History of Palestine and Israel : A conflicted past

1897 – Basel Switzerland : First Zionist Congress ( Zionism : search for Jewish homeland) promoted Jewish immigration to Palestine

1914 -WW1 started, the Middle East was an oil asset to the rest of the world

1917 – Balfour Declaration , which supported a Jewish establishment in Palestine

1933 – Haavara Agreement – Nazi Germany allows the transfer of funds to Palestine in turn allowing Jewish immigration to increase

1937 – Peel Commission Report recommended that Palestine be a Jewish State and an Arab state part of the Transjordan, while Bethlehem and Jerusalem are of British rule.

1940 – The British recruited volunteers both Jewish and Arab to fight amongst the British in Italy in 1945

1947 – UN General Assembly opted for the separation of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states

1948 - Violence between the two grew, so President Truman made a complete 180 degrees in his decision and wished for the land to be fully under Israel rule.

1949 – Israel and Arab states agreed to keep a state of peace , while Israel gained 50% more of Palestine's land than originally planned

Orange : Jewish State

Yellow: Arab State

Photo Credit: http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/maps/1900s/1947-67israel.jpg

1953 – Israel launched an attack on the Gaza Strip

1964 – Palestine Liberation Organization was founded to eliminate Israel ( National Charter of 1968 called for it)

1971 – Black September Organization assassinated Wasfi al-Tal, Jordan's prime minister ( after Jordan evicted the Palestine army , after working together to prevent Israeli expansion into the East Bank)

1973 – Yom Kippur War , Egypt takes back the Suez Canal, Israel pushed back the Syrians and threatened Damascus. UN Security Council resolving negotiations between Israel and Arab neighbours.

1979 – Peace treaty between Egypt and Israel

1981 – Israel destroyed a nuclear reactor during a rain in Iraq, while Egyptian president Anwar Sadat was assassinated while celebrating the victory

1989 – UN Security council allowed Palestine to speak directly as its own nations as a UN member. Yasser Arafat : first president of Palestine

1990 – USA refused to grant Yasser Arafat a visa to enter, to adress the UN General Assembly. When the assembly moved to Geneva, Arafat asked for forces to be deployed to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

1999 – Israel elected Ehud Barak as president and opened the “safe” passage routes between the Gaza strip and the West Bank

2001 – Ariel Sharon was elected Prime Minister replacing Barak. Israel and Palestine agree to cease fire, to no avail, the agreement was not followed.

2003 – Israeli PM Ariel Sharon returned for another term

2004 – International Court of Justice decided the Israeli Security barrier was in violation so it was taken down. Palestinian Authority president Yasser Arafat dies.

As it has been noted throughout the academic and political world, Edward Said has been involved through activism in the Israel vs. Palestine conflict. This time line is here to give a brief historical background, which helps to understand Said's theories. Some of his theories talk about the Imperial powers of the time that made decisions that are still rippling through history all the way up to 2010. It is a valuable lesson to learn not to point fingers as it instigates more conflict, and pain. (Blog Editor's Opinion)

Information for this summary provided by :

http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/for/israel.html