Dateline Historical Events with a focus on issues important to the Palestinian narrative

Dateline                Historical Events with a focus on issues important to the

Palestinian narrative   ~~~~  People in the Documentary

“Voices Across the Divide” www.voicesacrossthedivide.com

1831 to 1840                 Egyptian Rule of Palestine.

1840                             Ottoman rule returns to Palestine.

1882 - 1903                   First wave of Jewish immigration to Palestine.

1897                             First Zionist Congress held in Basel, Switzerland.  Theodor Herzl named leader.

1900 (approx.)               80 Bedouin tribes registered as semi-nomadic in eastern, northern & mostly southern

Palestine, in the Negev.

1901                             Jewish National Fund (JNF) founded, aim of purchasing land for Jewish settlement in

Palestine.

1903 - 1914                   Second wave of Jewish Immigration.

1914 - 1918                   World War I, destruction of the Ottoman Empire, in exchange for Arab support Britain

agrees to create an independent Arab state in historic Palestine.

1916                             Sykes-Picot agreement between Britain & France to divide control of the Middle East.

1917                             Balfour Declaration promises Jewish homeland in historic Palestine.

1918 - 1920                   British military rule in Palestine.

1921                             Clashes in Jaffe between Jewish settlers and Palestinians.

1922                             British Mandate in Palestine, Egypt gains independence, British & French diplomats divide

up Arab portion of defeated Ottoman Empire.

1929                             Western Wall Uprising leads to death of 110 Arabs and 133 Jews.

1929                             Hala Ajluni                                  Born in Katamon, West Jerusalem

1930s-1940s                  Major Jewish immigration to Palestine/Israel from Germany and Central Europe.

1933                            Hitler comes to power.

1934                            Daphne Beardman           Born in Haifa

1935                            Yusif Barakat                   Born in Haifa

1936                            Tahir Monsour                  Born in Al Qubab, Ramle  district

1936                            Hanneh Ahwal                  Born in Jaffa

1936 - 1939                   Palestinian uprising, brutal suppression by British, violence erupts from Jewish militants

1937                             Peel Commission, first to promote partition plan of Palestine as a solution

1939                            Nimer Haddad                  Born in Albassa, village in Northern Galilee

1939                             British White Paper restricts Jewish immigration and land purchase.

1940 - 1947                    Intelligence service of the Haganah, the Jewish underground forces, prepares detailed files

on 1,000 villages in Mandate Palestine.

1941 - 1945                   Jewish genocide in Europe, commonly known as the Holocaust.

1941                            Jamilah Okab                   Born in West Jerusalem

1942                            George Khoury                  Born in Jerusalem

1942                            Hason Newash                  Born in Ein Karem in Jerusalem District

1946                             King David Hotel bombed by Jewish terrorists, Atzel.

1947                            Yusif Barakat                    Immigrated to Detroit, Michigan

1947                             United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) decides fate of Palestine,

600,000 Jews and 1.3 million Palestinians.  Jews own 7% of the land, most of the
cultivated land owned by Palestinians.  Palestinian leadership boycotts UNSCOP.

UN Resolution 181 proposes partition into Jewish state on 56% of land and a Palestinian state on 44%. Palestinian and Arab rejection of partition, civil war breaks out between Jewish forces, Palestinians and British troops.

1948                             Plan Dalet: conceived by the Haganah under David Ben Gurion, blue print for military

campaign, it states Palestinian villages that resist would be expelled; this includes villages annexed from West Bank in 1949.  Three months before Arab armies invade, Jewish
military forces begin ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from homes and land.

Israel proclaims independence; Declaration of Independence proclaims equal rights for all citizens regardless of religion or race.

Arab armies enter Palestine.

Deir Yassin Massacre, over 100 Palestinians killed by Jewish forces, inspires many Palestinian villages to flee as Jewish forces advance.

Massacre in Palestinian village of al-Tantura and expulsion of residents. David Ben Gurion elected first prime minister.

JNF  supervises demolition and seizure of Palestinian villages for the Jewish Agency, to be used for recreational parks and Jewish settlement.

25,000 Palestinians allowed to return, although rarely to their own homes. Many Churches and mosques desecrated by Jewish forces.

Emergency Regulations adopted by the Knesset, (Israeli Parliament), and approved

continuously since 1948.  Imposed originally by the British Mandate in 1945, the state can
declare any part of the country a closed military area, make administrative arrests without
trial, expel or execute citizens, expel Palestinians attempting to return after the war.

Custodian of Absentee Property:  careful documentation of extensive Israeli state appropriation of many Palestinian possessions and property.

UN General Assembly Resolution 194 calls for the right of return for refugees, free access to Jerusalem and access to holy places.

1948                            Taher Mansour                 Expelled from Al Kobab to Jordan

1948                            George Khoury                  Expelled from Jaffa to Birzeit

1948                            Hala Ajluni                       Fled from Jerusalem to Birzeit

1948                            Daphe Beardman              Fled from Haifa to Beirut

1948                            Hanneh Ahwal                  Fled from Jaffa to Ramallah

1948                            Hasan Newash                  Fled from Ein Kerem to Jordon

1948                            Nimer Haddad                  Fled from Al Bassa to Alma Alshaab, South

Lebanon

1948 - 1950                   Parts of villages near Syria and in the Triangle, an area northeast of Tel Aviv/Jaffa, near the

West Bank, more than 30 cases are ethnically cleansed of Palestinians.  In the south,

residents of the village of Majdal expelled to Gaza.

1949                            Wadad Abed                      Born in Nablus

1949                             Armistice signed between Israel and Arab states.  Armistice line or functional border of

Israel established along the “Green Line.”

Israeli forces uproot 750,000 Palestinian refugees, (Al Nakba) Israel victorious over Arab forces.  Bedouin population in the Negev drops from 80,000 to 13,000.  In Israeli cities 160,000 Palestinians remain, many confined to “ghettos” as described by Israeli officials, in Haifa, Jaffa, Ramle and Lydda. 100 intact Palestinian villages remain.  Palestinian
homes settled by Jewish immigrants.  Israel claims 78% of historic Palestine, 40,000
internally displaced refugees remain in Israel.

Administrative Ordinance 25 allows the Israeli government to impose military rule

anywhere in the country.  Palestinians within Israel put under military rule which includes banning protests and demonstrations, arrests, administrative detention without trial, and torture; military governors have executive, legislative and judicial power over Palestinians. In rural areas: military rule, in urban areas: civilian monitoring and control under the
Ministries of Defense and Shin Bet or Shabak (Israeli secret services).

Ordinance is used to restrict Palestinian movement, later regulations ban freedom of press and expression, political organizations and limits job opportunities.

Palestinians within Israel designated “Palestinian minority in Israel.”  ID cards states

nationality as Christian or Moslem, many are designated as displaced, internal refugees or “present absentees.” Jews from Arab countries are “de-Arabized,” names are Hebraicized, encouraged to embrace Ashkenazi (Eastern European Jewish) history and culture.

1949 - present               Palestinians with Israeli citizenship active in the Knesset,  multiple appeals to the Supreme

Court as well as demonstrations and strikes demanding civil rights.  Army response frequently brutal with arrests and killings.

1950                             The West Bank annexed to Jordan, Gaza Strip under Egyptian control

Israeli Absentee Property Law allows the state to take over property and lands of all
Palestinians not residing in Israel and all internal refugees, later amended to allow
Custodian of Absentee Property to sell lands and property to the Israeli state or Jewish
citizens.

1950 - 1960                   Upper Nazareth, Carmiel and Migdal Ha-Emek established to actively Judaize the Arab

Galilee, land confiscation used emergency regulations by army.

