Event, Idea, People Context/Important Facts
Perspectives
British mandate - During world war one, the British
wanted to divide and defeat the Ot-
tomans as well as gain valuable
land, and did so by promising Ara-
bian nations and Jews their inde-
pendence
- Letter correspondence between
McMahon and Hussein
- Once the British had defeated the
ottomans in world war one, the
middle east was divided up be-
tween european and arab powers,
and a British mandate was settled
in Palestine
- This existed from 1920 to 1948,
and controlled immigration via the
white paper policy of 1936
Issues of Contestability/Differing
- Contestability within the mcmahon - Originally the British Mandate
- hussein letters, what was McMa-
hon really offering
- British interest in the middle east:
defeating the ottomans, oil, power, - Over time, as the Palestinian arabs
land, jewish home?
- Why did the White paper policy of
1936 exist, why did the British not
let more immigrants in?
- Would the British mandate really
leave Palestine once Palestine was
ready to govern itself; and would
Palestine ever even be capable of
that?
Change and Continuity
would rule Palestine until it was
ready to govern itself, and in the
meantime gain land and oil benefits
and Jews sought power and inde-
pendance; the British wouldn’t
leave - revealing overruling British
interest for oil, land, power, etc
- After the White paper policy of
1936, and during world war two
and afterwards, growing violent
conflicts for power and immigra-
tion laws - led to mistrust and ha-
tred between the british mandate
and the palestinians and jews, and
the British mandate became more
controlling and oppressive with
armed forces
Establishment of the state of Israel - After Jewish terrorism, Internal
complications within Palestine, and
international pressure to relax im-
migration policies, Britain removed
the British mandate and handed
over the issue of Palestine to the
United Nations
- The United Nations set up a Gen-
eral Assembly, and eventually pro-
posed a partitioned state with
Jerusalem as an international zone
- The Palestinians rejected the idea
due to not gaining all the territories
they desire, meaning the Jews were
given Palestine, thus establishing
the state of Israel
- Whether or whether not to partition
Palestine, and if not: Who deserves
palestine to be given to them
- How to partition Palestine equally,
dividing holy places and populated
places between the two
- What to do with Jerusalem, as both
Islamic Palestinians and Jews hold
a religious and populated link
- Whether or whether not the Jewish
and british conflicting terrorism
was justified on either side
- Whether or whether not the Pales-
tinian choice to not accept the par-
titioned state was justifiable, and
why couldn't the UN have adjusted
the partitioning.
- originally about how to and the
need for establishing a legal and
jewish national state for Jews
- Today, the debate is more about
whether the establishment of the
state of Israel was justifiable
- Western worldviews back then,
post holocaust, were pro - zionist,
and there was little thought for the
native palestinians
- While today, there is more debate
in favour of the Palestinians, and
their suffering, exodus, and silenc-
ing, amongst the establishing of Is-
rael
Imperialism - national aim to expand ones’ em-
pires’ power, influence, and re-
sources through the use of coloni-
sation, military force, or gaining
political and economic control of
territories and people.
- the three types are colonies, protec-
torates, and spheres of influence.
- often against the will of the people
of the country
- England, France, The Netherlands,
Spain, Portugal, Russia, The U.S.,
Germany, Italy, Japan, Belgium
and Turkey all practiced imperial-
ism.
- Popular areas for colonisation were
in the Indo-china regions, north
and south america, the Caribbean,
and portions of Africa.
- A countries leaders may weigh be- - Imperialism was popular in the
tween the political human rights of early modern period from 1760 to
a region, or the powerful benefits 1914 for competing countries seek-
they may gain from colonising that ing spherical influence, power, and
area resources
- At this time, it was considered nor-
mal for countries to compete for
land before their rivals took it.
- At the time, mainly european or
western countries, and powerful
asian countries were the main com-
petitors for land. They would usu-
ally neglect the human rights of the
occupying population in exchange
for their national benefits.
