Conflict and instability in the Middle East (1896–2020)

A nationalist movement, founded by Theodor Herzl in the 1890s, calling for a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

A letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Lord Rothschild, promising British support for 'a national home for the Jewish people' in Palestine, while also saying the rights of 'existing non-Jewish communities' must not be harmed.

A secret British-French deal to divide Ottoman Middle Eastern territory into zones of influence after WWI; Palestine was marked for international/British administration.

Letters in which Britain seemed to promise Sharif Hussein of Mecca an independent Arab state (in exchange for revolt against the Ottomans) in territory that many Arabs believed included Palestine.

Britain made three conflicting promises (to Arabs via McMahon-Hussein, to the French via Sykes-Picot, and to Zionists via Balfour) about the same land, planting contradictions the Mandate could never resolve.

The League of Nations gave Britain legal authority to govern Palestine from 1922, with instructions to both develop self-government and implement the Balfour Declaration.

From roughly 11% to about 30% of the population, driven above all by the Fifth Aliyah (1929-1939) as Jews fled Nazi persecution in Europe.

A British policy document capping Jewish immigration to 75,000 over five years and envisaging an independent Palestine within ten years — a sharp reversal that angered Zionists but did not fully satisfy Arab demands either.

A general strike began in April 1936 after Arab anger built over rising Jewish immigration, land sales to Jewish settlers, and the feeling that Britain was not delivering the independence promised to Arabs.

With the Peel Commission (1937), which recommended partition into separate Arab and Jewish states — rejected by Arab leaders — followed by harsh military suppression that crushed the revolt by 1939.

Jewish communities built strong institutions (the Jewish Agency, the Haganah defence force, the Histadrut labour federation) under fairly unified leadership; Arab Palestinian society was more fragmented, split between rival clans (notably the Husaynis and Nashashibis), which weakened its political effectiveness.

It hardened Arab nationalism but left the Palestinian Arab leadership militarily and politically weakened just as WWII approached, while it accelerated Jewish paramilitary organisation and self-reliance — a mismatch that shaped the balance of power in 1947-48.

The Holocaust — the Nazi genocide of six million Jews during WWII, which left many survivors as refugees with nowhere to go.

The UN General Assembly vote to partition Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states, with Jerusalem under international control. Jews accepted; Arabs rejected.

Leader of the Jewish Agency who declared the creation of the State of Israel on 14 May 1948 and became its first prime minister.

A coalition of Arab states (formed 1945) that coordinated the invasion of the new State of Israel by Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq the day after independence was declared.

Arabic for 'catastrophe' — the displacement of around 700,000 Palestinian Arabs who fled or were expelled during the 1948 war.

1948: about 78% of Mandate Palestine (more than the UN plan gave it). 1967: added Sinai, Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights after the Six-Day War.

Egypt's Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal; Israel invaded Sinai with Britain and France, but US/Soviet pressure forced withdrawal. Nasser emerged as an Arab hero, showing old colonial powers no longer controlled the region.

A devastating, rapid Arab defeat: Israel captured Sinai and Gaza (Egypt), the West Bank and East Jerusalem (Jordan), and the Golan Heights (Syria).

Egypt and Syria's surprise attack restored Arab pride after 1967's humiliation and helped push both sides towards later peace negotiations.

Founded 1964 to represent Palestinian nationalism; led by Yasser Arafat from 1969, it combined guerrilla action with a diplomatic search for international support.

1967 occupation of Gaza/West Bank → PLO's armed and diplomatic campaign → First Intifada (1987) mass uprising → rise of Hamas (1987) → Second Intifada (2000–2005).

A Jewish community built on land Israel occupied after 1967 (e.g. West Bank). Palestinians and most of the international community view settlements as illegal and an obstacle to a Palestinian state.

Arabic for 'catastrophe' — the displacement of roughly 700,000 Palestinians during the 1948 war.

About 850,000, most settling in Israel between the late 1940s and 1970s.

Anwar Sadat (Egypt) and Menachem Begin (Israel) in 1979, brokered by US President Carter at Camp David.

Egypt regained the Sinai Peninsula; Sadat faced Arab League expulsion of Egypt and was assassinated in 1981 by Islamist militants.

Agreements from secret Norway-brokered talks in which Israel and the PLO recognised each other and created the Palestinian Authority for limited self-rule.

Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, final borders and Israeli settlements — pushed to future 'final status' talks that never succeeded.

Talks between Barak and Arafat, hosted by Clinton, collapsed over Jerusalem, refugees and borders; historians debate whether Arafat's rejection or Barak's insufficient offer was more to blame.

Full Arab League normalisation with Israel in exchange for full withdrawal to 1967 borders, a Palestinian state, and a 'just solution' for refugees.

1979 was a bilateral, land-for-recognition deal between two states; 2002 was a collective, region-wide offer from the whole Arab League — the 1979 deal succeeded, the 2002 offer was never accepted.

They organised strikes, boycotts of Israeli goods and community food networks, becoming visible political organisers beyond domestic roles.

Palestinian Christians (displacement, emigration), Bedouin communities (disrupted by shifting borders/military zones), and Israeli Arabs (citizens facing discrimination).

The Second Intifada, a major Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.