The Arab-Israeli conflict

V.

Jerusalem- The Holy land.

Jerusalem is an ancient city that has been fought over for thousands of years. This is partly because it is a place of fundamental religious importance for Christians, Muslims and Jews. Each group is highly suspicious of the other. Conflict has been violent and each group lives uneasily guarding its own space.

Jerusalem is also a modern city and an economic centre of Israel. Whoever controls Jerusalem controls the region.

Abraham • Isaac-Hebrew Ishmael-Arab• Mosses- 1st Covenant-Ten Commandments Mohammad• Old Testament-Torah Quran • Jews-Judaism Islam

Yahweh Allah Jesus (Jew)-2nd Covenant

The Apostles

Old and New Testament

G-d

Hagar-EgyptianSarah-HebrewThe Same Father!!!

17th Century BCE The First Covenant with Abraham-

You will be the Father of many nations.

Second Covenant with Abraham- Because of your Great Faith and Obedience-

told to kill son Isaac-but doesn't have to because G-d stops him.

Gods Chosen PeopleThe Patriarchs of the Israelites, Abraham, Isaac

(Son) and Jacob (Grandson)-took name Israel. They bring the belief in one G-d to the promise land

(Monotheism).

13th Century BCE

• Moses leads Hebrews from Egypt (Exodus)-Israelites named after Abrahams Grandson (Jacob) who renames himself Israel-They become Israelites.

• Receives the Ten Commandments-The Torah and wanders in the desert for 40 years.

Jewish Monarchy Established:• 1230 BCE, Israelites guided by Joshua-Mosses loyal

servant, invaded Canaan (Promised Land)• 1020 BCE: first king of Israelites was Saul, then

David, then Solomon• 1000 BCE-Under King David the Israelites captured

city of Jerusalem• King Solomon built the Temple of Jerusalem, to house

the Arc of the Covenant (sacred box to hold Torah)• Solomon’s Temple was destroyed during Babylonian

invasion, rebuilt in 6th century BCE, and destroyed again in 70 CE by the Romans

• Only remaining part of Solomon’s Temple is the Western Wall-Wailing Wall.

• Israel was conquered by Assyrians in 722 BCE and the scattered people were known as the ‘Lost Tribes of Israel’

• Diaspora is a Greek word meaning “sowing of seed” or “dispersal” which refers to Jewish population living outside of Israel- Dispersed.

• 332-Conquered by Alexander the Great of Greece• 166-160- Maccabean revolt against the practice of Judaism• 63- Captured by Rome• 20-23-Jesus of Nazareth• 66- Jewish revolt against the Romans• 70- Destruction of Jerusalem and Second Temple• 313-636-Byzantine Rule• 614- Persian Invasion• 636-1099 Arab Rule• 691-Dome of The Rock• 1099-1291-Crusades to get the Holy land Back-Pope

Urban the II wanted it from the Muslims.

• 1517-1917 Ottoman rule• 1564-Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent

brought improvements and stimulated Jewish immigration.

• 1882-1903-Immigration from Russia

• 1897-First Zionist organization founded

• 1904-1914-Immigration from Russia and Poland

1916-The Sykes-Picot Agreement

• The Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 was a secret agreement between the governments of the UK and France, with the assent of Imperial Russia, defining their respective spheres of influence and control in west Asia after the expected downfall of the Ottoman Empire during World War I. It was largely a trade agreement with a large area set aside for indirect control through an Arab state or a confederation of Arab states.

1918-1948 British Rule (Mandate)

• 400 years of Ottoman rule ended by the British Conquest: British Foreign Minister Balfour pledges support for the establishment of a “Jewish national home in Palestine”.

Balfour Declaration

The Balfour DeclarationThe British Foreign Office, November 2nd, 1917

Dear Lord Rothschild,

I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty’s Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet.

“His Majesty’s Government view with favour the

establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”

I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.

Signed by Arthur James Balfour

Winston Churchill

Jews are in Palestine

“as of right and not on sufferance...”

British Secretary of State for the ColoniesJune, 1922

“When it is asked what is meant by the development of the Jewish National Home in Palestine, it may be answered that it is not the imposition of a Jewish nationality upon the inhabitants of Palestine as a whole, but the further development of the existing Jewish community, with the assistance of Jews in other parts of the world, in order that it may become a centre in which the Jewish people as a whole may take on grounds of religion and race, an interest and a pride.”

League of Nations Came into force in

Geneva on January 10, 1920

Established to:

Avoid future wars.

Guarantee the nations peace & security.

1922

• British mandate for Palestine (Land of Israel) by League of nations.

Transjordan 3/4ths given to Arabs, and ¼ to Jewish national Home.

1920 – Original British Mandate (Ruled) Territory

• Assigned to the Jewish National Home

Article 25 of the “British Mandate”

• Where Jews are

• not not permittedpermitted to settle

Iraq was given to Faisal bin Hussein, son of the sheriff of Mecca in 1918. To reward his younger brother Abdullah, in 1922, Britain cut away 77 percent of its mandate over Palestine earmarked for the Jews and gave it to Abdullah, creating the new country of Trans-Jordan or Jordan, as it was later named.

1922 - Final territory in which the Jewish National Home was

to be reconstituted.

Article 6 - Mandate for Palestine

• “The Administration of Palestine …, shall encourage … close settlement by Jews on the land, including State lands and waste lands not required for public purposes.”

• Where Jews are permittedpermitted to settle

• Jewish Settlements are Legal

The League of Nations Dissolved

• April 18, 1946

• The League transfers all its assets to the United Nations.

Tran-Jordan was made an independent and exclusively Arab State on 77% of the Mandate Territory by Great Britain with the consent of the League of Nations.

