Middle Eastern History Part 2

The history of the Middle East is a very long one. It has been filled with controversy, joy, wars, and
the development of some of the most well-known monotheistic religions in world history. Presently,
history is still being established in the Middle East. The Middle Eastern story has been some of the
most debated stories among human history. The lands of the Middle East stretch from the Arabian
Peninsula to the Iranian Plateau. The first humans existed from Africa. Human beings from Africa
migrated into locations globally, which definitely includes the Middle East. In ca. 10,000 B.C., there
was the development of intensive flock MANAGEMENT in the Zagros Mountains. Back in the 8th
millennium B.C, Emmer wheat was domesticated and cultivated in southeast Turkey. Turkey
experienced many settlements during the Neolithic age like in Nevali Cori in ca. 8,000 B.C. and in
Cathalhoyuk in southern Anatolia. In Turkey and throughout the Middle East, crops grew and soon
the domestication of the cow came about in the Middle East by the 7th millennium B.C.
Irrigation existed in Mesopotamia by ca. 5,400 B.C. The growth of irrigation is a key part of any
civilization. Irrigation can grow cops and send food to human beings in a more efficient manner. The
wheel and plough was created in ancient Mesopotamia during the 5,000s B.C. too including temples
being founded. Early civilizations were developed during the 4,000s B.C. like the Civilization of Susa
and Kish (in Mesopotamia) by ca. 4,500 B.C. The Merimde culture developed on the Nile from 4,570
B.C. to 4,250 B.C. The famous Badari culture was in Egypt on the Nile from 4,400 B.C. to 4,000 B.C.
The Sumerian civilization developed in this time period as well. They are known for created writing in
Mesopotamia called cuneiform. The Sumerian civilization was a network of city states in the region of
Sumer (or southern Iraq). These city states had agricultural infrastructure, irrigation canals, markets
and a concentrated population. The two centers of Sumer were Eridu and Uruk, which are their
earliest cities. Although the earliest forms of writing in the region do not go back much further than
c. 3500 BCE, modern historians have suggested that Sumer was first permanently settled between c.
5500 and 4000 BCE by a non-Semitic people who may or may not have spoken the Sumerian
language (pointing to the names of cities, rivers, basic occupations, etc. as evidence). They or the
Sumerians had priest kings, councils, polytheistic religions, and other forms of advanced civilization.

By ca. 2,400 B.C., the Semitic speaking people of the Akkadian Empire conquered them or the
Sumerians (who were not Semites). Native Sumerians re-emerged to rule for about a century in the
third dynasty of Ur of the 21st to 20th century B.C. There were mountain peoples who were farmers
and herders as well. The Anatolian peoples were farmers too. Many Semitic human beings were
sheep herders and farmers as well. From 3,500 to 2,500 B.C., the civilizations of Mesopotamia grew.
The peoples of the Middle East traded with Africa, India, and with the Indo-Europeans peoples of
Asia too. The period of 2,500 B.C. to 1,500 B.C. described the growth of civilizations, empires, and
new states.
During this time, Mesopotamia saw the rise of Babylonia into the next level. The Mitanni Empire
existed in Northern Iraq (which was influenced by Semites and Indo-Europeans). Syria and Canaan
grew. The Hittite Empire (as found in Turkey) flourished and they traded with ancient Egypt as well.
Elam developed and Elam is found in modern day Iran. During this time period, centralized states
became more sophisticated. A complex commercial life, bureaucracies, and well organized armies
existed (as a means for civilizations to maintain the strength of Empires). People used the chariot as a
means for warfare or travel. There were massive upheavals and power structures for influence in the
Middle East. Ancient Egypt was the most powerful empire in the region during that time period.
Some believe that ancient Egypt reached its apex of its civilization by the era of the New Kingdom.
The Middle East from 1500 B.C. to 1000 B.C. experienced a lot of changes. From the beginning of this
era, invaders like the Hyksos (or Semitic peoples) and others have attacked ancient Egypt, the
Hittites, Assyria, and Babylon. New peoples started to develop. Also, in this period, the Iron Age
started to flourish. Iron was used in a widespread fashion and it probably started in Asia Minor.
Semitic peoples started to develop their own powerbase in Israel and the Phoenicians grew their
trading and financial civilization. Arabian Kingdoms developed in ancient Saudi Arabia too including
in ancient Yemen. In Iran, we see the rise of the Medes, the Persians, and the Parthians. Uratu is a
culture near Mount Ararat. In Asia Minor, the Hittite empire fall and the Phrygians and the Lydians
control many areas of Turkey. Assyria was a major Mesopotamian Semitic Kingdom. It is found in
Northern Iraq. It came about from 2,500 B.C. to 605 B.C. Smaller states existed during its existence
too. Its capital was the city of Ashur. The Assyrian Empire had chariots, temples, religious
infrastructures, and other parts of a strong civilization.
The Phoenicians traveled all over the Mediterranean Sea into North Africa, Spain, and they traded as
far as the UK. The Phoenicians invented the modern alphabet system of the modern age. The camel
has been domesticated in this period and new trade routes across the Arabian Desert came into
existence. The Israelites formed their own Kingdom. The first record of the name Israel (as ysr r)
occurs in the Merneptah stele, ERECTED for Egyptian Pharaoh Merneptah c. 1209 BCE, "Israel is laid
waste and his seed is not." William Dever sees this "Israel" in the central highlands as a cultural and
probably political entity, more an ethnic group rather than an organized state. The ancestors of the
Israelites are different to the Canaanites. The ancestors of the Israelites were Semites. Villages in
Israel have up to 300 or 400 people. They used farming, herding, and they were largely self-sufficient.
The Tel Dan Stele and the Mesha Stele described the occurrences in Israel by name. It is also
important to note that the ancients knew about Palestine too. In the mid-2nd Century A.D., ancient
geographer Polemon wrote of a place "not far from Arabia in the part of Syria called Palestine," while
Greek travel writer Pausanias wrote in his Description of Greece, "In front of the sanctuary grow
palm-trees, the fruit of which, though not wholly edible like the dates of Palestine, yet are riper than
those of Ionia." (9.19.8). The Persian Empire conquered the Middle East and it was defeated by

Alexander the Greats Greco-Macedonian Empire. After Alexander the Great died at a young age, his
generals ruled the empire. The Roman Empire rapidly conquered the territory of Israel after the
Hellenistic age ended.

The Beginning of the First Millennium A.D.

During the era of Jesus Christ was one of the most controversial eras of Middle Eastern history. The
Parthian and Roman Empires governed Mesopotamia, Iran, etc. The Arabian Kingdoms grew in size
plus power and they traded with the black African peoples of Nubia and the Kingdom of Axum. The
Jewish people were not only found in Judaea (or Israel today), but they existed in Africa, Asia, and
Europe by the time of the Roman Emperor Augustus. Yeshua was a revolutionary rabbi who taught
love, peace, and that the Kingdom of God was at hand. To Christians, he is the Messiah (the Son of
God). To Muslims, he was a great prophet. To those who followed Judaism, he was a leader, but not
the Messiah. Yet, Yeshua was a person who will be very famous and debated long after 33 A.D. I
believe that Yeshua is the Messiah and the Son of the living God. Rebellions existed in Israel when
Jewish people rebelled against Roman Empire tyranny.
The Jewish historian Josephus (c. 37-100 A.D.) was born and raised in Jerusalem. He was a military
commander in Galilee during the First Jewish Revolt against the occupying Roman authority, acted as
negotiator during the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE and later penned vital volumes of Levantine Jewish
history. His works entitled, The Jewish War, Antiquities of the Jews, and Against Apion all contain
copious references to Palestine and Palestinians. Towards the end of Antiquities, Josephus writes, "I
shall now, therefore, make an end here of my Antiquities; after the conclusion of which events, I
began to write that account of the war; and these Antiquities contain what hath been delivered down
to us from the original creation of man, until the twelfth year of the reign of Nero, as to what hath
befallen the Jews, as well in Egypt as in Syria and in Palestine, and what we have suffered from the
Assyrians and Babylonians, and what afflictions the Persians and Macedonians, and after them the
Romans, have brought upon us; for I think I may say that I have composed this history with sufficient
accuracy in all things." (XX.11.2)

The Middle East from 200 B.C. to 200 A.D. was dominated by the Roman Empire, the Scythian
Empire, the Arabian Kingdom, Armenia, and other areas which traded with each other in a high level.
Asia Minor was heavily divided into various client states of the Roman Empire. Greco-Roman
influences are found throughout the region. Syria, Lycia, Judaea, Thrace, and other areas were having
their own cultures as well. By 200 A.D., the Parthian Empire was strengthened and it controlled a
large part of Mesopotamia. The Roman and Parthian Empire had a hostile and competitive
relationship with each other. The Kingdom of Armenia acted as a buffer between both empires. After
Yeshua died, many Christians said that he resurrected. The Christian religion grew with the help of
the apostles (or some of the first followers of Jesus Christ). The growth of Christianity continued in
the Middle East. It soon became larger in members than Judaism and other religions. In the Middle
East during this time, Jewish revolts for liberation were crushed by Roman imperialist armies. For
example, the Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt (from 132 to 135 A.D.), which was about Jewish people trying
to be liberated from Roman tyranny was suppressed by Roman forces. Jewish people were later
barred from Jerusalem and the Emperor Harian built a new pagan city of Aelia Capitolina on the
ruins. Near 500 A.D., the Roman Empire is divided in East and West. The Eastern part of the Roman
Empire encompasses certain parts of the Middle East. The Eastern Roman Empire evolved into the
Byzantium Empire. The Parthian Empire was replaced with another Persian empire. The Sassanid
dynasty of Persia is powerful too. The Sassanid dynasty was very aggressive in its composition.

