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1. Jews, Israel &
The Middle East
A History © 2005 Donald Meissner

2. Is Peace Possible?
1978-1982
Camp David Accords - Peace with Egypt
1993 Our Goal: A Just and
Oslo Accords Lasting Peace in the
Middle East.
1994
Peace with Jordan
Ongoing U.S. sponsored Peace talks: 2007 Aqaba Jordan: 2003

3. Appearances: September 30, 2000
What do you
see in this
photograph ?

4. What really happened September 30, 2000
in this picture ?
―Regarding your picture…that Palestinian is
actually my son, Tuvia Grossman,
a Jewish student from Chicago.
He, and two of his friends, were pulled from
their taxicab while traveling in Jerusalem,
by a mob of Palestinian Arabs,
and were severely beaten and stabbed.‖
Dr. Aaron Grossman, Letter to the Editor, New York Times
Media bias remains a major problem
in the Middle East conflict

5. 2nd Lebanon War: Summer 2007

6. Eilat

7. Tel Aviv Azrieli Towers

8. Israeli Technological Contributions
• Centrino Processor
• Digital Camera Computer Chips
• Computer File Formats (.gif and .zip)
• ‗Smart Chips‘ for Credit Cards
• 3-D Face Recognition Technology
• Intra-Cardiac Stents
• 1st Internet Firewall
• TanklessSCUBA
• First Instant Messaging Software
• In-Flight Cell Phone Technology
• Most Effective Current Anti-Parkinson‘s Medication

9. Israel, West Bank & Gaza
comprise a very small area
130
mil
es
Israel: 12,906 sq mi
Missouri: 68,886 sq mi
< 1/5

10. 1946
1943
1932
1946
1953
1932

11. From the 10th to the 6th centuries BC
the Jewish people enjoyed political sovereignty
over an area very similar to modern Israel
Herodian Period
30 BC to 70 AD
Twelve Tribes of Israel Kingdom of David and Solomon
1000 BC - 586 BC

12. Beginning in the 6th century BC until 1948 AD, this Biblical
territory was ruled by a series of foreign empires
586-538 BC—Babylonian Conquest
Temple is destroyed
538-333 BC—Persian Period
515 BCE 2nd Temple completed
333-63 BC—Hellenistic Period
142-63 BC Hasmonean Rule
63 BC-313 AD—Roman Rule
2nd Temple destroyed
Romans rename Israel/Judea:
Palestine (Philistia)
313-636—Byzantine Period
636-1095—Muslim Rule
1095-1291—Crusades
1291-1516—Mamluk Rule
1516-1918—Ottoman Empire
Canaan 1918-1948—British Empire

13. Judea
Greece
26 B.C.
263 B.C.
Judea Judea
134 B.C. 4 B.C.
Judea
67 B.C. Rome
79 A.D.

14. 1867 - The
Innocents
Abroad
quot;A desolate country whose soil is rich enough but is given over
wholly to weeds. A silent, mournful expanse. We never saw a
human being on the whole route. There was hardly a tree or a
shrub anywhere. Even the olive and the cactus, those fast
friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country.quot;

15. In the late 19th century, Jewish life in Europe
became increasingly difficult.
Fiddler on
the Roof
The Protocols of the
Learned Elders
of Zion:
A Tsarist Calumny
Shtetl

16. President Benjamin Harrison
“By the revival of antisemitic
laws, great numbers of those
unfortunate people [Jews] have
been constrained to abandon
their homes…
…because of the harsh measures
now being enforced against the
Hebrews in Russia… It is
estimated that over 1,000,000
will be forced from Russia
within a few years.”
December 9, 1891 Letter
to Czar Alexander III

17. Jan 13, 1898
Liberal France displayed overt anti-Semitism Corporal Dreyfus

18. Modern Zionism 1882-1948: The national movement
for the return of the Jewish people to their homeland.
The return to Zion has been part of Jewish religious
life since the Babylonian Exile.586 BCE
Theodor Herzl
in Palestine
Early 20th
Century
―The Jewish State‖ published 1896

19. President Theodore Roosevelt Pogrom in Kishinev
April 6-7, 1903
On Easter weekend a pogrom
in Kishinev, Romania left:
49 Jews dead
500+ injured
700 homes looted and destroyed
600 businesses looted
2000 families homeless
―[The USA] should desire eagerly to
give expression to its horror on an
In reaction to this tragedy, American Jewry
occasion like that of the massacre of
the Jews in Kishenef…‖ became a more tightly knit community.

