Zionism, Israel and the Palestinian issue Flashcards
what caused the Six day war?
-1967
-newly formed Palestinian organisation
when was the PLO formed?
-1964 Nasser invited the leaders of the Arab states to a conference in Cairo, went on to set up the Palestinian Liberation Organisation.
what was the aim of the PLO?
-unite all Palestinians and ultimately to win back the land which they had lost in 1948-49.
what was the PLO generally?
-an umbrella organisation for various Palestinian groups.
-for example Fatah.
what did Fatah do? and who were they?
-guerrilla group who had bases in three of the Arab countries which border Israel: Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.
-founded by Yasser Arafat.
what did Fatah do?
-1965 carried out first raid on Israel
-next few years carried out many raids into Israel and Israel retaliated.
what did Arab countries do about the PLO?
-governments of Lebanon and Jordan tried to restrict PLO activities because they were afraid of Israel reprisals.
-Syrians were keen to support the PLO and encouraged Fatah raids against Israel and supplied men with arms
what did Nasser sign with Syria? and why?
-after not supporting PLO raids he still wanted to seem the leader of the Arab world so he signed a defence agreement with the Syrian government where if one state was attacked the other would come to its defence.
-Nasser hoped this would calm the hotheads in Syria but it only encouraged them.
what started the six day war?
-tensions rose in Syria as a week after Egyptian pact a mine exploded on the Israel-Jordan frontier killing three Israeli soldiers and the Israelis retaliated with a huge attack on the Jordan village of Samu.
-7th April 1967 an Israeli tractor was ploughing land in the demilitarised zone, the Syrians opened fire and the Israelis fired back, this escalated and Israeli planes were called in action and Syrian plane.
-6 Syrian planes were shot down two of them over the Syrian capital, which further humiliated the Syrians.
what happened when the Soviets intervened just before the six day war?
-May 13 regarded Syria as a key ally and warned the Egyptians that Israel was moving its forces to the border with Syria.
-Nasser knew that this wasn’t true but the story spread and his leadership was being challenged.
what steps did Nasser take to deter Israel and impress Arab opinion on the build up to the six day war?
-May 15 moved 100,000 Egyptians into the Sinai Peninsula.
-asked the UN commander to remove his troops from Egyptian soil to prove that Egypt was completely independent and they were withdrawn.
-May 22 Nasser closed the Straits of Tiran which stopped Israel having access to the port of Eliat.
what did Syria do on the 24th of May 1967
-Syrian minister challenged the Israelis whilst a war fever was being whipped up in the press and radio of several Arab states.
what did Nasser do on the 15 of May 1967?
-moved 100,000 Egyptians into the Sinai Peninsula.
what did Nasser do on the 22 of May 1967?
-closed the Straits of Tiran which stopped Israel having access to the port of Eliat.
how did Israel respond to Nasser before the six day war?
-they needed to get the US as a ally to guarantee their victory.
-US president told the Israeli foreign minister on the 26 of May that if Egypt attacked then the Israelis would ‘whip the hell out of them’ and ‘would not be alone unless it decides to go alone’
what did Jordan do before the six day war?
-30th of May due to Palestinian population signed a mutual defence treaty with Egypt.
what did the US tell Israel on the 31st of May? and what happened as a result?
-Israel should take own action to open the Straits of Tiran without the US.
-the Israelis took this as a sign to take action against the Arab states.
-on 1st of June a new government was formed with Moshe Dayan and three days later Israel decided to go to war.
how did the Israelis basically win on the first day of the six day war?
-Monday 5th of June, Israeli air force attacked Arab forces on the ground and within 4 hours they had destroyed the air forces of Egypt, Syria and Jordan.
-they basically won as they had complete control of the skies.
why did the Israelis win the six day war and why were they now the dominant powers?
-Arabs had lost 15,000 men whilst Israelis had lost fewer than 1000.
-Israelis had French fighter planes and tanks and the most advanced US electronic equipment which allowed them to intercept Arab communications.
-Israelis were highly skilled and trained.
-the Israelis believe they were fighting for their nations survival.
what happened on the first day of the Six-day war?
-Israeli planes bombed all 19 Egyptian airfields and wrecked 300 planes, and Israeli troops advanced into the Gaza Strip and Sinai desert.
-the Israelis destroyed the Jordanian air force and Jordan troops attacked West Jerusalem.
-Israeli planes incapacitated the Syrian air force.
what happened on the second day of the Six-day war?
