Cultura

ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT
Index
* Historical background………………………………………………………………3
* Long and short-term causes…………………………………………………………5
* Main periods/wars…………………………………………………………………...7
* Peace treaties……………………………………………………………………….12
* The eighties………………………….………………………….……………….....13
* The nineties………………………….………………………….………………….14
* The conflicttoday………………………….………………………………………..7
* Essay: “Up to what extent was the Arab-Israeli conflict an episode of the Cold War?”………………………………………………..................................................8
* Visual sources……………………………………………………………………….9

* Historical Background:
The land of Palestine has been known historically for thousands of years. Jews and some Christians refer to the same land as the "Land of Israel" or the "Holy Land". The name Palestine came about becausethe "Philistine" people were among the earliest known people to inhabit this land.
Being located at the crossroads between several major civilizations, including the Egyptians to the west, Babylonians to the east and Romans to the north and west, Palestine was invaded and inhabited by many different peoples through the ages. The Bible also identifies this land as being the "Promised Land", whichGod instructed Moses and his followers to emigrate to after they left Egypt.
It is believed that the Israelites, under the leadership of Moses, arrived in the land of Palestine in the 12th - 13th century BCE. The United Kingdom of Israel was established, but was later split up into the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah. At the same time, there were several other kingdoms of the original inhabitantsof Palestine that existed in the land of Palestine.
Around 720 BCE, the Assyrian Empire invaded and destroyed the Kingdom of Israel, and the Israelites were exiled. In 586 BCE, the Kingdom of Judah was invaded by the Babylonians, who destroyed Jerusalem and deported most of the population to the Babylonian Empire. Later on in 538 BCE, the Persian Empire defeated the Babylonians and allowed theIsraelites to return to Palestine. In 333 BCE, the Persian Emipre was conquered by the Greeks under the leadership of Alexander the Great. Palestine remained under Greek control for nearly 200 years.
After a period of instability and war, the land of Palestine finally came under Roman control around the year 63 BCE. Jesus was born and lived in this period when the Romans ruled Palestine. Thewars between the Jewish people of Palestine and the Romans resulted in the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Romans attempted to wipe out Jewish influence from Palestine. Around the year 330 CE, Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and this became the official religion of the Byzantine Roman Empire, including Palestine.
The Muslims captured the land of Palestine and Jerusalem inthe year 632 CE. Under Islamic rule, Jews were given religious freedoms and were permitted to return to Palestine for the first time in over 500 years. The Muslims continued to rule Palestine for nearly 400 years. The Crusaders, coming from Europe, invaded Palestine and ruled it for almost 100 years, from 1099 CE to 1187 CE. The Muslims regained most of Palestine in 1187 CE, and the last of theCrusaders left Palestine in 1291 CE. From 1291 to 1917, a period of 626 years, Palestine was under Muslim rule.
During the period from 1917 - 1947, hundreds of thousands of Jews arrived and settled in Palestine. This caused a huge change in the demographics of Palestine. The Arab Muslim majority that existed before the First World War was quickly being reduced as a proportion of the totalpopulation of Palestine by the huge influx of Jewish settlers. The Arab Muslim population led several revolts against the British occupation and against the policy of demographic change that they were overseeing in Palestine. The most well-known of these was the 1936 revolt, which lasted around 3 years.
In 1947, Britain handed over the question of...