The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Timeline
I love a good story, because a story not only entertains, but stories provide lessons for any situation we may find ourselves in, because, no matter what you are experiencing, someone somewhere went through the same thing and wrote about - in a book, a blog, a script…wherever. However, sometimes what we need is not a story, but a straightforward, clear, and concise chronology of events. We need to see the plain and simple fact about what has, or is, transpiring, from which we can better begin to understand the truth of a situation. To that end I have created a timeline of the history of the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
The Israel-Hamas War and by extension the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a briar patch no one wants to step into, because no matter which way you step you get stuck in the thorns. For me, I stand with Israel. Let’s just get that out of the way, and if you choose to check out this timeline you can take it with however much of a grain of salt you wish. I seek only to share what I believe is an accurate timeline of historical events that show how things got to where they are now in 2023.
Whether you believe the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a land dispute that goes back to the founding of Israel in 1948, or you believe that it is an ancient feud that stretches back to biblical times, this timeline demonstrates a simple fact: Jews have always been in the land of Israel. Even when we were cast out by various conquerors and empires, (you know, like colonialism), Jews who were forced to flee, eventually worked their way back to the land promised to them by God, even if it took generations for them to get there. When they did work their way back, the Jews in Israel worked the land, turning it from a fallow desert into an oasis of democracy, technological progress, a thriving economy, and a religious and secular homeland for Jews all over the world - or for anyone who wishes to live there, including Arabs, who are 20% of the population in Israel.
I do not pretend that this timeline is absolutely complete. However, what it does do offer is a chronological listing of historical events that serves as evidence that, whether you’re talking Biblical times, or you’re talking 1948 and the founding of Israel, Jews have always been in Israel. Whatever other claims of legitimacy or territorial dispute might be an issue, there is no doubt that the Jews have always been in Israel. Hopefully, this timeline can be a useful tool as you try to make sense of what is happening in Israel, and to better understand the history of this conflict.
1300 BCE - Moses and the Israelites escape Egypt.
The Exodus. The parting of the Red Sea. The wandering for forty years in the desert.
Forty years later, Joshua leads the Israelites, the Jewish people, across the Jordan River into Canaan, The Promised Land, (Israel).
1000 BCE - The Kingdom of David is established.
This is a thousand years before Jesus Christ.
This is 1600 years before the rise of Islam.
957 BCE - The first Temple of Solomon was built in Jerusalem.
At this point, the land of Israel is divided into the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah.
The Kingdom of Judah is part of the Davidic line, which, if you are a Jew, is the ancestral line from which the Messiah will be born. If you're a Christian, you believe the Messiah is Jesus Christ, who, according to the New Testament in the Bible, is from the Davidic line.
722 BCE - Assyrian exile.
586 BCE - The Babylonian exile.
The Babylonians conquered the land of Canaan and destroyed the first Temple.
515 BCE - The Great Return. Jews came back to the land of Canaan.
The 2nd Temple was built. The Temple of Solomon.
63 B.C.E. - The Romans take over.
Pompeii, a general, takes control. Israel became a vassal state under the control of the Romans.
At this point, the kingdom of the Jews is called Judea, not Israel.
70 C.E. - The Jewish revolt against the Romans
Because of a crackdown on religious practice and other bad governance by the Romans, the Jews revolted.
In response, Jerusalem is destroyed, by the Romans who also destroy the second Temple, and banish the Israelites. This is the beginning of the Diaspora.
130-136 BCE - The Bar Kochba Revolt
Revolt against the Romans by the Jews under the Jewish General Shimon Bar Kochba.
It took four years for the Romans to put the rebellion down, and it cost them a lot of blood and treasure.
After, the Romans renamed the area Palestine. It was meant as an insult to the Jews, naming their Homeland after their biblical enemy, the Philistines.
The name "Palestine" was first used in 136 CE, 1200 years after the Jews entered Israel.
The claim that the Palestinian people are somehow linked to the Phillistines is conflated with this fact. However, there is no historical/genealogical connection between the two.
7th century - Islam is founded.
Islam was founded in Mecca, in modern-day Saudi Arabia.
636 CE - Arab takeover of Palestine
1099 - 1291 CE - The Crusades
The Christians fight the Muslims. For a time, the Christians established their rule within Jerusalem.
