Struggle for land: Two peoples--Israelis and Palestinian Arabs--claim the same homeland in the Middle East. These maps show the disputed land and how borders have changed over the years. (Geography Smart).The modern-day state of Israel was founded in 1948. But today, more than 50 years later, its borders are still in dispute. Both Jews and Palestinian Arabs claim the same land. The Palestinians demand an independent state of their own in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip Gaza Strip (gäz`ə), (2003 est. pop. 1,330,000) rectangular coastal area, c.140 sq mi (370 sq km), SW Asia, on the Mediterranean Sea adjoining Egypt and Israel, in what was formerly SW Palestine. , with Jerusalem as their capital. In 1993, leaders of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), coordinating council for Palestinian organizations, founded (1964) by Egypt and the Arab League and initially controlled by Egypt. (PLO PLO abbr. Palestine Liberation Organization PLO Palestine Liberation Organization Noun 1. PLO ) signed the Oslo Accords
The Oslo Accords, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or Declaration of Principles (DOP , agreeing to work for peace. Israel turned over most of the Gaza Strip and a large part of the West Bank to the PLO. In exchange for land, the PLO agreed to reduce violence so that Israelis could live in peace. But negotiations for a final peace settlement proved difficult. By September 2000, the effort had stalled. Palestinians launched new street violence, setting off bombs and killing Israelis. Israel has answered by attacking Palestinian targets in the West Bank and Gaza Strip For the West Bank and Gaza Strip please see one of the following:
1920 Until its defeat in World War I (1914-1918), the Turkish Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire (ŏt`əmən), vast state founded in the late 13th cent. by Turkish tribes in Anatolia and ruled by the descendants of Osman I until its dissolution in 1918. controlled Palestine and most of the Middle East. In exchange for Arab support in the war, Britain offered to back Arab demands for independence once the war ended. At the same time, Britain also promised to support the creation of a Jewish national homeland in Palestine. In 1920, the League of Nations gave Britain a mandate (authority) to rule Palestine. In the 1930s, Arabs protested as growing numbers of Jews moved to Palestine to escape persecution in Nazi Germany. 1947 Demands for a Jewish state grew after 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis in World War II(1939-1945). But Arabs also called on Britain to keep its promises to them. In 1947, the United Nations (UN) proposed a partition (division) that split Palestine into two independent states, one Jewish and one Arab. The Jews in Palestine agreed to the plan; the Arabs rejected it. On May 14, 1948, Israel proclaimed itself an independent Jewish state. Armies from neighboring Arab countries, including Egypt, Syria, and Transjordan, attacked Israel, but Israel won the war.POPULATION: 6,400,000 1967 Israel gained territory after defeating Arab armies in the 1948-1949 war. War broke out again in 1956, 1967, and 1973. In the 1967 Six-Day War Six-Day War: see Arab-Israeli Wars. Six-Day War or Arab-Israeli War of 1967 War between Israel and the Arab countries of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. , Israel gained control of the Sinai Peninsula Sinai Peninsula Peninsula, northeastern Egypt. Located between the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba at the northern end of the Red Sea, it covers some 23,500 sq mi (61,000 sq km). and the Gaza Strip from Egypt and the Golan Heights Golan Heights, strategic upland region (2003 est. pop. 10,500), c.500 sq mi (1,250 sq km), SW Syria. It borders S Lebanon, NE Israel, and NW Jordan. It takes its name from the ancient city of Golan and was known as Gaulanitis in New Testament times. from Syria. Israel also occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem East Jerusalem refers to the part of Jerusalem captured by Jordan in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and subsequently by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. It includes Jerusalem's Old City and some of the holiest sites of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, such as the Temple Mount, Western , which Jordan had controlled. Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt after signing a peace treaty in 1979. In 1993, Israel and the Palestinians signed the Oslo Accords, which called for Israel to return land to the Palestinians in exchange for peace. But the peace process has broken down. RELATED ARTICLE: FACTS TO KNOW ISRAEL AREA: 8,131 square miles GAZA STRIP AREA: 140 square miles POPULATION: 1,132,063 WEST BANK AREA: 2,270 square miles POPULATION: 2,020,296 Questions Study the four maps and the information on these two pages to answer the questions. 1. What was Israel called in 1920? _____ 2. Who ruled that area in 1920? _____ 3. Under the UN Partition Plan of 1947, which state was supposed to receive the area now known as the West Bank? _________________________________________ 4. What happened in May 1948 when Israel proclaimed itself an independent Jewish state? __________________________________ 5. Israel gained control of East Jerusalem and what other four Arab areas as a result of the 1967 Six-Day War? 6. Israel later returned which area after signing a peace treaty with Egypt? ____________________ 7. Israel has built a large number of settlements in which two Arab areas that it captured in 1967? ________________ 8. What is Israel's capital city? _______________ 9. About how many miles wide is the West Bank at 320 North latitude? ______________ 10. Who controls most of the West Bank area directly bordering the Jordan River Jordan River River, Middle East. It rises on the Syria-Lebanon border, flows through Lake Tiberias (Sea of Galilee), and then receives its main tributary, the Yarmuk River. ? _______________ (Answers) 1. Palestine 2. Britain (UK) 3. Arab state 4. Neighboring Arab countries attacked it. 5. West Bank, Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula, and the Golan Heights 6. Sinai Peninsula 7. West Bank, Gaza Strip 8. Jerusalem 9. 32-miles wide 10. Israel |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion