The document provides a detailed overview of the Israel-Palestine conflict, covering its ancient religious and cultural roots, the modern history from the early 20th century onward, and ongoing issues such as borders, settlements, and the status of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees. It discusses the involvement of foreign powers like Britain and the UN and key events that have shaped and prolonged the conflict such as the establishment of Israel, the Intifadas, and failed peace negotiations.

1. Israel vs. Palestine:
The Conflict

2. Introduction
• Two conflicting sides over land, resources,
sovereignty, religion, and culture.
– Jerusalem/Temple Mount
– Jordan River
• Israelis – Judaism, claim rights to ‘Israel’ a
recognized state of the UN
• Palestinians – Islam, claim the same land as
‘Palestine’, are not recognized by the UN, but
have a central ‘PNA’
• Both sides have contributed considerably to
violence.

3. The Issues
• Palestinian Refugees and the Right of
Return
• Status of Jerusalem
• Borders and the Occupied Territories
• Israeli Security Concerns in relation to
sovereignty
• Settlements in the West Bank

5. Ancient History
• Cultural Conflict goes back several
thousand years – mainly religious
– Old Canaan conquered by Israeli tribes out of
Egypt (according to Torah) [1200 BCE]
– Hebrew settlements/conquests of present-day
Jerusalem under Solomon
• First Temple Built in Jerusalem on “Temple Mount”
• Later split into two kingdoms: Israel and Judea (both
later fall to Assyrians) after Solomon’s death
– Land referred to as ‘Palestine’ by ancient
Egyptians and ‘Israel’ by the Jewish tribes
• Same place, different language

6. Ancient History cont…
– Control continuously changes from app. 530 BCE –
61 BCE ending with control from Roman Empire
• Christianity is founded around 4 BCE – 35 CE,
followed by Islam in 622 CE
– Non Jewish inhabitants of Israel/Palestine convert
begin to practice Islam/Christianity
– Roman Empire Collapses after schism,
Israel/Palestine is conquered by Persians in 614 CE
– Then, conquered by Arab Islamic armies – Al-Aqsa
Mosque is built in 715 CE on Temple Mount
(considered Third Holiest site in Islam)

7. Ancient History cont…
• European Christian crusaders begin their
attacks on ‘The Holy Land’ occupied by
Saladin and his Kurds
– Crusaders briefly occupy Jerusalem in 1229
CE, retaken by Mameluke Muslims, later
defeated at acre and evicted from ‘Palestine’
– Ottoman/Turk conquest of area in 1517, part
of official Ottoman Empire until 1917
• Demographics in Jerusalem under Ottoman Rule:
7120 Jews, 5760 Muslims, 3390 Christians

8. Modern History
• World War I breaks out; Turkey (Ottoman
Empire) fights against Allies
– Balfour Declaration by the UK in Nov 1917
• “His Majesty's government view with favour the
establishment in Palestine of a national home for
the Jewish people, and will use their best
endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this
object…” - British Foreign Policy during wartime
– British control of Egypt extends itself to the
Israel/Palestine area under pressure from the
‘Zionist Movement’ Dec 1917

9. Modern History cont…
• Faisal-Weizmann Agreement – Jan 3, 1919; part
of the Paris Peace Conference
– Leader of the Zionist Commission (Chaim Weizmann)
met with Emir Faisal (Kingdom of Hedjaz)
– Encourage mass Zionist/Jewish settlements in
Palestine, in exchange for an Arab nation
encompassing present-day Iraq, Syria, and the Fertile
Crescent
– Became irrelevant – Kingdom of Hedjaz was
conquered in 1923 and incorporated under the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

10. Modern History cont…
• European Zionists continue to settle in Palestine
– Britain begins to decolonize – grants
independence to nearby Egypt and Transjordan
• League of Nations – France and Britain divide
the Middle East into ‘Mandates’
– Churchill White Paper (June 3, 1922) – clarifies
Balfour Declaration in response to anti-semetic riots in
Palestine
– Main Point: Europe dividing new nations for ‘self-
determination’ – deconstruction of imperialism

11. Modern History cont…
• Britain caught in the middle of appealing to
Palestine and Israel – violence escalates
– Racial profiling, religious desecration, segregation,
power struggle within Palestine
– Zionist immigration continues
– British policy continually changes with pressure from
both sides
• Progress in Middle East halts somewhat as
WWII begins in Europe
– Britain is distracted, situation becomes even more
unclear, violence continues to escalate

12. Modern History cont…
• WWII – large portion of Jewish population flees
Nazism for Palestine, many join Zionist
movement, seek new life
– Wounded Britain pulls out of Palestine completely by
1948
– Organized fighting with armies and weapons begins,
bombings, massacres, spontaneous fighting from
both sides
– State of Israel declares independence May 14, 1948
• Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia all
declare war on Israel
• United States immediately recognizes new state, followed by
USSR
• Israeli War of Independence 1948 - 1949