20. 1916
President Woodrow Wilson
―…there are nine millions of Jews, the
great majority of whom are destitute
of food, shelter, and clothing; driven
from their homes without
warning...causing starvation, disease
and untold suffering;
I, Woodrow Wilson, do proclaim
January 27, 1916, as a day upon
which to make contributions for the
aid of the stricken Jewish people.
Contributions may be addressed to
the American Red Cross.‖

21. Balfour Declaration, November 2nd, 1917
―His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment
in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will
use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this
object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done
which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing
non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political
status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.‖
U.S. Congress Endorses the Balfour Declaration
Public Resolution No. 73, 67th Congress, Second Session, September 21, 1922

22. International, post-war conferences proposed several options
for accommodating the various interests in Palestine
Allocated as the region of Jewish National Home
League of Nations San Remo Conference 1920 Division of the Mandate 1922-1923
Approximate
area in which the
Jews hoped to
set up their
National Home
Confirmed by the League of Nations on July 24, 1922. Came into operation September 1923.

23. Kristallnacht
1929 to 1939: A Dark Decade
• 1929 — Hebron Pogrom
– Jews leave Hebron after 800 years
• 1933 — Hitler seizes power
• 1938 — Kristallnacht
– Jewish businesses destroyed Jewish Immigration to Palestine
• 1939 — The British White Papers
– Jewish immigration curtailed
• 1939 — Voyage of S.S. St. Louis
– 1,000 Jewish refugees returned to Nazis
• 1939 — Germany invades Poland
S.S. St. Louis
8 million Jews trapped in Europe

24. Nazi Liquidation of Kishinev - 1941
10,000Jews were slaughtered in
the streets and in their homes.
2,000Jews were subsequently
murdered by a unit comprised of
men from Einsatzkommandos 11a
from Einsatzgruppen D.
This unit selected for murder
members of the liberal professions
(doctors, lawyers, engineers) and
Jewish intellectuals.
Researcher: Matatias Carp

26. United Nations Partition Plan
In 1947, the United Nations
voted to divide Palestine
into two states:
One for the Jews (orange) and
one for the Arabs (pink).
The Jews accepted this partition.

27. Israel‘s Declaration of Independence (excerpt)
May 14, 1948
―THE STATE OF ISRAEL…
will be based on the precepts of liberty,
justice and peace taught by the Hebrew
Prophets;
will uphold the full social and political
equality of all its citizens, without
distinction of race, creed or sex;
will guarantee full freedom of conscience,
worship, education and culture;
will safeguard the sanctity and inviolability
of the shrines and Holy Places of all
religions.‖

28. The War of Independence
May 15, 1948
quot;This will be a war of extermination
and a momentous massacre which
will be spoken of like the Mongolian
massacres and the Crusades.‖
- Azzam Pasha, Secretary-General
of the Arab League

29. Under the armistice agreement, Egypt and Jordan occupied key areas
previously designated for a Palestinian state under the Partition plan

30. While the 1948 War created a large number of Jewish
and Arab refugees, they faced very different fates
Approximately 700,000 Jewish
refugees were forced to leave their
ancestral homes in the Arab world
and emigrate to Israel.
A similar number of Arab refugees
left partitioned Palestine during
and after the 1948 war, for various
reasons, and were forced into
refugee camps in Arab countries.

32. Of the Arab refugees from Palestine,
very few were absorbed into other Arab states
 Only Jordan offered Arab
refugees full rights and
citizenship.
 Elsewhere in the Arab
world, refugees are
required to live in
refugee camps, are
denied political rights,
jobs, education and
access to proper medical
facilities.

