The Middle East

1800 B.C. to 1500 B.C. Abraham, the father of the Jews, lived in a land called Ur, in S W Mesopotamia. Yahweh, the God of Abraham, told him to leave Ur and settle in Canaan, which is now Israel.

66 A.D. to 132 A. D. The Jews stage a revolt against Roman rule and are told to leave Canaan. This scattering is known as the diaspora. The area then became known as Palestine

600’s A.D. Muslim Arab armies moved north from Arabia and conquered most of the Middle East including Palestine. From this time, most of the people living in Palestine were Arab and Muslim. Muslims controlled this region until the end of the Ottoman Empire in the early 1900’s.

1096 A.D. The Crusades began in 1096 A.D. The Crusades were a series of military expeditions by Western European Christians to reclaim control of the holy lands from the Muslims.

1517A.D. Palestine became part of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans now controlled Turkey, parts of N. Africa, Southwest Asia, and Southeast Europe

LATE 1800’S Zionist movement began. Zionism – A Jewish movement that encouraged Jews to return to the homeland, which is also known as Zion.

World War One

The Ottoman empire sided with Germany. Britain wanted Arab support so it agreed to back Arab demands for possession of Palestine.

World War One Britain also issued the “Belfour Declaration” pledging support for Jewish control of Palestine. After the war, the Ottomans lost control of Palestine and Arabs and Jews claimed the land of Palestine

1930’s to 1940’s Nazis began to persecute Jews in Germany. Many Jews fled to Palestine which infuriated the Palestine Arabs.

The world learned of the Holocaust The United Nations divided Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab state (1947).

May 14,1948- Israel declared its independence May 15,1948-Israel was attacked by Arabs who refused to recognize its independence

Suez Canal Crisis On July 26, 1956 President Nasser of Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal. The British and the French were furious because they controlled the company which ran the Canal. They attempted to start a war between Egypt and Israel. They did not succeed 1956

1967 Six-Day War In early 1967 there were repeated confrontations between Israel and Syria. On 6/5/67, the Israeli air force launched a surprise attack on Jordan,Syria, and Egypt. Israeli ground units captured the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt. The West Bank and East Jerusalem was captured from Jordan and, the Golan Heights from Syria.

1978 Palestinian Intifada begins.

1993 Oslo Accords The first direct, face-to-face agreement between the government of Israel and the Palestine government known as the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). It was intended to be the one framework for future negotiations and relations between the Israeli government and Palestinians, government of IsraelPalestine Liberation Organization

1995 Oslo II Agreement signed in Washington Israeli and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) officials finalized agreement on the second stage of Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian lands.

1995 Israeli Prime Minister assassinated In Nov.4, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, was assassinated in Tel Aviv, Israel by an extremist citizen of Israel who considered Rabin's crusade for peace a betrayal of the nation of Israel.

Still searching for peace after all these years! JERUSALEM—Israeli and Palestinian negotiators will meet this week after more than a year of deadlocked peacemaking. Their aim is to reach a common ground to resume direct talks between the two sides and to achieve a Palestinian-Israeli peace accord... by the end of 2012,”