- Nowadays, ‘colonisation’ is an in-
famous word associated with the
slave trade and western countries
of the past, and is not practiced in
the same political and violent ways
that were used (with the exceptions
of various countries)
Arab nationalism - ideology that Arabs are a national
identity, promotes unity
- Celebrates Arabian civilization,
feats, language, literature, and cul-
ture
- Calls of political and cultural union
within Arab world
- may also be a superior pride in be-
ing an arab
- divisive Islamic sects within Ara- - in the early twentieth century, Arab
bia
- political / ideological differences
between countries (eg. Egypt as so-
cialist & Saudi as monarchial
american influenced)
nationalism was about gaining in-
dependence from the Ottomans or
european powers and running their
own countries
- After the establishment of Israel,
Arab nationalism was united with
each other against a common en-
emy and common cause: to crush
Israel and save the Palestinians
- after several wars, conflict still
simmers, yet Arab nationalism is
more divisive against each other,
even if divided against Israel
Zionism - Jewish nationalism and/or desire
for a Jewish, independent, and safe
national home
- coined by ‘Theodore Herzl’ in Der
Judenstaat
- A group of British zionists met in
1917, and created the Balfour Dec-
laration, declaring Britains' support
of the idea of Palestine becoming a
Jewish national home
- World zionist organisation
- Differing zionist ideas about
where/which country for Jewish
national home
- Some Jews thought a national
home would become a ghetto - like
jew dumping ground for other
countries
- How (structure) the country would
be set up
- What to do with the native Pales-
tinians within Palestine
- While not given a name or move-
ment, Zionism was still felt and
sought from the time of Abraham
to Moses and the twelve tribes of
Israel; especially in seeking a safe
and independent home for the Jew-
ish people, within the promised
holy land that is now Israel today.
- From the time of the Prophet
Samuel to King Solomon and his
sons, zionism was felt as Jewish
nationalism in keeping Israel safe
and strong.
- When Israel was conquered by the
Babylonians in 597 BC, and many
nations after that all the way to the
Ottomans in world war one, Zion-
ism was more of a desperate strug-
gle for existence and yearning for a
national and safe home.
- This is when the term zionism, its’
aims, and movements were coined
by Theodore Herzl, and for the
next 30 years, it represented the
struggle to re-establish Israel.
- To this day, Zionism represents
keeping Israel safe and strong, and
justifying its’ national existence.
Fundamentalism - strict adherence to pure and literal - seen as either too scarce of detail or - Still practiced in modern day today
religion behavioural description, which by stricter sects of Christianity and
- especially Islam or Protestant could lead to important factors of a Islam (eg. Baptist churches)
Christianity religion being dismissed in the - But in the context of our secular
- disciplined obedience to basic prin- name of the basic beliefs being val- and morally looser western culture,
ciples and laws/guidelines ued more western churches are becom-
- literal interpretation of religious - Or seen as too strict, with little ac- ing less strict to the exact text and
texts knowledgement of the cultural con- more interpretive based on circum-
text one could be in, leading to no stances
forgiveness or understanding of hu-
man nature, or no adaptation, as-
similation, and conversion of the
culture around.
- literal interpretation of religious
texts ignores all poetic, realistic,
contextual, or underlying inten-
tional readings, and prefers literal.
(eg. Many scientists believed the
earth was flat due to a Psalm poetic
line about the sun)
Terrorism - Use of violence for political means
(statements, conflict, pushing for
their agenda), and usually illegal
activity
- Used by virtually most groups in
the Arab Israeli conflict in the last
100+ years
- Significant groups: Irgun, Stern
gang, JIhad, PLO
- Whether or not terrorism is actually - originally used by the arab groups
needed and can civil means be used to revolt against their oppressors
for political agendas the ottomans and fight for indepen-
- Is legalised/ordered violence from dence, led by Sharif Hussein
government institutions still a form - Later used by both Jewish terrorist
of terrorism, or is it just illegal ac- groups (Irgun, Stern gang) and
tivity that counts? Arab groups (the Mufti of
- How far terrorism will extend to in Jerusalem) to revolt against the
terms of violence; e.g. from assas- British mandate (eg. the exploding
sinating key enemies to blowing up of King David Hotel), and attack
establishments each other.
