Home > History of Palestine, Part III : Palestinian Nakba (Catastrophe)

History of Palestine, Part III : Arab/Palestinian Nakba (Catastrophe)

Posted on April 29, 2011 by The Big PIcture

The previous posts in the series Geopolitics in Focus : History of Palestine talked about the origins of the Palestinian people and the Jewish people, and their connection to the land in Palestine. Explained what is the Zionist movement, and what were its goals. And explained how the Zionist movement received international endorsement to establish a homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine.

This post will demonstrate how Arab/Palestinian leaders are mostly to blame for the Israeli-Arab/Palestinian conflict, and for the catastrophe of the Arab/Palestinian people.

British Mandate in Palestine

By the end of 1918 the Ottoman Empire was defeated and partitioned by the victorious sides of WWI. In April 1920, the San Remo Conference convened. In this conference the post-WWI Allied Supreme Council put into effect the promises made by the British government to the Sharif of Mecca and to the Zionist movement. For this purpose the Council determined to allocate mandates of administration for the former Ottoman-ruled lands of the Middle East.

In regard to Palestine, the San Remo Resolution of April 25, 1920 stated: “…The Mandatory will be responsible for putting into effect the declaration originally made on November 8, 1917 [Balfour Declaration], by the British Government, and adopted by the other Allied Powers, in favour of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, 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.”

In other words, the British Mandate in Palestine was specifically set up – and later authorized by the League of Nations – to establish in Palestine a national homeland for the Jewish people, while making sure that the Arab population was not being harmed.

Arab/Palestinian Nakba (Catastrophe) – A Self Fulfilling Prophecy

In the 1920s, Arab leaders, led by Haj Amin al-Husseini – who later became the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and the political and religious leader of Arabs in Palestine – started to incite Arab violence against Jews. Rumors begun to spread that Jews were stealing and dispossessing Arabs of lands in Palestine, and that Jews are trying to take over and subjugate the Arabs. These rumors had no basis in reality whatsoever – as was later proven by various fact-finding commissions.

In the Jaffa riots of 1921, Arab men bearing knives, swords, clubs, and pistols broke into Jewish homes and murdered their inhabitants. They attacked Jewish pedestrians and destroyed Jewish homes and stores. While the British authorities were supposed to maintain the peace, they were slow to act. The riots resulted in the deaths of 47 Jews.

While the British authorities recognized that Arabs were the perpetrators of violence, their inquiry commission into the cause of the riots concluded that the Arabs were afraid of being displaced by Jewish immigrants. The British authorities – in direct violation of their Mandate (helping to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine) – decided to restrict Jewish immigration and land purchase.

Feeling that the British were unwilling to defend them from continuous Arab violence, Jews decided to set up their own self-defense militia – the Haganah (“defense”).

In the 1920s the Jewish and Arab economies in Palestine were largely integrated, and many Arabs were employed in Jewish businesses. As Arab-Jewish hostility grew, Jews became more self-reliant and self-sufficient and preferred to employ Jews over Arabs. However, increased Jewish self-reliance led Arabs to suspect that rumors of Jews trying to subjugate and dispossess Arabs are true. This led to more Arab violence, which, in turn, led to more Jewish self-reliance. As Arab violence continued, the Jewish and Arab communities continued to move apart. By the mid 1930s Jewish economy and political institutions were almost entirely separate from the Arab ones, while the Haganah substantially grew in force.

At the same time, continual Arab violence forced the Jewish community and Zionist leaders to reconsider the viability of establishing one nation-state in Palestine. Restrictions on Jewish immigration meant that it would be difficult to achieve a Jewish majority – in 1936 Jews made up about a third of the population in Palestine. This led Zionist leaders to consider the idea of partitioning Palestine between Jews and Arabs.

In April 1936 violence erupted once again in Palestine. The Arab High Command (AHC) – which represented Arab interests in Palestine until 1948, and was led by the Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini – began a protest by calling for a general strike of Arab workers and a boycott of Jewish products. The protest quickly escalated into terrorist attacks on the Jews and the British.

