Last updated on 8/14/06
*Note: We include this section in the site not because we think it had anything to do with the events of September 11, but because things have heated up in that part of the world as well, and it appears that it may be important in the near future in ways that touch on the War on Terror in the long term.
Truman
Library: Historical Background and Chronology
Timeline beginning in 1917, with Chaim Weizmann persuading the British
government to issue the Balfour Declaration through May, 1948, when the
Provisional Government of Israel proclaimed the new State of Israel and
Truman recognized the provisional Jewish government.
Arab.Net:
History of Palestine
Comprehensive Palestine history beginning with a section on the Canaanites,
and including King David, Babylonian captivity, Persian and Roman rule,
Muslim Palestine, the Ottoman empire, Zionism, the British mandate, Jewish-Arab
conflict, the state of Israel, PLO, the state of Palestine, the Gulf War,
the 1998 peace accord, the Israeli withdrawal, Netanyahu, and the Wye
accord.
UN:
Question of Palestine
Based on UN documents, this portion of the official United Nations site
is dedicated to answering the question of Palestine. Sections include
1917 to 1947, 1947 to 1977, 1977 to 1990, and the peace process.
The
Conversion Crisis: The Current Debate on Religion, State and Conversion
in Israel
Anti-Defamation League article. Their own description says: "With
the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the Jewish dimension
of the Jewish State became a pressing, practical matter. From the beginning,
there were tensions between those who advocated a strict division between
religion and state, those who believed halachic Judaism should be the
guiding principle of the state and those who sought a middle ground."
The
US & Israel
From The Christian Science Monitor, this article focuses on Truman's decision
to recognize Israel and subsequent events.
The
Arab-Israeli Conflict - A Brief History
The Guardian Unlimited's pictoral essay about the conflict and Israel's
other neighbors.
11/29/1947:
UN General Assembly Resolution 181 (Partition Plan)
This United Nations resolution called for the partition of the British-ruled
Palestine Mandate into a Jewish state and an Arab state. It was approved
on November 29, 1947 with 33 votes in favor, 13 against, 10 abstentions
and one absent. The
resolution was accepted by the Jews in Palestine, yet rejected by the
Arabs in Palestine and the Arab states.
5/14/1948
: Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel
From the Truman Library. David Ben-Gurion declared the establishment of
a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel, known as the State of Israel.
12/11/1948:
U.N. Security Council Resolution 194
Progress Report of the
United Nations Mediator. Established a Conciliation Commission consisting
of three States members of the United Nations to, among other things, facilitate
the repatriation, resettlement and economic and social rehabilitation of
the refugees and the payment of compensation, and to maintain close relations
with the Director of the United Nations Relief for Palestine Refugees.
11/22/1967:
U.N. Security Council Resolution 242
After the Six-Day War, the UN General Assembly referred the issue to the
Security Council. At issue was the insistence of the Arab states on a
provision for total Israeli withdrawal. After lengthy discussion, the wording "withdrawal
from territories conquered.." rather than "withdrawal from the
territories conquered" was adopted. Advocates of the Arab cause chose
naturally to interpret the two as equivalent. The United States, advocates
of this wording, chose to interpret it as allowing for minor border adjustments.
The Israeli government interpreted "minor border adjustments’
in a rather liberal way. The Palestine Liberation Organization chose to
reject it entirely. The final draft of the Security Council resolution
was presented by the British Ambassador, Lord Caradon, on November 22,
1967. It was adopted on the same day.
5/20/01:
Text Of The Mitchell Report
Report Of The Sharm El-Sheikh Fact-Finding Committee: the
full text of the report completed on April 30, 2001 and published on May
20, 2001.
Highly recommended for search engine ranking!