- What political means terrorism will - After the establishment of israel,
be used for; eg. from torturing terrorism came in the form of the
valuable people for information to Arab-Israeli war, and later conflict
holding commoners hostage for and violence between the Irgun /
fear and power Stern gang and Palestinian groups
- Today, terrorism is used for the
same reasons by the same people;
power, land, political statements,
independance, safety, etc.
Arab-Israeli War of 1948-49
1949 Armistice
- after the establishment of Israel,
multiple Arab countries attacked all
along the borders (Egypt, Syria,
Lebanon, Iraqi, Jordan)
- Israels’ army had more experience
in world war two with the allies,
better organisation and communi-
cation, stronger trust and disci-
pline, smarter strategy, higher qual-
ity armaments and weaponry, and
radical personell fighting passion.
However they had less men.
- The Arab armies had more men,
but plenty of divisions and mis-
trust, little personal stake in the
war, less experience fighting,
weaker discipline and communica-
tion, and poorer strategy and organ-
isation.
- Due to these two armies’ differ-
ences, Israel eventually drove out
all the armies one by one, and had
separate peace armistices with the
arab nations by july 1949.
- Between February and July 1949,
due to separate armistice agree-
ments between Israel and the Arab
states, a temporary frontier was
fixed between Israel and its neigh-
bours.
- argument about the soldiers num- - at the time the world was largely in
bers, and whether Israel actually favour of Israel
had more than the Arab armies - - Nowadays, the legitimacy of the
and this suggestion was just dis- state of Israel and its’ treatment of
missed due to the Arab countries’ the Palestinians in the Arab-Israeli
sizes. war is being put up to serious criti-
- issue of the treatment of Palestini- cism
ans - what to do with them, how to
treat them, and whether it was
righteous or not
- secret deal between Israel and Jor-
dan about the Palestinian popula-
tion??
- Some countries acknowledged Is- - The armistice only lasted several
raels superior fighting and ceased years to a decade before more con-
early to save themselves the casual- flicts and tensions broke out
ties
- While some countries had such lit-
tle respect for Israels’ fighting
forces they continued on till they
had no choice
Suez War (1956) - America made a public refusal to - Arabs see Nassar as an arab cham- - The canal remained under the con-
fund Egypt for the building of the pion trol of two powers until Nasser na-
Aswan dams, in response for - Soviets and socialists probably see tionalized it in 1956; it has since
Egypts’ bonds with the Soviet Nassar as a socialist champion been operated by the Suez Canal Au-
Union - Israel was probably pleased it thority
- President Nasser retaliated by na- gained shipping rights and did not
tionalising the Suez canalin July analyse beyond their depth
1956, as to gain money from ships - America was furious with the
passing through to fund the dam British, French, and Israelis’ for In-
- This led to invasion from Israel, vading
Britain, and France in the aims to - Yet the British, French & Israelis’
regain control of the canal, depose had legitimate reasons for invading
Nasser, and open the straits of
Tiran.
- This move was soon met by grow-
ing opposition at home, the UN,
and from the U.S, which quickly
put an evacuated stop to the Anglo-
French action on December 22
(and Israel later March 1957)
- Summarily, Nasser was seen as an
Arab champion, Britain and France
lost most of their influence in the
middle east, yet Israel gained ship-
ping rights in the straits of Tiran.
Six-Day War (1967) - June 5–10, 1967 - Were the rumours accurate and - Israel had to surrender some of the
- Conflict intensified after Israel re- therefore Israels’ military initiation territories in the several peace agree-
taliated to Palestinian guerrilla or were they false and just another ments it made in the next decades
groups’ attacks from arab neigh- excuse to attack Israel with Egypt
bours, and rumours spread of Israel - Did Israel rightfully gain that land
planning a campaign against Syria and own it the next decade
- On May 14, Nasser, King Hussein,
and Iraq joined an alliance: mobiliz-
ing their forces and closed the Gulf
of Aqaba to Israeli shipping.
- Israel staged a sudden air assault
that destroyed most of Egypt’s and
Syria’s air force, and within three
days had overwhelming victory on
the ground, including crushing Jor-
danian forces from the east.
- The UN Security Council called for
cease-fire on June 7 that was ac-
cepted by Israel, Jordan, and Egypt.
