Essential Questions: Why was it important for Jewish people to have their own state?
How were they received in Palestine?
I. British presence in the Middle East
A. After WW II, Great Britain controlled much of the Middle East, including
Palestine
B. Since the late 1800�s, Jews from Europe had been establishing small colonies
in Palestine
1. A nationalist movement called Zionism aimed to build a homeland for the Jews in Palestine
2. In 1917, the British were looking for support from the Jews and promised them an
eventual homeland in Palestine
a. British support for a Jewish homeland is known as the Belfour Declaration
b. The British also promised the creation of an Independent
Arab state in Palestine in exchange for helping defeat the Ottomans
-This created tensions between the Arabs and Jews
3. When the Germans began persecuting the Jews in 1937, Jewish
emigration to Palestine increased
C. In 1939, the British reversed the Belfour Declaration, favoring instead a
creation of an Arab Palestinian state
1. The Jewish community favored increase emigration to Palestine as many Holocaust
survivors fled Europe
D. In 1947, Britain referred the entire Jewish Arab problem to the United Nations
1. The UN voted to divide Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states
II. In May 1948, Israel declared its independence as a separate Jewish state
A. The establishment of a Jewish nation infuriated the Palestinian Arabs
1. Almost immediately, armies from neighboring Arab countries moved against Israel
2. Although outnumbered, the determined Israelis won
a. When the war ended in 1949, Israel had won more territory than
it had originally been given by the UN
3. Many Palestinians were expelled from the land claimed by Israel
a. They were forced to live in refugee camps
4. The Israeli government would not allow the Palestinians to return to
their homeland
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Middle East (Arab-Israeli Conflict cont.)
Essential Question: How have the Arab-Israeli conflicts shaped the recent history of the Middle East?
III. The Arab-Israeli conflict continues
A. The Six-Day War
1. Egyptian and Syrian troops mobilized near Israel�s northern border
2. Realizing the danger, Israel launched an attack on June 5, 1967
a. In six days of fighting, Israel captured the Sinai Peninsula and
the Gaza Strip from Egypt
b. It captured the Golan Heights from Syria and the West Bank from Jordan
c. Many displaced Palestinians lost faith in the Arab governments
to recapture what had been Palestine
d. Fearing that they might be drawn into the Arab-Israeli conflict,
the US pushed for a permanent peace
B. Egypt under Sadat
1. In Egypt, Anwar Sadat came to power in Egypt
a. He secretly planned and carried out a war against Israel on
October 6, 1973, the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur
2. In September 1978, U.S. President Jimmy Carter invited Sadat and
Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to Camp David
a. At Camp David the three leaders agreed on a peace settlement
(Camp David Accords)
-Because of continued terrorist attacks against Israel, the peace treaty stalled
C. The Conflict Continues
1. From bases in Lebanon, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO)
launched attacks on northern Israel
a. Israel retaliated by invading Lebanon in 1982
-For two months Israel bombed Lebanon�s capital, Beirut
2. The Israeli invasion also caused a deep split within Israeli society
D. New moves toward peace
1. In 1993, negotiations in Norway between Israeli Prime Minister
Shimon Peres and PLO leader Yasir Arafat led to a mutual agreement
a. The PLO officially recognized Israel�s right to exist
b. Israel agreed to to Palestinian self government in the West Bank
and Gaza Strip
c. Extremists on both sides opposed parts of the peace plan
-Many Israelis who had settled on the West Bank feared
violence at the hands of the Palestinians
E. Renewed violence
1. Unfortunately, violence continues in the region today
a. Indeed, prospects for peace look dim