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The Ottoman Empire
The Ottomans had ruling over most Arab-speaking countries due to the 1534 conquest of Iraq from Iran. Syria and Egypt had been part of the Ottoman Empire since 1517. Palestine was joined to Syria, and divided into 5 districts all subordinate to the Beylerbey of Damascus. -
Europeans in Syria
Muhammad 'Ali Psha, governor of Egypt at the time, fought against the sultan of the Ottoman Empire to make Egypt a stand-alone country ruled by a monarch to encourage modernisation. Alongside his son, Ibrahim Pasha, he also opened up Syria to the Europeans, so they were free to perform religious activities there. The Ottomans had no choice but to allow the Egyptians to continue this. -
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Jewish in Jerusalem
The Jewish population of Jerusalem doubled, going from 5,000 in 1939, to 10,000 in the late fifties. -
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Sultan Abdul-Hamid II
Abdul-Hamid II, the Sultan at the time, encouraged modernisation in Palestine, including advances in transportation, communication, education and the military. During this time, Europeans built more railways entering Jerusalem and Daraa. This led to more Europeans in Palestinian land. -
First Zionists
The first small group of Zionists, known as Chibbat or Chovenei-Zion entered Jaffa. They were comprised of 13 men and 1 woman. -
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Collapse of the Ottoman Empire
As a result of alliances in WWI, the Ottomans had lost a lot of land to Arab nations. -
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Hussein-McMahon Letters
The Hussein McMahon Correspondence were a series of 10 letters that were sent between Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca, and Lieutenant Colonel Sir Henry McMahon, British High Commissioner to Egypt. The aim of the letters were to get Britain to recognise Arab independence, and to organise how the Arabs were to revolt against the Ottoman Empire and enter WWI on the side of the Allies. -
Arab Revolt against the Ottomans
During WWI the Ottoman Empire was sided with the Central Powers against the Allies. This gave Sharif Hussein bin Ali, Emir of Mecca and King of the Arabs, an opportunity to launch the Great Arab Revolt. At the end of the war, Arab forces controlled all of modern Jordan, most of the Arabian peninsula and much of southern Syria. -
Balfour Declaration
The Balfour Declaration was a public pledge made by Britain declaring it's aim to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine. -
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Jewish Population in Palestine
Between 1922 and 1935, the Jewish population rose from nine percent to nearly 27 percent of the total population. -
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Jewish Immigration to Palestine
Following Adolf Hitler's entrance as dictator for Germany, more Jews immigrated from Germany to Palestine than any other place in the world, increasing the percentage of Jews in the Palestinian population from nearly 17 percent in 1931 to almost 30 percent in 1935. -
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Resistance to British Mandate
Both Palestinians and Israelis rebelled against British police, military, and attacked them using bombs. They regarded British imperialism as the long-term enemy of freedom. -
The Holocaust
By 1945, Germans and their collaborators had murdered six million European Jews as part of a systematic genocide for the Nazi Party. This had devastating effects on the remaining Jewish population and -
Palestine split into two states
The United Nations General Assembly voted 33 to 13 with 10 abstentions to partition western Palestine into two states, one being for the Jewish and the other for the Palestinians. -
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Palestinian Refugees
Between 1948 and 1949, 700,000 Palestinians became refugees. -
Jewish forces attack Palestinian village
The Arab media used the attack on the village, Dayr Yasin to portray Zionism as negative and destructive. -
Israel declares Independence
David Ben-Gurion read out the Declaration of Independence and named the Jewish state in Palestine Medinat Israel--the State of Israel. The State of Israel officially came into being upon termination of the British mandate in Palestine. -
Arab-Israeli War of 1948
Right after the announcement of Israel's independence, a war broke out as 5 Arab nations invaded territory in what once was Palestinian land. -
PLO Formed
The Palestine Liberation Organization was established in 1964 in Jerusalem, with the aim to liberate Palestine and secure the return of the 700,000 refugees. -
Six-Day War
The Six-Day war was fought between Israel, and Egypt, Jordan and Syria. It ended with the Israeli army occupying Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, Syria's Golan Heights, and Jordan's West Bank. -
UN General Assembly
The United Nation declared that Zionism was a form of racism. It severely condemned Zionism as a threat to world peace and security and called upon all countries to oppose this racist and imperialist ideology. -
UN Revokes Zionism Statement
The United Nations revoked their 1975 resolution calling Zionism a form of racism. The UN General Assembly passed resolution 46/86 which revoked Resolution 3379 by a vote of 111 to 25, with 13 abstentions. -
Assassination of Prime Minister of Israel
Yitzhak Rabin was struck down by 1 or 2 bullets while exiting his car. A 27-year-old Israeli law student, Yigal Amir, was persecuted. -
Suicide Bombings in Israel
164 human bombs had exploded in Israel since September 2000. 450 terrorists were also arrested on their way to commit a suicide bombing. -
Israel Attack on Palestine
The leader of the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine was killed in an Israeli attack. Palestinian sources say Abu Ali Mustafa died when at least two missiles struck his office in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Israeli military forces confirmed that they had carried out the attack. -
Palestine Retaliation on Israel
A rightwing Israeli minister was shot dead in a Jerusalem hotel by a suspected Palestinian gunman. The Syria-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine immediately claimed responsibility for murder of Rehavam Ze'evi. -
UN Calls for Two States
The American resolution, which passed by a vote of 14 to 0 with Syria abstaining, aiming for a vision of a region where two states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side within secure and recognised borders.
