How to Characterize?
Revival of “Ancient Hatreds?”Natural Divisions (tribal, ethnic)
Revenge of “Bad Borders?”Unnatural Divisions (a legacy of colonialism)
Returning to Palestine
PalestineArabs in the Ottoman Empire
Zionist dreamsEscaping pograms in Russia and Poland
Balfour Declaration (1917)The 1930s
Jewish refugeArab alarmBritish blockade
The Palestine War (1948)
End of the British Mandate
UN Partitionland grab
Deir Yassin massacre
great power politics
Israel Holds its Own
The Birth of Israel (May 14, 1948)
Arab attacks from north, south, and eastRepelled and reversed
The Suez Crisis (1956)
Gamal Abdel NasserPresident of Egypt (1952)
Champion of Arab nationalism
Nationalizes the Suez Canal (1955)
Blockades the Gulf of Aqaba (1955)
Israel, the UK, and France
The secret planIsrael attacks Egypt (10/29/1956)
UK and France intervene (10/30/56)
US calls for restraintUSSR supports US
Israel relinquishes its spoilsUNEF patrols
Six-day War (1967)
SyriaEl Fatah raids
Egyptexpels UNEF from Sinaiblockades Gulf of Aqaba (again)
IsraelResponds with lighting attacksOccupies key territoriesPreempts the UN
The October War (1973)
Syria and Egypt attack on Yom KippurRisk of Soviet-US proxy war
Geneva Peace Accords (12/73)UN observers in Sinai and on Golan Heights
Carving up Lebanon
Civil War (1975)Muslims vs. Christians
Syria occupies central Lebanon
Israel invades (1982)
US intervenes
Great Expectations
Jordan-Israel peace agreement (1995)
Syria-Israel negotiations (1999)
Barak plan (2000)“Land for Peace”
Torpedoed by Arafat
New Peace Efforts
Bush’s “Road Map” (2001)
Abu Mazen as PA PM (2003)Trying to tame Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Al Aqsa Martyr’s Brigade, Hezbollah
And failing….
Terror Continues
Reem Raiyshi with her son Obida, 3, before she set off a bomb in Gaza on 1/26/04, killing herself and four Israelis.
Two Battles for Independence
British rule (from early 17th century)East India Company
“divide and conquer”
Fighting for sovereigntyHindus under Mahatma Gandhi
Moslems under Mohammed Ali Jinnah
Kashmir
British had installed a Hindu prince in predominantly Moslem region (1846)
During partition, Moslems revoltedNew Pakistan state supported
New Indian state opposed
War (1948-49)
Pakistan’s Allies
Military regime (General Ayub Khan)Unlike India under Congress Party (Nehru)
Bandwagoning with the U.S.
Friendship with China
Bloody Birth of Bangladesh
Resentment of East Pakistan1970 cyclone1971: Calls for independence
West Pakistan cracks downBengali refugees spill into India
India intervenesAligns with USSRIndira Gandhi orders a strike
Nuclear confrontation
Battle of nuclear tests (1998)
Terrorist attacks inside India
Playing nuclear chicken (2003)
Background
Independence from UK in 1956
Civil War for all but ten years (72-82)Muslim Arabs in the north
Christian/animist Africans in the south
Northerners control Khartoum regimeMilitary junta seized power in 1989
Allied with National Congress Party (NCP), formerly the National Islamic Front (NIF)
Islamic Law (Sharia) and Arabization
“Leave Only the Birds”
Depopulation StrategyEmptying villages in the south
Trains and horsemen
Slavery
“Buy-back” program ($50 per person)
Marginalization
A region ignored
Arab militia versus the African SLAKhartoum backs the Arabs
Tens of thousands killed
1.5 million displaced
Civil Strife
North versus SouthCitizenship and bloodlines
Defined by southern elites
Abidgan regime (Laurent Gbagbo)The South
Rebels in the North
France viewed as partisan