Syria continued to attack yet were
defeated and accepted the cease-
fire on June 10.
- Summarily, Israel gained major
land strips such as the Sinai Penin-
sula and Jerusalem, yet Arab coun-
tries had disastrous casualties and
demoralisation.
Security Council Resolution 242 - adopted unanimously by the UN - Is peace in the middle east even - One could say this 242 resolution
(1967) Security Council on November 22, achievable? came to be fulfilled through the
1967, in the aftermath of the Six- - Did Israel gain the right to keep Camp david accords, and Oslo ac-
Day War. those territories via war, and how cords
- calls for a resolution to the arab-is- much territory were they to surren-
raeli conflict, and a solution to the der
issues of Israelis’ right to exist and - If this were to acknowledge and re-
the rights of Palestinians and their spect every groups claims and
statehood statements, no peace agreements
- This includes a call for the with- would ever come to pass
drawal of Israeli troops from the
occupied territories that was ac-
quired through war
- It acknowledges the claim of
sovereignty, territorial integrity and
political independence of every
state in the region
- calls on the UN Secretary-General
to appoint an Envoy to facilitate an
acceptable solution to the conflict.
- one of the results was the Camp
David Accords
Yom Kippur War (1973) - conflict developed into a full-scale - One could argue that (and the fund- - In 1982, Israel fulfilled the 1979
war in 1973, initiated by Egypt and ing of) Israel and the Arab states peace treaty by returning the last
Syria on October 6. were just puppets of the USA and the pieces of the Sinai Peninsula to
- Israel was attacked on two fronts Soviet Union during the could war Egypt
by Egypt and Syria, who crossed
the suez canal and broke through to
the Golan Heights.
- Israel was hit hard initially, and re-
ceived emergency supply lines
from the US once they heard of the
Soviet Unions’ support for Egypt
and Syria.
- Israel Defense Forces disabled por-
tions of the Egyptian air defenses,
which allowed Israeli forces to
cross the Suez Canal and surround
them.
- On the Golan front, Israeli troops
repulsed the Syrians.
- On October 22 the United Nations
Security Council adopted resolu-
tion 338, which called for immedi-
ate cease fire, accepted on October
26.
- Israel signed agreements with
Egypt and Syria in november and
the following january and May
- The war proved costly for Israel,
Egypt, and Syria.
Camp David Accords (1978) - political agreements signed by
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat
and Israeli Prime Minister Men-
achem Begin on 17 September
1978
- signed in the United States, with
President Jimmy carter as an inter-
mediate
- result of the UN resolution 242
- The goals of the agreements (be-
sides to stabilized the tense rela-
tionship between Israel and Egypt)
was to: establish a framework for
peace in the Middle East via stating
Arab recognition of Israel, devel-
oping a procedure for Israeli with-
drawal from the sinai peninsula and
the occupied territories of the west
bank (so a Palestinian state estab-
lish itself), and taking steps for
safeguard Israel’s security.
- laid the groundwork for the Oslo
Accords and the 1979 Peace treaty
- The overall significance is con- - the accords have stabilised rela-
testable, due to the fact the regions tions between two of the Middle
and nations in the frameworks are East’s biggest powers
still neck deep in conflict - From several decade long conflicts
- Jerusalem, which both Israelis and such as the Yom kippur wars and
Palestinians want as their capita, the six day wars, Egypt and Israel
was left out of the agreements managed to find a peace
- The United States provided funds, - However today, there is still heavy
$1.3 billion to Egypt and $3 billion and historically deep conflict about
to Israel the Palestinian territories, espe-
- Not everyone was on board with cially between Israel and Palestine
the Camp David Accords: at the border
- The Arab League suspended Egypt
from its membership for 10 years,
due to seeing ‘recognising Israel’
as a betrayal
- the United Nations never accepted
the first agreement because it was
made without Palestinian input
The 1979 Peace Treaty - Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat - Sadat’s peace efforts were not liked - To this day, the MFO’s (Multina-
and Israeli Prime Minister in the Arab world as the Arab tiona force and observers) South
Menachem Begin signed a historic league suspended Egypt for 10 Camp, near the southern tip of the
peace agreement years and later Muslim extremists Sinai Peninsula, houses the peace-
- Sadat was assassinated in 1981, yet assassinated Sadat in October 1981 keeping forces to uphold Israel and
nevertheless the peace process con- - Sadat and Begin were both Egypts peace treaty promises
tinued awarded the 1978 Nobel Peace
- This ended three decades of con- Prize for their efforts for peace in
flict and established a strengthened the middle east, which is a step to-
diplomatic and economic relation- wards international recognition of
ship both sides national struggles
- This also called for full withdrawal
of Israeli armed forces and civil-
ians from the Sinai Peninsula,
which Egypt also agreed to leave
the area demilitarised
- The agreement also provided for
free passage of Israeli ships
through the Suez Canal, and recog-
nised the Strait of Tiran and the
Gulf of Aqaba as international wa-
terways.
