The CQ Researcher : Middle East Conflict

From the April 6, 2001 issue of The CQ Researcher, Volume 11, No. 13, p. 283.

Chronology

1940-1950
The founding of the State of Israel sparks ethnic conflict in the region.

1947
The United Nations proposes partitioning Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab sections.

May 14, 1948
The State of Israel is proclaimed by David Ben-Gurion.

May 15, 1948
Arab armies - led by Egypt, Syria and Jordan - invade Israel. By the end of the year, all are defeated.

1957
Yasser Arafat founds al-Fatah, a political and military group devoted to restoring Palestine to Arab rule.

1960-1970
Israel strengthens its position in the region. The Palestinians begin to organize resistance to Israel.

1967
Israel launches a surprise offensive against the Egyptians, Syrians and Jordanians. The “Six Day War” ends with the Israelis in control of the Sinai Peninsula, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights.

1969
Arafat takes control of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

1973
The Israelis repulse a surprise attack by Egypt and Syria.

1978
Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin meet at Camp David and agree on the return of the Sinai to Egypt in exchange for normalized relations between Israel and Egypt.

1980-1990
The invasion of Lebanon and the Palestinian uprising soften resistance to negotiating on both sides.

1982
Israel invades Lebanon in an effort to destroy the PLO.

1985
Israel withdraws from all of Lebanon except a 10-mile “security zone” along its border.

1987
The Palestinian intifada, or uprising, begins in the occupied territories.

1990-Present
Israel and the Palestinians make progress in peace efforts but fail to reach a final agreement.

1992
Israeli elections bring Yitzhak Rabin and the more dovish Labor Party to power.

February 1993
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators begin meeting secretly in Oslo, Norway.

September 1993
Arafat and Rabin sign the Oslo Accords in Washington, giving the Palestinians autonomy over much of Gaza and Jericho in the West Bank. The two leaders shake hands publicly for the first time.

November 1995
Rabin is assassinated by an Orthodox Jew. The following May, hard-liner Benjamin Netanyahu is elected prime minister.

1998
Netanyahu and Arafat meet at Wye River Plantation in Maryland and agree to further Israeli withdrawals from the territories. The deal is not implemented.

1999
Labor Party leader Ehud Barak defeats Netanyahu, becoming prime minister.

May 2000
Israel withdraws from its 10-mile “security zone” in Lebanon.

July 2000
Barak and Arafat meet at Camp David to work out a final agreement, but are unsuccessful.

December 2000
Further efforts by Barak and Arafat to secure a peace agreement, encouraged by the departing Clinton administration, end without progress.

February 2001
Hard-liner Ariel Sharon defeats Barak in the race for prime minister.

March, 20, 2001
Sharon meets President George W. Bush in Washington for the first time. Violence on both sides escalates soon after.