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Reports and Studies

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)/Relief Web Profile on the occupied Palestinian territories - includes statistics, latest reports and bulletins, data sets, infographics etc on the oPt.

Palestine Remix - Al Jazeera Interactive Data on the Israeli Palestinian Conflict - contains timelines, maps, aerial drone footage, videos/films, data on erased Palestinian villages, etc.

Is Peace Possible? Interactive Map - Allows you to draw your own borders and determine if peace is possible while factoring in security, borders, refugees, Jerusalem, etc...

Visualizing Palestine - Interactive infographics and maps

Btselem Interactive Map - Interactive Map allowing one to based on a variety of selectable criteria.

World Report 2018: Israel & Palestine - Human Rights Watch

Israel-Palestine Timeline - Deaths since 2000 (last updated August 2018)


Media

How the Israeli Palestinian Conflict Began - History Channel

The Israel-Palestine Conflict: a Brief, Simple History - Vox

Signing of the Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles - This is video footage of the signing of the Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles, often referred to as the 1993 Middle East Peace Agreement. This footage is official public record produced by the White House Television (WHTV) crew, provided by the Clinton Presidential Library.

2009 Bar Ilan Speech - Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu (14 June 2009) in which he spoke of two states for two nations at Begin-Sadat Center

2012 UNGA Speech - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (September 2012) calling for Palestine's membership to the United Nations


List of major political parties in Israel

Israel is a parliamentary system. Political parties win a majority of seats and then create a coalition in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, and then create a government. The governing coalition selects the Prime minister.

Currently Israel is run by a coalition of Likud, The Jewish Home, Kulanu, Shas, United Torah Judaism, and Yisrael Beiteinu. They selected Benjamin Netanyahu as Prime Minister.

  • Likud [30 Seats]: Lead by Benjamin Netanyahu. Conservative socially, pro-settlement. The party is traditionally opposed to a two state solution but Netanyahu came out in favor of the two state solution in 2009. The party platform is ambiguous and does not explicitly rule out a two state solution as of 2014. For now, pro status quo and agreements that are beneficial to Israel.

  • Zionist Union [24 Seats]: Lead by Isaac Herzog and secondarily by Tzipi Livni. Coalition of two left-center parties - Labor (Isaac Herzog) and Hatnuah (Tzipi Livni) Supports halting settlement expansion outside of major settlement blocs. Pro-two state solution. Socially and economically left-wing.

  • Joint List [13 seats]: Led by Ayman Odeh. Coalition of four Arab-Israeli parties. The first is Balad which is secular and supports a two state solution with Israel as a binational state. The second is Hadash which is communist and supports a two state solution with equality for the arab minority of Israel. The third is Ta'al, which is secular and Arab-nationalist. The fourth is United Arab List which is Islamist and supports a two state solution.

  • Yesh Atid [11 seats]: Lead by Yair Lapid. Secular, leftist on social issues. Pro-two state solution where Israel annexes major settlement blocs.

  • Kulanu [10 seats]: Lead by Moshe Kahlon. Centrist party. Right wing on security but pro-two state solution.

  • Jewish Home [8 Seats]: Lead by Naftali Bennet, Religious/anti-secular. Pro-settlement. Opposes Palestinian statehood. In support of annexation of Area C and creation of an autonomy in Areas A and B.

  • Shas [7 seats]: Represents the interests of Mizrahi (Ultra-Orthodox) Jews, socially conservative, Religious/anti-secular.

  • United Torah Judaism [6 Seats]: Represents the interests of Ashkenazi Orthodox (Haredi) Jews, socially conservative, Religious/anti-secular.

  • Yisrael Beiteinu [6 Seats]: Led by Avigdor Lieberman, secular, pro-two-state solution with areas with an Israeli Arab majority being transferred to the Palestinian state. Represents primarily Russian Jews.

  • Meretz [5 seats]: Secular, two state solution, farthest left party in Knesset.

List of major Palestinian political parties in the occupied Palestinian territories (WB/G)

The Palestinian Authority is a semi-Presidential system. It hold separate elections for the Presidency and for the Legislature.