For a good movie on this time period check out Ridley Scott’s “Kingdom of Heaven.” Skip the theatrical, and get the Director’s Cut version.
1291 CE - The Crusaders are defeated
A Muslim group called the Mamluks took over. They ruled for a couple hundred years.
1517 - The Ottoman Empire takes over.
For approximately 1300 years, there have been Jews, Christians and Muslims in Canaan, the modern-day land of Israel.
Since the Jews were exiled by the Romans in 70 A.D., the area has been controlled by various empires.
1517 -1918 (end of World War I)
Ottoman Empire controls the area.
No fan of the Jews, the Ottomans attempted to keep Jews from re-settling the land. They refused to sell Jews the land. However, Jews could make deals with local Arabs for land rights.
There have always been Jews in the land. Israel has never been without Jews. You know what there hasn’t been? An independent state known as “Palestine.”
1882 - The First Aliyah (to "go up"; spiritual rising)
Mostly Russian Jews attempting to escape pogroms happening in Russia.
We all just witnessed a modern-day Pogrom with what Hamas did to Israel.
1897 - Zionism
Zionism is the idea that there is going to be an independent Jewish homeland
Theodore Herzl, non-religious, founder of the World Zionist Organization
Zionism began in the wake of "The Dreyfus Affair."
December 1894 - "The Dreyfus Affair."
Captain Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason. Dreyfus was a 35-year-old Alsatian French artillery officer of Jewish descent. He was falsely accused of spying for the Austrian-Hungarian empire. He was baselessly convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, despite the evidence.
1917 - The Balfour Declaration
The British declared the Balfour Declaration, which states that Israel will have a Jewish homeland.
The rest of the area would be given to the Arabs, specifically parts of Trans-Jordan.
This seemed to make sense given that then, like now, there are a multitude of Arab countries in the area, controlling a ton of land. Why should carving off a sliver of the land, which is the ancestral Homeland of the Jews, and giving it back to them cause a problem? But it does.
1920 -Arab pogrom against Jews
The Arabs attacked the Jews for their attempts to reclaim their Homeland, where there have always been Jews.
The pogroms began, in part, to prevent Jews from praying at the Western Wall. That would be the remaining structure of the second Temple and arguably the holiest site in all of Judaism.
Arabs didn't like that, so they start riots and attack Jewish settlements…sorry, I meant “mostly peaceful protests.”
So, anyone claiming that the conflict between Arabs and Jews began with the founding of the state of Israel…FACT CHECK: NOT TRUE.
1922 - After World War One, British are given a mandate to control Palestine
Britain began by reneging its promises to the Jews granted in the Balfour Declaration.
They planned to separate off part of Trans-Jordan, called it Jordan, and give that to the Arabs.
1929 - Hebron Riots
The British restrict land sales to Jews as a way to appease the Arabs.
Despite this, the Arabs still riot in Hebron.
This is kind of like what's happening between Saudi Arabia and Iran now. The Iran-backed massacres by Hamas have put a hold on the peace talks between Saudi Arabia and Israel so that Saudi Arabia can focus on their negotiations with Iran. Nothing like a little cowardly appeasement to alter the course of world events.
1937 - The Peele Commission
Suggests a land partition plan
The Jews will get a sliver of land. Non-continuous parcels of the land. The big win for the Jews was they were going to get the Negev Dessert.
British continue to control Tel-Aviv, Jaffa, and Jerusalem.
The Jews were only too happy to take it. And they would make it work.
Since they began returning to British-controlled Palestine since the late 1800s / The Zionist movement, the Jews worked the land on kibbutzs, essentially agricultural communities.
They revitalize the land, and it begins to flourish, increasing economic prosperity and, with it, comes opportunity.
This revitalization brings about an influx of Arabs back to the land, who see the opportunities created by the Jews and decide they want to get back in on the action.
1939 - Britain restricts Jewish immigration to 75k people a year.
This was just before the Holocaust began, and many Jews hoped to flee Europe. The Brits say “No.” They do this to appease the Arabs.
The Arabs rejected this compromise anyway, and continued attacking Jewish settlements. They also began attacking the Brits.
