Disclaimer:
The humanitarian situation in Palestine is an ongoing and unfolding crisis, the information in this article is meant to provide context and is not a complete history of Palestine. This is merely a timeline of events, and does not reflect any opinions of Highlander News. If you would like to learn more about any event, check out the article online for linked information.
- Balfour Declaration: November 2, 1917
The Balfour Declaration was a letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour. It ended up becoming the basis to create a Jewish State in Palestine. In the letter, Balfour writes “His Majesty’s Government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.”
The Balfour Project, overseen by a Board of Trustees, was “created by British citizens to highlight Britain’s record in Palestine before, during, and after the Mandate.” In one of their papers explaining the significance of the Balfour Declaration, they state that “this letter was later incorporated within the terms of Britain’s Mandate for Palestine, and so became a legal requirement upon Britain.”
- British Occupation of Palestine: 1917-1948
After the defeat of Germany and Ottoman Turkey in WWI, their land possessions deemed not ready to govern themselves, were distributed amongst the Allied powers. The League of Nations Mandate system divided the land into three groups based on their location and level of development, in terms of political and economic prowess. Class A mandates consisted of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine, with all being provided provisional independence. Iraq and Palestine were distributed to Great Britain, and Syria and Lebanon distributed to France.
- The Great Palestinian Revolt / Palestine Arab Revolt: 1936-1939
By now, Palestine had been under British mandate for about 20 years. The Great Palestinian Revolt is said to be “the decisive episode in the efforts of Palestinian Arabs to resist the British mandate’s support for a Jewish national home in Palestine.” According to an article by the Middle East Eye, it is said that in April of 1936, “the newly formed Arab National Committee in Nablus called on Palestinians to launch a general strike” to protest colonialism and growing Jewish immigration.
The strike set in motion the revolt in which was “the most sustained armed resistance against the British Mandate, and was violently repressed by British forces,” not ending until the the outbreak of WWII when “London issued a White Paper promising to restrict Jewish immigration to Palestine and promising the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within a decade.”
- United Nations Resolution 181: November 29, 1947
General Assembly Resolution 181 was a plan for the partition of Palestine. Within it, it included instructions for the termination of the Mandate of Palestine before August 1, 1948 and for the armed forces to be withdrawn. Two months after the withdrawal of these forces, independent Arab and Jewish states were established. The resolution outlined the boundaries for the Arab and Jewish states in Part II labeled as “Boundaries” in sections A and B. Jerusalem was labeled as an “international” city. General Assembly Resolution 181 “was passed with 33 votes in favor, 13 against, and 10 abstentions.”
- Nakba / Israel Independence: May 14, 1948
On May 14, 1948, Israel was declared an independent, sovereign state by the Zionist leader, David Ben-Gurion. In Israel’s declaration, it is stated that “This right (to build a state of Israel) was recognized in the Balfour Declaration of the 2nd November, 1917, and re-affirmed in the Mandate of the League of Nations which, in particular, gave international sanction to the historic connection between the Jewish people and Eretz-Israel and to the right of the Jewish people to rebuild its National Home.”
As a parallel, when Israel declared independence, it was the beginning of the Nakba for Palestinians. In an article published by The Conversation, it is stated that “For Palestinians worldwide, the Nakba is remembered as a traumatic rupture that represents their humiliating defeat, the destruction of Palestinian society and severance of links with their homeland.”
- First Arab-Israeli War: May 14, 1948
Following the declaration of Israel as an independent state, in a series of conflicts, Arabs attacked Jewish settlements and institutions, and Jewish people attacked Palestinians. The aftermath caused a mass expulsion of Arab Palestinans in areas seized by Jewish Forces, and by the end of the mandate, Jewish forces got control of most of the territory given to them by the United Nations, and a bit more.
- Palestine Declares Independence from Great Britain: November 15, 1948
While the Mandate of Palestine was terminated a few months before this, Great Britain governed Palestine until November 15, 1948, when Palestine declared independence. Palestine’s Declaration of Independence was written by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish and proclaimed by political leader Yasser Arafat, who would later become the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Within the declaration, it is declared that “Despite the historical injustice done to the Palestinian Arab people in its displacement and in being deprived of the right to self-determination following the adoption of General Assembly resolution 181 (II) of 1947, which partitioned Palestine into an Arab and a Jewish State, that resolution nevertheless continues to attach conditions to international legitimacy that guarantee the Palestinian Arab people the right to sovereignty and national independence.”
