Conflict in Israel

1. Conflict in Israel

3. Arab countries vs. IsraelMuslim vs. Jewish

4. Areas of Conflict: • West Bank • Gaza Strip • Golan Heights

5. Background • Violence in the area is a result of a historical claim for land • End of the 1800s – political movement known as Zionism attempted to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine – caused many European Jews to immigrate • Israelis feel this land is their “biblical promised land”

6. 1916 (during WWI) – British Empire convinced Arab leaders to aid them in the war and in return they would support the establishment of an independent state in this region • 1919 – Faisal-Weizmann Agreement: promoted the development of a Jewish National Homeland in Palestine and an Arab Nation in the Middle East • 1922 – League of Nations established the British Mandate for Palestine; British made promises to both Arabs and Jews

7. Arab leaders sought help from the Axis powers during WWII for removing Jews from their land • After WWII – United Nations recommended dividing Palestine into 2 states • The minority of Jewish people received the majority of the land • 1948 – Arab-Israeli War (Israel War of Independence) Arabs rejected the UN plan of dividing the region into 2 states

8. May 14, 1948 – US President Harry Truman allowed the formation of the state of Israel • The United Nations estimated that 711,000 Arabs became refugees during the fighting • Arabs who fled the land were not allowed to return • 1949 – Armistice Agreement (Israel warns Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria to back off)

9. Palestinians were driven out of their land and put into refugee camps • 1950 – Jordan annexes the West Bank • 1967 – Six Days War: Israel took the Gaza strip and the West Bank • 1973 – Egypt and Syria attacked Israel on Yom Kippur (Jewish Holiday) • 1994 – Israel withdrew from the Gaza strip • Construction of a large security fence around the West Bank

10. Israeli forces

11. West Bank

12. West Bank Protest

15. West Bank

19. West Bank Facts • Population – 1,932,637 • 26.5% are refugees • Jerusalem is in the West Bank • 436 mile long barrier is being constructed • Palestinians refer to the wall as: • “jidar-alfasl al-’unsun” – racial segregation • Arpartheid Wall

24. West Bank Facts • 2009 saw the 1st year without a suicide bombing • Expanded Palestinian security force • 2009 causalities: • 27 Palestinians killed • 15 Israelis killed

25. Gaza Strip

29. Gaza Strip

33. Gaza Strip Facts • Borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the north and east, and Egypt to the south. • Population of 1,500,000 • 1 in 5 people are online • Size of the island of Lanai of the Hawaiin Islands • 1,000,000 are UN-registered refugees

34. People live primarily in refugee camps and are fed by the UN • 1 in 5 refugee dwellings allow sewage and waste water to flow along the roads • More than 1 in 6 children ages 6-months to 5-years suffer from malnutrition • Main languages are Arabic, Hebrew, and English • Next to Israel, Gaza Strip fears drought the most

35. 99.3% are Sunni Muslim • When goods are brought in or taken out of the Gaza Strip, Israeli security require that trucks be unloaded and then loaded onto Israeli vehicles on each side. • Israeli, United States, Canada, and European Union have frozen all funds to the Gaza Strip. • 34% are unemployed

36. Tunnels under the border used to bring in goods and weapons • Airport was put out of use by Israeli attacks in 2000 • Israel maintains control of Gaza Strip’s: • Airspace • Territorial waters • Offshore maritime access • Gaza-Israel border