Discriminatory laws passed in the Knesset: (1) Jewish immigrants to Israel given

precedence over indigenous Palestinians in almost every sphere.  (2) Law of Return gives
Jews automatic citizenship in Israel.  (3) Law of the JNF defines most of land for sale in
Israel, the exclusive and perpetual property of the Jewish people, almost all Palestinian
land taken by the government and turned into state land now sold or leased only to Jews.

1950s-1960s                  Various nationalistic Palestinian parties, al Ard movement, become the Popular Front, the

first representative body of Palestinians in Israel.  Its first goal is to preserve control over Moslem waqft (Islamic religious endowments - usually buildings).

1953                             Israeli law:  only those inhabitants present at the census in November 1948 would be

automatically recognized as full citizens.  Although Law of Return gives full citizenship to all Jews, the 100,000 Palestinians present but not registered are required to apply for
citizenship .  This requires taking an Oath of Allegiance to the Jewish State, and a
“reasonable” knowledge of Hebrew (a requirement not applied to Jews).  Many
Palestinians appeal through the courts.

1956                             Kafr Qassem Massacre: prior to the 1956 War, Israeli Defense Forces focus on Arab

villages in the Triangle.  Curfew declared in Kafr Qassem, and 48 villagers massacred for
returning from the fields after curfew.  This was part of Operation Hafar ferret, a plan to
expel Palestinians from the Triangle, those responsible received minimal punishment.

Egypt nationalizes Suez Canal, Suez or Israeli-Franco-British War against Egypt. Israeli occupation of the Sinai.

1957                             Israel retreats from the Sinai Peninsula and British forces leave Suez area.

Late 1950s                    Fatah established by Palestinian student refugees in the Arab world as the first national

liberation movement after 1948.

1957 - 1966                   After Kafr Qassem Massacre there are increasing calls for end to military rule over

Palestinians, primarily from Palestinians and Jewish members of the Communist Party.

Israel introduces policy of co-optation with inducements for Palestinian elite, not supported

by Palestinian community.

1957                             Eisenhower Doctrine ignites cold war between Egyptian president Gamel Abdel Nasser

and the West.

1957                            Terry Ahwal                      Born in Ramallah

1960                             Israeli Land Administration founded to manage Israeli land, comprised of a number of

government ministries and the JNF.

1964                             Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) founded.

1965                             Fatah operated first military action

Law for Population Registry establishes Israeli citizenship for Jews and non-Jews but nationality only for Jews.

Law of Planning and Building redefines area of unrecognized villages as “inadequate for residence” and erases them from official registers.

1966                             Military rule over Palestinians with Israeli citizenship ends.

Palestinians allowed to travel to Jewish areas and attend Jewish educational institutions but

school systems remain segregated and unequally funded up to university level.

1967                      Diana Buttu                             Father & mother leave Nazareth for Canada

1967                             Egypt blocks the Straits of Tiran for Israeli vessels and deploys its armed forces in Sinai,

other Arab forces appear threatening, Israel launches attacks on Egypt, Syria, Iraq and
Jordan.  Israeli-Arab or Six Day War.  Israel occupies the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Syrian Golan Heights, Egypt Sinai Peninsula, creating 200,000 to 400,000 new Palestinian
refugees (Al Naksa).

Arab Summit Conference, Khartoum’s resolutions.

UN Security Council Resolution 242 passes in the wake of the Six Day War, affirms inadmissibility of taking land by force, calls for Israel to withdraw from territories
occupied in the war, the right of all to live in secure and recognizable borders and a just resolution to the refugee problem.

1967 - 1977                   Israeli Land Law confirms 90% of land reserved for Jews only.  Law of Elections prohibits

eligibility of any party or list that does not recognize the Jewish character of Israel.  Law of

Right of Employment connects employability with respect to basic Zionist values.