- Palestinian Liberation Organization Creation: 1964
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was formed in 1964 and brought together various Palestinian groups. It gained more prominence after the Six-Day War. In a University of Michigan paper, it explains how the PLO was created during an Arab summit meeting to represent Palestinian nationalism.
- Naksa / Palestinian Exodus / Six-Day War: 1967
The Naksa is said to be a continuation of “the ethnic cleansing of Palestine,” from the Nakba by an article written by Al Jazeera. By 1967, Israel got control of the whole of Palestine, plus more territory from Egypt and Syria, and “By the end of the war, Israel had expelled another 300,000 Palestinians from their homes, including 130,000 who were displaced in 1948, and gained territory that was three and a half times its size.”
- Yom Kippur War / October War / Fourth Arab-Israeli War: October 6, 1973 – October 25, 1973
This part of the Arab-Israeli wars was initiated by Syria and Egypt against Israel. The start of the conflict began with Egypt and Syria attacking Israel at once. Catching Israel off guard, they “rapidly began to exhaust Israel’s reserve stock of munitions.” Both the Soviet Union and United States came to reinforce Israel, and with that the conflict turned around in favor of Israel. The United Nations called for Resolutions 338, 339 and 340, which called for ceasefire in the Middle East, and the conflict ended on October 25, 1973. According to an article by Al Jazeera, the motives of the war remain unclear, with “Some accounts claim(ing) that the Egyptians were not interested in retrieving land, but merely to engage in peace talks with Israel, in contrast to the Syrians, who wanted to take back the Golan Heights.”
- United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3236: November 22, 1974
UN General Assembly Resolution 3236 officialized UN contact with the Palestine Liberation Organization. As stated in the text, “the General Assembly acknowledged the proclamation of the State of Palestine by the Palestine National Council on 15 November 1988; affirmed the need to enable the Palestinian people to exercise their sovereignty over their territory occupied since 1967; and decided that, effective as at 15 December 1988, the designation ‘Palestine’ should be used in place of the designation ‘Palestine Liberation Organization’ in the United Nations system, without prejudice to the observer status and functions of the PLO within the United Nations system, in conformity with relevant United Nations resolutions and practice.”
- Camp David Accords: September 17, 1978
The Camp David Accords were a compilation of the agreements between Israel and Egypt that constructed a framework for peace in the Middle East. For the agreement, the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt and Prime Minister of Israel met with then-current United States President Jimmy Carter in the U.S. Presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland. In the accords, the three worked out an outline for peace in the Middle East as a whole, a conclusive peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, and annex to the frameworks.
- United Nations Resolution 446: March 22, 1979
UN Resolution 446 addressed the Israeli settlements that occupied Arab territories from 1967. In this resolution, they address that “the policy of Israel in establishing settlements in the occupied Arab territories has no legal validity and constitutes a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention,” and “calls upon the Government and people of Israel to cease, on an urgent basis, the establishment, construction and planning of settlements in the Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem.”
In the same resolution, the Commission sent a letter to the representatives of each state. The Permanent Representative of Egypt responded with intent to cooperate with the establishment of the mandate. The Acting Chairman for a human rights committee in Palestine responded with how groups in Palestine were expanding settlements and not acknowledging the Resolution. The Permanent Representative of Israel responded that “the Government of Israel had rejected resolution 446 (1979) in its entirety and accordingly could not extend any form of co-operation to a Commision set up under it.”
- Establishment of Hamas: 1987
Hamas is defined as an Islamic Resistance Movement, a militant Palestinian nationalist and Islamist movement. Unlike the PLO, Hamas rejected any attempts to cede parts of Palestine.
- The First Intifada: December 8, 1987 – September 13, 1993
Various accounts report a defining moment that led to the Intifada being the killing of four Palestinian men by an Israeli jeep outside of a refugee camp in Gaza.
