2. * By 1947, Palestine remained the only significant European-ruled territory in Middle East. * November 29, 1947: United Nations voted to partition Palestine into an Arab state (Palestine) and a new Jewish state (Israel) * Arab leaders rejected the UN’s decision and declared war against Israel. * The fight ended in 1949 with Israel’s victory.

3. * June 1967, Six-Day War: Israel tripled its land holdings, seizing the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip from Egypt, the Golan Heights from Syria, and the East Jerusalem from Jordan. * October 6, 1973 Yom Kippur War: Egypt and Syria launched a surprised attack on Israel. * American forces helped Israel and this angered the Arab states. * Early 1974, UN negotiated a cease-fire.

4. * For 20 years after the 1967 war, Arabs and Israelis could not agree on the future of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. * By the early 1990s, Israel had agreed to give back some of the territory it had taken in the 1967 war in return for guarantees of peace and security form the Arabs. * However, the peace process moved slowly and was marked by violence from opponents of peace from both sides.

5. * In 1988 the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s (PLO) leader, Yasir Arafat, renounced terrorism and accepted Israel’s right to exist. * By mid-1996, West Bank and Gaza Strip are self ruled and Arafat is elected the first Palestinian president.