1968                             Fatah, under Yasser Arafat, takes over the PLO.

1968                            Wadad Abed                      Family moves to Huntington Valley, PA

1968                            Salma Abu Ayyash            Born in Amman, Jordon

1968                            Yamila Shannon               Born in Columbia, South America

1968                             Ministry of Defense grants army permission to declare any part of Mandatory Palestine as

closed military zone, allowed to expel population

Beginning of active program by the Housing Ministry to Judaize the Galilee includes expropriation of Arab lands for Jewish settlements and army training.

1969                             Golda Meir Prime Minister of Israel.

Law of Supervision over Schools severely limit autonomy of Palestinian teachers.

Late 1960’s -                Germans make reparations to Israel for the Holocaust.

early 1970’s

Israeli Palestinians allowed to travel to the West Bank and Gaza.

1970                             Civil war between the Jordanian Army and PLO, Black September, PLO crushed and

expelled to Lebanon.

1970                            Diana Buttu                       Born in Canada

1972                            Terry Ahwal                      Sent to live with uncle in Levonia, Michigan

1970 - 1979                   Several laws define privileges in relation to Israeli Army service thus solely benefit Jews,

includes welfare benefits, scholarships, grants, loans.

PLO guerrilla and terrorist activities against Israeli Army and civilians, airplane hijackings,

bombings. Increased Palestinian arrests and expulsions, home demolitions by Israel.

1971                             President Anwar El Sadat of Egypt proposes first peace plan.

1972                            Faris Alami                       Born in Kuwait

1970 - 1973                   Mass immigration from the Soviet Union to Israel.

1973                             New law: East Jerusalem land belonging to Palestinian refugees from 1948 and 1967 taken

over by the State of Israel.

Yom Kippur War - Egyptian and Syrian forces attack Israeli forces in the Sinai and Golan Heights.  Arab oil countries impose an embargo on the West.

Society for the Defense of Arab Minority Rights founded in Israel.

UN Security Council Resolution 338 confirms Resolution 242 and calls for peace talks between the parties.

Geneva peace conference.

1974                             PLO recognized as legitimate representative of the Palestinian people by the UN.

Settlement movement of Jews, (Gush Emunim), starts claiming the Occupied Palestinian Territories, (OPT).

Israel gives up small part of the occupied territories to Syria and Egypt and maintains control of the Golan Heights.

Yitzhak Rabin elected Prime Minister of Israel.

1975                             Civil war erupts in Lebanon.

Israeli-Egyptian Interim Agreement.

1976                             Land Day, massive Israeli land confiscation in the Galilee.  General strike provokes violent

confrontation with army, 6 Palestinians killed, commemorated annually thereafter.

Menachem Begin elected Prime Minister of Israel.

1977                            Yamila Shannon               Her mother returns with 10 children to Palestine, Y.S.

sent to orphanage, Dar a-Tifl-Arabi for school

1977                             Declaration of President Anwar Sadat’s peace initiative.

Anwar Sadat’s visit to Israel and Knesset speech.

1978                             Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt signed.

Peace Now founded in Israel.
PLO attack in Tel Aviv.

Litani operation: Israel occupies part of southern Lebanon.

Meir Kahane founds the rightwing Kach movement (Kahane is founder of Jewish Defense League in US).

Palestinian Knesset members invited to join coalition government for the first time.

1979                             Peace treaty signed between Israel and Egypt, Sinai Peninsula is returned to Egypt.

1980                             Basic Law: Jerusalem is capital of Israel.

1980 - 1989                   Birth of political Islam in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), includes

Hamas, Islamic Jihad.

Israel Land Administration introduces master plan for 5 year Judaization of the Galilee and the Negev.

1981                             New leadership emerging in the West Bank is crushed by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).

Galilee Society, the Arab Society for Health Research & Services founded in Israel. Anwar Sadat assassinated, Hosni Mubarak confirmed as Egypt’s president.
US/Israeli Memorandum of understanding re: strategic cooperation.