• 1939-1945 World War II-The Holocaust

United Nations• Came

into force on October 24, 1945

The UN General Assembly convenes its first meeting at Lake Success, Flushing Meadows, New York on November 19, 1946.

Jerusalem in “Mandate” time

• Two distinct issues exist in regard to Jerusalem

I. “Holy Places … assuring respect for the existing interests of the three religions and of providing the necessary guarantees of freedom of access, worship, and religious administration.

II. City of Jerusalem … establishing an effective administration of the City which can protect the rights of the various elements of its permanent population - Christian, Arab and Jewish”

Internationalizing Jerusalem was never part of the “Mandate”

Judge, Sir Elihu Lauterpacht, Jerusalem and the Holy Places (London: The Anglo-Israel Association, 1968).

Article 2 United Nations Charter -

Benchmarks

3. All Members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered.

4. All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.

•UN Resolution 181, recommended to partition the remaining 23% of the territory still subject to the Mandate into a Jewish state and an Arab state.

•Jews accepted the recommendation (1947).

•Both Palestinian Arabs and their Arab brethren in neighboring countries rejected it.

•Resolution 181’s validity hinged on acceptance of the General Assembly’s recommendation by both parties.

•1947-UN proposes establishment of Arab and Jewish states in the land.

• 1948-State of Israel Established

End of British mandate

So what is the problem?• The land called ‘Israel’ is also a land called ‘Palestine’.• 60 years ago the land was under British protection. The British had occupied it after the

First World war.• The local people of this land were Muslim Arabs. They were called Palestinians because

the land was called ‘Palestine’.• After World War Two Jewish people were escaping from a shattered Europe. Many

owned nothing and had stepped straight out from Hitler’s death camps.• Using their memory of tradition they sought refuge in the land of their ancestors- Judea.

Judea (where the word ‘Jew’ comes from) was also the name of the land known as Palestine.

• Jewish people started to migrate to Palestine (Judea) in large numbers. The British were unable to stop them. The Jews pushed the Palestinian Arabs to the east and claimed Palestine as their own territory by religious right. They were merely coming home. They renamed it ‘Israel’.

• The Palestinian Arabs fought back, however, to keep their property. Against so many people however they were forced back. They turned to their Muslim neighbors for help and assistance. This time the Jews (Israelis) were outnumbered.

• The Israelis turned to anyone who might help them- and found the USA willing to support a struggling nation.

• The two sides were now set up for war- and have been sparring ever since. On one side is a well-equipped, modern, conventional Israeli army. On the other side is a modern, not so well-equipped but innovative Muslim terrorist army ‘Hamas’. Both sides are ruthless.

• The fight claims military and civilian deaths regularly on both sides.

Your Mission Today

• Mission: As a group, you will be creating

A Palestine Partition Plan based on the background information that you know up to this point-including the history, resources and religious holy shrines in Jerusalem.

Objectives:. . • 1. Describe the human and physical characteristics of the 1. Describe the human and physical characteristics of the

same place at different periods of time in history.same place at different periods of time in history.• 2. Explain the geographic factors that influence a nation’s 2. Explain the geographic factors that influence a nation’s

power to control territory and that shape the foreign power to control territory and that shape the foreign policies and international relations.policies and international relations.

• 3. Use problem solving skills to identify a problem, gather 3. Use problem solving skills to identify a problem, gather information, consider options and present a solution.information, consider options and present a solution.

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Instructions:

• You have materials in front of you.

• Please write your Group members names on your Partition directions sheet called Designing Your Partition Plan

• Write the Names of all members on your Partition plan map as well.

Your Partition

Plan

1947: UN

Partition

1949: After the First

War

1967: The Six-Day War

2008: The Region Today

Israel-coast

With enormous investment Israel has become very prosperous.

The coastline has fabulous hotels and a super climate.

Once desert land now features luxurious golf courses.

Israel-cities.

The Jewish people have been very industrious. They have built up large modern cities with efficient infrastructures.At the same time they have not neglected their traditions however. They see these as major reasons why they have survived as a people.

Israel-the countryside.

The land itself has been a cradle of human civilization. It formed the western end of the ‘fertile crescent’ that stretched from Persia to the Mediterranean. Water is the key element here. If you have a well then your land will produce wonderful crops. Otherwise it will be desert.

Israel-the people.

Because of its location, and long history, Israel has a large mixture of peoples. They are different faiths, appearance, and skin color.

Hamas-the Arabic Palestinian terror army or Palestinian freedom

fighters?

Familiar terror uniforms.

If someone had stolen your home wouldn’t you fight back?

Bus bombers and sniper

These people are in disguise so that they, and their families, won’t be targeted by Israeli security forces.

Children as terrorists?Propaganda is rife from both sides.

Are children really being used as terrorists?- or is this Israel trying to make the Palestinians look immoral?

What do you think of this?

Women,and child, in support.

Muslim woman terrorist/freedom fighter.

This person was a doctor. She decided she had to fight- and consequently die- for Palestine.

Bus bombers

The idea is to blow up buses- and themselves- and disrupt Israel’s infrastructure. It attracts international attention to the Palestinian/Israeli problem.

The results-notice the bodies.

Another bus bomb- note the body.

The army has bigger weapons of course.

Even going to school can be dangerous for children on both

sides.

-frightened soldiers aren’t inclined to be kind and gentle.

Soldiers are even fearful of children. What has the child got

in the bags? Is he a terrorist?

But here is a child killed in the fighting. Does it matter if he is

Jew or Muslim?

Here is one possible solution to the problem…….

• A wall.

The wall dividing Palestinian Arabs from Jews.

Is this a good solution do you think?