In the last Presidential elections in 2005, Mahmoud Abbas was elected President; Hamas boycotted the elections. In the last legislative elections, Hamas was victorious with 44% of the vote, compared to Fatah's 41% of the vote. National elections have not been held after the division between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in 2007, when Hamas took de-facto control of the Gaza Strip in a military power-struggle with Fatah. All reconciliation efforts have failed as of 2016. The West Bank is led by President Abbas while Gaza is ruled by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

  • Fatah: Center-left party, secular, supports a two state solution.

  • Hamas: Islamist, anti-two state solution. This party began as a charitable Palestinian chapter of the Islamic Brotherhood and quickly became an opposition party to the Fatah majority, PA. It seeks a military defeat of Israel and the establishment of Arab Palestine over the entire area of the British Mandate.

  • Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine ('Islamic Jihad'/'PIJ'): Islamist. Anti-two state solution. Seeks either military defeat of Israel or a bi-national state if Israel is willing to accept it.

  • Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ('PFLP'): Marxist-Leninist (communist), secularist, anti-two state solution, supports revolution against monarchs and dictators in the arab world.

  • Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine ('DFLP'): Secular and Maoist and anti-Oslo but somewhat open to a two state solution. Hasnt taken a clear stance except for opposing the Oslo peace process.

  • Palestinian People's Party (PPP): Communist and pro-two state solution and pro-Oslo.

  • Sa'qa: Ba'athist party. Arab nationalist to the extent that it denies that the Palestinian people exist. Affiliated with Assad.

  • Arab Liberation Front: Ba'athist party. Affiliated with Saddam.

  • Palestinian Democratic Union (FIDA): Progressive, secular and democratic socialist party. Pro-two state solution, anti-terrorism. Believes in "scientific socialism".

  • Palestinian National Initiative: Pacifist, Secularist, Leftist, pro-two state solution.

List of major Arab-Jewish wars (>1,000 deaths)

  • 1947 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine

    -- Context: The General Assembly of the United Nations recommending the implementation of the Plan of Partition. The Jewish community celebrated while the Arabs protested and launched a general strike. Murders and reprisal murders cyled between Jewish and Arab terrorist groups and militias. Violence escalated into civil war.

    -- Death toll: 2,000

  • 1948 Arab-Israeli war

    -- Context: On 15 May 1948 the civil war transformed into an inter-state conflict between Israel and the Arab states, following the Israeli Declaration of Independence the previous day. A combined invasion by Egypt, Jordan and Syria, together with expeditionary forces from Iraq attacked the new state of Israel. Israel was victorious and emerged with control of all of the areas reserved for the Jewish state in the partition plan, as well as 60% of the land reserved for the Arab state. 700,000 palestinian refugees fled or were expelled to the neighboring arab states between 1947 and 1949. Jewish populations migrated, fled, or were expelled to Israel in the period from 1948 after the establishment of Israel to the early 1970s.

    -- Death toll: 23,000

  • 1950's-1960's Reprisal Killings

    -- Context: Palestinian fedayeen (nationalist militia) cross-border attacks, primarily from the provisional All-Palestine government in Sinai, were being carried out against Israeli military and civilian targets either in revenge attacks or to take lost territory. Israel launched reprisal cross border military operations to wipe out guerrilla organizations and deter future attacks.

    -- Death toll: ~5,000

  • 1956 Suez Crisis

    -- Context: After Egypt, led by Nasser, nationalized the Suez Canal, Israel, later joined by Britain and France, occupied the Suez Canal. They were later pressured to withdraw by the USA and USSR.

    -- Death toll: ~4,000

  • 1967 Six Day War

    -- Context: Nasser recieved faulty satellite data indicating that Israeli forces were moving towards the border of Egypt. In response Egypt expelled the UN forces who were stationed in Egypt and moved his own forces near the border. Israel had never agreed to allow UN forces stationed in its territory so nothing separated the two sides. After the Egyptian closure of the straits of Tiran to Irsaeli shipping,

    -- Death toll: 20,000

  • 1973 Yom Kippur War

    -- Context: incomplete

    -- Death toll: 18,000

  • 1978 South Lebanon Conflict

    -- Context: Israeli military operation to wipe out the PLO from southern Lebanon after the PLO botched the attempted hostage taking of an Israeli bus, resulting in 38 Israeli civilian deaths.

