The Hegemonist is not a news blog. Nevertheless, I thought you might find these 26 quick facts on the history of Gaza and Israel enlightening. Let me know if I’ve missed something in the comment section!
a. In the biblical account, Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and eventually into Palestine.
b. During the height of Israeli rule, the period of David, they did not control Gaza (throughout most of the Old Testament era it was run by the Philistines).
c. Gaza was first conquered by a Jewish king in 145BC.
d. The Jews dwelt in the area until an unsuccessful rebellion, after which they were largely scattered across the Roman Empire.
e. Modern Palestinians are descendents of the various peoples that have inhabited the areas.
f. Near the beginning of the seventeenth century, Christian thinkers in England began promoting the idea of returning Jews to Palestine.
g. The Zionist Organization, the ideological predecessor to Israel’s national government, was formed in 1897.
h. To gain both sides’ support during the First World War, Britain promised to give Palestine to both the Arabs and the Jews.
i. Following WWI, a majority of the inhabitants of Palestine wanted American rule.
j. Palestine (including Gaza) was instead made a British mandate.
k. When the British military turned control over to a civilian administration, Herbert Samuel, the appointed leader, signed a receipt for, “One Palestine, complete.” [I love irony.]
l. A few descendents of ancient Jews continued to live in Gaza until 1929, when Arab riots forced them to leave.
m. An unimplemented UN partition plan would have made Gaza part of an independent, Arab state.
n. David Ben-Gurion later wrote that if the plan had been implemented, “six million Jews in Europe would not have been killed—most of them would be in Israel.”
o. In 1948 Israel declared Independence after working with the British to ensure a smooth take-over.
p. Egypt took control of Gaza in 1949. Gaza was never considered part of Egypt and was instead treated as a colony. Take a gander at these BBC maps for the next few.
q. Israel re-took Gaza as part of the six day war in 1967.
r. Hamas, an acronym for “Islamic Resistance Movement,” was formed in 1987 and has been listed as a terrorist organization by the E.U. and the U.S.
s. The 1994 Oslo Peace Accords provided that Gaza (and other Palestinian areas) would be given internal autonomy, while Israel would continue to control its external affairs. Hamas led Palestinian opposition to the accords.
t. The second Intifada began in 2000 and violence has continued on and off ever since.
u. Israel unilaterally pulled all of its settlers and military forces out of Gaza in 2005. Hamas claimed that this was a victory for its armed tactics.
v. In 2006, Hamas won Palestinian elections. After an ensuing civil war, Hamas lost control over Palestinian territory outside of Gaza.
w. A June 2008 cease-fire between Hamas and Israel broke down either in November when Israel killed several Hamas soldiers in a Gaza raid, or in December when Hamas officially declared the end of the agreement and began launching rockets into Israel.
x. The U.S. has said that it hopes for a “durable” cease-fire.
y. Here’s one good opinion piece supporting Israel’s action in Gaza .
z. Here’s an equally good piece attacking it.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Great job.
This was really great! Thanks for a really good summary.
I may have my history wrong so I am looking for some clarification:
n. David Ben-Gurion later wrote that if the plan had been implemented, “six million Jews in Europe would not have been killed—most of them would be in Israel.”
This item implies that the UN plan, if implemented, would have prevented the death of 6 million Jews in Europe, presumably those killed in the holocaust. The UN plan, however, could not have been proposed before the holocaust as the UN did not exist until after WWII was over.
Am I misreading the implication of the statement? If I am, which 6 million European Jews would the plan have saved?