The Rise of Islam

The Eastern Roman Empire evolved into the Byzantine Empire with some of its own unique
architecture, culture, and government. By the 7th century, Arabic tribes united under the banner of
Islam. Islam was created by Muhammad. Islam is a monolithic religion who has influences from both
Judaism and Christianity. Islam believes that God is one and Muhammad is his prophet. Muslim
believes in zadat or almsgiving and in the Hajj (or in the pilgrimage of Muslims into Mecca as a way
for worshippers to spiritually connect with Allah. Allah is God to the Muslims). Muslims have dietary
and moral rules in their religion as well. Muslims believe that Yeshua was a great prophet, but not
the Son of the living God or the Messiah. Islam spread quickly in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe,
etc. Its armies were powerful. French armies repelled the Muslim military advances. Islam has
similarities and differences to Christianity and Judaism. All of the three religions are monotheistic.
The Persian Empire is gone by the 7th century. The new Islamic Caliphate or empire ruled the Middle
East politically and economically. Caliphate comes from the word caliph meaning successor.
Damascus, Syria was one capital of the caliphate and then it was moved into Baghdad, Iraq. The
Islamic world shifted eastward after ca. 750 A.D. Islam spread into Spain, North Africa, Egypt, Syria,
western India, and other parts of Asia. Caliphs have huge political powers. During this time,
technological and scientific developments came from China like paper, from India like the decimal
system, etc. Arabic scholars developed contributions as it relates to philosophy, medicine,

philosophy, optics, algebra, etc. This information was passed onto Europeans. There was the Fatimid
Caliphate in Egypt. There was the Kingdom of Armenia, the Emirate of Azerbaijan, the Buyid Emirate
of Iran, the Saminid Emirate of Central Asia, etc. Oman and Yemen developed.
Even in the 900s A.D., Nubia and Ethiopia existed. By 979 A.D., we see the rise and fall of the Seljuq
Empire. This empire was made up of Muslim Turks from Central Asia who came into Iran, Iraq, Syria,
and Turkey. The Turkish sultans became the sultanate of Rum. The Ayyubid sultanate grew in size.
The Ayyubids were Turkish people. The Seljuq conquests even spread into the Arabian Peninsula.
There was the Kingdom of Georgia and the Empire of Khwarazm Shah in Iran. Oman and Yemen
existed too. The Seljuq placed strict conditions on Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem.

Later, European Christians lead a number of Crusades to not only fight Muslims, but to conquer the
Middle East in an imperialist fashion. The Catholic Church led the Crusades. The proponents of the
Crusades believe that they were protecting pilgrims to Israel and they wanted Christians to control
areas of the Holy Land from the Muslims (even with the use of force if necessary). Crimes against
humanity didnt just exist in the Middle East, but many Crusades committed barbarous actions in
Europe too. The Europeans temporarily set up a number of Christian states in Syria. This influenced
the modern day Christian populations in Syria and Lebanon. The Crusaders established the Latin
Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1099 to 1187. The Kurdish General Saladin (or Salah al-Din) defeated the
Crusades in 1187 at Hittin in northern Palestine (and he recaptured Jerusalem). Saladin was born in
Takrit, which is in northern Iraq (where Iraqi forces in 2015 are fighting the counterrevolutionary
forces of ISIS). The Khwarazm Shah was made up of Turks too. These Turks came from Central Asia.
They migrated via invasions for the next two centuries. In the 1230s, the Mongols ruled much of the
Middle East. The Mongols conquered Iran and Iraq. By 1258 A.D, they captured Baghdad and killed
the last of the Caliphs. They were only stopped by the slave soldiers of the Mamluq Turks. These
Turks controlled Egypt, Syria, and western Arabia. They ousted the last Crusades strongholds on the
Syrian coast.

More on the Middle Ages

The Mongols introduced firearms in the region and the Mamluq armies used them. Genghis Khan
created the Mongol empire and his descendants ruled it too. Il-Khans were Mongols who converted
to Islam. The sophisticated armies of the Mongol Empire were so strong that they conquered
territories rapidly. The Mongol Empire became one of the largest empires in human history. The
Black Death struck the region in the 1340s. Timur ruled much of the Middle East too. His empire
shrank back to Iran. The Black Sheep Turks ruled Iran too. The Ottoman Empire grew and by 1453,
the Ottoman captured the Byzantine capital of Constantinople. The Ottoman Empire lasted for
centuries. Constantinople felt and many European scholars, monks, and researchers left into Greece,
Italy, and in other places of Europe. They had knowledge with them and these same researchers
influenced the development of the Renaissance movement of Europe. They brought some peace and
stability in the region. Still, it used its armies to conquer Syria in 1516, Egypt in 1517 and western
Arabia (like Hejaz and Yemen). The Ottoman Empire ruled Iraq in 1534. Architecture, cultural growth,
economic growth developed in the prime of the Ottoman Empire. The Safavid Empire was in Iran.
During the 1700s, the Ottoman Empire maintained its power. Arabic people formed emirates and
the Saudi Kingdom. Western interests are more involved in the region too. The West wanted the oil
resources in the Middle East. Nations like Yemen, Oman, and Persia existed by the 1700s. By the
1800s, the Ottoman Empire declined. The reason is that the Ottoman Empire was overextended,
there were economic pressures, and nationalist movements (as found in the Middle East, Armenia,
etc.) grew throughout the Ottoman Empire. Egypt became independent of the Ottomans. Syria and
Iraq once were independent and then became under the control of the Ottomans. Bahrain, Kuwait,
and other areas of the Middle East developed. Persia has grown.

One of the most controversial part (if not the most controversial part) of Middle Eastern history is the
history of Zionism. For decades, very intelligent people among both sides of the issue (of those who
agree or disagree with Zionism) have debated its origin, its justifications, and its existence since its
formation. The man who modernized Zionism was Theodor Herzl, but the Zionist movement existed
long before Herzl was born. In 1160, David Alroy led a Jewish uprising in Kurdistan that wanted to
reconquer Israel. In 1648, the false prophet and false Messiah Sabbatai Zevi (from modern Turkey)
claimed that he would lead the Jewish people back to Palestine. In 1868, Judah ben Shalom led a
large movement of Yemenite Jewish people to Palestine. A dispatch from the British Consulate in
Jerusalem in 1839 reported that: "the Jews of Algiers and its dependencies, are numerous in
Palestine...." There was also significant migration from Central Asia (Bukharan Jews). Many Jewish
people started to travel into Israel in a high level by the late 1800s.
Moses Hess, the German Orthodox Rabbi Kalischer, Mordecai Manuel Noah, and other Jewish
scholars advocated the return of Jewish people into Palestine (which is one core aspect of Zionism).
The major premise of Zionism is that the Jewish people have no homeland of their own, they are
oppressed, and so they have the right to return into Palestine. Yet, you have to take into
consideration the people already living in that land during that time period. Also, it is important to
note that many Jewish people were already in Palestine for centuries after the destruction of the
Temple. When Muslims came into Palestine, they found Jewish communities there. Even during the
Crusades, Jewish people and Muslims fought side by side against the European invading Crusaders
(at Haifas Point). Saladin even invited Jewish people back into the city after he reconquered
Jerusalem. Also, Jewish people in European nations suffered massive persecution in England, Ukraine,
Russia (people fought for giving Jewish people rightful emancipation or voting rights, but Jewish
people still suffered not only anti-Semitism but other forms of unjust oppression including
discrimination. That is wrong), Poland, Spain, etc. This inspired many Jewish people to travel into
Israel. Some of the early proto-Zionists were called Hovevei Zion (or Lovers of Zion) back during
the 1870s. The First Aliyah (or massive migration of Jewish people into the Israel) came about from
1882 to 1903.
Theodore Herzls story must be explained fully. He lived a short life from 1860 to 1904. He promoted
Zionism more in a political sense not in a more spiritual sense. Herzl was a secular journalist. He
covered the Dreyfus Affair. That Affair was about an innocent Jewish man named Dreyfus being
falsely accused and falsely convicted of treason. Dreyfus suffered imprisonment on Devils Island. It
would take years for Dreyfus name to be fully cleared. His story proves that anti-Semitism is found in
the French Army and in the French press. So, Herzl believed that it was impossible for Jewish people
to have liberty except for them to come into Palestine. The first Zionist Congress was convened in
1897. Herzl was offered to set up a nation in Argentina and Uganda, but he refused. He wanted a
nation in Israel. In his famous book "Der Judenstaat" (The State of the Jews), Herzl wrote that the
Jews and their state will constitute "a rampart of Europe against Asia, of civilization against
barbarism," and again regarding the local population, "We shall endeavour to encourage the
poverty-stricken population to cross the border by securing work for it in the countries it passes
through, while denying it work in our own country. The process of expropriation and displacement
must be carried out prudently and discreetly--Let (the landowners) sell us their land at exorbitant
prices. We shall sell nothing back to them." Of course, I disagree with Herzels statement as they are
imperialistic and outright racist. Max Nordau, an early Zionist, visited Palestine and was so horrified
that the country was already populated that he burst out in front of Herzl: "But we are committing a