33. Arab Violence Before 1967
1920-1921 Anti-Jewish Riots -135 deaths
1929 ―Disturbances‖ Hebron - 67
1936-1939 Husseini‘s Army- 415 Mufti Husseini
1948 Joint Arab Invasion - 6373
1951-1955 ―Fedayeen‖ terrorist attacks:
922 Israelis killed - attacks from Husseini Hitler
Jordan, Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon
―There will be no peace on Israel‘s border because
we demand vengeance and vengeance is Israel‘s death.‖
Gamal Abdel Nasser - Egypt - August 31, 1955
Nasser

34. After a series of Arab summits dominated by
Nasser, the PLO was created by the Arab League in
1964
 The Arab League concluded the time
was not right to fight a ―war of
national liberation‖ for Palestine, and
chose instead to continue raids and
terrorist attacks.
 Originally based in Jordan, to serve as
a Palestinian government-in-exile.
 Yasser Arafat elected leader of the
PLO in 1968.

35. Excerpts from the PLO Charter
• Article 19: The partition of Palestine in 1947 and the
establishment of the state of Israel are entirely illegal
• Article 20: Claims of historical or religious ties of Jews with
Palestine are incompatible with the facts of history
• Article 21: …reject all solutions which are substitutes for
the total liberation of Palestine…
• Article 22: …destroy the Zionist and imperialist presence…
• Article 23: …require all states to consider Zionism an
illegitimate movement, to outlaw its existence, and to ban
its operations…

36. The 1967 Six-Day War
Jews return to the
Western Wall for the
first time since 1948
when Jordan
occupied
East Jerusalem

37. The Arab League Khartoum Resolutions
September 1, 1967
No Recognition of Israel
NoNegotiations with Israel
NoPeace with Israel

38. U.N. Security Council Resolution 242
22 November 1967
―establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East‖
―…withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories…‖
―[Israel‘s] right to live in peace within secure and recognized
boundaries free from threats or acts of force‖

39. The Yom Kippur War - October 1973
While Israelis were observing Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish
year, armies of Syria and Egypt, aided by forces from Iraq, Lebanon,
Saudi Arabia, and other Arab nations, invaded Israel.

40. The Camp David Accords: 1978-1982
Since 1979, Egypt and Israel have enjoyed the
benefits of normalized relations including
economic cooperation and security.

41. 1st Lebanon War: 1982 - 1985
Hezbollah
Last Israeli tank leaves Lebanon in 1985

42. Palestinian terrorism (1987 – 1993)
• Terrorism conducted by the PLO with
assistance and competition from a newly
formed terrorist group: Hamas
• 3,600 Molotov cocktail attacks
• 100 hand grenade attacks
• 600 assaults with guns or explosives
• 27 Israelis killed
• 1,400+ Israeli civilians injured
• 1,700 Israeli soldiers injured

43. Oslo Accords —1993
• Provided an interim agreement
over a 5-year transitional period
• Allowed for Palestinian self-
government and elections
• Immediate authority given to
Palestinian officials in major
economic and social areas of
government
• On security, the PA was
obligated to create a ―strong In 1996, more than 95%
police force‖ and Israel was of Palestinian Arabs were living
allowed to defend its ―overall under the control and
security.‖ governance of the
Palestinian Authority.

44. Peace with Jordan
In 1994, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and King Hussein
signed a peace treaty between Israel and Jordan.

