Why is there fighting?

1. Home to 3 religions

   1. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

   2. Biblical Times

      1. Abraham has roots in all three religions

      2. Abraham had 2 sons from different mothers

         1. Ishmael (Muslim/ Mahamad)- hagar

         2. Isaac (Jewish)- Sarah

         3. Jealousy between mothers has  been passed down through generations and have been fought over religious land

1. WWI: Allies versus Ottoman Empire conflict in Middle East

   1. 1915: Hussein-McMahn letters

      1. Brits promised arabs independence (land) in exchange for help in the war against the Ottomans

   2. 1917: Balfour Declaration

      1. They promised the jews a homeland for help

   3. 1916 Sykes Picot agreement

      1. Secret agreement between the french and the brits to carve up the Middle East but under french and british control

   4. 1918 WWI ends

      1. British/ French occupy different areas

      2. Everyone is angry-no independence

   5. 1919 Feisal- Wizerman agreement

      1.  Jews and arabs made their own agreement

         1. Idea of a 2 state solution

      2. Arabs will only accept in british keep their wartime promises (Brits did not and the plan fell apart)

2. WW2

   1. After the holocaust, jews wanted a safe place to call home

   2. Chose palestine and moved there because of religious significance to the region and the land

   3. Zionism- Desire for a jewish state (came around in the late 1800’s)

   4. Arabs did not want jews moving in

   5. The UN split Palestine into 2 countries

      1. The UN partition Plan 

         1. Israel was for jews, palestine was for arabs

         2. Arab nations protested against israel and wars broke out

3. Independence and war

   1. 1948 Israel declares independence and arab nations attack (Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon)

   2. Israel was better armed and organized seized more land from palestinians 

      1. Seized- to capture; to take

      2. Arabs in captured land fled to get away

   3. Palestinian refugees went into neighboring countries

      1. Refugee- a person who seeks safety in another country to escape a crisis

      2. Many were poor so they went to refugee camps

      3. Fifth generation of palestinians are still in those camps today

   4. The Green Line was created

      1. The bounty between israel and the west bank

      2. Splits jerusalem in half

      3. Also called the pre-1967 boundary 

4. War, Land, Security

   1. Six Day war- israel launched an attack against neighbors- Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq

      1. Why?

         1. Neighbors were mobilizing troops on border

         2. Preemptive strike 

            1. Attack before they attack

   2. Israel seized their land

      1. Siani peninsula and gaza from egypt

      2. West Bank from Jordan

      3. Golan Heights from Syria

      4. Israel occupies all of Palestine and arabs have nothing

   3. Leads to more palestinian refugees

   4. UN demands Israeli troops withdraw for peace

      1. Israel said nope

      2. Israels wants a buffer zone between themselves and their enemy

5. Steps for peace

   1. 1978 Camp david accords (Peace agreements)

      1. Camp david accords- vacation home for the president

      2. Agreement between Israel+Egypt

   2. Israel got peace and recognition 

      1. Recognition- saying  israel is a country and the land is theirs

   3. Egypt got Sunni peninsula back

      1. Land for peace agreement

      2. Why a big deal?

         1. Egypt is the first Arab nation to make peace and recognize Israel

   4. US President Jimmy Carter negotiated with

   5. Israel’s PM Begin

   6. Egypt President Anwar Sadat

   7. 1981 Sadat assassinated

      1. By egyptian extremist 

6. 1980’s

   1. Palestinians moved to reclaim land (west bank)

   2. Palestinians threw stones as soldiers in an uprising called intifada 

      1. Intifada- shaking off

   3. Led to violence by both sides

7. 1990 Peace attempts

   1. 1993: Oslo accords (Oslo, Norway) were signed by 

      1. PM Yitzhak Rabin (Israel)

      2. Yasser Arafat (Palestinians)

      3. Plan for peace - laid out for long term goals

      4. Goal: Eventually Israeli withdrawal from gaza and west bank

         1. Means a 2 state solution

      5. Trust is a big issue

         1. Israel is worried about safety

         2. Takes along time to gain trust

         3. Take baby steps to get there

      6. Gave palestinians control of parts of Gaza and the West bank

      7. Gave palestinians the right to govern themselves

      8. Why was Oslo such a big deal?

         1. First time Palestine and Israel negotiated for peace

   2. Oslo 2- 1995 

      1. Gave palestinians more self-rule in more cities in the West Bank

      2. Allowed for current settlements to remain 

   3. Both Oslo agreements omitted key issues- Jerusalem, refugees, settlements, and boarders

   4. 1995- Rabin was murdered by a jewish extremist who opposed the Oslo accords