1982                             Remainder of the Sinai Peninsula returned to Egypt.

Israel invades Lebanon, operation “Peace for the Galilee”.  PLO leads Lebanese-

Palestinian resistance.  PLO expelled to Tunis.  Massacre of Palestinians in Sabra and

Shatilla refugee camps in southern Lebanon by Lebanese Christian militia under protection of the Israeli military.

Militant Lebanese organization, Hezbollah established.

1983                             Yitzhak Shamir elected Prime Minister of Israel.

1985                             Israel withdraws from most of Lebanon.

Agreement between PLO and Jordan allows Jordan to represent Palestinians in

negotiations.

1986                            Salma Abu Ayyash            Enrolls in Syracuse University

1987 - 1991                   First Intifada.

1988                             Jordan secedes its claims to the West Bank to the PLO as the sole representative of the

Palestinian people.

Hamas founded.

Palestinian National Council in Tunis publishes Palestinian Declaration of Independence with recognition of two state approach, ie, UN Resolution 242.

National committee formed in Israel of local communities from each village deported in
1948.

Arab Association for Human Rights founded in Israel.

1989 - 1990                   Mass migration of Jews and non-Jews from the former Soviet Union.

1989                             Israeli group B’Tselem (“In the Image Of”), The Israeli Information Center for Human

Rights in the Occupied Territories founded.

1990                             Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait.

1990                            Faris Alami                       Enrolls in the University of Arizona

Mid 1990s                     Emergence of Arabic language satellite TV stations.

1991                             Gulf War “Desert Storm:” US bombards Iraq, Iraqi SCUD missiles land in Haifa and Tel

Aviv.

Madrid Conference between Israelis, Arab states. and Palestinians.

1992                             Arab Follow Up Committee registers as official NGO in Israel, leader in civil society

activism for Israeli Palestinians.

1993                             Oslo Declaration of Principles, “Oslo Accords,” signed in Washington.

First Intifada ends, mutual recognition between Israel and the PLO. Women Against Violence founded in Nazareth.

1993 - 1996                   Israeli authorities demolish more than 2,000 Palestinian homes in Israel and 130 Jewish

homes for building illegally.  Authorities refuse to grant new permits or allow new villages
or towns for Palestinians.  Many demonstrations met with violent response from
authorities.

1994                             Peace treaty between Israel and Jordan.  Palestinian National Authority (PA) established to

run the West Bank and Gaza.

1995                             Interim agreement between Israel and the PLO.

Baruch Goldstein, West Bank Jewish settler in Hebron, massacres Moslems praying at a
mosque.

Yitzhak Rabin assassinated by a Jewish extremist. Palestinian suicide bombings in Israel.
Bereaved Parents Circle founded.

Israeli Association for Civil Rights documents that discrimination against Palestinians is Israel’s greatest civil rights problem.

1996                             Benjamin Netanyahu elected president of Israel.

Adalah, (Justice) Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights founded in Israel, becomes leading NGO taking cases to the Israeli Supreme Court.

Yasser Arafat elected president of the Palestinian Authority (PA). Peacemaker’s summit in Sharm al-Sheikh.

Balad, new political party in Israel, advocates for democracy for all citizens, two states, right of return to Israel for Palestinian refugees.  Headed by Azmi Bishara, first openly non-Zionist party accepted into the Knesset.

Operation Grapes of Wrath, massive Israeli attack on Hezbollah in Lebanon, retaliation for ongoing war of attrition in southern Lebanon, Israelis bomb refugee camp in al-Kana
killing more than 100 civilians.

Suicide bombing campaign in Israeli shopping malls and on public transportation.

Netanyahu orders opening of tunnel under the Haram al-Sharif, Temple Mount, in Jerusalem prompting riots.

1997                            Yamila Shannon                Enrolls in graduate school at Harvard University

1997                             Agreement concerning temporary international presence in Hebron.

Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions (ICAHD) founded.

1998                             Wye River Memorandum agreement between Israelis and Palestinians.

Airport opened in Gaza.