grave injustice!" Some years later, in 1913, a prominent Zionist thinker and writer, Ahad Ha'am (one
of the people), wrote: "What are our brothers doing? They were slaves in the land of their exile.
Suddenly they found themselves faced with boundless freedom...and they behave in a hostile and
cruel manner towards the Arabs, trampling on their rights without the least justification...even
bragging about this behaviour." So, the truth is that people can voluntarily live in a peaceful fashion
in other lands, but people have to respect the indigenous populations human rights too.

The 20th Century and the 21st Century

By the 1900s, Egypt is under British economic control. The Ottoman Empire is crushed by WWI.
Britain, France, and other European powers split up the Middle East in their own images without
considerations of the aspirations of the Middle Eastern people at all. One major lie is that before
1900, Palestine was a desolate land for centuries. The truth is that Palestine was not an empty land as
many people there have developed culture and civilizations for centuries after the end of the Roman
Empire. Even Ben-Gurion in 1918 admitted that, Palestine is not an empty country. Even one of the
most ardent Zionists, Israel Zangwill, who stated as early as 1905, that Palestine was twice as thickly
populated as the United States. As regards the hill regions, the country is covered with olive
orchards, vineyards and other deciduous fruit trees; while the lands in the South were used for the
cultivation of grain, and those in the Jordan Valley for the production of vegetables and fruits.
During this time period (of the early 20th century), the Ottoman Empire controlled the land.
According to Ottoman records, in 1878 there were 462,465 subject inhabitants of the Jerusalem,
Nablus and Acre districts: 403,795 Muslims (including Druze), 43,659 Christians and 15,011 Jews.
Until the beginning of the 1900s, the majority of Jewish people lived in Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed,
and Tiberias. Most of them observed traditional, orthodox religious practices. They followed a
religious rather than a political, nationalist agenda. Many of them didnt even want a Zionist, Jewish
state. Ironically, many of the secular living Jewish people wanted a modern, independent Jewish state
in Israel. After WWI, Jewish migration into Palestine exploded.
One big reason why we have such tensions in the Middle East is because of the actions of the
European imperialists. These imperialists issued contradictory policies among Jewish and Arabic
peoples in the region, which has exacerbated conflicts. One example is that Sir Henry McMahon

made a secret correspondence with Husayn ibn Ali, the patriarch of the Hashemite family and
Ottoman governor of Mecca and Medina. McMahon convinced Husayn to lead an Arab revolt
against the Ottoman Empire, which was aligned with Germany against Britain and France in the war.
McMahon promised that him that if the Arabs supported Britain in the war, the British government
would support the establishment of an independent Arab state under Hashemite rule in the Arab
provinces of the Ottoman Empire, including Palestine. Yet, the British organized the Skyes-Picot
Agreement, which divided the Middle East under French, English, and Saudi influence. In 1917, the
British foreign minister Lord Arthur Balfour issued the Balfour Declaration. This announced the
governments support for the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine. In 1921, the
British caused the Mandate plan. It caused lands to the east of the Jordan River to be the Emirate of
Transjordan to be controlled by Faisals brother Addallah. The west of the Jordan River would be the
Palestine Mandate. This was the first time in modern history where Palestine became a unified
political entity. So, Great Britain had a huge role to play in the establishment of many Middle Eastern
nations from Saudi Arabia onward.
Could it be that the Western foreign elites used a divide and conquer strategy as a means to divide
up Jewish and Arabic peoples, so that they can be at each other throats (so a real solution can never
materialize and the Western imperialists can control Middle Eastern resources more effectively)?
History proves this to be so. According to William Ziffs book, The Rape of Palestine there were
independent efforts to resolve the issues in the Middle East:
Hussein of the Hejaz looked to the Zionists for the financial and scientific experience which the
projected Arab state would badly need. In May 1918, Dr. Chaim Weizmann and Hussein of the Hejaz
met in Cairo, where the latter spoke of mutual cooperation between Jews and Arabs in Palestine. In
early 19l9 a Treaty of Friendship was signed to provide for the closest possible collaboration in the
development of the Arab state and the coming Jewish Commonwealth of Palestine. On March 3,
19l9, another Arab leader, Feisal, son of Sherif, wrote: We wish the Jews a most hearty welcome
home.
The Arab newspaper Falastin claimed in an editorial that, despite British allegations of an
unreachable enmity between Jews and Arabs, we cannot recall a single instance since the British
occupation here when they made the slightest effort to bring the Arabs and Jews together. Pre-war
Jewish residents lived here peacefully with Arabs for hundreds of years. To this day these Jews, in
addition to the Arabs, maintain that if it were not for the British policy of divide and rule, the Arabs
and Jews would again live in Palestine in peace and harmony.
Dr. Gustavo Gutierrez, former president of Cubas Chamber of Deputies, stated after his visit to the
Holy Land in late 1936 that he saw no evidence of friction or disagreement between the Arab and
Jewish people in Palestine, and that if Arabs and Jews were left to their own councils they could
settle the Palestine problem wisely and permanently. I disagree with Dr. Gutierrez that there was no
violence back then, but he was right to say that a high chance of resolution could have been made if
the Arabic and Jewish people in Palestine set up councils to solve their problems and issues. To solve
the problem, the recognition of the political aspirations of the indigenous population of Palestine
must be respected. In other words, the recognition of Palestinian human personhood is a
prerequisite for justice in the Middle East.

This was not shown in the history books. Therefore, outside British forces did stir up much of the
strife in the Middle East. Tensions occurred between Jewish people and Arabic people. Arabic people
felt betrayed by the false promises of Britain to grant them an independent Arabic state in Palestine.
They also felt that the British people allowed the Jewish people too much leeway in forming
communities and establishing more settlements. Many of the Jewish people wanted more
immigration and more land as a way for them to set up an independent Jewish state. They felt that
the British were preventing that from occurring in a higher level. As early as 1920 and in 1921, violent
clashes broke out between Arabic people and Jewish people.
One of the most controversial, anti-Arabic racist (ironically, he condemned the racism that black
people suffered via Jim Crow in America. Jabotinsky was right to condemn anti-black racism in
America, but he was wrong to call Arabic culture backward), and reactionary Zionists was Zeev
Jabotinsky. He only wanted Arabic people to have human rights in Palestine if Jewish people ruled
Palestine. In other words, he wanted Arabic people to live in a Jewish state being granted equal
rights by Jewish leadership. He was born in 1880. He was a member of the reactionary Revisionist
movement. That movement evolved into the Likud Party today. He was also one founder of the
Haganah (or the Zionist paramilitary group before 1948). Back in 1926, he made the racist statement:
the tragedy lies in the fact the there is a collision here between two truths....but our justice is
greater. The Arab is culturally backward, but his instinctive patriotism is just as pure and noble as our
own; it cannot be bought, it can only be curbed ... force majeure." (Righteous Victims, p. 108)
Jabotinsky was an author, a poet, and a speaker. He spoke numerous languages. Many Revisionists
were openly sympathetic to fascists like Mussolini. Before Jabotinsky died in 1940, he advocated a
Jewish state where Arabic people would have what he deemed equal rights. His other writings
state, "We do not want to eject even one Arab from either the left or the right bank of the Jordan
River. We want them to prosper both economically and culturally. We envision the regime of Jewish
Palestine [Eretz Israel ha-Ivri] as follows: most of the population will be Jewish, but equal rights for all
Arab citizens will not only be guaranteed, they will also be fulfilled This is a halfhearted measure
because he wanted Palestine to be dominated by one group of people under the guise of equal
rights. In 1934, he wrote a draft constitution for the Jewish state which declared that Arabs would be
on an equal footing with their Jewish counterparts "throughout all sectors of the country's public
life." Jabotinsky was right to oppose the evil dictator and murderer Adolf Hitler.
In a radio broadcast on April 28, 1933, Jabotinsky strongly condemned any possible pact between
Zionism and Hitler. Hes right on that point. Jabotinsky upheld in his radio address the Revisionist
platform for an international economic boycott on German exports, suggesting in addition that the
British Mandate of Palestine should assume the lead in the boycott efforts Still, Jabotinsky was wrong
in advocating using force or violence against Palestinians, Jabotinsky was wrong to admire Benito
Mussolini (which Jabotinksy supporters fail to mention), and there is no justification for his other
extreme statements. Jabotinsky believed in more free market, laissez faire views economically (in
opposing to Chaim Arlosoroffs more progressive views on economics. Arlosoroff was right to
promote more peaceful co-existence between Jewish people and Arabic people. Chaim Arlosoroffs
promotion of the controversial Ha'avara Agreement with the Nazi government may have contributed
to his unfortunate, evil assassination in June 16, 1933). So, the legacy of Jabotinsky is complicated.

