User:John Z/drafts/History of Arab-Israeli Conflict

In its current form, the Arab-Israeli conflict is a modern phenomenon, which dates back to the end of the 19th century. The conflict became a major international issue after the Ottoman Empire in 1917 lost power in the Middle East, and in various forms it continues to date. The Arab-Israeli conflict has resulted in at least five major wars and a large number of "minor conflicts". It has also been the source of two major Palestinian intifadas (uprisings). The wars and intifadas are:


 * 1948 Arab-Israeli War, known as Israeli War of Independence or al-Nakba, 1948-1949, began immediately after the British withdrawal and the declaration of the State of Israel on May 15, 1948. Jordanian, Egyptian, Syrian, Lebanese and Iraqi and other Arab forces invaded the former Mandate. Arabs had rejected the United Nations Partition Plan of November 1947, which proposed establishment of an Arab and a Jewish state in Palestine, and fought to prevent the establishment of a Jewish state. The fighting ended with signing of the Rhodes Armistices. About 2/3 of Palestinian Arabs fled or were expelled from the territories which became Israel. (see Palestinian Exodus); the Arabs expelled almost all Jews from the territories which came under their control. After the war, many Arab countries' Jewish populations were compelled to flee due to anti-Jewish sentiment and, in some cases (e.g. Iraq) legal oppression. About 700,000 Palestinians (estimates vary from 520,000 to 957,000) and 600,000 Jews became refugees.

In a few cases, (e.g. in Morocco) local Arab governments strongly encouraged Jews to stay, and some Jewish leaders (e.g. in Haifa) encouraged Arabs to stay. Jewish refugees were absorbed by Israel; Palestinians were neglected by most Arab nations which by some were blamed for the poverty and hatred prevailing in some Palestinian camps. , but only two states eventually signed a peace agreement with Israel: Egypt (1978) and Jordan (1994).


 * 1956 Suez War began as a joint Israeli-British-French operation, which Israel justified as an attempt to stop Fedayeen attacks upon Israeli civilians, to remove the Egyptian blockade of the Straits of Tiran. The British and French had strong lingering colonial interests in the Canal which triggered their involvement. Ended in a truce in which Israel reached its objective, but the Suez Canal was left in Egyptian (rather than British) hands. Israel agreed to withdraw from Sinai under U.S. pressure, in return for the installation of U.N. separation forces deployed in the Siani (Israel refused UN troops on their side of the border) and guarantees of Israeli freedom of shipping.




 * Six-Day War, 1967. Began as a strike by Israel, considered preemptive by many historians, against Egypt following the Egyptian closure of the Straits of Tiran (which Israel had informed Egypt it would consider a casus belli), expulsion of U.N. peacekeepers from the Sinai, stationing some 100,000 Egyptian troops defensively in the peninsula, and public announcement by Nasser that he intended to destroy Israel. However, many historians also argue that Nasser had only defensive plans, being vastly outmatched by the superior IDF Israeli Defense Forces.  Israeli air strikes were followed by a ground invasion into Egyptian territory, leading to the capture of the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula.  Jordan and Syria who had signed a mutual defense pact with Egypt found themselves facing Israel on the battlefield, where Israel conquered and subsequently occupied the Golan Heights from Syria, and the West Bank from Jordan.


 * Yom Kippur War, 1973 began as a simultaneous coordinated attack by Egypt and Syria in Sinai and the Golan Heights, respectively, aimed at regaining these territories lost in 1967. Despite early Arab successes, Israel was able to counterattack and destroy the Syrian army and encircle the Egyptian army with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in position to move on Damascus and Cairo. US and UN pressure and a threat of Soviet military intervention resulted in a ceasefire.


 * 1982 Lebanon War began when Israel attacked Lebanon, with the intent of expelling the PLO from Southern Lebanon, where they had established a semi-independent enclave used to launch attacks against Israel.

Ariel Sharon, who led the massively superior Israeli forces, met with quick success in southern Lebanon. Then, acting in violation of the mandate given to him by the political echelon in Jerusalem, he continued the march up the coast, repulsing Syrian forces and taking possession of Beirut, where the PLO had their headquarters. Under an agreement brokered by the United States, the Palestinian fighters were given safe conduct out of Lebanon and moved to Tunis, and Israeli forces withdrew to positions in southern Lebanon.

