The Complete History of the Israel-Palestine Conflict
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THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE ISRAEL-PALESTINE CONFLICT Introduction: This short interactive video will give you an introduction to the complete history of Israel and Palestine told as two parallel but competing narratives. Each narrative contains ten pieces of evidence which illuminate critical points moments, and if you can tap on these there are links to more information and explanation. Once you’ve looked at one side, I’d urge you to look at the other too. This will give you a sense of how each side understands its own story, why those stories are currently irreconcilable, and how that impacts attitudes and expectations today. It will also show you that although the facts are the facts, how those facts are selected and woven into a narrative by historians, is a human construction, and that sometimes the purpose of history is not to tell the unvarnished truth, but to provide moral justification and comfort. PARALLEL HISTORIES is an educational charity promoting a new way to study conflict facebook website twitter Israeli narrative: The Jewish people originated in Eretz Israel three thousand years ago and until the fourth century AD remained the majority there. From the first to the twentieth century, all but a few thousand of Jews lived outside Israel, scattered across the globe in tiny minorities, vulnerable to periodic bouts of persecution usually at the hands of Christians. By the 19th century 60% of Jews in the world lived in an area of Russia called the Pale, and it was here a particularly long a brutal period of persecution started in the 1880s. This led European Jews to establish the World Zionist Congress in 1897. Their goal was the re- establishment of a Jewish home in the land of Israel, a land promised to the Jews by God in the Hebrew Bible. In 1917 the British government was persuaded by Chaim Weizmann to issue the Balfour Declaration which promised to help Jews create a national home in Palestine. Jews were allowed to immigrate and form a self governing community. The Jews returning to Israel joined a small community that had never left. As their numbers increased so did friction with local Arabs, with whom they competed for farmland. In the 1930s the British limited immigration to prevent Arab unrest. The shock of the Holocaust showed both the world, and Jews in particular, that a national home was more necessary than ever. The United Nations voted to partition British Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab state in 1947. The Jews accepted this but the Arabs rejected it and the armies of the surrounding Arab states attacked Israel immediately after its declaration of independence in May 1948. The new state, led by David Ben Gurion won this war, and in the process many Palestinian Arabs fled or were forced to leave their villages. There were further wars in 1955, 1967, 1973 and 1982 and there was a major Palestinian uprising known as the First Intifada in 1987. And while Israel was always strong enough to protect itself, the continuing problem of Palestinian refugees undermined its relations with both the wider Arab world and the Palestinians. Eventually peace treaties were signed with Egypt in 1978 – whereby Israel returned the Sinai, and Jordan in 1994 and the Oslo Accords signed in the mid 90s gave the Palestinians some self government in return for Israeli security. However, the Oslo Accords were never fully implemented because of the rise in Gaza of Hamas, an extreme Islamic group sworn to Israel’s destruction, and the dysfunctional nature of Palestinian leadership. During the Second Intifada 2000-2005 many Israeli civilians were killed by Palestinian suicide bombers and this led to the erection of a permanent security fence to protect Israelis. The peace process with Palestinians remains stalled. As Israel has become economically and military stronger and more stable, its efforts to improve its relations with Arab neighbors, Egypt, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, have been frustrated by their internal instability. The majority of Israelis continue to want peace with Palestinians and other Arab states, but not at the expense of sacrificing security. So here are all the sources I showed you in one place and once you’ve reviewed these I’d very much encourage you to look at the same history told from the Palestinian perspective. PARALLEL HISTORIES is an educational charity promoting a new way to study conflict facebook website twitter Palestinian narrative: In the middle of the 7th century, tribespeople from the Arabian peninsula, conquered much of the modern Middle East and permanently settled the land between Jordan and the Mediterranean which they called Jund Filastin . Attempts over two centuries by European crusaders to conquer the Holy Land ended in failure in 1291, and three centuries later the Ottoman empire was extended and ruled the area till 1917 until, havinG picked the wronG side in WW1, they were pushed out by a combination of the British, backed by The Arab Revolt. At this point, Palestinians believed they would have their own state, or at least be able to govern themselves, as part of a larGer Arab nation. However, Britain reneged on its deal with the Arabs, and chose instead to follow throuGh on the Balfour Declaration, a commitment to help Jews build their national home in Palestine. Hundreds of thousands of Jews were fleeing persecution in Eastern Europe but neither the USA nor Western European countries were willinG to open their doors to these refugees, - it was easier to funnel them to Palestine. Britain not only prevented the development of an Arab state but also helped the Jews build their own state at the expense of the Arabs. And this is where the conflict between Arabs and Jews beGan. The same thinG happened at the end of the Second World War. The Jews had suffered again at the hands of Europeans, millions were killed and millions were stateless refugees. And again, the Europeans and the Americans closed their doors, and pushed Jews, many of whom wanted to go to the USA, towards Palestine. When the United Nations voted to partition Palestine in 1947, givinG Jews over half of Palestine, a war broke out between the Jews and the Palestinians, who were supported by the armies of the other Arab nations. Israel defeated the Arab armies and systematically expelled over half the Palestinian population from their homes. Palestinians living in refugee camps never Gave up hope and new movements for the liberation of Palestine emerged. NeighbourinG Arab nations promised help but as the wars of 1967 and 74, and 1982 showed, they were no match for Israel which used these wars as an opportunity to conquer the rest of Palestine: the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Ordinary Palestinians rose in rebellion against the military occupation in The First Intifada of 1987. And world opinion moved against Israel because of its cruel repression of unarmed demonstrators. The USA forced Israel to the neGotiatinG table and the result was the Oslo Accords which for the first time, Granted the Palestinians, limited self-government. PARALLEL HISTORIES is an educational charity promoting a new way to study conflict facebook website twitter Israel however never had any intention of givinG up the West Bank or Gaza let alone allowinG refugees to return and defyinG international law, it accelerated the building Jewish settlements across the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Israel’s policy of pushing the Arab population into urban concentrations, and the building of a separation barrier in 2003, isolated and divided Palestinians, and further strenGthened Israel’s occupation of the ancient land of Palestine. The cycle of repression, resistance and further repression continues. PARALLEL HISTORIES is an educational charity promoting a new way to study conflict facebook website twitter .