1940 - World War II breaks out
Despite the treatment by the British, the Jews joined forces with the British. They do this in part to try and aid relations/negotiations with the British over Jewish immigration to Palestine.
The Arabs side with Hitler.
Al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, one of the Arab leaders, meets with Hitler. His goal was to get Hitler to establish a "Final Solution" against the Jews in the Holy Land.
1945 - World War II Ends. British still limiting Jewish emigration to the Holy Land.
Millions of Jews who survived the Holocaust and the war are looking to make Aliyah to British-controlled Palestine.
The story of the Exodus, a ship of refugee Jews blocked by the British blockade form entering the Holy Land. The Jews go on a hunger strike until the British are forced to relent.
1947 - UN Partition Plan
The Brits wanted out, so the U.N. stepped in and said that they would end this dispute between the Jews and the Arabs.
The partition plan they propose again attempts to carve up the Holy Land into tiny slivers of land they will give the Jews.
The U.N. votes on the plan. Jerusalem will be internationally governed. So they were not controlled by the Jews. The plan is ridiculous on its face, given the proposed land division, an insult to Jews.
Despite this, once again, the Jews are like, "We will take it!"
The Arabs also rejected this plan and decided to launch another round of attacks against the Jewish settlements in the Holy Land.
May 14, 1948 - Israel declares its independence
British mandate over Palestine ends, and Israel declares its independence
Yom Haatzmaut. Israeli Independence Day.
The Arabs call it "The Nakba - the disaster."
David Ben Gurion is the leader of Israel. Not a particularly religious Jew and hardly a hard-liner, right-winger Ben Gurion invites the Arabs to stay in Israel.
In fact, the founding documents of Israel say they will be a state for all its citizens, Jews and Arabs. This is despite being a Jewish homeland.
In response, every single Arab country that surrounds Israel, Egypt, Syria, Jordan Morocco, launched an attack against the nascent state of Israel.
They fail in their attack. Instead, the Jews are victorious, and they end up retaining all the areas that at the time were given to them by the U.N. partition plan. The only area they lose is Jerusalem.
This is important because it means Jerusalem is divided between Jewish control (barely) and Arab control.
This is around the time the lie that there was a Palestinian state began to take root. There was not.
1964 - The Arabs created the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
To be clear, this is not liberation from Israeli control in the areas that are in dispute today because, at the time, the Jews didn't control any of that.
What the P.L.O. means is liberation from all of Israel. They're not calling for Palestine to be liberated from Jordan, which had also been created when the British carved up land from Trans Jordan. The P.L.O. is not calling for liberation of a PalestinianTheir intention, as stated in their founding documents, is to destroy the state of Israel.
Because the idea of a Jewish homeland is something the Arabs will not accept.
1967 - The Six Day War
Arab countries plan an all-out war against Israel to destroy it. The Israelis figure out this is coming and launch a preemptive attack.
In six short days, the Israelis defeated all their Arab enemies. They destroyed the Egyptian Air Force.
They take control of the Golan Heights in Syria. They take all of Judea and Sumeria (the West Bank) to the Jordan River. They take control of the Old City of Jerusalem. They take control of the Sinai Desert in Egypt. They take control of Gaza.
In six days, Israel turned what was supposed to be the war for their destruction into a historic military victory in which Israel expanded its territory.
The victory is considered a miracle in Israeli history.
Israel then gives back almost all of their gains.
But they keep Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, and Gaza.
The U.N. calls for Israel to withdraw from "occupied territories." This language is important because it means subject to negotiation.
However, as we are about to see, that will not be possible.
1967 Arab League Summit in Khartoum - The Three "No's"
No peace with Israel. No recognition of Israel. No negotiations with Israel.
This is the governing philosophy of the Arab countries until basically the Abrahamic peace accords are signed.
1973 - Yom Kippur War
50 years ago, almost to the day of the heinous terror attack by Hamas, Arab countries again launched a surprise sneak attack against Israel. Golda Meir is the Prime Minister of Israel, and she is caught by surprise by this attack.
This became known as the Yom Kippur War because that was the day the attack was launched. On the holiest day for Jews, when all of Israel is fasting and celebrating, they are attacked.