During the 1920s, the Jewish National Fund purchased large tracts of land from absentee Arabic
landowners. The Arabic people like farmers, etc. living in those areas were evicted. These
displacements caused more tensions. Violence between Jewish settlers and Arabic peasant tenants
continued. This violence occurred in August 15, 1929. Members of the Betar Jewish youth movement
(a pre-state organization of the Revisionist Zionists) demonstrated and raised a Zionist flag over the
Western Wall. Fearing that the Noble Sanctuary was in danger, Arabs responded by attacking Jews in
Jerusalem, Hebron and Safed. Among the dead were 64 Jews in Hebron. Their Muslim neighbors
saved many others. The Jewish community of Hebron ceased to exist when its surviving members left
for Jerusalem. During a week of communal violence, 133 Jews and 115 Arabs were killed and many
wounded. WWII again caused Jewish immigration to Palestine to increase, because Hitler rose to
power in Germany by 1933. Hitler has an explicit agenda to exterminate Jewish people and other
human beings in a racist, genocidal fashion. The controversial Royal (Peel Commission) existed in July
7, 1937. This desired a partition of Palestine into a Jewish and Arabic state (along with a neutral area
which contained the holy places). It also wanted to transfer or force Arabic people out of the Jewish
state, which is wrong. Arabic people opposed the Royal Commission proposal and desired a unitary
Palestinian state. Many Arabic people were angered at the British and the French control over Middle
Eastern territory as a violation of their right to human self-determination.

This is Haj Amin al-Husseini meeting and shaking hands with the evil male (not man) Heinrich
Himmler back in 1943.
The Arabic revolt of 1936-1937 in Palestine existed over the frustration over the growth of British
control and Zionist settlements. Abd al-Rahim al-Hajj Muhammad was one military commander of
the Arabic revolt. Many military leaders of the Palestinian side were exited after the revolt ended.
This revolt was suppressed by the British with the help of Zionist militias (and the complicity of
neighboring Arabic regimes). The British issued the 1939 White Paper. That documented limited
future Jewish immigration and land purchased. It promoted independence in ten years with a result
of a majority-Arab Palestinian state. The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Mohammad Amin al-Husayni was

a notorious enemy of freedom and justice. The British High Commissioner Herbert Samuel appointed
him as Grand Mufti. He was the leader of the Arab Higher Committee and he was an Arab nationalist.
There is nothing wrong with being an Arabic nationalist, but the problem was that the Grand Mufti
allied with the Nazi regime. There are pictures of the Grand Mufti allying with Nazis (and he gave
propaganda radio broadcasts by helping the Nazis recruit Bosnian Muslims for the Warren-SS),
which was disgraceful. That is why Abdullah I of Jordan officially removed al-Husayni and banned
him from entering Jerusalem in 1948. By 1948, Jordan occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank. He
died in 1974.
After WWII, hostilities continued among Jewish people and Arabic people. There were clashes
between Zionist militias and the British army. So, Britain ended its mandate over Palestine and
requested that the newly formed United Nations will determine the future of Palestine. The British
government wanted the UN to establish Palestine as an UN trusteeship back to them. The UN
committee recommended that Palestine ought to be divided or portioned into 2 states (one state
dominated by Palestinian people and the other state dominated by Jewish people). To the United
Nations, this plan could satisfy the needs and demands of both Jewish and Palestinian peoples. At
the end of 1946, 1,269,000 Arabs and 608,000 Jews resided within the borders of Mandate Palestine.
Jews had acquired by purchase about 7 percent of the total land area of Palestine, amounting to
about 20 percent of the arable land.
On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to partition Palestine into two states, one
Jewish and the other Arabic. In the time, only a few Jewish settlements would within the proposed
Arabic state while hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabic people would be part of the
proposed Jewish state. The territory for Jewish people would slighter larger than the Arabic state (in
56 to 43 percent). The UN partition plan made the area of Jerusalem and Bethlehem an international
zone. Some Zionist leadership publicly accepted the UN partition plan (yet, privately, some of them
felt that it didnt go far enough) while the Arabic people rejected the UN plan as an act of betrayal.
So, the United Nations wanted to solve the problem, but this plan was disputed by many people in
the region. Fighting began between Arabic and Jewish residents of Palestine days after the UN
partition plan (in 1947, so it is a lie to assume that all sides were just fighting each other in 1948
when Israelis declared themselves a nation). The Zionist military forces were heavily organized. By
early April 1948, Zionist forced control over most the territory that the partition required and then
went on the offensive to conquer more territory beyond the partition borders. International forces
played both the Jewish and Arabic peoples against each other. This caused tensions. Jewish and
Arabic peoples CONTINUE to fight to this very day. Both sides claim each side is unfair for different
reasons.

Here is David Ben Gurion reading the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel in 1948,
By May 15, 1948, the British evacuated Palestine. On that same day, Zionist leaders proclaimed the
State of Israel as a Jewish nation. It was a historic moment. Then, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq
invaded Israel. These nations said that they wanted to save Palestine from the Zionists. Lebanon
declared war, but they didnt invade Israel. In the beginning, the winner of this war was uncertain.
Arms shipments from Czechoslovakia came into Israel. Later, Israel was defeating the Arabic military
forces and conquered additional territories beyond the UN partition borders. It would be in 1949
when the war between Israel and the Arabic states would end by the signing of armistice
agreements. Palestine was divided into 2 parts. The boundaries were in the 1949 armistice lines. The
State of Israel made up over 77 percent of the territory. Jordan occupied East Jerusalem and the
West Bank via the 1949 armistice agreement. Also, Egypt controlled the city of Gaza and the Gaza
Strip. The Palestinian Arabic state envisioned by the UN partition plan was never created. The 19471949 war caused over 700,000 Palestinians to be refugees. Palestinians said that most were expelled
because Zionists wanted to rid the country of its non-Jewish inhabitants. The Israelis say that Arabic
political and military leaders forced the Palestinians to be refugees by force.