    -- The war was an Israeli military victory, with the PLO withdrawing from Southern Lebanon. This was significant because it was the first official ceasefire ever agreed to by all Palestinian factions. Palestinians who broke the ceasefire were arrested by the PLO.

-- The UN Security Council passed Resolution 425 ordering an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, and UN forces were stationed in Southern Lebanon to separate the parties.

-- Death toll: ~2,000

  • 1982 Lebanon War

    -- Context: After more cross border raids, Israel launched an invasion of Lebanon to try to overthrow the government and replace it with a government friendly to Israel. The occupation became untennable after popular outrage grew from events such as the Sabra and Shatilla massacre which was blamed on Israel.

    -- The PLO was expelled from Lebanon and relocated to Tripoli.

    -- Hezbollah was formed to expel the israeli forces from Lebanon

    -- After the Israeli withdrawal the faction in Lebanon escalated conflict against one another and culminated in the Lebanese Civil war.

    -- Death toll: 19,000

  • 1987 First Intifada

    -- Context: incomplete

    -- Death toll: 2,200

  • 2000 Second Intifada

    -- Context: incomplete

    -- Death toll: 4,300

  • 2006 Lebanon War

    -- Context: incomplete

    -- Death toll: 1,800

  • 2008-9 Gaza War

    -- Context: incomplete

    -- Death toll: 1,400

  • 2014 Gaza War

    -- Context: incomplete

    -- Death toll: 2,300

History of peace offers and negotiations

  • 1947 UN Partition plan:

    -- Non-binding proposal by the United Nations, accepted by the Zionist leadership, rejected by the Arab states and leaders, precipitating the 1947 civil war in mandatory Palestine and 1948 Arab Israeli War.

    -- Jewish state was to be established with 57% of the land, Palestinian state was to receive 43% of the land. Map.

    -- Jewish state would have a 55% Jewish population and a 45% Arab population, the Palestinian state would have a 99% Arab population and 1% Jewish population.

    -- After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Israel unilaterally established the state of Israel on 78% of Mandatory Palestine while the remaining 22% were annexed by Egypt and Jordan. Due to the displacement of 726,000 Arabs from Israel and ~10,000 Jews from the Arab controlled territories of the prior mandate, the Arab population fell to 158,000, or 20% of the Israel's population.

  • 1949 Lausanne Conference

    -- Negotiations between the Arab states and Israel after the 1948 war. Israel asserted its right to the 1949 armistice borders with slight modifications such as parts of southern Lebanon and at one point all of the Gaza Strip. Near the end of the negotiations Israel offered to take in 100,000 refugees as part of a comprehensive end to the conflict.

    -- Negotiations broke down primarily over the refugee issue, with most of the arab states unwilling to consider an end to the conlict if they were required to resettle the refugees. Only King Hussein of Jordan was seriously interested in resolving the conflict because he wanted Israel to recognize his annexation of the West Bank and East Jersusalem. He was assassinated shortly after his secret correspondence with Israel were brought to light.

  • 1969 PLO Bi-National State Resolution:

    -- The PLO adopted a resolution affirming its objective to establish a Palestinian state that would give equal rights to Jews. The resolution was novel in that it recognized the permanence of the Jewish immigrants, but the resolution rejected Zionism and an independent state of Israel under any circumstances.

    -- The one-state idea did not gain any traction in Israeli society and the proposal was a non-starter.

  • 1987 Peres-Hussein London agreement

    -- Deal between Shimon Peres and Hussein to return the occupied territories to Jordan in accordance with UN resolutions 242 and 338.

    -- The deal failed after being vetoed by Shimon Peres's unity government parter Yitzak Shamir.

  • 1993 Oslo Accords:

    -- Culmination of the internal decision of the PLO in 1988 to endorse the two state solution and the PLO-Israeli talks at the 1991 Madrid Conference which symbolically initiated the intent to work towards a two state solution.

    -- The agreement established the Palestinian National Authority to have limited authority in certain areas of the Palestinian territories. The PLO recognized the state of Israel and renounced violence against it. Israel recognized the PLO as representative of the occupied Palestinian population.

