POSC 215 - Term List #2

Theodor Herzl

Jewish journalist and founder/father of Zionism

covered the Dreyfus Affair (1895) and brought forth the conclusion that the accusations and imprisonment of Dreyfus was due to anti-Semitic beliefs

Balfour Declaration

Britain promises Jews a “national home” in Palestine

attempt at pleasing Zionists in Britain

attempt to not upset Sharif Hussein or break their promises made to him in the Hussein-MacMahon Correspondence

Hussein-McMahon Correspondence

in exchange for Sharif Hussein rallying Arab troops to fight against the Ottomans, Britain promised Hussein land from the southern border of Turkey down to the tip of the Arabian peninsula (including Palestine)

Skyes-Picot Agreement

Great Britain and France secretly divided up the Middle East amongst themselves to take control of certain pieces of land after World War I

Palestine would become an international territory

eventually published after it is leaked

The Arab Rebellion (in Palestine, 1936)

Arab Palestinians revolted against increased Jewish immigration during the interwar period from 1936 to 1939

War of 1948

When Britain leaves the Palestine territory, Israel is declared a state

Immediately the surrounding Arab countries declare war on Israel

War ends in a ceasefire, but there was a large number of Palestinian civilians displaced; question of the left on their own free will is debated

War of 1967 (June War; Six Day War)

Soviet intelligence reports Israeli threats to Syria causing it to call on Egypt for help

After Egypt blockades the Straits of Tiran and order the withdrawal of UNEF on the Israeli-Egyptian border, war breaks out for six days

Israel is successful; they control Sinai, Gaza, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights, begin to establish civilian settlements in all of the controlled areas, and declare Jerusalem unified

Palestinian refugees fled to neighboring Arab countries, but were unabsorbed due to poor economic & infrastructural resources, being possible political threats, and concerns about recognizing Israel

United Nations Security Council Resolution 242

declared after the War of 1967

Israel will return territory won in the War of 1967 in return for the Arab states to recognize Israel as a state

land for peace

War of 1973 (October War; Yom Kippur War)

Egypt & Syria were looking to regain lost territory from the War of 1967 (Sinai, the Golan Heights)

Egypt also had a failing economy and increased poverty and President Sadat wanted to be backed by the US instead of the USSR

Egypt took advantage of Israel’s reliance on military reserves to attack during the holidays of Yom Kippur (Israel) and Ramadan (Egypt)

Repercussions: both sides claimed victory, Saudi Arabia issued the 1973 Oil Embargo, the Sinai Disengagement Agreements

Camp David Accords

peace treaty between Egypt and Israel in 1979

statement of principles from Israel (did not recognize a Palestinian State)

established a 5-year transition administration for Palestine

created a “cold peace” between Egypt and Israel; war did not continue, but there were no amicable connections established between the states in the following years

The First Intifada (starts in December 1987)

a local uprising of Palestinians against the Israeli population from Israel-occupied Gaza and the West Bank

local leadership emerges from the organizing the uprisings: some prepared to accept the PLO and others not (Hamas)

Hamas

radical Islamic group that emerged out of the First Intifada

claims Palestine is problem of religion (Islam) and Israel must be destroyed to have a proper Palestinian nation

David Ben-Gurion

first prime minister of Israel who declared the independence of Israel

UN Security Council Resolution 338

calls for a ceasefire to end the War of 1973

calls for the implementation of UNSCR 242 after the ceasefire

same idea as UNSCR 242; land for peace after a war

Palestine Liberation Organization

product of the first Arab Summit in 1964 where the Arab League informed the Palestinians that they are responsible for “liberating” Palestine

declared the sole legitimate representative of Palestinian people in 1974

The Oslo Accords (Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Rule for the Palestinians, 9/13/1993)

PLO recognizes Israel as a state and Israel recognizes the PLO as an administrative body

the West is divided into three zones: Palestinian-administered Zone A, Israeli-administered Zone C, and join Israeli-Palestinian administration in Zone B

Gaza & Jericho are put under Palestinian administrative control

Revisionist Zionism

a form of Zionism that explicitly demands a Jewish state on both sides of the Jordan River

Jewish state with all trappings of national life including an army

believe that the Jewish claim to the land was greater than that of the Arab/Palestinian

popular among urban, land-owning, and non-scoialist Jews

Vladimir Jabotinsky

founder and leader of Revisionist Zionism starting in 1925

believed the Jews claim to land was greater than that of the Arabs/Palestinians because there were several other Arab states and the Jews needed just one of refuge

beliefs grew stronger with the onset of World War II and the Holocaust

Labor Zionism

a form of Zionism that combined the need and creation of a Jewish state with socialist principles

the establishment of Israel should be built by the working class Jews in a cooperative society

founded on the ideas of the kibbutz and labor federations

United Nations Special Committee on Palestine

eleven “neutral” nations were tasked with investigating all aspects of the Palestine question

included 5 weeks of hearings in the Middle East, hearing from the Jewish Nations and the Arab League

after hearings ended, UNSCOP recommended the termination of the Palestine mandate, granting Palestine independence, and a transitional period before indepence

Two-State Solution

a proposed solution to the Israel-Palestine issue where there is both a Jewish state and a Palestinian state on the former Palestine mandate

first proposed in the Peel Commission partition plan in 1937

Camp David II (July 2000)

a failed attempt to negotiate a final status agreement to end the Israel-Palestine conflict due to irreconcilable differences over key issues

Key issues included sovereignty over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the right of return for Palestinians, Israeli settlements and borders in Gaza and the West Bank, and the security of Israel

both sides blamed each other for being unable to reach an agreement and eventually led to the Second (al-Aqsa) intifada

The al-Aqsa Intifada (starts in Sept. 2000)

after Ariel Sharon visited the Temple mount with Israeli police and declared Israel would never give up the Mount, Palestinian demonstrators began to protest leading to being fired on my Israeli soldiers

new wave of violence out of consistent frustration and anger with Israeli control and a feeling of betrayal from the Palestinian Authority

a civilian uprising of Palestinians that Israeli security responded to with great violence

Gaza disengagement by Israel (2005)

In 2005, Israel disengaged from the Gaza Strip by dismantling all 21 Israeli settlements from the land

Gaza was still considered under Israeli occupation because of Israel’s control over the area’s external affairs

Abraham Accords (2020)

establishment of peace, diplomatic relations, and normalization between the United Arab Emirates and Israel

Israel and UAE will act under the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations

each country will establish embassies in each country

each country will recognize the other and treat it with respect and co-existence

October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel and subsequent war in Gaza

a series of coordinated armed attacks by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups from the Gaza strip into southern Israel during the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah

first large scale invasion of Israeli territory since the War of 1948

over 1,000 Israelis were killed and 250 hostages were taken to the Gaza Strip

Israel began bombing the Gaza Strip in retaliation of the attacks and subsequently declared war on Hamas