These are images of Palestinian refugees. Even today, Palestinians are not totally free and we have to
fight until all Palestinians have true justice and true equality in the region.
One Israeli military intelligence document indicates that through June 1948 at least 75 percent of the
refugees fled due to military actions by Zionist militias, psychological campaigns aimed at
frightening Arabs into leaving, and dozens of direct expulsions. The proportion of expulsions is likely
higher since the largest single expulsion of the war50,000 from Lydda and Ramleoccurred in
mid-July. Only about 5 percent left on orders from Arab authorities. We know that massacres
occurred against Arabic people like the atrocity of Dayr Yasin (which is a village near Jerusalem). The
number of Arabic residents killed in cold blood by reactionary Zionist militias was about 125 people.
Many refugee camps of Palestinians are in the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, etc. Palestinians in
Israel were not full members of the Israeli trade union federation of the Histadrut until 1965. To this
day, Arabic Israeli citizens have been discriminated against. Until 1967, they were entirely isolated
from the Arab world and often were regarded by other Arabs as traitors for living in Israel. Since
1967, many have become more aware of their identity as Palestinians. In recent years it has become
illegal in Israel to commemorate the Nakbathe expulsion or flight of over half the population of
Arab Palestine in 1948. Israels Central Elections Committee has several times used patently political
criteria to rule that Arab citizens whose views it found objectionable may not run in parliamentary
elections.
During 19481967, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, was ruled by Jordan, which annexed the
area in 1950 and extended citizenship to Palestinians living there. In the same period, the Gaza Strip
was under Egyptian military administration. In the 1967 war, Israel captured and occupied these
areas.
Yemenite Jewish people arrive in Israel via Operation Magic Carpet. They settled in the old British
camp while the nearby town of Rosh Ha-Ayin was being built in 1949-1950. The nation of Egypt on
1956 was headed by the charismatic nationalist named Gamer Nasser. He wanted Egypt to have
interdependence from colonialism. He wanted more control of the Suez Canal, which was opened in
1869. Egypt owned the canal and the operating company was sold to the British government of
Benjamin Disraeli (back during the 19th century). They were willing buyers and obtained a 44 percent
share in the canal's operations for less than 4 million; this maintained the majority shareholdings of
the mostly French private investors. In the late 1800s, British imperialists took over the canal, its
finances, and operations. In October of 1951, the Egyptian government abrogated the AngloEgyptian Treaty of 1936 (which granted Britain a lease on the Suez base for 20 more years). Britain

refused to withdraw from the Suez. The British refused to give the canal up. After the 1952 military
coup, the national President Gamal Abdul Nasser became President via the overthrow of King
Farouk. Nasser for a time allied with America since he wanted to use America as a buffer against
British aggression. Nasser rejected Dulles claim that the Soviet Union wanted to take over the
Middle East. Nasser later changed and viewed America (via Eisenhower, Dulles, etc.) as an ally of
Israeli expansion. Britain, France, and Israel united in attacking Egypt first (because Nasser
nationalized the Suez Canal and Israel wanted to neutralize Palestinian commando attacks on Israel
from the Gaza strip). Israeli forces captured Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula during the 1956 Suez canal
war. Egypt responded and a cease fire came about. America and the Soviet Union pressured Britain,
France, and Israel to enact a cease fire, because America and the Soviet Union wanted Egypt as an
ally. Tensions would rise into the 1960s.

The Six Day War of 1967 had a complex history. During the Spring of 1967, the Soviet Union
misinformed the Syrian government that Israeli forces were massing in northern Israel to attack Syria.
There was no Israeli mobilization. There have been clashes between Israel and Syria for a time. Israeli
leaders contemplated bringing down the Syrian regime if it failed to end Palestinian guerilla attacks
from Syrian territory. Syria wanted assistance, so in May of 1967, Egyptian troops entered the Sinai
Peninsula bordering Israel. Days later, Nasser asked the UN observer forces stationed between Israel
and Egypt to redeploy from their positions. The Egyptians occupied Sharm al-Sheik at the southern
tip of the Sinai Peninsula. They proclaimed a blockade of the Israeli port of Eilat on the Gulf of Aqaba
saying that access to Eilat passed through Egyptian territorial waters. Many Israelis felt that Egypt
was planning an attack on Israel. This crisis continued. On June 5, 1967, Israel preemptively attacked
Egypt and Syria. That destroyed their air forces within a few hours. Jordan joined the fighting and
Israel attack Jordan too. The Egyptian, Syrian, and Jordanian armies were decisively defeated. Israel
occupied the West Bank from Jordan, the Gaza Strip, and the Sinai Peninsula form Egypt, and the
Golan Heights from Syria. It lasted only six days which is why the war is called the 1967 Six Days War.
One source talks about this war:
Moshe Dayan, the celebrated commander who, as Defense Minister in 1967, gave the order to
conquer the Golan...[said] many of the firefights with the Syrians were deliberately provoked by
Israel, and the kibbutz residents who pressed the Government to take the Golan Heights did so less
for security than for the farmland...[Dayan stated] They didnt even try to hide their greed for the
land...We would send a tractor to plow some area where it wasnt possible to do anything, in the
demilitarized area, and knew in advance that the Syrians would start to shoot. If they didnt shoot, we
would tell the tractor to advance further, until in the end the Syrians would get annoyed and shoot.
And then we would use artillery and later the air force also, and thats how it was...The Syrians, on the
fourth day of the war, were not a threat to us. The New York Times, May 11, 1997

After the 1967 war, Israel began the dominant regional military power. Ironically, the PLO or the
Palestine Liberation Organization became more militant after the war. The PLO was created in 1964
as a way to promote Palestinian nationalism. After the 1967 war, the UN Security Council adopted
Resolution 242, which notes the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force, and calls for
Israeli withdrawal from lands seized in the war and the right of all states in the area to peaceful
existence within secure and recognized boundaries. The grammatical construction of the French
version of Resolution 242 says Israel should withdraw from the territories, whereas the English
version of the text calls for withdrawal from territories. (Both English and French are official
languages of the UN.) Israel and the United States use the English version as an excuse to withdrawal
from some not all of the territories occupied in the 1967 war. Me personally, Israel should withdrawal
from all occupied territories. For many years, the Palestinians rejected resolution 242 as not going far
enough. They felt that it doesnt recognize the Palestinian right to national self-determination and
the right of them to return to their homeland. Its call for just settlement for refugees is ambiguous.
By calling for recognition of every state in the area, Resolution 242 entailed unilateral Palestinian
recognition of Israel without reciprocal recognition of Palestinian national rights. From 1948-1967,
the West Bank including East Jerusalem was ruled by Jordan. Jordan annexed the area in 1950 and
gave citizenship to Palestinians living there. In the same period, the Gaza Strip was under Egyptian
military administration. After 1967, the occupied territories are today ruled by Israel. The occupied
lands of the West Bank and Gaza today are ruled by an Israeli military administration. From June
1967 to the present, Israel rules East Jerusalem too from Jordan. Most of the international
community views East Jerusalem as part of occupied West Bank.
Soon, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, and other nations become independent after WWII.
The era of the 1970s continued with controversy in the Middle East. In 1971, Egyptian President
Anwar al-Sadat (who had black Sudanese heritage too) indicated to UN envoy Gunnar Jarring that he
was willing to sign a peace agreement with Israel. Yet, Sadat wanted the return of Egyptian territory
lost in the 1967 Six Day war (which includes the Sinai Peninsula). The Jarring Initiatives lasted from
1967 to 1971. They failed. This overture was ignored by Israel and the U.S. including Syria decided to
act to break the political stalemate. They attacked Israeli forces in the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan
Heights in October 6, 1973 on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur. This surprise attack caught Israel
off guard. Soon, the Arabic people achieved some early military victories. Many know about the story
about how the Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir begged then President Richard Nixon (a man not
known for his love of Jewish people per se. Nixon made anti-Semitic statements in private) to give
Israel military aid. Golda Meir was the first woman Prime Minister of Israel. Richard Nixon agreed to
give Meir foreign aid (i.e. military aid). European nations didnt give Israel military forces. The Yom
Kippur war was won by Israeli forces. U.S. Secretary of State and the very controversial Henry
Kissinger wanted a diplomatic strategy of limited bilateral agreements to secure partial Israeli
withdrawals from the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights. Kissinger wanted to not talk about more
difficult issues like the fate of the West Bank and Gaza. This era begin the time of America talking the
role of mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Anwar al-Sadat later created a separate overture to Israel. He traveled to Jerusalem on November 19,
1977. He gave a speech to the Knesset (or the Israeli Congress). Sadat recognizes the state of Israel in
human history. In September 1978, President Jimmy Carter invited Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister
Menachem Begin to Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland. They worked out 2 agreements.
One is the framework for peace between Egypt and Israel and a general framework for resolution of
the Middle East crisis (like the Palestinian issue). In 1978, the Palestinian-American literary Edward
Said published the book called, Orientalism. This book influenced many critical thought. The book
wanted to expose the stereotypical Western view of the Middle East. The work about the PalestinianIsraeli conflict extensively in works liked The Question of Palestine from 1979. The Iranian
Revolution came about in 1979. This occurred, because demonstrators protested the dictatorship of
the Shah in Iran. The Shah flees Iran by 1979 and the Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Iran on February
1, 1979 (he causes Iran to follow a strict code of Islamic law). This changed Middle East history
forever and we today deal with Shia leadership of Iran. The first agreement formed the basis of the
Egyptian/Israeli peace treaty, which was signed in 1979. This was very historic. The second agreement
proposed to grant autonomy to the Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip for a five year
interim period (after which the final status of the territories would be negotiated). Only the EgyptianIsraeli part of the Camp David Accords was implemented.
The peace treaty between Egypt and Israel was signed on March 26, 1979 in Washington, D.C. The
treaty allowed Egyptian and Israeli citizens to travel between both nations. Palestinians and other
Arab states rejected the autonomy concept because it did not guarantee full Israeli withdrawal from
areas captured in 1967 or the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. Israeli sabotaged
negotiation by continuing to confiscate Palestinian lands and build new settlements in violation of
the commitments Begin made to Carter at Camp David. Saddam Hussein became President of Iraq
on July 16, 1979. On November 1979, 90 people (including 63 Americans) were taken hostage in the
American Embassy in Tehran by Iranian students. The students wanted the Shah to return to Iran, so
he can experience trial for crimes. Some hostages are released, but 52 of the Americans would be
held for 444 days before their release. The U.S. freezes all Iranian assets invested in the U.S. Anwar
Sadat would be assassinated by radical Islamist forces in October 6, 1981.