While Beirut was under Israeli administrative control, Lebanese Maronites (one of the chief parties in the Lebanese civil war, and an ideological ally of Israel) invaded the Sabra and Shatila refugee camp and murdered over 20.000 Palestinian refugees. An investigation by Israel's Kahane Commission later found Ariel Sharon personally responsible and recommended that he be excluded from ever holding political office.

Perhaps surprisingly, the Israeli invasion initially encountered broad support among the Lebanese living along the border, many of whom felt victimised by the Palestine incursion and their own government's inability to establish order. As time passed, however, and Israel's intent to maintain a permanent buffer zone inside Lebanon became clear, a native resistance movement, the Hizballah, made up of Lebanese Shias, formed to counter the Israeli Defence Force and their Lebanese proxy militia, the Southern Lebanese Army, led by General Aoun.

The success of the Hizballah resistance contributed to a changing perceptions within the Israeli public about the costs and benefits of maintaining a presence in Lebanon. In 2000 Israel withdrew their forces, although controversy remains concerning one small tract of land (Shaaba farms), whose provenence is variously interpreted as being Lebanese or Syrian.

Despite the withdrawal, low level fighting between Hizbullah and Israel has continued. Syria which until Spring 2005 exerted control over southern Lebanon, used Hizbullah to apply pressure on Israel.


 * The first Intifada, 1987-1993. Began as an uprising of Palestinians, many of them youths, against Israeli control in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The uprising was instigated by rumors that a traffic accident in Jabalya, in which four Palestinians died, was staged by the Israelis. The exiled PLO leadership in Tunisia quickly took control, but the uprising also brought a rise in the importance of Islamist Palestinian extremist groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The Intifada ended with signing of the Oslo Accords.


 * The Gulf War, 1990-1991. Began with the Iraqi invasion and annexation of Kuwait but did not initially involve direct military engagement with Israel. An international coalition led by the United States and including Arab forces, was assembled to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait. To draw Israel into the confrontation and fracture the multinational coalition, Iraq launched Scud missiles on Israeli cities and on Israel's nuclear military facilities at Dimona. However, Israel did not retaliate against Iraq and the multinational coalition ousted Iraqi forces from Kuwait. During the war, many Palestinians allied themselves with Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and, consequently, forfeited significant support from Kuwait and other Arab monarchies in the post-war period. The loss of support from Gulf Arab monarchies weakened the PLO's position against Israel and forced the Palestinian leadership to compromise and eventually negotiate the Oslo Accords in 1993.


 * The al-Aqsa Intifada. Began just before September 2000 around the time Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon and a large contingent of armed bodyguards visited the Temple Mount/Al-Haram As-Sharif complex in Jerusalem and declared the area eternal Israeli territory. Widespread riots broke out in Old Jerusalem a number of hours later, and Israeli authorities killed several Palestinians suppressing them. The killing of Muhammed al-Dura, a 12-year-old boy, was videotaped and broadcast around the world, triggering further rioting. This conflict is on-going.

Old Lebanon section

 * 1982 Lebanon War. Began when Israel attacked Lebanon, justified by Israel as an attempt to remove the PLO organization led by Yasser Arafat from Southern Lebanon (where they had established after being expelled from Jordan in 1970 (seeBlack September), during Lebanon's civil war, a semi-independent enclave used to launch terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians). The invasion was widely criticized both in and outside Israel for the widespread destruction it reaped on Southern Lebanon, especially after the Sabra and Shatila massacre and ultimately led to the death of at least 20,000 Lebanese and Palestinians. Although initially the attack succeeded and Arafat was exiled to Tunisia, Israel became entangled with various local Muslim militias (particularly the Hizballah), which fought to end the Israeli occupation. By 1985 Israel retreated from all Lebanese territory but a narrow stretch of land called the Israeli Security Zone. In 2000 Israeli forces left that as well; however, the Hizballah still periodically launched attacks and kept Israeli prisoners as hostages, some of whom were civilians. The two retreats were influenced by political campaigns by groups such as Peace Now.