- The agreement most significantly
made Egypt the first Arab state to
officially recognise Israel.
Israeli military intervention in - On 14 March 1978, Israel launched - Sabra and shatilah massacres, an
Lebanon (1978, 1982) Operation Litani in southern
Lebanon with 25,000 troops. This
was to push the PLO away from
the border and suport a Lebanese
Christian militia allied with Israel
- 6 june 1982, 40000 israeli troops
invaded lebanon (operation peace
for galilee).
- originally to drive PLO up north,
but changed to invade lebanon and
establish a christian government.
- 18 august, cease fire
- 1982: PLO leader forced from
atrocity performed by Israeli troops Beirut.
and phalangists - Yasser Arafat has been forced out
- zionist: Israel invaded to free the of Lebanon following the Israeli in-
christian and islamic people from vasion of Lebanon
the PLO
- Post zionist: Israel did invade for
some honourable intentions but
was violent and bloody in carrying
them out
- Palestinian: Israeli invasion was
full of massacres
Intifada (1987-94) - The First Intifada was a Palestinian - Israel was seen internationally as - There was a second Intifada in
civil uprising against Israeli occu- being too violently harsh and sup- 2000, proving that the suppression
pation of the West bank, Gaza pressive of the first Intifada was useless and
strip, and east Jerusalem - Palestinians had little choice but to sparked even more anger
- This rebellion was triggered on the be more and more tightly - One could say that there is ongoing
ninth of December 1987, when in- marginalised and crushed, OR to ‘Intifada’ like conflict today be-
side a refugee camp in the Gaza stand up for themselves; What tween Palestinians and Israeli
Strip, an Israeli truck crashed into would any logical person do, Jew- troops in the west bank and Gaza
two vans carrying Palestinian ish, Palestinian, Islamic, American,
workers, whom four were killed. or whatever identity?
- Palestinian youth, led by the Uni- - However, Palestinian violence was
fied National Leadership of the Up- a threat to Jewish wellbeing, and
rising, enraged and tired by Israeli jewish soldiers had a duty to pro-
repressive policies in the occupied tect
territories, aimed to end Israeli oc-
cupation and establish a Palestinian
independence.
- These repressive policies included:
high taxes, army raids, Israeli seiz-
ing and settling of arab land, ran-
dom detentions, denied civil rights,
along with ignored national cries
for their own state
- The rebellion included the follow-
ing activities: strikes, violent
protests and attacks against Israeli
troops, tax evasion, boycotts of is-
raeli products
- Israel responded harshly: closing
Palestinian schools, making mass
arrests, attacking back and shutting
down protests, and imposing clo-
sure and curfew.
Oslo Accords (1993) - The Oslo Accords are a pair of - Neither side wanted to make public - The Oslo Accords were a pivotal
agreements between the Govern- of the talks for fear of controversy or milestone in Israeli-Palestinian re-
ment of Israel and the Palestine backlash. This is because many Is- lations, aimed at propelling the
Liberation Organization raelis considered the PLO a terrorist peace process forward and provid-
- This was discussed in Norway be- organisation, and many Palestinians ing for the expansion of Palestinian
tween PLO leader Yasser Arafat would have considered it a major of- self-rule throughout most of the
and Israeli prime minister Shimon fence to acknowledge Israel. West Bank.
