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New actors, New visions, New action

New actors, New visions, New action. Israel, the rise of a Palestinian counter-state, and the 1 st Intifada. What happened in 1967 that changed the nature of the conflict? How and why did the Arab-Israeli conflict become a Palestinian-Israeli conflict?.

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New actors, New visions, New action

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  1. New actors, New visions, New action Israel, the rise of a Palestinian counter-state, and the 1st Intifada

  2. What happened in 1967 that changed the nature of the conflict?How and why did the Arab-Israeli conflict become a Palestinian-Israeli conflict?

  3. Why is this an Arab-Israeli Conflict? • Palestinians politically divided • West Bank Palestinians under Jordanian rule • Jordan grants Pal’s Jordanian citizenship, annexes territory (1950) • Incorporation of Pal. notables into Jordanian govt. • Gaza Pal’s under Egyptian rule • No citizenship, refugee status • Refugees in Lebanon, elsewhere • Arab-Israeli wars • 1956, 1967, 1973, 1982 invasion of Lebanon • Intent: secure borders, eradicate Arab military threat, expand boundaries, destroy PLO bases (after ‘56) • Arab-Israeli peace settlements • Camp David (Egypt) 1978/1979 • Jordan (1994) The Suez Canal, object of British, French, and Israeli invasion in 1956.

  4. New resistance organizations Fatah, 1959 Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), 1964 Umbrella org - factionalized Fatah dominant after ‘69 New ethos Palestinians in charge (not Arab states) Liberation of Palestine prioritized (not Arab unity) Evolving plans for Palestine/Israel Revolutionary struggle attacks on infrastructure and civilians (raids on Israel from Jordan, Lebanon) PFLP vs Fatah Diplomatic (1974 UN recognition) Changing Hands: Palestinian-Israeli Conflict Fatah leader Yasir Arafat, elected chairman of the PLO In 1969.

  5. Rise of a Palestinian counter-state.. • New images and identities: from refugees to resistance • Spread of Palestinian resistance to to all classes, genders • New politics- PLO as quasi-governmental org. • Jordan, Lebanon • Arab state sponsorship/tension Poster announcing the annual conference of the General Union of Palestinian Students (GUPS) that took place in Algeria in 1971. The text on the left reads: “Despite the scourge of violent repression and terror, Palestinian students advance the revolution and are the strong voice of the Palestinian people everywhere.” Poster and information: http://liberationgraphics.com/ppp/Introduction.html

  6. New boundaries: Six-Day War • Causes • Syrian-Israeli tensions; Fatah attacks & shelling of Israel • Arab propaganda war; threats against Israel • The false Soviet message • Egypt blocks Straits of Tiran (shipping lane to Israel), cutting off Israel’s supply lines. Destroyed Israeli tank and jeep on the road to Old Jerusalem. Photo:Israeli Press Office Photo Archives.

  7. 5 June 1967 Israeli pre-emptive strike - Egyptian air force destroyed on ground. Israel seizes East Jerusalem and West Bank. War finished June 10: Israel takes Golan Heights from Syria, West Bank & East Jerusalem from Jordan, Gaza Strip and Sinai from Egypt. Six-Day War: What happened Moshe Dayan, Israeli Defense Minister in 1967

  8. 1 million new Palestinians under Israeli military rule (No citizenship) New borders and new sense of Israeli security Israelis announce they won’t withdraw unless they receive full peace agreements negotiated directly with Arab states Nasser resigns, brought back into office by popular support. General expectation that Israel will return the territories 1981 Israel “annexes” Jerusalem and most of Golan Heights (most of orig. inhabitants fled) Six-Day War: Results

  9. ’67 War: Other effects • New opportunities for Fatah leadership • Quieted Pan-Arabism • “Reunited” many Palestinians under common Israeli occupation Palestinians skirt a burned-out truck in Jerusalem. Photo unattributed.

