Israel & Palestine: the history

BEFORE THE LATE 1800S

Chapter 1

A land with many names and communities

For centuries, the territory between the Mediterranean Sea and the River Jordan belonged to larger empires. In the decades before the First World War it formed part of the Ottoman Empire, divided among several administrative districts rather than governed as a sovereign country called Palestine. Most inhabitants were Arabic-speaking Muslims and Christians. Jewish communities also lived in cities including Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed and Tiberias, alongside newer Jewish arrivals. The population was religiously and socially diverse, and identities such as Ottoman, Arab, Palestinian, Jewish, Muslim, Christian and local could overlap.

LATE 1800S–1917

Chapter 2

Two national movements take shape

Modern political Zionism emerged in late nineteenth-century Europe. Its supporters argued that Jews were not only a religious community but a people entitled to national self-determination, and that a Jewish homeland offered protection from entrenched antisemitism and recurring violence. At the same time, Arabic-speaking inhabitants of Palestine were developing political identities shaped by local loyalties, Ottoman reform, Arab cultural revival and opposition to growing external control. A distinct Palestinian national consciousness did not appear on one day, but it was visible before the British Mandate.

1915–1922

Chapter 3

Britain makes overlapping commitments

During the First World War, Britain made several commitments about the Ottoman Middle East to different audiences. Their wording and compatibility remain debated, but together they created expectations that could not easily be reconciled. In the 1917 Balfour Declaration, Britain supported “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people” while stating that nothing should prejudice the civil and religious rights of the country’s existing non-Jewish communities.

29 NOVEMBER 1947

Chapter 7

The UN proposes splitting the land

UN General Assembly Resolution 181 recommended a Jewish state, an Arab state and an international regime for Jerusalem. Mainstream Zionist leaders accepted the plan as a basis for statehood. Palestinian Arab leaders and neighbouring Arab governments rejected it.

1947–1949

Chapter 8

Independence for Israel, catastrophe for Palestinians

War began between Palestinian Arab and Jewish forces after the partition vote, months before neighbouring Arab armies entered. Israel declared independence on 14 May 1948. Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon intervened after the British Mandate ended. Israel survived, defeated the Arab armies and expanded beyond the UN’s proposed borders. No Palestinian Arab state emerged. Israel remembers national survival and independence. Palestinians remember the Nakba, Arabic for catastrophe.

JUNE 1967

Chapter 11

Six days reshape the map

In six days, Israel defeated Egypt, Jordan and Syria and captured the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, West Bank, East Jerusalem and Golan Heights. Israel’s territory under military control became more than three times larger.

1967–1987

Chapter 12

A temporary occupation becomes a lasting system

Israel established military rule over millions of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. It annexed East Jerusalem in measures not recognised internationally and began building civilian settlements in occupied territory.

1993–1995

Chapter 15

For a moment, peace looks possible

Israel and the PLO formally recognised each other. The Oslo Accords created the Palestinian Authority and divided the West Bank into Areas A, B and C under different degrees of Palestinian and Israeli control.