Israel suffered heavy casualties in the fighting, but ultimately, they defended against the attack and maintained their territory, even managing to gain control of additional territory.
Noticing any patterns? This is why drawing a moral equivalency between Israel and Arab countries is ridiculous. You can't make peace with those who wish you dead. This is why, as things currently stand, there can't be a two-state solution. Because one side is not interested in negotiation. They are driven by their hatred of Jews and a perversion of their own religious doctrine that they would rather remain in conflict with Israel for the next 50+ years, which is precisely what occurs.
1979 Camp David Peace Accords
Menachem Begin, an amazing figure, is now the Prime Minister of Israel. Begin is a hard right leader. He is the first Likkud Prime Minister, which is the other political party in Israel.
Despite this, he meets with Anwar Sadat, the Leader of Egypt.
Israel gives up the entire Sinai Desert to Egypt in return for… Peace.
Anwar Sadat is assassinated.
1982 - P.L.O. is expelled from Jordan
The Jordanian monarchy was afraid the P.L.O. was going to overthrow the monarchy they expelled the Palestinians. That seems vaguely important, so let me just repeat that.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians end up in Lebanon. They promptly began firing rockets into Israel from Lebanon.
Menachem Begin launches a war against Lebanon. Israel goes almost all the way to Beirut.
Under international pressure, Israel withdraws. This turns out to be a bad move for Israel because after they pull out, terrorist groups take over Lebanon and again threaten to destroy Israel.
1987 - Palestinians launch the first Intifada.
The attack comes from Palestinians in the Judea and Sumeria area, also known as the West Bank (West Bank of Jordan, though in the eastern part of Israel.)
Riots and terrorist attacks.
Yitzhak Rabin is the Prime Minister of Israel. George H.W. Bush tried to get Rabin to negotiate with Yassir Arafat of the P.L.O., which led to
The 1992 Oslo Peace Accords under President Clinton.
Finally, there is peace.
Actually, no….The Arabs launched another wave of violent attacks.
2000 Camp David Peace Accords
Bill Clinton is still President
Ehud Barak (Israel) negotiates with Yassir Arafat (P.L.O.)
Barak offers Arafat a Palestinian state. Control over the Temple Mount. Control of Judea and Sumeria (The West Bank).
Arafat responded by launching a massive wave of violence.
Wait, what?
Israel offered Palestinians what they wanted — and the Palestinians still attacked the Jewish Homeland. It seems they have no desire for a two-state solution. They only desire the extermination of the Israel and the Jews
2004 - Machmud Abbas takes over the P.L.O.
Abbas, a Holocaust denier, takes over.
Israel, led by Ariel Sharon, a former badass Israeli General, completely withdraws from Gaza.
Israel removed Jewish settlers from their homes and gave them to the Palestinians.
Hamas, the terrorist group, took over and burned everything to the ground. The homes, the farms, everything the Israelis had built.
In 2005, Abbas won the Palestinian elections.
Since 2005, Gaza has been completely under the control of the Palestinians.
In 2006, Hamas won the elections in Gaza.
2008 - Ehud Omer is elected Prime Minister of Israel. The 1st Gaza War.
Omer is a dove, a peacenik. He negotiates with Mahmoud Abbas and offers Abbas even more than Ehud Barak did.
Abbas doesn't even offer a counter in the negotiation. Instead, he responds by launching yet another wave of violence against Israel.
The 1st Gaza War begins.
2014 - 2nd Gaza War.
Rockets are launched in Israel. Israel has to go back into Gaza.
2021 - 3rd Gaza War
Abbas canceled the Palestinian elections, and to deflect from this corruption, he blamed Israel, and another round of missile attacks was launched against the Jewish Homeland.
This is why the Iron Dome is necessary. Israel developed the Iron Dome to keep them from having to go into Gaza. Israel wants nothing to do with Gaza at this point.
2023 - Hamas invades Israel and massacres over 1300 of its citizens in a surprise attack on another Jewish holiday, Simchat Torah.
Hamas beheads 40 babies, kidnaps others along with other young children who they keep in cages. They rape and murder women and grandmothers.
Virtue signaling assholes in the West, in major American and European cities, and on college campuses, prove all their virtue is bullshit as they cheer on these murderous animals.
Israel declares war on Hamas.