Peel Commission Report

In 1937 the British mediated an end to the revolt with the AHC, and a Royal Commission on Palestine (known as the Peel Commission) was dispatched. The Commission was charged with determining the cause of the riots, and judging the merit of grievances on both sides.

According to the Peel Commission report, Arab allegations regarding Jews dispossessing Arabs of their lands were unfounded: “Much of the land now carrying orange groves was sand dunes or swamp and uncultivated when it was purchased [by Jews]…There was at the time of the earlier sales little evidence that the owners possessed either the resources or training needed to develop the land.” In addition, the claims that Jewish immigration and land purchases hurt Palestinians economically was also dismissed by the report. The report stated that Jewish settlement in Palestine contributed to “higher wages, an improved standard of living and ample employment opportunities” for Arabs, and that land shortage was “due less to the amount of land acquired by Jews than to the increase in the Arab population.”

The report recommended the partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states, with a retained British Mandate over the area around Jerusalem. Zionist leaders accepted the partition in principle, yet, Arab leaders rejected any kind of partition. The Palestinian Revolt broke out again in the fall of 1937 with a greater intensity. The British put down the revolt using harsh measures, shutting down the AHC and deporting many Arab leaders. By the time the revolt was concluded in September 1939, more than 5,000 Arabs, over 300 Jews, and 262 Britons had been killed and at least 15,000 Arabs were wounded. During the uprising, British authorities attempted to confiscate all weapons from the Arab population. This, and the destruction of the main Arab political leadership in the revolt, greatly hindered their military efforts in the 1948 Palestine war.

In the 1939 White Paper Britain decided to change its position from the Peel Commission report and sought to limit Jewish immigration from Europe. This was seen by Zionists as a betrayal of the terms of the mandate, especially in light of the increasing persecution of Jews in Europe. In response, Zionists organized a program of illegal immigration into Palestine, and Lehi, a small group of extreme Zionists, staged armed attacks on British authorities in Palestine.

UN Partition Plan

In 1947 Britain announced its desire to terminate the Palestine Mandate and place the Question of Palestine before the United Nations. The UN created UNSCOP (the UN Special Committee on Palestine), which conducted hearings and made a general survey of the situation in Palestine, and issued its report in August 1947. The report recommended the creation of independent Arab and Jewish states, with Jerusalem to be placed under international administration.

The land allocated to the Arab state (about 43% of Mandatory Palestine) consisted of all of the highlands, except for Jerusalem, in addition to one third of the coastline. The highlands contain the major aquifers of Palestine, which supplied water to the coastal cities of central Palestine, including Tel Aviv. The Jewish state was to receive 56% of Mandatory Palestine, a slightly larger area to accommodate the increasing numbers of Jews who would immigrate there. The state included three fertile lowland plains — the Sharon on the coast, the Jezreel Valley and the upper Jordan Valley. Over 75% of Jewish state’s territory, however, consisted of desert land. The desert was not suitable for agriculture, nor for urban development at that time.

On 29 November, the UN General Assembly voted 33 to 13, with 10 abstentions, in favour of the Partition Plan. The division was to take effect on the date of British withdrawal.

While Zionist leaders accepted the UN plan, Arab leaders rejected it. The UN vote brought about massive Jewish celebrations throughout Palestine. Soon after, violence broke out throughout Palestine and became more and more prevalent until it escalated into a civil war.

Palestine War

Much of the fighting in the first months of the war took place in and on the edges of the main towns, and in all the mixed zones where both Arab and Jewish communities lived. Most of the attacks were initiated by Arabs. The attacks included Arab snipers firing at Jewish houses, pedestrians, and traffic, as well as planting bombs and mines along urban and rural paths and roads. Increasingly violent attacks, reprisals and counter-reprisals followed each other, and isolated shootings evolved into all-out battles.

Between December 1947 and March 1948, about 2,000 people were killed and 4,000 injured. From January 1948 onwards, operations became increasingly militarized, with the intervention of Arab Liberation Army regiments inside Palestine.