-Israeli forces advanced to the Suez and the Israeli air force destroyed many tanks and other vehicles and ground troops destroyed or captured the rest.
-heavy fighting for control of Jerusalem and the West Bank of the River Jordan.
what happened on the third day of the six-day war?
-the Israelis won complete control of the Sinai and accepted the UN call for a ceasefire with Egypt.
-the Israelis captured all of Jerusalem and Jordan accepted the UN demand for a ceasefire.
what happened on the fourth day of the six day war?
-Egypt accepted the ceasefire call
-Israel won control of all the west Bank and the River Jordan.
what happened on the fifth day of the six day war?
-Israeli troops attacked the Golan Heights.
what happened on the final day of the Six-day war?
-Israelis took control of the Golan Heights
-Syria accepted the call for a ceasefire.
what land did Israel conquer in the six day war and how did this make Israel safer?
-Golan Heights: villages in the north of Israel were now safe from Syrian artillery.
-west bank: military fortifications were now built on the banks of the River Jordan while the land on the West Bank of the river was controlled by Israel, and it protected the country’s narrow waist.
-Sinai: desert formed a huge buffer between Israel and the Egyptian army.
-Gaza
what territory did Israel annex and why was this bad?
-annexed east Jerusalem.
-violated international law and UN General Assembly condemned the action.
who did the Arabs blame for their defeat? what happened as a result of the war?
-blamed defeat on the USA Britain and other European powers.
-three main oil producing countries had to pay £135 million annually to Jordan and Egypt as compensation.
-soviets decided to replace the weapons they lost.
what did Arab leaders declare at a conference in August 1967?
-‘No peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiation with it. We insist on the rights of the Palestinian people in their country’
what was the UN resolution 242?
-November 1967
-called for permanent peace based on:
‘the withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict.’
Respect for the right of every state in the area ‘to live in peace within secure and recognised boundaries free from threats or acts of force.’
-supported Arabs on the issue of land and supported Israel on the issue of peace and security.
who supported the UN resolution 242?
-Egypt and Jordan but not Syria accepted the resolution.
-Israel eventually accepted but the UN led discussions with the warring parties but made little progress as Israel found that the occupation of Arab land gave it added security and Arabs insisted on Israeli withdrawal as the first steps of peace.
why was it argued that the Arabs were responsible for the outbreak of the six-day war?
-Syria had been actively encouraging PLO raids into Israel and calling for a war to liberate Palestine.
-Syrians also incited Nasser, as the champion of the Arab world into taking a more actively anti-Israeli stance.
-Syrians encouraged Fatah guerrillas to launch attacks on Israel from camps in the Jordan controlled West Bank and this led to Israeli attack on Samu.
-increased pressure on Nasser and the Soviet report led to the closing of the Straits of Tiran etc, which were seen as an act of war.
how was it argued that the Israelis were responsible for the outbreak of the six-day war?
-desire to teach the Syrians a lesson. cultivation of the land in the demilitarised zone between Israel and Syria had been resumed by the Israelis in April 1967 and intended to provoke Syria so that Israeli forces could use force to compel the Syrians to stop any further raids.
what caused the Israelis to really want to hold onto the land they gained?
-the Arab show of defiance at their conference in 1967.
how did Nasser try to regain the Sinai?
-1969 with the support of the soviets embarked on artillery bombardment if the Israeli positions on the eastern bank of the Suez Canal and periodic commando raids across the canal.
-strategy was a limited but prolonged war to bring about an Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai, however the Israelis retaliated with air attacks which destroyed Egypt’s air defence missile system and were determined to keep hold of the Sinai.
-‘war of attrition’
how did Sadat’s opinion differ to Nasser in the regaining of land lost?
-realised that fighting over the Suez Canal was draining Egypt of money and morale, peace was needed to clear the canal and rebuild Egypts cities.
-he aimed to settle to conflict with Israel.
how did Sadat go about getting peace with Israel?
-Feb 1971 put forward a plan for limited Israeli withdrawal from the Suez Canal and the reopening of the Canal for international shipping.
-Israelis were not willing to discuss it and this was supported by the US.
-Sadat attempted to get the US to persuade Israel but had little luck as they were bogged down in the Vietnam war and even in 1972 expelled all 15,000 Soviet advisers from Egypt.
what did Sadat decide instead of persuading US?
-1972 decided the stalemate could be broken only by war as it would force the superpowers to to intervene.
-weaponry, training and planning in the army had been improved especially with soviet aid and also had financial support from Saudi Arabia and the support of Assad in Syria.
