Additional information about the conflict
Background information
1882 - 1914 first two waves of Aliyah to Palestine (the immigration of Jews from the diaspora to the land of Israel).
1914 - World War I starts.
1917 - the Balfour Declaration (the British Foreign Minister Arthur Balfour committed Britain to work towards "the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine").
1919 - 1939 - third, fourth and fifth waves of Aliyah.
1939 - 1945 - World War II (6 millions Jews are killed in Europe).
1939 - 1948 - Aliyah Bet (code name given to illegal immigration by Jews to the British Mandate for Palestine).
1947 - voting in the UN for the Partition Plan for Palestine (resolution 181). The resolution recommends the creation of independent Arab and Jewish States and the Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem. On 29 November 1947, the United Nations General Assembly votes 33 to 13, with 10 abstentions and 1 absent, in favour of the modified Partition Plan.
1948 - creation of the State of Israel/Nakba (for the Palestinians it is an annual day of commemoration of the displacement that preceded and followed the Israeli Declaration of Independence). The day after the state of Israel is declared, five Arab armies invade Israel but are defeated, and the Israeli army crushes pockets of resistance.
1964 - Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is founded.
1967 - Six-Day War (the war between Israel and neighbouring Arab countries). Israeli forces take control of the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. After the war, the UN Security Council issues Resolution 242 which among other requirements insists withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict.
1973 - Yom Kippur War (a war fought by the coalition of Arab states lead by Egypt and Syria against Israel). Israel eventually makes gains beyond the 1967 ceasefire lines. Israeli forces push into Syria beyond the Golan Heights, though they later give up some of these gains. In Egypt, Israeli forces regain territory and advance to the western side of the Suez Canal.
1987 - First Intifada (mass uprising against the Israeli occupation begins in Gaza and quickly spreads to the West Bank). Hamas is founded (during the 1990s and early 2000s, the organisation conducts numerous suicide bombings and other attacks against Israel).
1988 - The Palestinian Declaration of Independence is proclaimed by Yasser Arafat.
1993 - The Oslo Peace Process starts (a number of agreements are reached, until the Oslo process ends after the failure of the Camp David Summit in 2000 and the outbreak of the Second Intifada).
1994 - The Palestinian Authority is founded (interim self-government body).
1995 - The assassination of Yitzhak Rabin. The assassin, an Israeli ultra nationalist named Yigal Amir, strenuously opposes Rabin's peace initiative and particularly the signing of the Oslo Accords.
2000 - Second Intifada.
2003 - Israel begins construction of West Bank Security Wall/Fence.
2005 - Israel withdraws its forces from Gaza.
2007 - Hamas takes over Gaza Strip.
2012 - Israel/Palestinian Peace Talks starts.
2014 - Hamas and Fatah (the leading Palestinian political party) announce an agreement to form unified government.
Recommended links for more information:
History of the Conflict in Short (overview up until 2005):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/middle_east/03/v3_ip_timeline/html/history.stm
The UN Partition Plan in Short:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/middle_east/israel_and_the_palestinians/key_documents/1681322.stm
UN Resolution 181 (The Partition Plan)
http://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/0/7F0AF2BD897689B785256C330061D253
History of the Conflict in Short (overview up until 2005):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/middle_east/03/v3_ip_timeline/html/history.stm
The UN Partition Plan in Short:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/middle_east/israel_and_the_palestinians/key_documents/1681322.stm
UN Resolution 181 (The Partition Plan)
http://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/0/7F0AF2BD897689B785256C330061D253
"Israel and Palestine: the Roots of Conflict" - documentary by the Discovery:
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