1. Arab-Israeli Conflict
                                             

2. Essential Question: Can there be peace in the Arab-Israeli World?

4. Arab-Israeli War of 1948
14 May 1948: Israel declared an independent state
Egypt, Syria, Transjordan, Lebanon, and Iraq invade on 15 May
Fighting continues until January 1949
Jerusalem is divided between Israel and Jordan
Fate of Palestinian refugees left undecided

6. Arab-Israeli War of 1956 USSR signs arms agreement with Egypt in 1955
Israelis feel threatened
Attack and seize the Sinai and Gaza Strip
Relinquished in 1957
French and British retake Suez Canal
UN establishes peace keeping force in Sinai; still in place today

7. Arafat and the PLO
Arafat forms the Palestinian National Liberation Front in 1959
Goal: to liberate Palestine from Israel through guerilla warfare
Palestinian factions form the Palestinian Liberation Organization in 1964
Arafat becomes chairman
Charter calls for elimination of state of Israel

8. Peace Accords Camp David 1979 Egypt recognizes Israel’s right to exist
Israel returns Sinai to Egypt

9. West Bank (2004)
86%
14%
*Includes 190,000 Jewish settlers in the West Bank and 180,000
Jewish Settlers in East Jerusalem

10. Gaza Strip (2004)
99% 1%

11. Arab-Israeli Conflict Today
Trying to maintain an ethnically preferential state (Jewish Israel)
Continued military occupation and confiscation of privately owned land in the West Bank, and control over the Gaza Strip