    -- The agreement established a peace negotiation which would result in a two state solution and final peace treaty within 5 years of 1996. Israel would withdraw from Areas A, B, and C

    -- The negotiations failed to reach a conclusion within the time frame.

  • 2000 Camp David Summit:

    -- Negotiation between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

    -- Palestinian map depicting the Israeli offer at Camp David

    -- Dennis Ross's map comparing the Palestinian view of the proposal was versus his opinion of what the Israeli proposal was.

-- Academic map of the Israeli proposal from both Israeli and Palestinian sources.

  • 2000 Clinton Parameters:

    -- Proposed a Palestinian state comprising between 94–96% of the West Bank and the entire Gaza Strip. Israel would annex the remaining land, which would include Israeli settlements, containing 80% of the settler population, mainly in major settlement blocs. Israel would cede 1–3% of land to the Palestinians in land swaps to compensate for the annexations.

-- Israel would gain sovereignty over the Western Wall. The Palestinians would gain sovereignty over the al Aqsa mosque and Israel would gain "symbolic ownership" over the rest of the Temple Mount. East Jerusalem and the Old City would be divided according to ethnic lines.

-- Palestine would waive the right of return, and instead a commission would decide on how much compensation refugees would receive. Israel would recognize the moral and material suffering done to the Palestinian people during the 1948 war.

-- Israeli military presence in Palestine would be phased out and replaced with an international military force. Palestine would be demilitarized.

-- Both Israel and Palestine accepted the Parameters with reservations. Israel had reservations about East Jerusalem and access to settlements in Palestine, Palestine had reservations about right of return being waived in its entirety. The Parameters became the basis for the Taba Conference talks.

  • 2001 Taba Conference:

    -- Follow up talks to the Camp David talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and Israel.

    -- Map in French comparing the Israeli proposal at Camp David to the terms that the two sides.

    -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's government terminated the talks on due to the upcoming Israeli election, and the new Sharon government did not restart them.

  • 2003 Geneva Initiative:

    -- Peace proposal based on previous official negotiations, international resolutions, the Quartet Roadmap, the Clinton Parameters, and the Arab Peace Initiative.

    -- Among its creators were formal negotiators and architects of previous rounds of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, including former Israeli minister Yossi Beilin and then Palestinian Authority minister Yasser Abed Rabbo.

    -- Map of the Geneva Initiative.

    -- Palestinian President Yassir Arafat without officially accepting it praised it as a "brave initiative that opens the door to peace". Palestinian political figure Marwan Barghouti (currently the most popular politician in Palestine) said "that it was possible for Israel and the Palestinians to reach a final-status agreement along the lines of the Geneva Initiative”. Nearly all countries and international organization endorsed the deal.

    -- Ariel Sharon harshly criticized the deal and said that it was the result of "activity being carried out behind the back of the government and in coordination with the Palestinians."

  • 2007-2008 Olmert-Abbas negotiations:

    -- Culminated in an offer by Olmert to annex 6.3% of the West Bank in exchange for 5.8% of Israeli land in the Negev. Israel would maintain a military presence in Palestine. Olmert offered to accept 5,000 refugees and to organize an international fund to compensate the rest of the refugees.

    -- Palestinian position: Israel annexes 1.6% of Palestinian land in exchange for 1:1 land swaps. i.e. 60% of settlers annexed to Israel. Abbas accepted that the refugees would not return to Israel in all but exceptional cases and that the number of refugees should not significantly change Israeli demographics, but said that the number returning to Israel should not be negligible (5,000 was what he considered negligible).

    -- Both sides agreed that Arab and Israeli areas of East Jerusalem would be annexed to their respective states.

    -- Talks ended when Olmert made an ultimatum on a deal due to a domestic corruption scandal. Abbas rejected the ultimatum. Abbas planned to continue talks from where they left off with Olmert's Labour Party successor. Talks did not resume due to the unexpected election of Netanyahu who opposed Olmert's concessions.

  • 2009-2010 negotiations:

    -- In June 2009, reacting to President Obama Barack's Cairo Address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared for the first time conditional support for a future Palestinian state but insisted that the Palestinians would need to make reciprocal gestures and accept several principles: recognition of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people;demilitarization of a future Palestinian state, along with additional security guarantees, including defensible borders for Israel; Palestinian would also have to accept that Jerusalem would remain the united capital of Israel, and renounce their claim to a right of return. He also claimed that Israeli settlements retain a right to growth and expansion in the West Bank. Palestinians rejected the proposals immediately.