13. Modern History cont…
– Result: app. 800,000 Palestinians are displaced
(PALESTINIAN REFUGEES)
– Yasser Arafat founds the Palestinian Liberation
Organization (PLO) 1964
• Six-Day War (Jun 5–11, 1967)
– Israel aquires West Bank, Gaza Strip, and the Golan
Heights – OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
• Fighting causes many Palestinians to flee into neighboring
Arab countries, especially from the Golan Heights
• OC’s under martial law – not represented by MP’s
• First Intifada – 1987-1993 : Violence moves from
organized to massive civil warfare
– Triggered by Palestinian students : boycotting Israeli
goods, strikes, graffiti, barricades, planned terrorism,
resistance of authorities

16. Modern History cont…
• Oslo Accords (Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-
Government Arrangements)
– GOI and PLO meet, sign accords on September 13, 1993)
– Sets up the Palestinian National Authority
• Mutual recognition between PNA/State of Israel
• Government over the ‘Occupied Territories’ gradually phased over
in a period of 5 years to PNA
– IDF (Israeli Defense Force) to withdraw from the areas, eventual
sovereignty given to PNA
– Failed
• Only addressed borders – no status of Jerusalem, refugees
• No provisions for a permanent Palestinian state
• OCT still under Israeli military control
• Cultural violence continues (Israeli anger at Palestinians/vice versa)

17. Yitzhak Rabin
Yasser Arafat

18. Modern History cont…
• Second Intifada (Al-aqsa Intifada) – response to failed
Oslo Accords : suspended all-out civil war returns
– Triggered by a MP visiting temple mount with over a thousand
police guards, leading to violence
– Response: International inquiry
• Mitchell Report of 2001 by UN, EU, US, Egypt, and Jordan
– Camp David Negotiations – US President Clinton facilitates talks
with Israeli PM Ehud Barak and PA Chairman Yasser Arafat
• Tried to negotiate final status of Israel and Palestine
• Israel agreed to a partial two-state solution, rejected by Palestinians
• Ultimately failed – neither side reached an agreement
• Israel uses the complete Palestinian rejection of this plan as an
example of unwillingness to seek peace on the part of the
Palestinians
• Palestine uses the unfair ‘compromises’ presented by Israel as an
example of Israeli greed; especially disliked the ‘Israeli Security
provision’

19. Modern History cont… (final I promise!)
– League of Arab States conference in Beruit –
Saudi Arabia pushes movement to normalize
Arab-Israeli relations
• Arab Peace Initiative – March 28, 2002
• Israel would withdraw from the Golan Heights,
Gaza Strip, and West Bank completely
• Israel would finance the return of the Palestinian
refugees to Palestine, or give them compensation
– Israel basically ignores the Initiative’s
existence, no formal mention of it or
response.

20. Right Now
• Palestinians live in OCT’s under Israeli
military occupation
– Human Rights Violations
– Access to education, healthcare, even basic
necessities is sporadic
– Some representation under PNA - Parliament
• App. 4.5 million Palestinian refugees today
– Original number: 800,000 in 1947

21. UN Involvement

22. Israel and the UN
• Israel is a nation with ‘special status’ in the UN
– They are active members in the Western European
and Others Group (WEOG) in NY
– Are not part of UN operations in Geneva – barred
from standing in elections, participating in Geneva
committee debates, etc.
• Many accusations of Anti-Semitism in the UN by
Israel and US
– Israel tends not to trust the UN resolutions, does not
always comply with peacekeeping forces based in
Israel/Palestine Territories
• Government of Israel says that it must have equal rights to
equally honor the wishes of the General Assembly

23. Palestine and the UN
• ‘Palestine’ is not a recognized state of the
UN, but representatives from the PNA
speak as guests
– ‘Observer’ status in the UN – Palestinian
National Authority is responsible for providing
representation for the ‘Palestinian’ peoples
– Given because there is no legitimate national
government for Palestine

24. Previous UN Action
• Britain refers issue to the UN May,
1947
– UNSCOP (UN Special Committee on
Palestine) : Resolution GA 181
• Two State: Arab and Israeli
• Establishes ’47 Borders
• Jerusalem would be internationally
administered – part of neither state,
temporarily run by UN
– Never fully implemented
• Geographic puzzle made navigation difficult
for the still-fighting populations
• Neither side would accept compromise,
Israelis wanted all of it, Palestinians wanted
all of it
• Furious at Jerusalem plan

25. Previous UN Action cont…
• General Assembly Resolutions – calls for
violence to end, continued relief to aid
Palestinian refugees
– 1949 - UNRWA: provides food, education, aid, and
temporary shelter – continues
• Security Council Resolutions
– 1967 – UNSC242 - Israeli withdrawal from OC’s,
peace
– 1973 – UNSC338 – Demand for peace, continuted
conflict negotiation
– All bark, no bite.