right of return was to be resolved through significant monetary reparations.

Arafat rejected the Israeli offer and did not propose any counter-offer. President Clinton later blamed Arafat for the failure of the Camp David Summit.

The failure of negotiations led to the outbreak of violence among Palestinians. However, what sparked the violence was Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount (a sacred ground to both Jews and Muslims) on September 28, 2000. Though Palestinians insist the violence was caused by Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount, Palestinian leaders admitted on multiple occasions that the violence was orchestrated and planned in advance.

The Second Intifada was much bloodier than the first. Suicide bombings, shootings, and later rocket attacks became a daily reality for Israelis – while checkpoints, curfews, and military incursions became the norm for Palestinians. Over 1000 Israelis were killed by Palestinian militants between September 2000 and May 2008. During the same period, over 4,700 Palestinians were killed by Israeli security forces, and over 570 Palestinians were killed by Palestinians for allegedly collaborating with Israel.

Suicide bombings and terrorist attacks inside Israel greatly subsided after Israel began to erect a 470 mile-long barrier (about 10% of which is an 8 meter tall concrete wall) to separate the West Bank from Israeli population centers.

In September 2005, the Israeli government, under Ariel Sharon, took the initiative to disengage from the Gaza Strip and dismantle all 21 Israeli settlements there (and another 4 settlements in the West Bank). The plan included the forced removal of some 9,000 Israeli settlers. Israel continues to provide Gaza with water, communication, electricity, and sewage networks.

In January 2006, the Palestinians held general elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council. The Hamas terrorist organization won an unexpected majority – gaining 74 of the 132 seats. In March 2007, the Palestinian Legislative Council established a national unity government. In June, Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip from the national unity government after forcing out Fatah. At least 110 Palestinians were killed in the fighting between Hamas and Fatah over Gaza.

In November and December 2008, Hamas intensified its rocket and mortar attacks from the Gaza Strip, shooting hundreds of rockets on Israeli towns. On December 27, 2008, Israel launched a military campaign targeting the members and infrastructure of Hamas in Gaza. Hamas has made extensive use of human-shields – and in particular children – throughout the fighting. More than 1200 Palestinians were killed in the fighting, nearly half of them were civilians. Hamas continues to control the Gaza Strip, while Israel and Egypt maintain a ground, air, and maritime blockade over the strip.

Peace Process

Since President Obama took office in January 2009, the United States has been pressing Israel, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Palestinian Authority, headed by Mahmoud Abbas, to negotiate a peace settlement. President Abbas demanded the freeze of all settlement construction activity by Israel as a precondition to peace talks – a demand that was never made to any Israeli government before. There are some 300,000 Israelis who live in settlements in the West Bank. Some 100 settlements occupy about 3% of the land in the West Bank. They are considered illegal under international law, and are one of the major points of contention between Israel and the Palestinians.

Under heavy American pressure Israel agreed to freeze construction for ten months starting in November 2009. Palestinians rejected the move, saying that the freeze did not include East Jerusalem. Palestinians agreed to resume talks in September 2010, only to end about a month later when the settlement freeze period was over. No progress has been made in the negotiations during that time.

In April 2011, Fatah and Hamas have reached a reconciliation agreement, ending a four-year old split that led to the establishment of separate governments in the West Bank and Gaza.

Hamas refuses to recognize Israel, or to renounce violence. Hamas’ Charter states:

“Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it … There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors.”

This post discussed some of the major historic developments in the Arab-Israeli conflict since 1948 until today. The next post will show why peace is impossible in the Middle East.

The Arab-Israeli Conflict

History of Palestine

Posted in Arab-Israeli Conflict, Politics and tagged , , , , , , , , , , .

2 Comments

  1. This blog is so obviously biased. Where are the references for your claims that the Palestinians used human shields and Children in the war? While there is numerous real photos and evidence where the Israeli army is using Palestinian children as shields. One has to just look and the evidence of the cruelty of Israelis against Palestinians will be seen .everywhere. Give the public the credit they deserve rather than piling loads of referenced fake bullshit.

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