Peres, intermediated by the Norwe-
gian deputy foreign minister Jan
Egeland, and signed in the US in
1993
- Days prior to the Oslo signing,
both sides signed a “Letter of Mu-
tual Recognition” in which the
PLO agreed to recognize the state
of Israel and the Israelis recognised
the PLO as a “representative of the
Palestinian people.”
- The ultimate goals were to build a
framework for the creation of an
independent Palestinian state,
which included the following:
- establishing the PLO as a parlia-
ment
- set parameters for the gradual with-
drawal of Israeli armed forces from
Gaza over 5 years

2nd Intifada (2000) - a.k.a. Al-Aqsa Intifada
- period of intensified Israeli–Pales-
tinian violence in 2000
- perpetuated by the Palestinian Na-
tional Authority and various Pales-
tinian militant groups
- Palestinians describe as an uprising - some may say there is a consistent
against Israel third intifada going on today
- while Israelis consider it a pro-
longed terror campaign
Camp David Summit (2000) - meeting at Camp David between
US president Bill Clinton, Israeli
prime minister Ehud Barak and
Palestinian Authority chairman
Yasser Arafat. - 11 and 25 July
2000
- effort to end the Israeli–Palestinian
conflict.
- Failed due to no ability to sign any
agreement
- Palestinians may say that Israel had - There is still conflict between the
the upper hand in negotiating the two groups about their national de-
terms and the terms unfair and op- sires for their own state
pressive on the Palestinian people
- Israelites may say that it was due to
Arafat's unwillingness to ‘sign a fi-
nal deal with Israel that would
close the door on any of the Pales-
tinians' maximum demands, partic-
ularly the right of return’. And
what he really wanted was a one
state solution
Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) - created from the deterioration of - with over 50 countries that inter- - Lebanon is now a democracy
the Lebanese state and the militias vened, and came back worse than - extremely diverse: 18 recognised
that provided more security than before, public opinion would not religious denominations, 20 rang-
the state be so high of the Lebanese Civil ing political parties and move-
- On August 17, 1970, Suleiman War ments, and large armed militias
Franjiehs’ corrupt presidency, - Christian Maronites would be
alienated Muslims and Christians, pleased with the powerful outcome
and his government proved unable - Palestinians would be devastated
to surprise the PLO. by being pushed out completely
- April 13, 1975, the Phalangists at- - Israel would not be entirely pleased
tacked a Palestinian bus, escalating with the outcome but their main
into a battle between the Pha- goals were achieved
langists and the LNM who sup- - Islamic groups would not be
ported the PLO pleased to still be not in power
- In the months that followed, the
central market area of Beirut was
divided into two; Muslim West
Beirut and Christian East Beirut
until the end of the civil war in
1990.
- Syria, Israel, and the UN inter-
vened in favour of differing
groups.
- Lebanese society between 1985
and 1989 descended into a militia
economy.
- ended with a compromised state:
Christian Maronite president with
islamic leaders underneath
Iran/Iraq War (1980-1988) - Started by Iraq dictator Saddam - Saddam Hussein was a Sunni Mus- - Nowadays, the two countries have a
Hussein in September 1980, using lim over a Shi’ite country; contro- closer alliance and trading partner-
mainly ballistic-missile attacks, versies regarding his personal or ship due to a large Shi’ite majority
chemical weapons, and attacks on national religious motives
third-country oil tankers in the Per- - Also controversy over his eco-
sian Gulf nomic motives; was it to protect
- This was due to Husseins’ fear of Iraq or for more power
the Iranian revolution overtaking or
spilling into Iraq
- However Iraq was forced on the
strategic defensive
- Iran was unable to perform effec-
tively with the air force and could
not invade Iraq
- resulted in half a million casualties,
several billion dollars worth of
damage, and no real gains.
- The end came in July 1988 with the
acceptance UN Resolution 598.