In an article written by Al Jazeera, they explain how the First Intifada began as a grassroots protest that escalated into full blown riots, starting with rock-throwing youths who eventually developed more sophisticated missiles, like molotovs. The Intifada was viewed as “a rebirth of the 1976 uprising” and did “demonstrations and strikes in protest against the confiscation of Arab land for use by Jewish settlers in the north of Israel.” They also state that “according to the Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, BTselem, 1124 Palestinians lost their lives in the First Intifada. Some 16,000 were imprisoned and many were routinely tortured. Fewer than 50 Israeli civilians were killed.”
In another article written by the Jewish Virtual Library, the starting moment of the Intifada was the stabbing of an Israeli while shopping in Gaza. The day after, the four deaths of Palestinian men were viewed as a traffic accident, with it being rumored that they were killed deliberately. They state that this “intifada was violent from the start. During the first four years of the uprising, more than 3,600 Molotov cocktail attacks, 100 hand grenade attacks and 600 assaults with guns or explosives were reported by the Israel Defense Forces,” and “during this period, 16 Israeli civilians and 11 soldiers were killed by Palestinians in the territories’ more than 1,400 Israeli civilians and 1,700 Israeli soldiers were injured.”
- Oslo Accords: October 11, 1993
The Oslo Accords were a series of Agreements between Israel and Palestine Liberation Organization. The accords established a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. The solution proposed in the accords was that in exchange for the recognition of Israel, a process would be established detailing Palestinian self-governance. The Oslo Accords built off of the Camp David Accords.
- Oslo Accords II: May 5, 1997
The Oslo Accords II were an interim agreement detailing a plan for Israeli withdrawals from Palestinian populations. Through it, an election was established for a president and council for Palestine.
- Second Intifada / al-Aqsa Intifada: September 28. 2000 – February 8, 2005
In an article by Al Jazeera, the second Intifada began when “then-Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon sparked the uprising when he stormed al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem with more than 1,000 heavily armed police and soldiers on September 28, 2000.”
Under the Oslo Accords and the Camp David Accords, by 1999, there was to be an independent Palestine state, and Israel to have moved out of Palestine land. A former advisor to Palestinian negotiators on Oslo, Diana Buttu noted that “what we saw was a fast expansion of Israel’s settlements” and that they had seen “the number of settlers doubled from 200,000 to 400,000 just in that short period from 1993 to the year 2000.
The start of the uprising was filled with “large non-violent demonstrations that included civil disobedience and some stone-throwing” but were met with excessive force. It was reported that “at least 4,973 Palestinians were killed over the course of the Second Intifada” according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.
- Gaza Open Air Prison: 2007
The Gaza open air prison is an illegal blockade on the Gaza Strip, isolating over two million Palestinians from the world. The blockade is on land, sea and air, controlling all three border crossing points. Due to the open air prison, fishermen are confined to the shore, Palestinians have a lack of safe drinking water and are being denied basic human rights.
As per The Nelson Mandela Rules, Rule 1 states that “All prisoners shall be treated with the respect due to their inherent dignity and value as human beings” and “the safety and security of prisoners, staff, service providers and visitors shall be ensured at all times,” and Rule 3 states that imprisonment that cuts off a person from the outside world is not allowed as it deprives them of their liberty.
- Operation Protective Edge: July 8, 2014
“Operation Protective Edge” was an Israeli military offensive that lasted seven weeks. According to an article by Amnesty International UK, it “wreaked further havoc, punishment and devastation on Gaza’s already blockaded population, with Gaza’s children caught in the crossfire.” In another report by the United Nations, “During the 50 days of hostilities lasting from 8 July until 26 August 2014, 2,251 Palestinians were killed; 1,462 of them are believed to be civilians, including 551 children and 299 women. 66 Israeli soldiers and five civilians, including one child, were also killed.”
- Gaza Border Protests / Great March of Return: March 30, 2019
The Great Return March, developed into a series of protests to highlight the impacts of the siege and issue of refugee rights in Palestinian society. The main goal of the march is to bring attention to UN Resolution 194, which states that “refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date.”
