The Birth of Israel



The Birth of IsraelJerusalemThe State of Israel was established on May 14, 1948. The 61 years since Israeli independence have been marked by conflict with neighboring Arab states and the Palestinian-Arabs. There have also been many negotiations, and peace has been achieved with Egypt and Jordan. Israel’s democracy has survived under difficult circumstances and the country has prospered despite war, ethno-religious conflict, boycotts, and mass immigration and terror attacks. Since the creation of the Jews state, the percentage of the world’s Jews in Israel has grown; at present about 40% of the world’s Jewish population are Israeli residents. On November 29th, 1947, the United Nations voted for the partition of (the rest of) Palestine. They divided it as is shown on the map. ?Jewish State?Arab StateThe Palestinian Arabs regarded the UN action as illegitimate and rejected the state offered to them. Conflicting claims to the land led to repeated violence. After the 1948 war that followed Israel’s founding, Israel and its Arab neighbors fought three more wars (1948, 1967, and 1973). Israel continued to expand its size and diminish the territory held by Egypt, Jordan and Syria. Between the wars, Israel faced guerrilla and terrorist attacks. Two Peoples Claim the Same Land Many Jewish Israelis believe that the quotation from the Bible, below, promise Israel to the Jewish people as descendents of Abraham. Many Muslims also believe that they are the spiritual heirs to Abraham, as stated in the Quran. They too feel entitled to the land as part of Abraham’s legacy. Representatives of both peoples have lived in the land for centuries. “On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘to your descendants I give this land….”---Genesis 15:18“He [Allah] has chosen you and has placed no hardship on you in practicing your religion—the religion of your father Abraham.”--Quran 22:78The day after the establishing of Israel (May 14th, 1948), five Arab armies (Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq) attacked. The Israeli army had 18.000 soldiers, with a total of 13.000 guns. After 15 months and over 6,000 Israeli deaths, the UN helped negotiate armistice agreements. Terms and People to Know1. The Oslo Accords were a 1993 agreement of mutual recognition of Israel and the PLO and the ensuing peace process led to the transfer of land from Israel to the PLO. 2. PLO [Palestinian Liberation Organization]- a loose union of Palestinian refugee groups created in 1964 that opposed Israel and sought to work towards a Palestinian home rule.3. Yasser Arafat—president of PLO 4. Balfour Declaration—statement of British support of Jewish homeland in PalestineThe war, forced upon Israel, caused thousands of Arabs living in battle zones to abandon their homes as refugees - which continues to increase international sympathy for the Palestinian cause.Yasser Arafat By 1947 he was smuggling weapons to Palestine to be used against the British and Jews. In 1964, the PLO was established under the sponsorship of the Arab League. In 1969, he became the leader of the PLO. Arafat launched attacks against Israel. In 1988 there was a change in policy. In a speech to the United Nations he declared that the PLO renounced terrorism. He agreed to stop the violence, arrest terrorists, dismantle the terrorist infrastructure, collect illegal weapons and end incitement to violence. The prospects for peace brightened. The Oslo Accords of 1994 provided for Palestinian elections which took place in 1996, and Arafat was elected President of the Palestine Authority. Timeline of the History of Israel1937: British propose ending their Mandate and partitioning the remainder of Palestine the 30% left after the splitting off of Jordan) into separate Jewish and Arab states. The partition is accepted by the Jews but rejected by the Arabs. 1939: In an attempt to win Arab support for the impending war with Germany, British issue "White Paper" cutting off Jewish immigration to Palestine. 1944: under pressure from the British, the United States accepts 982 Jewish refugees from liberated Italy and inters them in a concentration camp in Oswego, New York for eventual deportation back to Europe; these are the only Jews allowed into the U.S. during World War II.November 29, 1947: United Nations votes for the partition of the remainder of Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states, with Jerusalem a neutral international city. The United States embargoes arms sales to the Jews while the British sell arms freely to the Arabs; with support from Stalin, the Jews are ultimately able to purchase $12 million of rifles from Czechoslovakia. May 14, 1948: State of Israel declared. British withdraw. New state attacked simultaneously by Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and Egypt. Palestinian Arabs were encouraged by the invading armies to vacate their homes to facilitate a quick war and complete victory. July 1949: The fighting is over but the Israelis refuse to let the Palestinian Arabs who fled to return to their homes. Meanwhile, Jews living in Arab countries jump or are pushed into emigrating to Israel. There are more than 500,000 refugees on each side of the conflict. The Arabs leave the Palestinians in makeshift tent camps. The Israelis begin to build cheap concrete apartment blocks for all the Jews from Arab countries. 1956: Egyptian Colonel Nasser seizes Suez Canal from Anglo-French stockholders. The Canal and Straits of Tiran are closed to Israeli or Israel-bound ships. This prompts an invasion of the Sinai by French, British, and Israeli forces. The armies are forced to retreat under pressure from the Soviet Union and United States. This underscores a humiliating loss of influence and power for the English. 1967: Six Day War. Israel and the Arab countries have been in an official state of war since 1948. However, the first five months of 1967 brought an intensification of hostilities with the Egyptians moving troops into the Sinai and closing the shipping lanes, the Syrians shelling farms in the north, and terrorist attacks coming through all the borders. On June 5, 1967 Israel launched a preemptive strike on all fronts. After six days, the Israelis had conquered the Sinai, the Golan Heights, the West Bank, and Jerusalem. September 1970: Palestinians hijack four commercial airplanes, fly them to Jordan, and blow them up. This was the last straw for King Hussein. Hussein launches massive military campaign to expel all the armed Palestinians from Jordan. More than 5000 Palestinians are killed and this leads to the formation of the Black September terrorist group. Most of the best-armed Palestinians wind up in Lebanon, destabilizing the government there. 1973: Yom Kippur War. The Arabs struck back, easily rolling over Israel's Maginot-style line in the Sinai. After three weeks or so, with heavy American support, the Israelis managed to cross the Suez into Egypt proper and were within 20 miles of Damascus before the US puts a halt to the war. November 1977: Anwar Sadat visits Menachem Begin in Jerusalem for peace negotiations. September 1978: Camp David Accords. March 1979: Israel and Egypt sign a peace treaty, ending more than 30 years of war. June 7, 1981: Israel bombing raid destroys Iraqi nuclear reactor; the United Nations responds by urging all Member States to provide necessary technical assistance to Iraq to restore its peaceful nuclear programOctober 6, 1981: Anwar Sadat assassinated by Islamic fundamentalists. 1982: Israel invades Lebanon and destroys PLO infrastructure there. July 1994: Israel and Jordan sign a peace treaty, ending 46 years of war. November 4, 1995: Pro-compromise Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin killed at a peace rally by a Jewish right-wing assassin. ................
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