History of Israeli/Palestinian Conflict- Cliff Notes (pt 2)

November 1947 The General Assembly of the United Nations recommended the partition of British-mandate Palestine into two separate states, one for Jews and one for Arabs. Territory is separated by the Green Line. Fighting breaks out soon thereafter, because...

• Palestinians considered the proposal unrepresentative of the demographic distribution of Jews and Arabs living in Palestine at that time, and so rejected it (as did neighboring Arab states).
• Zionist leaders accepted the proposed partition for tactical and strategic reasons.

May 1948 Zionist leaders proclaimed the State of Israel. Fighting breaks out between the newly declared state of Israel and its Arab neighbors as British troops leave the country. Notice the differences in the language used in the narrative at this point...

• Israelis call the war “Milhemet Haatzma’ut,” or “War of Independence”. 700,000 Palestinians leave what had been British-mandate Palestine as Israel gains control over large tracts of land, including some five hundred Palestinian villages.
• Palestinians call the war “al-Nakbah” or “the Catastrophe,”. 700,000 Palestinians flee or are driven from what had been British-mandate Palestine. Israel annexes large tracts of land and destroys some five hundred Palestinian villages

Jordan establishes control over the West Bank with the tacit agreement of Israel and Egypt establishes control of the Gaza Strip. Control of Jerusalem is split between Israel in the west and Jordan in the east. 

December 11, 1948 the UN General Assembly passes Resolution 194, stating that Palestinian refugees who wish to return to their homes should be permitted to do so and that those who do not wish to return should be compensated by the state of Israel. 

1948–1967 Ongoing skirmishes between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

May, 1964 Following an Arab League decision, 422 Palestinian national figures meet in Jerusalem under the chairmanship of Ahmad Shuqeiri, who founded the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and laid down the structure of the Palestine National Council (PNC), the PLO Executive Committee, the National Fund and the Palestine Liberation Army (PLA). The meeting also approved a Palestinian national covenant and basic law.

June 5, 1967 In what Israelis call the “Six Day War,” Israel conducts a pre-emptive attack against Egypt and gains control over territory formerly controlled by Egypt, Syria and Jordan. Israel gains control over the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip from Egypt, the Golan Heights from Syria, and the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan. In six days, Israel roughly triples the size of the territory under its control. Israel begins establishing settlements in Gaza, the Sinai Peninsula, and the West Bank, which rightwing Israelis refer to by the biblical names “Judea and Samaria” and consider the biblical lands of the Jewish people.