But while the Jewish population had received strict orders requiring them to hold their ground everywhere at all costs, the Arab population was in a state of panic and disorder. From December 1947 to March 1948, around 100,000 Arabs – mostly from the urban upper and middle classes in Haifa, Jaffa and Jerusalem, and Jewish-dominated areas – fled abroad or to other Arab towns.

In April the Haganah started to implement a plan – named Plan Dalet – in preparation for the announced intervention of Arab states in the war. At this stage the Haganah started the transformation from an underground organization into a regular army, and passed from the defensive to the offensive. The aims of Plan Dalet were to “ensure full control over the territory assigned to the Jews by the partition resolution, thus placing the Haganah in the best possible strategic position to face an Arab invasion.” The main objectives of the plan were: gaining control of the areas of the planned Jewish state, as well as areas of Jewish settlements outside its borders. The control would be attained by fortifying strongholds in the surrounding areas and roads, conquering Arab villages which are close to Jewish settlements and occupying British bases and police stations(from which the British were withdrawing).

Section 3 of Plan Dalet included the following paragraphs:

“Mounting operations against enemy population centers located inside or near our defensive system in order to prevent them from being used as bases by an active armed force. These operations can be divided into the following categories:
Destruction of villages (setting fire to, blowing up, and planting mines in the debris), especially those population centers which are difficult to control continuously.
Mounting search and control operations according to the following guidelines: encirclement of the village and conducting a search inside it. In the event of resistance, the armed force must be destroyed and the population must be expelled outside the borders of the state.
The villages which are emptied in the manner described above must be included in the fixed defensive system and must be fortified as necessary.

In the absence of resistance, garrison troops will enter the village and take up positions in it or in locations which enable complete tactical control. The officer in command of the unit will confiscate all weapons, wireless devices, and motor vehicles in the village. In addition, he will detain all politically suspect individuals. After consultation with the political authorities, bodies will be appointed consisting of people from the village to administer the internal affairs of the village. In every region, a person will be appointed to be responsible for arranging the political and administrative affairs of all villages and population centers which are occupied within that region.”

Plan Dalet’s execution lasted about eight weeks. In these weeks the Jewish position changed dramatically. About 100 Arab villages were conquered and emptied of their inhabitants. At the same time almost all Jewish settlements – with the notable exception of Jerusalem – enjoyed territorial continuity. The Jewish counter-attacks and offensives precipitated a mass departure of 250,000-300,000 Arabs.

Arab Invasion

On May 14, 1948, the British Mandate of Palestine came to an end, and Zionist leader David Ben-Gurion declared the independence of the state of Israel. Hours later the armies of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Jordan, backed by Saudi Arabian and Yemenite contingents, invaded Palestine. Azzam Pasha, the Arab League Secretary, declared: “This will be a war of extermination and a momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres and the Crusades.” In response, the Israeli army launched a series of offensives into areas allocated to the proposed Arab state.

While the stated aim of the war for Arab states was to “restore order in Palestine and establish a single democratic state,” in reality, each Arab army tried to conquer territory in Palestine for itself. This was evident for two reasons. First, the Arab armies did not coordinate their attacks. Instead, each focused on its own military conquest. Second, after the war Egypt and Jordan – who captured Gaza and the West Bank in the war – did not try to establish Palestinian rule in these territories. Instead, they maintained their military rule over these territories, until these territories were captured by Israel in the Six-Day War (1967).

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 either refugees or the descendants of refugees from Arab countries.

This post demonstrated how false rumors spread by Arab leaders became a self-fulfilling prophecy, and resulted in a great disaster for the Palestinian people. This also lay the foundation to the Arab-Israeli conflict we know today.

The next post will discuss the major historic developments in the Arab-Israeli conflict since 1948 until today.

The Arab-Israeli Conflict

Home > History of Palestine, Part II : International Support for a Jewish Homeland

History of Palestine, Part II : International Support for a Jewish Homeland

Posted on April 26, 2011 by The Big PIcture

The previous post in the series Geopolitics In Focus : History of Palestine talked about the origins of the Palestinian people and the Jewish people, and their connection to the land in Palestine. It also explained what is the Zionist movement, and what were its goals (to receive international endorsement to establish a nation-state for the Jewish people in Palestine, to lawfully purchase vacant land in Palestine, and settle this land without causing harm to the Arab population).