Iranian Revolution (1979) - Iranian Revolution/Islamic Revolu- - successful in weakening the autoc- - In rural Iran, health and education
tion was popular uprising in Iran in racy of the Qajar regime yet failed led to a drop in poverty - 25% in
1978–79 that rid Iran of the Monar- to provide a powerful alternative 1970 to less than 10% in 2014
chy and established an Islamic re- government. - however, 25 to 30 million still live
public - The 1979 Iranian revolution below the poverty line.
- Civil and intellectual efforts to- promised three goals: social justice, - one-third of the urban population
wards reform were consistently sti- freedom and democracy, and inde- lives in slums
fled, but were reborn amongst pendence from corrupted great - 50% of the work force have only
reemerging social tensions and in- power - these are still up for debate irregular employment
ternational interventions. today - approx 10 to 13 million Iranians
- In 1953, amid a power struggle be- “entirely excluded from health,
tween the King Mohammed Reza work or unemployment insurance.”
Shah and Prime Minister Moham-
mad Mosaddegh, the U.S. CIA and
the U.K. MI6 helped orchestrate a
coup against Mosaddegh’s govern-
ment.
- ended in Iran being led by supreme
leader Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini, who turned Iran into a
populist and Islamic economy and
culture
First Gulf War (1990-1991) - Iraqi president Saddam Hussein or- - 8,000 to 10,000 Iraqi forces were - Still romanticised by American hol-
dered the invasion of Kuwait in killed, in comparison with only 300 lywood films and glorified to this day
August 1990 coalition troops in favour of Americans, demonising
- In response, Arab powers such as - Kuwait and Iraq suffered enormous the Iraqis
Saudi Arabia and Egypt asked for damage, and Saddam Hussein was
foreign intervention not forced from power
- Hussein defied the United Nations’ - However, a decisive victory for
demands to withdraw from Kuwait coalition
by January 1991, and the Persian
Gulf War began.
- A massive U.S. led (with a coali-
tion of 39 countries) air offensive
known as Operation Desert Storm
began and ended on February 28,
and by then, most Iraqi forces in
Kuwait had either surrendered or
fled.

David Ben Gurion - 1886 to 1973
- Polish Jew, organised labour feder-
ation and the socialist labour party - “A State at Any Cost” mindset can
- Chairman of the Jewish Agency
from 1935 to 1948
- the primary national founder of the
State of Israel
- first Prime Minister of Israel, Pre-
mier and defence minister most of
the time from 1948 to 1963
- War hero to some; Murderer or Op- - Died: 1 December 1973
pressor to others
lead to brutal violence
- Little known fact: On the eve of the
establishment of the state of Israel,
David Ben-Gurion, suddenly
sought to postpone independence
5-10 years due to suspecting Arab
countries’ immediate attack on a
sub -sufficient Jewish army.
Gamal Abdul Nasser - Arab Socialist Egyptian president - In the suez crisis, the only reason - After Egypt's defeat by Israel in the
from 1954 until his death in 1970 Nasser won was due to the invad- 1967 Six-Day War, Nasser re-
- major in the Egyptian army in the ing countries backing out. However signed out of shame, but he re-
1948 war with Israel he was hailed as an arab champion. turned after protests calling for him
- joined the ‘Free Officers’, led a is this a legitimate title for Nasser? back
coup in 1952 to depose King - After the conclusion of the 1970
Farouk & ousted President Naguib, Arab League summit, Nasser suf-
became President. fered a heart attack and died.
- nationalised the suez canal com-
pany in 1956 after conflict with
America, leading to a western inva-
sion that was forced to withdraw,
making Nasser an ‘Arab hero’
- made the United Arab Republic
with Syria in 1958 and the PLO
- Leadership of arab forces in 1967
war with israel led to defeat

Anwar Saddat - senior member of the Free Officers - Fundamentalist/radical islamists - regained the Sinai, which is still to-
who overthrew King Farouk in would have seen him as a traitor to day, in Egypts’ hands
1952 the Arab nations and islamic be-
- close confidant of President Gamal liefs
Abdel Nasser, served as Vice Presi- - In the international eye; seen as a
dent twice hero for helping create peace in the
- succeeded as the third President in middle east
1970
- assassination by fundamentalist
army officers on 6 October 1981.
