Timeline of major events in Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Ancient history: both Jews and Arabs claim historical ancestry in region
19th century:
Ottoman Empire controls Palestine; small Jewish community; Theodor Herzl
develops plans for Zionist homeland
1897: Zionist movement
founded (in Europe)
1910s: Chaim Weizmann
lobbies British to support Zionist plans
1914: British census places
population of Palestine at “689,272 persons, of whom no more (and perhaps less)
than 60,000 were Jews”
1916: Sykes-Picot (British-French)
agreement divides Arabian peninsula between British and French; Palestine left
an international zone
1917: Balfour Declaration
announces support of British government for “the establishment in Palestine of
a national home for the Jewish people,” while insisting also upon the rights of
non-Jewish peoples
1921: First Palestinian
uprisings against Zionist settlement (Jaffa)
1920s: Some migration of
European Jews to Palestine: Jewish population rises from 83,790 in 1922 census
(out of 752,048 total) to 174,606 by 1931 (out of 1,033,314 total); more
violence in 1929
1930s: Zionist revisionists
(Vladimir Jabotinsky and Stern Gang) begin negotiations with Nazis over support
for Zionist settlement in Palestine; Jewish population increases more rapidly,
reaching 528,702 by 1944 (out of 1,739,624 total)
1935-39: Major Palestinian
uprising against Zionist settlements; British disarm Palestinian groups in
aftermath
1940s: Armed Zionist groups
pressure British to allow Israeli statehood (1944 Stern Gang assassination of
British Secretary of State Lord Moyne; 1946 bombing of King David Hotel, with
at least 88 killed)
1945-50: US and Britain
refuse to open doors to Jewish holocaust refugees, directing flow of migrants
to Israel
1948: Deir Yassin massacre,
250 killed by Menachim Begin’s troops; flight of as many as 900,000 unarmed
Palestinians to surrounding Arab states; Israeli statehood proclaimed,
recognized by US and 32 other states at UN (13 against, 10 abstentions);
Palestinians and surrounding Arab states reject Israeli statehood, war ensues;
Yitzhak Shamir’s unit assassinates UN mediator, Count Folke Bernadotte
1950s: Israel wins series of
military conflicts with Arab states, solidifying position and laying permanent
claim to former Palestinian lands
1950s-60s: Beginnings of
officially-recognized Middle East terrorism problems, including airplane
hijackings and bombings, first carried out by Israel, eventually by
Palestinians and others; Ariel Sharon’s unit commits massacre at Qibya in 1953
1964: Founding of Palestine
Liberation Organization (PLO)
1967: Israel defeats Egypt
in 6-day war, claiming former Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, and consolidating
further US military and economic support; West Bank and Gaza Strip occupied,
leading to more Palestinian support for PLO
1971: Egyptian President
Anwar al-Sadat offers full peace treaty but is rejected by Israel, US
1972: Islamic terrorist
group kills Israeli athletes at Munich Olympics
1973: Egypt wages
temporarily successful battle against Israel, leading US to reverse position on
negotiations
1974: Oil shocks focus
global attention on Middle East; PLO implies willingness to recognize Israel in
exchange for end of occupation
1978: US, Israel, and Egypt
sign Camp David Peace Accords, returning land to Egypt and buying Egypt out of
pro-Palestinian camp
1981: Sadat assassinated by
fundamentalist group in Egypt
1982: Operation Peace for
Galilee launched, with Israeli forces invading southern Lebanon; operation
leads to more than 17,000 Arab deaths and culminates in massacres of thousands
of civilians at Sabra and Shatila refugee camps
1987: Beginning of
“intifida,” Palestinian uprising in occupied territories
1988: PLO declares
independent Palestinian state, recognized by over 100 nations at UN, but not by
US; PLO reaffirms recognition of Israel’s existence as part of two-state
settlement proposal
1988-89: US-led negotiations
and Israeli military response defuse “intifada”
1990: Massacre of
Palestinians at Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem
1990-91: Elements of
Palestinian leadership side with Iraq in Persian Gulf War, thus losing
international leverage in aftermath of war; Palestinian refugees from Kuwait
return to Jordan and West Bank
1991: Bush administration in
US delays credits to Israel for new housing (for Russian refugees), helping
bring down Itzaak Shamir government
1993: Yassir Arafat and
Itzaak Rabin sign Oslo Peace Accords, leading to formation of Palestinian
Authority in Gaza and parts of West Bank; many Palestinians reject the
legitimacy of this authority; some support swings from PLO to Hamas
1995: Itzaak Rabin
assassinated by Zionist extremists
2000-01: Ariel Sharon visit
to al-Aqsa mosque, with implicit backing of Ehud Barak government, triggers
Palestinian uprising both in occupied territories and within Israel; Israeli
military responds with massive repression (tanks, helicopter gunships,
missiles)
2001: Sharon defeats Barak
in election, becomes Prime Minister; in wake of September 11 World Trade Center
disaster, Israeli repression in the occupied territories intensifies