Committee for the Defense of Displaced Persons in Israel (later joins with Zochrot) to visit and commemorate former Palestinian villages, provokes many legal struggles and
demonstrations.

First Nakba Day commemoration, beginning of more assertive Palestinian cultural and religious expression in Israel.

1999                             Ehud Barak elected Prime Minister of Israel.

Azmi Bishara presents his candidacy for Prime Minister of Israel promoting a state for all its citizens, a bi-national state in all of Palestine.  Beginning of political attempts by
Palestinians in Israel to assert their national position.

Bedouins  in the Negev pushed by “Green Police” attacks to move into new areas or reservations allocated by the Israeli government.

Sharm al Sheikh Memorandum.

Protocol for “safe passage” between West Bank and Gaza.

2000                             Israel withdraws from southern Lebanon.

Israeli - Palestinian summit at Camp David.

Second Intifada begins after Ariel Sharon visits the Temple Mount.

In Israel unarmed solidarity demonstrations for the intifada met with armed response, called the “Events of October.”

Coalition of Women for Peace is founded.

Radio 2000 founded in Nazareth, first totally independent Arabic radio station run by Palestinians.

10% of Palestinians with Israeli citizenship live in unrecognized villages with no government services.

Orr Commission, created to investigate causes of the Second Intifada, reports “natural

rights and needs of Palestinian population” unmet.  Focuses on land confiscation policies, lack of master plan for any Palestinian construction.

By the end of 2000, more than 50 NGO’s in Israel address civil society issues, discrimination, empowerment and cultural autonomy.

2001                             Machsom (Checkpoint) Watch founded, an organization of women dedicated to standing at

checkpoints to monitor interactions between soldiers and Palestinians.

Israeli-PA negotiation at Taba leads to agreements but no final treaty. Ariel Sharon elected Prime Minister of Israel.

Mitchell Plan calls for freeze on Jewish settlement construction in the OPT. Gaza Airport bulldozed.

President Clinton introduces parameters for Israeli/Palestinian agreement.

Third wave of Judaizing the Galilee under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.  Series of

discriminatory laws including: (1) Nation and Admittance to the Country Law: bans

reunion of couples or families on different sides of the Green Line (2) Right of Secret

Service to undermine employment of teachers and principals. (3) Objection to the inherent Jewishness of the state of Israel considered treason.

2002                             Major Israeli military incursions into the OPT and reoccupation of Palestinian cities.

UN Security Council Resolution 1397 calls for end of violence, two state solution. Saudi Peace Initiative adopted unanimously by the Arab League.
Israeli begins construction of the Separation Wall.
Palestinian suicide bombings in Israel.

Zochrot (Remembering), Israeli NGO founded - dedicated to teaching Israelis about al
Nakba.

2003                             US and Great Britain initiate war against Iraq.

Road Map adopted by the Quartet, representing the US, EU, Russian Federation and UN. Aqaba Summit (George Bush, Ariel Sharon, Mahmoud Abbas).

Ariel Sharon uses the word “occupation” in public speech.

Geneva Accords proposed by Yossi Beilin and Yasser Abd-Rabbo.

Beginning of expulsion of spouses who are from the OPT and living with partners in Israel back to the OPT.

Rachel Corrie, peace activist, killed by a bulldozer in the Gaza Strip.

Geneva Initiative signed.

Ariel Sharon presents Unilateral Disengagement Plan at Herzliya Conference.

2004                             Yasser Arafat, President of the PA, dies in mysterious circumstances.

International Court of Justice declares the Separation Wall illegal.

Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel launched in Ramallah.

2005                             Israel unilaterally removes settlements from Gaza but maintains control over borders and

much of the economy.

Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) elected President of the PA.

Avigdor Lieberman rises to prominence, senior minister of Israel Beitanu (Israel is Our Home), an alliance of Jewish settlers, ultra-orthodox Jews and secular Russians.