This post will explain how the Zionist movement received international endorsement to establish a homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine.

International Endorsement for Jewish Homeland in Palestine

Since the Arab-Muslim conquest in the 7th century AD, the Middle East has been under the rule of successive Islamic empires (these included, among others, the Umayyads, the Abbasids, the Ayyubids, the Mamluks, and the Ottomans). And while Europe languished in the Dark Ages, the Muslim world thrived as the center of trade, science, and culture, and as a dominant force in the world.

However, all that began to change during the time of the latest Islamic empire – the Ottoman Empire. While Muslim science and technology had been highly regarded in medieval times, by this period the influence on learning became conservative and regressive, and innovation was largely suppressed. As Europe was on the rise following the Age of Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, the Ottoman Empire was in a steady state of decline.

Toward the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century the Ottomans were struggling to hold the empire together. Internal conditions were rapidly deteriorating, and in many parts of the Middle East the Ottomans became rulers in name only. Yet, what finally brought the demise and dissolution of the empire was the Ottomans’ fatal decision to join the Central Powers in World War I.

While the Ottomans were fighting alongside the Central Powers, the British were already preparing for the post-war era, and deciding the fate of the lands that were under Ottoman control in the Middle East. At the time there were two entities that contended for territory in the Middle East – the Sharif of Mecca, who sought to establish an Arab state over the entire Middle East, and the Zionist movement which sought to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine. The British made territorial promises both to the Zionist movement and to the Sharif of Mecca in exchange for their support in the war effort.

The Sharif of Mecca

Hussein bin Ali, the Sharif of Mecca, claimed to have direct descent from the Prophet Muhammad, and acted as the traditional guardian of Islam’s most holy sites of Mecca and Medina. The Sharif agreed to help the British by leading an Arab revolt against the Ottomans. In return he demanded to become the ruler of an Arab state spanning the entire Middle East. The British agreed to grant to the Sharif territories from Egypt to Persia, with the exception of “imperial possessions and interests in Kuwait, Aden, and the Syrian coast” (which, according to the British, includes Palestine). In June 1916 Hussein launched the Arab Revolt against the Ottomans, and in October he declared himself “King of all Arabs.”

British Mandate in Palestine

By the end of 1918, the Ottoman Empire was defeated and partitioned by the victorious sides of WWI.

While the Allied Powers largely kept their promises both to the Zionist movement and to the Sharif of Mecca, Arabs leaders felt betrayed. They expected to gain independence immediately, but instead the Allied Powers set up temporary British and French mandates of administration over territories in the Middle East.

Thus, Arab nationalism grew increasingly hostile to the Western presence in the Middle East, and consequently hostile to Western values.

In April 1920, the San Remo Conference convened. In this conference the post-WWI Allied Supreme Council put into effect the promises made by the British government to the Sharif of Mecca and to the Zionist movement. For this purpose the Council determined to allocate mandates of administration for the former Ottoman-ruled lands of the Middle East.

In regard to the promises made to the Sharif, the San Remo Resolution of April 25, 1920 stated:

“The High Contracting Parties agree that Syria and Mesopotamia shall, in accordance with the fourth paragraph of Article 22, Part I (Covenant of the League of Nations), be provisionally recognized as independent States, subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a mandatory until such time as they are able to stand alone. The boundaries of the said States will be determined, and the selection of the Mandatories made, by the Principal Allied Powers.”

In regard to Palestine, the San Remo Resolution stated:

“…The Mandatory will be responsible for putting into effect the declaration originally made on November 8, 1917 [Balfour Declaration], by the British Government, and adopted by the other Allied Powers, in favour of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, 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.”

In other words, in regard to the Zionist movement, the British Mandate in Palestine was specifically set up – and later authorized by the League of Nations – to establish in Palestine a national homeland for the Jewish people, while making sure that the Arab population was not being harmed.

The next post in the series will explain how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict became a self-fulfilling prophecy, and why Palestinian leaders are mostly responsible for this fate.