  10. Why did the first Palestinian intifada occur in 1987? (Also, why not before?)

  11. Backdrop to Intifada: Israeli policies towards the territories Physical but not social integration • Suppression of Palestinian nationalism • Citizenship NOT extended to Palestinians in Occupied Territories • Attempts to control as much land as possible • economic integration of West Bank and Gaza with Israel proper

  12. Israeli Policies : Two Main Phases • “Carrot and Stick Phase” (1967-1977) • Military rule of the territories • Late 1960s and early ‘70s, relatively “liberal” • Expansion of universities, permission to engage in limited political activities • large degree of self government to municipalities • Open bridge policy between Jordan and West Bank (initially) • Repression & deportations • Economic integration with Israel • Palestinian economic boom A memorial at Bir Zeit University in the West Bank, which expanded in the 1970s and became a center of Palestinian nationalism. Photo: Randa Shaath

  13. “Iron Fist Phase” (1977 onward) • administrative detention • Pal’s could be held for 6 months without trial (62 such cases in 1980-85; 131 in last five months of 1985); torture • dismissal of Palestinian mayors; interrogation, deportation • freezing of Palestinian building permits, new limitations on freedom of expression, editors arrested, etc • Settlements, government land seizures, Israeli military control • most intense period of settlement: ’77-’85: 119 new Israeli settlements • By 1985 Israeli authorities have control over 52% of West Bank land and at least 40% of the Gaza Strip.

  14. Causes of the 1st intifada • Political Grievances (and loss of patience) • Sociological Factors • Employment and unemployment • Education, urbanization, class changes • Growth of Palestinian civil society networks • Arab peace settlements

  15. 1st Intifada, 1987-1991: Who & What • Leadership • Unified National Leadership (LOCAL!!) • PLO, Hamas (after 1988) • Primary Goals • Israeli withdrawal from the territories • Creation of Palestinian state • Who was involved? • Grassroots, ordinary people, working and middle classes, women and men, children, youths, adults Hanan Ashrawi, Palestinian activist and a local leader of the 1st intifada

  16. 1st Intifada: how • Strategies • Humanize Palestinian suffering • Reduce Palestinian dependence on Israel • Make territories ungovernable • Tactics • Violent • Rock throwing, knifings, attacks on busses, “collaborators” • Nonviolent • Severing economic ties with Israel, civil disobedience, boycotts & strikes, building solidarity

  17. Israeli responses in the Territories • Intifada as “terrorism” • Collective punishment, curfews • Raids on homes and gardens • Closure of schools & universities • Deportations- • 69 Intifada leaders exiled, 1987-1991 • December 1992: 415 deportations • Arrests • By 12/1989, 35,000-40,000 Palestinians arrested; 75,000 arrested by 12/1990 Source: B’TSELEM, Kimmerling & Migdal (2003)

  18. Responses: Casualties • 1987-1989: 626 Pal’s; 43 Israelis killed. • 37,439 Pal’s wounded • Total casualties in the Occupied Territories and Israel from December 9, 1987 to September 30, 2000: • Palestinian civilians killed by Israeli forces - 1,407 • Palestinian civilians killed by Israeli civilians - 140 • Israeli civilians killed by Palestinian civilians - 270 • Members of the Israeli forces killed by Palestinian civilians - 135 • 33% Pal. deaths below the age of 18 (usually 14-18) • Hundreds of Palestinians killed by other Palestinians as collaborators • Assassinations of PLO officials associated with the Intifada • 1988 Abu Jihad, news editor and high-level PLO official Hamas members show a journalist a hatchet they claim they used to attack Palestinian informants. Photo by Judah Passow; available at http://www.msnbc.com/modules/intifada/launch.asp?b=hi Source: B’TSELEM

  19. Why did the first Intifada end? (circa 1991) • Exhaustion & suppression • Palestinian economic problems • PLO centralization & Israeli eradication of leadership • 1990-91 Gulf War • 1991 Madrid conference/negotiations

  20. 1st Intifada: Effects • Challenged Israeli belief in sustainability of occupation. • New recognition of Palestinians in Israel and idea that partition was necessary. • New & more pragmatic Palestinian goals • Local leadership pushed PLO towards a two-state solution and acceptance of Israel. • New Palestinian self-image, and self-sufficiency • Helped bring new rounds of negotiations

  21. What factors undermined the efficacy of the first Intifada? • Difficult to sustain: • Israeli use of increased repression and encirclement of refugee camps. • Isolation of communities • Palestinian economic problems: 30-40% unemployment. • Families lost as much as three-quarters of their income • Loss of Palestinian leadership • Use of violence • Palestinian internal divisions • Palestinian lack of leverage • Palestinian lack of influential external allies

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