45. In the Camp David (2000) and Taba (2001)
negotiations, the Barak government offered Palestinians
the broadest concessions in the region‘s history:
Palestinian
Issues Demand Israeli Offer
97% of the West
100% of the West Bank and Gaza +
Territories Bank and Gaza 3% of lands within While the Israeli
Israel
offer may not have
Palestinian East Palestinian East been perfect, it was
Jerusalem Jerusalem Jerusalem a genuine attempt to
solve the conflict
4 options of
All 3 million
citizenship to
refugees will be
Refugees able to become
refugees, limited
number will move
Israeli citizens
to Israel

46. Recent war of terror
beginning in September 2000
―[The uprising] had been planned since Chairman Arafat‘s return from
Camp David, when he turned the tables on the former U.S. president
and rejected the American conditions.‖
ImadFaluji - Palestinian Authority Communications Minister - March 3, 2001

47. Recent war of terror
Dome of the Rock
―I still have not recovered
Western Wall
from the magnitude of the
missed opportunity that
January. Sixteen hundred
Palestinian dead so far. And
seven hundred Israelis
dead. In my judgment, not
one life of those Israeli and
Palestinians dead is justified.‖
Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia
March 24, 2003

48. What is the Security Barrier?
A temporary, non-violent Walled sections shield cars from
security measure snipers, comprising
approximately 5% of the barrier

50. While Jewish Towns in the West Bank and Gaza are an
issue, they are not the major impediment to peace
Settlements have never been an obstacle to peace
From 1949-1967, when Jews were forbidden to live in the West Bank,
the Arabs refused to make peace with Israel.
In 2000, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered to dismantle dozens of settlements,
but the Palestinians still would not agree to end the conflict.
Unilateral Disengagement
Ariel Sharon evacuated 8000+ Jews from Gaza and some West Bank outposts.
Shechem/Nablus

51. Is
Peace Hadassah Medical Organization
Possible promotes peace in the region.
• Equal treatment for all people, treating more
? terror victims than any other medical center.
• Model of cooperation and coexistence set
by the mixed staff of people of all faiths.
Yes!

52. Is Peace Possible?
1978-1982
Camp David Accords - Peace with Egypt
1993
Oslo Accords
Israel has actively and
1994
repeatedly sought peace
Peace with since 1948.
Jordan

53. quot;A desolate country whose soil is rich enough but is given
over wholly to weeds. A silent, mournful expanse.‖ Mark Twain
Tel Aviv 1909

54. Tel Aviv 2004

55. Haifa 1931

56. Haifa 2000

57. Sand Dunes - Tel Aviv 1909

58. Leveling Dunes - Tel Aviv 1909

59. Leveling Dunes - Tel Aviv 1910

60. New Street - Tel Aviv 1914

61. New Street - Tel Aviv 2004

62. 21st Century
Anti-Semitic
Vandalism

64. Protocols of the
Bookstore Elders of Zion
in The Czarist
Forgery
Amman
Jordan
Michael Moore
Che Guevara
Mein Kampf:
By Adolf Hitler

67. Berlin
Ramallah, October 2000
Lynching of two Israeli Soldiers
at Palestinian Authority
Police Station
Indoctrination of Children

68. Indoctrination of Children

69. Indoctrination of Children

70. Jan 1, 2007
Fatah Leader
Abu Shahin
to Al-Qaeda

71. Iranian President Ahmadinejad
October 26, 2005 Centrifuges at Natanz Facility 2008
―There is no doubt that the new wave in Palestine will soon
wipe off this disgraceful blot [Israel] from the face of the
Islamic world. Anybody who recognizes Israel will burn in
the fire of the Islamic nation‘s fury.‖

72. May 13, 2008
Iranian President Ahmadinejad His Blog
quot;This terrorist and criminal state is backed by foreign powers,
but this regime would soon be swept away by the Palestinians.quot;
quot;...it would be futile to hold a birthday ceremony
for something which is already dead.‖
…anniversary celebrations could not save this quot;rotten and stinking corpse.quot;

73. Ellis Island

74. Population of Israel, by Origin
―The Hebrew is never
a beggar; he has
always kept the law -
life by toil - often
under severe and
oppressive civil
restrictions. It is also
true that no race, sect,
or class has more fully
cared for its own than
the Hebrew race.…‖
President
Harrison
1891

75. © 2005 Donald Meissner

76. Thank You
???
Current Issues Discussion
© 2005 Donald Meissner