- signed the Camp David Accords,
recognising Israel as a legitimate
state and ______
Yasser Arafat
Palestinian Liberation Organisation
- Palestinian political leader and cul- - Hailed as a Palestinian champion, - In 2004, President Bush dismissed
tural figure pure, righteous, brave, representa- Arafat as a failure of a negotiating
- Chairman of the Palestine Libera- tive, and smart partner
tion Organization from 1969 to - However, Yasser Arafat was sub- - Arafat had a mixed relationship
2004 ject to many corruptions, and called with the leaders of other Arab na-
- President of the Palestinian Na- for bloody violence as a means for tions.
tional Authority from 1994 to 2004 change
- at the forefront of years of violence
and border disputes near Israel
- Led by Yasser Arafat from 1969 to - Seen as representative of Palestini- - originally a group formed for the
2004 ans, for achieving their indepen- goal of creating a Palestinian state
- After the declaration of the state of dence and Justice without using terrorism
Israel, Palestinian refugees were - Seen by the world, and especially - Changed over the years to repre-
scattered around the arabic coun- Israeli citizens as a terrorist organi- sent all Palestinian people and in-
tries, lacking leadership, organisa- sation creasingly became associated with
tion, recognition, and political in- questionable tactics, terrorism, vio-
fluence. lence, and extremism
- The PLO, was first founded in
1964 in Egypt. The organisation’s
original goals was to unite Arab
groups and create a liberated Pales-
tinian state in Israel.
- Over time, the PLO’s role changed
to represent all Palestinians and run
the Palestinian National Authority
(PA).
King Hussein - King of Jordan from 11 August - Secret deals with Israel in the 1948 - died 7 February 1999
1952 until death in 1999 war to assimilate all the palestini-
- from Hashemite dynasty, claims to ans??
be 40th descendant of Muhammad
- led country through four decades of
Arab–Israeli conflict and the Cold
War, balancing pressures from
Arab nationalists, the Soviet
Union, Western countries, and Is-
rael
- socially conservative policies
greatly increased the Jordanian
standard of living.
- Initiated Baghdad Pact in 1955 be-
tween the United Kingdom, Tur-
key, Iran, Pakistan, and Iraq.

Yitzhak Rabin - Israeli politician, statesman and - signed a plan with the Palestinians - still revered as a good leader that
general. that set the two sides on a controver- passed
- fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serv- sial path toward peace. deeply di- - settlements on the west bank con-
ing two terms in office, 1974–77, vided Israel, and that divide lingers tinue however
and 1992 until his assassination in today. (rabin didn't think Israelis
1995 should settle the west bank)
- used negotiating rather than force
in attempt to achieve peace with
the Palestinians.
- approved the Oslo Accords, negoti-
ated in secret in Norway in 1993
Shimon Peres - Israeli politician, who served as the - In 2012, President Barack Obama
ninth President of Israel, the Prime
Minister of Israel, and the Interim
Prime Minister, in the 1970s to the
1990s
- Served in the Haganah, and as the
head of Israel’s navy, the post of
Director General of the Defense
Ministry
- In 1956, Shimon Peres master-
minded the Sinai Campaign.
Ariel Sharon - Israeli general and politician who
served as the 11th Prime Minister
of Israel from March 2001 until
April 2006
- commander in the Israeli Army
from its creation in 1948
- became the leader of the Likud in
2000
awarded Peres with the Presidential
Medal of Freedom, the United
States’ highest civilian honor, for
his “meritorious contributions to
world peace.”
- Secretly developed Israel's nuclear
weapons programme in the 50s and
60s with France, Britain, and Nor-
way - USA opposed this
- Jewish war hero and leader
- or Arab murderer, Palestinian op-
pressor, and Islamic disrespector?
- Peres resigned in 2014. Peres was
the world’s oldest head of state and
was considered the last link to Is-
rael’s founding generation.
- Peres suffered a serious stroke on
September 13, 2016. He passed
away two weeks later, on Septem-
ber 27, 2016, at age 93.
- Resignation in 1983 due to accusa-
tions of indirect massacre of Pales-
tinians by a Christian Lebanese
Army