Israeli-Palestinian conflict and global terrorism

Predict, then check

No scrolling back up: commit to an answer first. The reveal also shows how to handle the question of blame.

Oslo (1993) put some big issues off until later talks. At Camp David in July 2000, which issues did the US State Department say the two sides were still strongly at odds over?

Three other links the UK strategy draws to Palestine

Each row is a separate statement by the UK government’s 2009 strategy. Nothing here says one row leads to the next.

What you need to know

• In December 1987 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip rose up against Israeli military rule. That uprising is the intifada.
• US State Department historians say the Gulf War made US peacemaking easier: the PLO backed Iraq, lost influence and alienated Arab states.
• Have a goYour mate Sam says: “The PLO backed Iraq in the Gulf War, so it came out of it stronger.” What did the historians say happened instead?

  It alienated Egypt, Syria and most Gulf States and lost influence over Palestinians in the occupied territories.

  Sam assumes backing a side brings influence. The State Department historians say the PLO’s backing of Iraq cost it support.

• The Madrid Conference (30 October to 4 November 1991) was the first time all parties to the Arab-Israeli conflict held direct negotiations.
• Madrid’s long-term impact was more limited than hoped: its Washington talks were deadlocked by 1993, then overtaken by secret negotiations.
• Oslo (13 September 1993): Israel accepted the PLO as the Palestinians’ representative; the PLO renounced terrorism and recognised Israel’s right to exist in peace.
• Oslo also set up a Palestinian Authority for five years of governing; talks on borders, refugees and Jerusalem were to follow.
• Have a goThe Palestinian Authority was to govern for five years, and talks on the big issues would then be held. Counting from 1993, roughly which year is that?

  Around 1998.

  Five years on from 1993 is 1998. The Accord says the talks would then be held, so this is a rough marker rather than an exact date.

• Rabin was assassinated in November 1995. Hamas attacks followed and undermined Labor in 1996, and Binyamin Netanyahu of Likud became Prime Minister.
• At Camp David (July 2000) the sides stayed strongly at odds over borders, Jerusalem and refugees’ right of return: no settlement.
• On 28 September 2000, riots erupted after Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount and escalated into the al-Aqsa Intifada.
• Have a goTwo uprisings in this story are both called an intifada. Which one began on 28 September 2000, and roughly how long after the first one was that?

  The al-Aqsa Intifada, just under thirteen years after December 1987.

  Both are uprisings, but the dates put them nearly thirteen years apart. Check the date before you write “the intifada”.

• The UK government’s 2009 strategy lists Palestine as one focal point for terrorism, alongside Afghanistan, Iraq and other unresolved disputes.

The big picture

From the 1987 intifada to the al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process made real steps (Madrid, Oslo, the Palestinian Authority, a treaty with Jordan) but left borders, refugees and Jerusalem unresolved. Separately, the UK government’s 2009 strategy names Palestine as one focal point for terrorism.

⚠ Watch out

Treating the peace process as a simple success or a simple failure, or writing that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict caused global terrorism. The UK strategy lists Palestine as one focal point among several.

Memory hook

Oslo said “later” about three things: borders, refugees, Jerusalem. Camp David is where “later” arrived.

Check yourself

Without scrolling back: name the three issues Oslo set aside for later, give one agreement signed between 1994 and 1998, and name one event after 1995 that made progress harder.