The Arab-Israeli Conflict

Home > History of Palestine, Part I : The Truth about Zionism

History of Palestine, Part I : The Truth about Zionism

Posted on April 25, 2011 by The Big PIcture

Before the founding of the Zionist movement, there were about 1,000,000 Jews throughout the Middle East, living among Arabs in relative peace for many centuries. In 1890, there were 500,000 Arabs living in Palestine, 80% of which were Muslim, 8% Jews. Yet, Zionist leaders claimed they were coming to settle “a people without land [mostly European Jews] on a land without people [Palestine].”

By 1947, Jews owned about 6% of the land in Palestine. Yet, the United Nations – perhaps in light of the aftermath of the genocide of Jews in Europe – voted to partition Palestine between Jews and Arabs, giving Jews 54% of the land.

Was the Zionist movement intentionally set up to steal Palestinian land? And if so, how is peace ever possible in the Middle East?

If we want to truly understand the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians – and its far reaching effects on our lives and on the relations between the Muslim World and the West – we must explore the roots of this conflict. The following series – titledGeopolitics In Focus : History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict – will present a clear picture of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its historic roots. It will present important facts that Western mainstream media almost never mentions, and will reveal what no American or European politician dares to discuss: how true peace can be achieved in the Middle East.

To start off, this first post in the series will reveal the true origins of the Jewish people and Palestinian people, and their connection to the land in Palestine. It will also explainwhat is Zionism and why the vast majority of Arabs and Muslims hates it so much.

The Zionist Movement

For centuries, Jews lived throughout Europe as a persecuted minority. At best, they were treated as third-class citizens and denied basic human rights. At worst, they were brutally tortured and massacred. Towards the end of the 19th century some 9 million Jews were living in Europe. While Europe was experiencing major social and political changes, Jews still experienced the same hostility as they had in previous centuries. This hostility was felt by European Jews regardless of how secular or religious they were, or how well they were integrated into their surrounding communities. By this time it became evident to many Jews that they are unlikely to find freedom from persecution in Europe, and that they must look elsewhere for a solution.

Such solution was envisioned by a young Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist named Theodor Herzl. Herzl believed that antisemitism and the persecution of Jews are a national issue, and therefore can only be resolved “by the civilized nations of the world in council.” In 1896 in his book, The Jewish State, Herzl wrote::

“I believe that I understand Anti-Semitism, which is really a highly complex movement. I consider it from a Jewish standpoint, yet without fear or hatred. I believe that I can see what elements there are in it of vulgar sport, of common trade jealousy, of inherited prejudice, of religious intolerance, and also of pretended self-defence. I think the Jewish question is no more a social than a religious one, notwithstanding that it sometimes takes these and other forms. It is a national question, which can only be solved by making it a political world-question to be discussed and settled by the civilized nations of the world in council.

We are a people—one people.

We have honestly endeavored everywhere to merge ourselves in the social life of surrounding communities and to preserve the faith of our fathers. We are not permitted to do so. In vain are we loyal patriots, our loyalty in some places running to extremes; in vain do we make the same sacrifices of life and property as our fellow-citizens; in vain do we strive to increase the fame of our native land in science and art, or her wealth by trade and commerce. In countries where we have lived for centuries we are still cried down as strangers, and often by those whose ancestors were not yet domiciled in the land where Jews had already had experience of suffering. The majority may decide which are the strangers; for this, as indeed every point which arises in the relations between nations, is a question of might. I do not here surrender any portion of our prescriptive right, when I make this statement merely in my own name as an individual. In the world as it now is and for an indefinite period will probably remain, might precedes right. It is useless, therefore, for us to be loyal patriots, as were the Huguenots who were forced to emigrate. If we could only be left in peace…

But I think we shall not be left in peace.”

Herzl argued that Jews should obtain international recognition to establish a nation-state. This nation-state can be established in the land for which Jews have the strongest emotional and historic ties: their ancestral homeland in Palestine (also known as: The Land of Israel, or Land of Zion – hence: the Zionist movement).

But what about the 500,000 Arab inhabitants who lived in Palestine at the time? Did the Zionist movement intend to forcefully take over their land? Why did the Zionists claim they were going to settle “a people without land on a land without people” if that was not the reality on the ground?

