The news is full of pictures of the effects of suicide bombs on Israeli citizens and of retaliatory massacres by Israel on Arab settlements. The time-line below provides you with some background to present day struggles. For more on what is going on currently, get a copy of the latest Cosatu Shop Steward, Vol 11.1, February to May 2002 edition.
1897
First Zionist Congress meets in Basel , Switzerland . The Basel Program is launched to settle Jews in Palestine and the World Zionist Organization is established following persecution of Jews in Spain , Italy , Russia . 90.6% of inhabitants of Palestine – Arabs (Muslims and Christians) with 99.5% of land. Jews – 9.2.30% with 0.5% of land
1904-1914
Second wave of immigration of Jewish settlers to Palestine .
1916
16 May
Britain and France sign the Sykes-Picot Agreement: Under this Agreement, Egypt, Palestine and Iraq goes to Britain; Lebanon and Syria go to France
1917
2 November
400 years of Ottoman Rule ended by British conquest. Balfour declaration supports the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine .
1918
9 December
British forces occupy Palestine .
1920
24 April
San Remo Conference grants Great Britain mandate over Palestine .
1920 – 1936
Beginnings of resistance by Arabs
1936
6 months general strike by Arabs against confiscation of their land by Israel and against Jewish immigration into the country
1936-39
Arab revolt erupts in Palestine squashed by British.
1939
17 May
The British government issues the MacDonald White Paper to limit and restrict Jewish immigration and land purchases in Palestine and offers independence to Palestine within 10 years. Arab population now 70% and holding 94% of land and Jews 30% holding 5.6% of land
1946-48
Israelis reject White Paper. Jewish-Palestinian-British war breaks out.
1947
UK leaves Palestine
29 November
UN General Assembly Resolution 181 recommends partition of Palestine into an Arab state and a Jewish state
1948
9 April
Zionists massacre population of Deir Yassin and occupy number of villages and towns after expelling the inhabitants. Many Palestinians leave Palestine .
14 May
Zionists proclaim the state of Israel . US and USSR recognise Israel .
15 May
1 st Arab-Israeli war
Arab forces attack Israel . At the end of the 1948 war, Israel extends its holdings of Palestine, and now controls 78 percent of it rather than the 56 percent allocated by the UN Partition Plan of 1947 by conquering areas allotted by the UN to the Palestinian state.
1956
28-29 October
Suez War
Israel invades and occupies the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula in preparation for a British-French invasion of Egypt to reinstate western control of the Suez Canal .
1964
Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) founded
1967
2 nd Arab-Israeli War; "6-day War"
Israel launches an attack that starts the June War – the Six Day War. Israel captures East Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan and the Gaza Strip from Egypt and Golan Heights from Syria . Israel now holds 4 times as much land as it did in 1949.
Dec
Israel annexes East Jerusalem and begins construction of Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank .
22 November
The United Nations Security Council adopts Resolution 242, which states that Israel must withdraw from the territories occupied during the Six Day War of 1967 in return for peace and secure borders.
1970
September
"Black September"
PLO-Jordanian power struggle and civil war in Jordan . Jordanian army attack (supported by Israel , US and UK ) Palestinian camps and guerillas on the outskirts of the Jordanian capital, Amman . The high Palestinian death toll in the attack is labelled “Black September†by the Palestinian movement.
1971
9 July
The Jordanian army evicts the PLO from Jordan and dismantles its infrastructure.
1973
"October war"- Yom Kippur war
The October war breaks out when Syria and Egypt launch a co-ordinated attack on Israeli forces occupying the Golan Heights and the Sinai desert.
1974
14 October
The United Nations General Assembly passes Resolution 3326, which accepts the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people and grants them permanent observer status.
1979
March
U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin sign the Camp David Accords. Israel agrees to withdraw from the Sinai in exchange for peace with Egypt and to grant the Palestinians “full autonomy†in the Occupied Territories after a transitional period of five years.
1979
22 March
The United Nations Security Council adopts resolution 446, which demands that Israel dismantle the settlements in the Occupied Territories .
The Israeli Knesset (government) annexes East Jerusalem to Israel .
1982
4 June
The Israeli army invades Lebanon to destroy the military, political, and institutional infrastructure of the PLO. Israel besieges Beirut for three months. Palestinian and Lebanese casualties were estimated at tens of thousands of people killed.
1984
28 February
Palestinians from the Occupied Territories meet PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat in Amman , Jordan to urge him to accept a joint PLO and Jordanian strategy based on United Nations Security Council resolutions 242 and 338.
1985
19 November
The PLO Executive Committee meets in Baghdad and reaffirms the PLO's rejection of UN resolutions 242 and 338.
1987
9 December
The Palestinian intifada (uprising) begins in Gaza and spreads to the West Bank .
1988
24 November
The Palestinian National Council proclaims an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza ; 55 countries including China and the Soviet Union recognize the Palestinian state.
7 December
PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat declares in Stockholm that the PLO accepts Israel 's right to exist and denounces terrorism.
1990
17 January
The United States and its allies attack Iraq , forcing Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait . In its wake, the U.S. emerges as the sole power broker in the region and plans to launch a new peace initiative in the region.
28 August
The PLO agrees, with provisions, to participate in the Middle East Peace Conference
1993
13 September
Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), spokesperson for the PLO Foreign Affairs Department and member of the PLO Executive Committee, and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres initial the Declaration of Principles (DOP). PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin sign the accords and shake hands on the lawn of the White House. Under the Agreement, Israel agrees to a phase-in period for self-rule for Palestinians.
19 September
The United States promises $250 million to the Palestinians to support the agreement. The Israeli Knesset approves the DOP 61 to 50.
12 October
The PLO establishes the Palestinian Authority (PA) and appoints Arafat its head.
1994
Feb
A Jewish settler opens fire on a mosque in Hebron killing 29 Muslims and injuring many others.
4 May
Israel withdraws from Gaza Jericho.
July
Israel and Jordan sign a peace treaty.
1995
Jan
Militant Islamic group claims responsibility for a suicide bomb near Tel Aviv which kills 19 Israelis.
28 September
PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin sign the Palestinian-Israeli Interim Agreement on the West Bank and Gaza Strip (Oslo II) at the White House and rededicate themselves to peace talks.
9 November
Rabin is assassinated by right-wing extremist.
1996
4 May
Arafat and the Palestine National Council amend the PLO National Charter, removing the call for the destruction of Israel.
2 June
Binyamin Netanyahu becomes Israel 's Prime Minister.
15 January
Israel and the PLO sign the Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron (Hebron Agreement).
21 October
Israel 's former Prime Minister Shimon Peres calls for a Palestinian state.
1999
12 May
Ehud Barak is elected Prime Minister of Israel.
2000
11 July
Israeli-Palestinian negotiations at Camp David begin
28 September
Extreme right-wing Israeli leader Ariel Sharon visits the Haram el-Sharif in Jerusalem , setting off the worst violent clashes (known as the “Al-Aqsa Intifada â€) in Israel and the Occupied Territories since Israel was founded.
2001
6 February
Sharon is elected prime minister of Israel .
References:
Thanks to the following web sites for information:
www.palestinehistorycom; www.timelines.info; www.palestinecenter.org