The 1980s were some of the bloodiest times of modern Middle Eastern history. It was the decade
when the Palestinian freedom movement went into the next level of international prestige and
power. On September 22, 1980, Iraq invaded Iran. The war existed because of disputes over land and
water resources like the Shatt al-Arab waterway. The war was bloody and Iran seized thousands of
square miles including numerous oil fields. It lasted for 8 years and more than 500,000 Iraqis and
Iranians die. Neither side was able to claim victory.
Since 1968, the Israelis and the PLO fought each other. The Palestinian terrorist attack at Maalot in
May 1974, where 20 teenage youth were killed, was preceded by weeks of sustained Israeli
phosphorous and napalm bombing of Palestinian refugee camps in southern Lebanon resulting in
the deaths of more than 300 people. Just two days before Maalot, an Israeli air attack on the village
of El-Kfeir in Lebanon had killed four civilians. By 1975, Israel had killed about 10 times as many
Palestinians and Lebanese in cross border attacks as the total number of Israelis killed in Palestinian
commando raids by 1982. As early as 1976, Israel assisted Lebanese Christian militias in their battles
against the PLO (who had a strong base in Lebanon). Israel also partnered with the Maronite
Phalange Party (which was a Christian militia group). It was headed by Bashir Gemayel or a rising
figure of Lebanese politics. The Lebanese Civil War continued. Gemayel wanted to provoke the
Syrians into retaliatory attacks on Christians, so Israel cant ignore it and Israel would intervene. Israeli
used Operation Litani in 1978 in response to the Palestinian militants being involved in the Coastal
Road Massacre. In 1978, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin declared Israel would not allow the
genocide of Lebanese Christians while refusing direct intervention. Also, there were thousands of
Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon (who were expelled from their lands in Palestine). The
Maronites would train in Israel. Ariel Sharon wanted a plan to install a pro-Israel Christian
government in Lebanon.
During the period June to December 1980 the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)
recorded an increase in activities along the border zone. No attacks by Palestinian forces on Israel
were recorded, while the IDF incursions across the armistice line into Lebanon increased markedly,
with minefields being laid, gun posts established, and generally involving numerous violations of
Lebanese air-space and territorial waters. This was formally protested by the Lebanese government
to the UN Security Council and General Assembly in several communication citing violations by Israel
of United Nations Security Council Resolution 425. During the same period Israel protested
numerous attacks by Palestinian forces, unrelated to the Lebanese border zone. The IDF increased
their attacks in Lebanese territory from 1980-1981. There was a calm and then Israel renewed its air
strikes in Beirut on PLO buildings, etc. There was Palestinian retaliations as well in northern Israel. On
July 24, 1981, United States Undersecretary of State Philip Habib established a ceasefire that both
sides needed badly. The truce lasted from July 1981 to June 1982. A landmine killed an Israeli officer
on April 21, 1982 when he was visiting a South Lebanese Army gun emplacement in Taibe, Lebanon.
Israeli then attacked the Palestinian controlled coastal town of Damour killing 23 people. The mine
was probably laid in 1978. Major-General Erskine (Ghana), Chief of Staff of UNTSO reported to the
Secretary-General and the Security Council (S/14789, S/15194) that from August 1981 to May 1982,
inclusive, there were 2096 violations of Lebanese airspace and 652 violations of Lebanese territorial
waters. Arafat accepted the cease fire agreement. Yasser Arafat or the leader of the PLO relocated
the headquarters of the PLO in Tripoli in June 1982.

The June 3, 1982 shooting of Slomo Argov (or the Israeli ambassador to the UK) lit the fuse. The
person who shot him was not a member of the PLO, but they were part of the Iraqi backed Abu Nidal
terrorist organization. Abu Nidal wanted to kill PLO leaders too. The PLO denied complicity in the
attack. Israel still used punishing air and artillery strikes against Palestinian targets in Lebanon
including PLO camps. Sabra and the Shatila refugee camps were bombed for four hours and the local
Gaza hospital was hit there. About 200 people were killed in these attacks. The PLO retaliated by
using rockets attacks against northern Israel. Many Israelis were wounded. The pre-emptive invasion
of Lebanon by Israel occurred on June 6, 1982 under the direction of Defense Minister Ariel Sharon.
They wanted to push the PLO forces back 25 miles to the north. Israeli used air attacks and military
actions in Lebanon and Syria. After Bachir Gemayel was assassinated when he was elected as
President of Lebanon (on September 14, 1982), Israeli forces occupied West Beirut the next day. The
Lebanese Christian Militia called the Phalangists (or allies of Israel) killed thousands of Palestinian
civilians in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila. Furthermore, Israeli investigation by the Kahan
Commission of Inquiry found that Ariel Sharon bore "personal responsibility" for failing to prevent
the massacre, and for failing to act once he learned that a massacre had started, and recommended
that he be removed as Defense Minister and that he never hold a position in any future Israeli
government.
Sharon initially ignored the call to resign, but after the death of an anti-war protester following an
anti-war protest, he did resign as Israel's Defense Minister, however, he remained in Begin's cabinet
as a Minister without portfolio. On September 1982, the PLO withdrew most of its forces from
Lebanon. The May 1983 accord in Lebanon allowed Israeli forces to withdraw from Lebanon. Israeli
forces would not totally withdraw from Lebanon until the year of 2000. The Israeli invasion of
Lebanon came and the creation of Hezbollah existed. The UN investigation has found that the

government of Israel has violated international law in their invasion of Lebanon. The reactionary
Prime Minister Begin supported the expansionist Greater Israel strategy. U.S. Marines came in
Lebanon to oversee the peaceful withdrawal of the PLO from the Lebanese capital of Beirut. A suicide
bomber killed 241 U.S. Marines in October 23, 1983. It wounded over 199 people. The 241 Marines
who died were part of a 1,800 contingent of Marines. The civil war came about in Yemen in January
1986 between the government of Southern Yemen and Marxists.

On December 9, 1987, the first Palestinian Intifada existed. This uprising was against Israeli
occupation in the West Bank and the Gaza. Intifada is an Arabic word meaning shaking off. It was
not created by the PLO leadership in Tunis. It was created as a popular mobilization that drew on the
organizations and institutions that had developed under occupation. For years, the intifada involved
hundreds of thousands of people (with no resistance experience) including children and teenagers
using civil disobedience. Many Palestinians used general strikes, refusal to pay taxes, boycotts of
Israeli products, political graffiti, and the use of underground schools (as regular schools were closed
by the military as reprisals for the uprising). Some used stone throwing, Molotov cocktails, and the
creation of barricades to impede the movement of Israeli military forces. There were committees
supporting the intifada under the umbrella of the United National Leadership of the Uprising.
Ironically, the Palestine National Council (or the PLOs leading body) convened in Algeria in
November 1988. They recognized the State of Israel and proclaimed an independent Palestinian
state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. They renounced terrorism. The Israeli government rejected
these gestures since they claimed that the PLO was a terrorist organization and they would never
negotiate (as nothing has changed).