To answer this question we must consider the demography of Palestine from a long-term historic perspective.

In the 1st century AD the population of Palestine was between 1,500,000 and 3,000,000 inhabitants – the vast majority of which were Jews. Following the defeats of the Jewish revolts in Palestine against the Roman Empire in 70AD and 135AD hundreds of thousands of Jews were killed, and tens of thousands were sold into slavery or exiled from Palestine. The vast majority of European Jews in 1900 and today are the direct descendants of those Jews that were originally exiled from Palestine and dispersed throughout the Roman Empire.

However, there was also a sizable Jewish population that remained in Palestine. After Christianity was officially declared the state religion of the Roman Empire in 391AD, most of the Jews who remained in Palestine converted to Christianity. Most of these later converted to Islam, following the Arab-Muslim conquest in the 7th century. In other words, the majority of Palestinians today are the descendants of those Jews that remained in Palestine after 135AD, and converted to Christianity and later converted to Islam and “Arabized” (this fact has been verified in recent genetic studies).

Now, at the end of the 12th century the population of Palestine was less than 225,000. The population declined even further to about 150,000 at the end of the 14th century. That number was significantly lower than the Jewish population in Palestine in the 1st century AD. In fact, even if we add together the population size in Palestine of every following century until the end of the 19th century, that number would still be much smaller than the Jewish population in Palestine in the 1st century AD.

By the end of the 19th century about 500,000 Arabs lived in Palestine. The reason for the relatively small population size is that the land simply could not sustain many more people. Much of the land had fallen into neglect over centuries of foreign rule, while
the traditional agricultural methods used by the fellahin (Arab peasants) could mostly support only the existing population.

Zionist leaders believed that if they introduced advanced industry, technology, and modern methods of agriculture to Palestine the land could sustain many more people. This meant that Jews could settle in large numbers in Palestine without any inconvenience to the existing Arab population. In addition, Zionists believed that Jewish settlement in Palestine would promote the prosperity of Arabs In fact, the British Peel Commission of 1937 (which would be discussed later in the post) concluded that the Jewish settlement in Palestine contributed to “higher wages, an improved standard of living and ample employment opportunities” for Arabs.

The Zionists had no intention of dispossessing Arabs of their land. Instead, Zionists sought to lawfully purchase land in Palestine that was vacant, largely uncultivated, or swampland. They would then reclaim the land, make it cultivatable, and settle it. This process would continue until a large Jewish majority is achieved (remember that at the time there were 9 million Jews in Europe and only 500,000 Arabs in Palestine). At that point a democratic nation-state can be established. In that state, all people – both Jews and Arabs alike – will be equal before the law. As Herzl wrote in his book:

“Every man will be as free and undisturbed in his faith or his disbelief as he is in his nationality. And if it should occur that men of other creeds and different nationalities come to live amongst us, we should accord them honorable protection and equality before the law.”

– The Jewish State, Theodor Herzl, 1896

The idea of equality between Jews and Arabs may seem commonsensical to the Western observer, however, it bitterly clashed with the Arab-Muslim worldview.Muslims could only accept Jews as second-class citizens – a subjugated group – and this has been the rule under every Islamic Empire throughout the Middle East since the 7th century AD. The reason for the inferior status for Jews comes directly from the Quran. Surah 9:29 states:

“Fight those who do not believe in Allah, nor in the latter day, nor do they prohibit what Allah and His Messenger have prohibited, nor follow the religion of truth, out of those who have been given the Book [Jews and Christians], until they pay the tax in acknowledgment of superiority and they are in a state of subjection.”

To summarize, the goals of the Zionist movement were to receive international endorsement to establish a nation-state for the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland in Palestine, to lawfully purchase vacant land in Palestine, and settle this land without causing harm to the Arab population.

The next post in the series will show how the Zionists received an international endorsement to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

Home > History of Palestine, Part IV : Wars and Terror

History of Palestine, Part IV : Wars and Terror

Posted on June 1, 2011 by The Big PIcture

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

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 ofJerusalem, 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 particularchildren – 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.