Call by Palestinian civil society for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel

(BDS), as a means to end the occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem and gain civil, political and human rights.

2006                             Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffers major stroke and falls into coma.

Ehud Olmert elected Prime Minister of Israel.

Hamas wins majority of seats in the Legislative Council in the OPT.

Israel, provoked by Hamas and Hezbollah activity, invades Gaza, Lebanon, as well as a tiny area in the West Bank, in Operation Defensive Shield.  Severe economic blockade of Gaza begins.  Non-violent protests in Israel.

UN Security Council Resolution 1701 implements a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

2006 - 2009                   Fourth wave of Judaization of the Galilee under Ehud Olmert, subsequently supported by

Benjamin Netanyahu, the JNF, the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel and others.

2007                             Civil war in Gaza between Hamas and Fatah leaves Hamas in control, US provides military

supports to Fatah.

Annapolis peace treaty, President George Bush, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President
Mahmoud Abbas commit to negotiate towards a two state solution along the lines of the
Road Map.

A number of Palestinian Knesset members targeted by Israeli authorities for collaborating with the enemy.

A wave of legislation passed in Israel: (1) Law of Loyalty: citizens required to express full
recognition of Israel as a Jewish and Zionist state.  (2) Banning of Nakba commemoration
in public events, schools and textbooks.  (3) Right of Jewish suburbs not to accept
Palestinian residents. (4) Right of the state to discriminate by law against Arabs in the

privatization of land - Jewish National Fund (JNF) Law.

Ehud Olmert states Israel risks apartheid-like struggle if two-state solution fails, comparing Israel to South Africa

2008                             Six month truce broken by Israel and militant Palestinian factions shelling Sderot and

Ashkelon.  Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) launch massive 3 week attack on Gaza known as

Operation Cast Lead, creating a devastating humanitarian catastrophe documented by a host of human rights organizations.

2009                             Kairos Palestine document released supporting the boycott, divestment, and sanctions

movement (BDS).

Goldstone Report on Operation Cast Lead released.

2010                             Palestinians with Israeli citizenship own 2.5% of the land and comprise 22% of the

population.

Gaza Flotilla attempts to break the blockade of the Gaza Strip, 9 activists killed by Israeli authorities.

50 Palestinian NGO’s in Israel convene an emergency meeting re: systematic and

continuous violation of basic human and civil rights of Palestinians in Israel, including rights to organize and protest.

Avigdor Lieberman, Minister of Foreign Affairs, gives speech at UN promoting transfer of Palestinians in Israel to separate townships in the West Bank in return for annexation of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, at other venues he speaks openly of transferring
Palestinians, revoking citizenship and Judaizing Arab towns.

“Arab Spring” uprisings across the Arab world inspire many Palestinians within historic Palestine.

2011                             Separation Wall dismantled and rerouted in Palestinian village of  Bil’in due to pressure of

non-violent resistance.

Internally displaced refugees in Israel number 250,000 to 300,000. The Palestine Papers released by Al-Jazeera.

2012                             Palestinian factions in Gaza react to assassination of top Hamas military leaders with

rocket attacks which leads to extensive Israeli air assault on Gaza, Operation Pillar of
Defense.

UN General Assembly votes in favor of recognizing Palestinian statehood after

Palestinians ask to be recognized as a non-member state of Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.

Prime Minister Netanyahu retaliates by increasing Jewish settlement construction in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Current population estimates: (1) total population of Israel 7,869,900, ( 2) total Jewish population of Israel 5,923,500,( 3) total non-Jewish population 1,945,500.

Approximately 500,000 Jewish settlers live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Approximately 5,500,000 Palestinians live in Israel and the OPT.
Approximately 7,000,000 Palestinians live in the Diaspora.

There are 58 Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank, and Gaza. One third of all Palestinian refugees live in camps.

2013 “Voices Across the Divide” www.voicesacrossthedivide.com