Yitzhak Rabin was the Defense Minister during this time. He tried to end the Intifada with force,
power, and beatings. Army commanders instructed troops to break the bones of demonstrators.
From 1987 to 1991, Israeli forces killed over 1,000 Palestinians, including over 200 under the age of
16. Israel arrested people massively. During this time period, Israel had the highest per capita prison
population on Earth. By 1990, most of the Palestinians leading the intifada were in jail. The intifada
lost its cohesive force, but it will continue for many more years. The targeting killing or targeted

assassination was instituted by Israel during the first Intifada in the Occupied Territories. The deal is
that these operations were done by undercover units and they disguised themselves as Arabic
people to approach and kill their targets. Some Palestinians were killed from a distance. To evade
war crimes allegations for years, Israels targeted killing policy was staunchly denied. The Palestinian
political moment became further divided. By 1990, we see the PLO, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, etc.
Palestinian militants killed over 250 Palestinians suspected of collaborating with the occupation
authorities and about 100 Israelis during this period. The U.S. and Israel rejected PLO policies of
moderation, so the PLO opposed the U.S. led attack on Iraq (who temporally occupied Kuwait).
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia cut off financial support they had been providing, bringing the PLO to the
brink of crisis.
The U.S. by the 1990s took a more involved role in stabilizing the Middle East crisis and a resolution
of the Arabic-Israeli conflict. President George H. W. Bush pressed a reluctant Israeli Prime Minister
Yitzhak Shamir to open negotiations with the Palestinians and the Arabic states. This happened in the
multilateral conference convened in Madrid, Spain in October 1991. Shamirs conditions, which the
U.S. accepted, were that the PLO would be excluded from the talks and that the Palestinian desires
for independence and statehood not be directly addressed. So, these talks were token moves not
revolutionary, courageous actions. Later, there were other negotiating sessions held in Washington.
Palestinians were represented by a delegation from the Occupied Territories. Residents of East
Jerusalem were barred by Israel from the delegation on the grounds that the city is part of Israel. The
PLO was formally excluded from the meeting. Yet, its leaders regularly consulted with and advised
the Palestinian delegation. Little progress was made when Israeli and Palestinian delegations met
many times. Prime Minister Shamir announced after he left office that his strategy was to drag out
the Washington negotiation for ten years. There was later the annexation of the West Bank. Yitzhak
Rabin became the Prime Minister in 1992. Soon, human rights conditions in the West Bank and the
Gaza Strip decreased rapidly. Many Palestinians delegates resigned.
The Washington talks were not progressing. So, a radical Islamist challenge to the PLO has been
going on. Violent attacks against Israeli military and civilian targets by Hamas and Islamic Jihad
further exacerbated tensions. Violent attacks against Israeli military and civilian targets by Hamas
and Islamic Jihad further exacerbated tensions. The first suicide bombing occurred in 1993. Before
the Intifada, Israeli authorities enabled the development of numerous Islamist organizations (so the
Palestinians can be divided in the Occupied Territories). These Islamists grew and they challenged the
moderation of the PLO. Later, Israel regrets this policy of encouraging political Islam as an alternative
to the PLOs secular nationalism. Rabin believed that Hamas, Jihad, and the broader Islamic
movements of which they were part posed more of a threat to Israel than the PLO.

The Oslo Accords is one of the most important parts of the Middle Eastern story. The Rabin
government started to make talks with the PLO. The reason is that there was the fear of radical Islam
and the stalemate in the Washington talks. So, Israel initiated secret negotiations directly with PLO
representatives. Surprisingly, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin became more progressive in his policies.
These talks were held in Oslo, Norway. Finally, the Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles was signed in
Washington on September 1993. The Declaration of Principles was based on the mutual recognition
of Israel and the PLO. It wanted Israel to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and Jericho (along with further
withdrawals from unspecified areas of the West Bank during a five year interim period). There were
to be future final status talks. These final status talks will discuss about more difficult issues like: the
territories ceded by Israel, the water rights, the resolution of the refugee crisis, the nature of a
Palestinian state, the status of Jerusalem, etc. In 1994, the PLO formed a Palestinian Authority or the
PA with self-governing or municipal powers in the areas from which Israel forces were redeployed.
The PLO accepted this albeit flawed agreement with Israel. The agreement was fragile and it had little
diplomatic support in the Arabic world.
Rabin's widow Leah wrote in her memoir, Rabin: Our Life, His Legacy, that the inability to put down
the rebellion without resorting to unacceptable tactics changed her husband. "The Intifada made it
wholly clear to Yitzhak that Israel could not govern another people." By 1989, she continues, he "was
gradually moving toward advocating Palestinian autonomy and self-determination." Many Islamist
radicals, some local leaders in the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip challenged Arafats leadership and
rejected the negotiations (because they believed that Oslo didnt go far enough). Hamas introduced
the act of suicide bombings during this period. Some were done in retaliation for Israeli attacks like
the 1994 massacre by an American-born Israeli settler of 29 Palestinians who were praying at the
Ibrahim mosque in Hebron. Others seemed motivated by a wish to derail the Oslo process.
Regardless, there is no justification for suicide bombing at all period. The Oslo accords set up a
negotiating process without specifying an outcome. Rabins administration grew more progressive
and even handed with the Palestinians. The Palestinian National Authority via the Oslo Accords was
given partial control over parts of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Prior to the signing of the
accords, Rabin received a letter from PLO chairman Yasser Arafat renouncing violence and officially
recognizing Israel, and on the same day, September 9, 1993, Rabin sent Arafat a letter officially
recognizing the PLO. These were very historic times. Rabin was part of the Labour Party in Israel (this
party has a coalition with the left wing Meretz party and the Mizrahi ultra-orthodox religious party
called Shas). Many hardline, reactionary Israelis protested and opposed Oslo in viewing it as a sellout.
Yitzhak Rabin courageously stood up for peace. Yitzhak Rabin even shook hands with Yassir Arafat in

public. He said to him that: "We who have fought against you, the Palestinians, we say to you
today, in a loud and a clear voice, enough of blood and tears ... enough! Rabin signed the IsraelJordan peace treated in 1994. Rabin, Shimon Peres, and Arafat received the Nobel Peace Prize in
1994 for their actions in the creation of the Oslo Accords.

A tragic event came later. On the evening of November 4, 1995 (on the 12th of Heshvan on the
Hebrew Calendar), Rabin was killed by the murderer Yigal Amir (with a semi-automatic pistol. Rabin
was killed via 2 shots. A third shot lightly injured Yoram Rubin or Rabins bodyguard. Rabin died in
Ichilov Hospital). Rabin bleed to death and he had a punctured lung. Amir was seized by Rabins
bodyguard, jailed, found guilty, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Amir was part of a
radical right wing Orthodox group who obviously opposed the Oslo Accords. Just before Rabin was
killed, Rabin attended a peace rally at the Kings Israel Square in Tel Aviv. Rabin spoke that that he
supported the Oslo Accords and that he wanted peace. Shimon Peres became the new Prime
Minister of Israel.
The Oslo Accords was to be finished by May of 1999. The Likud Party (in Israel) returned to power in
1996-1999. During that time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu avoided engaging seriously in the
Oslo process, which he fundamentally opposed. This will be a pattern as Netanyahu is the known
hardliner then and now. A Labor-led coalition government headed by Prime Minister Ehud Barak
came to power in 1999. Barak at first concentrated on reaching a peace agreement with Syria. That
strategy was done in trying to weakening the Palestinian. Barak failed to convince the Syrians to sign
agreement. So, Ehud Barack turned his attention to the Palestinians. During this interim period of the
Oslo process, the Israeli Labor and Likud governments allowed the escalation of dramatic settlement
building and land confiscations in the Occupied Territories. They constructed a network of bypass
roads to enable Israeli settlers to travel from their settlements to Israel proper without passing
through Palestinian-inhabited areas. These projects were understood by most Palestinians as
marking out territory that Israel sought to annex in the final settlement. The Oslo accords didnt have
a mechanism to block these unilateral actions or Israels violations of Palestinian human and civil
rights in areas under its control. The final status negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians only
got underway in earnest in mid-2000. During this time, a series of Israel interim withdrawals left the
Palestinian Authority with direct or partial control of some 40 percent of the West Bank and 65
percent of the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian areas were surrounded by Israel-controlled territory with
entry and exit controlled by Israel. President Bill Clinton on July of 2000 invited Barak and Arafat to
Camp David to conclude negotiations on the long overdue final status agreement. Before they met,
Barak proclaimed about his red lines. This is about Israel would not return to its pre-1967 borders;
East Jerusalem with its 175,000 (now about 200,000) Jewish settlers would remain under Israeli

sovereignty; Israel would annex settlement blocs in the West Bank containing some 80 percent of the
180,000 (now about 360,000) Jewish settlers; and Israel would accept no legal or moral responsibility
for the creation of the Palestinian refugee problem. The Palestinians, in accordance with UN Security
Council Resolution 242 and their understanding of the spirit of the Oslo Declaration of Principles,
sought Israeli withdrawal from the vast majority of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, including East
Jerusalem, and recognition of an independent state in those territories.
The Camp David summit didnt result in an agreement, because both parties disagreed with issues of
Jerusalem and the refugees. Although Barak offered a far more extensive proposal for Israeli
withdrawal from the West Bank than any other Israeli leader had publicly considered, Barak wanted
Israeli sovereignty over East Jerusalem. Palestinians didnt agree with that proposal including most in
the Muslim world. Arafat gained more stature after he left Camp David. The reason is that he was
seen as not bowing down to American and Israeli pressure. Barak had a political crisis within his own
government. There was the departure of the coalition partners who felt that he offered the
Palestinians too much. The future of Jerusalem question was very taboo. Some Israelis for the first
time ever believed that they will have to learn to live with the conflict indefinitely, because the
Palestinians would never accept their proposals being imposed on them. The second intifada
occurred on late September 2000. This new intifada started because a combination of Palestinians
suffering humiliations daily, Palestinian frustration over their plight in Occupied Territories, and
corruption found in the Palestinian Authority. On September 28, Likud candidate for Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount (Noble Sanctuary) accompanied by 1,000 armed guards. This
was an outright provocation. In light of Sharons well-known call for maintaining Israels annexation
of East Jerusalem, this move provoked large Palestinian protests in Jerusalem. The following day,
Palestinians threw rocks at Jews praying at the Western Wall. Israeli police then stormed the Temple
Mount and killed at least four and wounded 200 unarmed protesters. By the end of the day Israeli
forces killed three more Palestinians in Jerusalem. These killing caused massive demonstrations and
clashes across the West Bank and the Gaza Strip In October of 2000, there were huge solidarity
demonstrations. A general strike in Arabic and mixed towns in Israel came about. The police killed 12
unarmed Palestinian citizens of Israel. This second intifada was much bloodier than the first. During
the first three weeks of the uprising, Israeli forces shot 1 million live bullets at unarmed Palestinian
demonstrators.
The 2nd intifada continued for a long time during the early part of the 21st century. The international
community mostly during this time had sympathy for the Palestinians. On many cases, armed PA
policemen, often positioned at the rear of unarmed demonstrations, returned fire. Israel saw the
protests as acts of aggressive. Israel used tanks, helicopter gunships, and even F-16 fighter planes to
try to stop the intifada. We know that the Israeli army attacked PA installations in Ramallah, Gaza,
etc. Civilian neighborhoods were subjected to shelling and aerial bombardment. The Israeli response
happened in the occupied territories. Israeli officials said that they were in a war, because they
claimed that Israel had a right to self-defense. In November 2000, Hamas and Islamic Jihad (and
then later the PFLP and the Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade) began to use suicide bombings
and other armed operations. There were over 150 such attacks from 2000 through 2005, compared
to 22 incidents from 1993 to 1999 by Islamist opponents of the Oslo process. I don't agree with
suicide attacks at all. A Palestinian life is just as valuable as an Israeli life. In January 2001, PalestinianIsraeli negotiations only briefly resumed. The negotiations came close to a final agreement according
to the lead negotiators. Yet, Ehud Barak called it off in advance of early elections he had called for

Prime Minister to forestall a likely vote of no confidence in the Knesset. Ariel Sharon handily won the
2001 elections. Ariel Sharon first term as the premier was marked with the most violent part of the
second intifada. Sharon allowed the targeted killings of Palestinian militants and Palestinian attacks
inside Israel continued too. Then, there was the suicide bombing in Netanya on March 27, 2002
during the Passover holiday. The attacked killed 30 Israelis. Israel of course retaliated. This retaliation
was called Operation Defensive Shield. This was about a full scale tank invasion of the West Bank that
lasted for several weeks. We know that armored Caterpillar bulldozers raze swathes of the Jenin
refugee camp and tanks ringed the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Also, Israeli forces imposed
all-day curfews in seven of the West Banks eight major towns.
The George W. Bush administration backed Israels extreme measures. International opinion opposed
especially the attack on the Jenin refugee camp. Another, shorter tank invasion against Palestine
happened in June. The Likud Party dominated Israeli politics from that moment to the present in
2015. Sharon in 2002 authorized the construction of a barrier between Israel and the West Bank. This
was one of his biggest mistakes as Prime Minister. He wanted separation, which is nothing more than
apartheid. The wall runs to east of the Green Line marking the border between Israel and the West
Bank. The wall blocks locations of travel even within towns and villages. It has changed or
reconfigured the geography of the West Bank. The Wall has electronic fences, patrol roads, and
observation towers. The ICJ ruled that the wall is disproportionate and therefore constitutes a
violation of international law.
Many Palestinians resisted the wall. There were demonstrations and people trying to stop bulldozers
from digging the foundation of the barrier. The International Solidarity Movement and thousands of
Israelis, many of them organized by Taayush/Palestinian-Israeli Partnership and Anarchists Against
the Wall, have supported the Palestinian popular resistance and regularly participated in its activities.
The four-month peace camp at the village of Masha in the spring and summer of 2003 and similar
efforts in several other villages were critical experiences in forging solidarity among Palestinians,
Israelis and internationals. Living and struggling together with Palestinians at this level of intensity for
a protracted period raised the consciousness of the hundreds of Israeli participants to an entirely
new level. The Oslo peace process ended and we exist in a new situation. Likud opposed a new
Palestinian state and refused territorial compromises. Most Palestinians came to reject the limitations
of the Oslo Declaration of Principles and its two decades of process without peace or a Palestinian
state." Still, the peace process continued mainly as a way for the U.S. to control Palestinian-Israeli
negotiations. The 2002 Arab peace Plan developed. By 2002, the Beirut summit of the Arab League
endorsed a peace initiative, which was proposed by Saudi Arabia (as it was a close ally of Israel even
today. Libya didnt attend the summit). The plan offered an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict. It wanted
the recognition of Israel, peace agreements and normal relations with all the Arabic states in
exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from all territories occupied since 1967 (This included the Golan
Heights). The plan wanted a a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem to be agreed upon in
accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 194, and establishment of an independent
Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital. The Arab League
renewed its peace initiative in 2007. In 2002, the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty lasted for almost a
quarter of a century. In 1994, Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel. Israel established mutual
interest sections with Morocco and Tunisia in 1996. Oman and Qatar initiated trade relations with
Israel in 1998. Many people wanted a Palestinian-Israeli peace agreement. Only the treaties with
Egypt and Jordan survived the second intifada. The Arab League did talk about the Palestinians

returning to their homes, but it didnt use the term right to return. Sharon rebuffed the Arabic
initiative and Benjamin Netanyahu became prime Minister in 2006. Netanyahu of course rejected the
Arabic peace plan in 2007. Mahmoud Abbas, who succeeded Yasser Arafat as Palestinian Authority
president, enthusiastically supported the Arab League proposals and urged the US to embrace them.
In 2009 President Barack Obama announced that he would incorporate the Arab proposals into his
administrations Middle East policy. But no public statement by the Obama administration suggests
any substantive step in this direction. Today, in 2015, Benjamin Netanyahu is the current Prime
Minister of Israel.
The 21st century in Israel begin with new challenges.

The image to the right is the city of Doha, Qatar.

Both sides have made errors and mistakes. The oil industry in the Middle East has grown
considerately. In the 21st century, the Middle East has been dominated with the issues of terrorism,
oil, Israel/Palestinian matters, wars, trade, and other geopolitical affairs. These issues have been very
complex with not only Israeli and Palestinian divisions. There are Sunni and Shia divisions (there are
Kurds in the region as well) too. Ironically, Israel has grown to be an ally of Saudi Arabia. Israel has
the responsibility to end the occupation and to promote real human beings in its nation. Israel must
be honest in its errors and the war crimes in which many of its residents have done. Likewise, the
Arabic states must also promote democratic rights (as human rights violations are common in Saudi
Arabia, Bahrain, Yemen, etc.) and handle the issues of poverty, educational problems, and economic
inequality in their countries as well. There is racism not only found in Israel, but in many mostly
Arabic nations too. Racism must end in any nation of the Middle East and throughout the Earth. AntiSemitism ought to be condemned and Islamophobia too. There are many Jewish people and Arabic
people who want peace and justice. The Western imperialist policies which have damaged the
Middle East must be condemned and opposed.

Conclusion
In conclusion, the Middle East is made up of an interesting, long history. Its history involves joy,
happiness, pain, turmoil, and obviously controversies. We all condemn the racism shown by some
(not all) Israelis. We all condemn the racism shown by some (not all) Palestinians too. Its residents are
diverse with various ethnicities, agendas, creeds, and ideologies. There is no justification for terrorism
done by either side. Innocent human beings should never be killed. Yet, they share one region and
all of the people in the Middle East have diversity and human value. Certainly, we do want the Jewish
and Arabic peoples (including all peoples of the Middle East) to live there in peace, harmony, and
equality including justice.

By Timothy