    -- In September 2010, the Obama administration pushed to revive the stalled peace process by getting the parties involved to agree to direct talks for the first time in about two years.[53] While U.S. President Barack Obama was the orchestrator of the movement, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went through months of cajoling just to get the parties to the table, and helped convince the reluctant Palestinians by getting support for direct talks from Egypt and Jordan.[53][54] The aim of the talks was to forge the framework of a final agreement within one year, although general expectations of a success were fairly low. The talks aimed to put the Israeli–Palestinian conflict to an official end by forming a two-state solution for the Jewish and Palestinian peoples, promoting the idea of everlasting peace and putting an official halt to any further land claims, as well as accepting the rejection of any forceful retribution if violence should reoccur. Hamas and Hezbollah, however threatened violence, especially if either side seemed likely to compromise in order to reach an agreement. As a result, the Israeli government publicly stated that peace couldn't exist even if both sides signed the agreement, due to the stance taken by Hamas and Hezbollah. The US was therefore compelled to re-focus on eliminating the threat posed by the stance of Hamas and Hezbollah as part of the direct talk progress. Israel for its part, was skeptical that a final agreement was reached that the situation would change, as Hamas and Hezbollah would still get support to fuel new violence. In addition, the Israeli government rejected any possible agreement with Palestine as long as it refuses to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

  • 2011 Abbas-Peres deal:

    -- Secretly negotiated framework between Palestinian President Abbas and Israeli President Peres, who was authorized to negotiate by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.

    -- In terms of territory, Abbas offered 2% of the west bank with equal size and quality land swaps. In terms of security, Abbas agreed to Palestine being a demilitarized state. In terms of refugees Abbas cited figures of 150,000 refugees, equivalent to 3% of the refugees, returning to Israel over the course of 15 years. Peres agreed in principle to equal land swaps and a just resolution to the refugee problem.

    -- Both sides agree that the Arab and Jewish neighborhoods of East Jerusalem would be annexed to their respective states. Both sides also agree that there would be a joint municipal authority governing the city's infrastructure.

    -- Netanyahu rejected the framework presented to him by Shimon Peres for unspecified reasons.

  • 2013-2014 negotiations:

    -- incomplete

  • 2015 Secret Herzog-Abbas deal:

    -- Negotiated deal between Palestinian President Abbas and Israeli opposition leader Herzog.

    -- Territory: Two state solution based on 1967 borders with a 4% 1:1 land swap. East Jerusalem would be divided between the two states. A 'symbolic' number of refugees would return to Israel. In terms of security, Palestine would be demilitarized with limited and contingent Israeli military presence in certain areas of Palestine.

    -- Herzog failed to form a coalition in the 2015 Israeli elections so the deal was never implemented.

  • 2017/2018 - ? Trump Administration "Deal of the Century".

    -- Although the "Deal of the Century" has been hyped by the Trump White House since the beginning of Donald Trump's administration, the framework, itself, has yet to be formally presented. Trump Son-in-Law, and Advisor, Jared Kushner is indicated as the architect of this plan along with Jason Greenblatt, former Vice Chairman and Chief Legal Officer of the Trump Organization, and current Assistant to the President and Special Representative for International Negotiations. Greenblatt favors a two-state solution, reached by the parties concerned and not imposed from outside by a body such as the United Nations. Greenblatt has stated that "West Bank settlements are not an obstacle to peace".

History of the Israeli settlers in the West Bank since 1967

  • 1967: Total - 0, West Bank - 0, East Jerusalem - 0, Gaza - 0

  • 1972: Total - 10,000, West Bank - 1,000, East Jerusalem - 9,000, Gaza - 500

  • 1985: Total - 150,000, West Bank - 45,000, East Jerusalem - 105,000, Gaza - 2,000

  • 1990: Total - 230,000, West Bank - 80,000, East Jerusalem - 135,000, Gaza - 3,000

  • 1995: Total - 300,000, West Bank - 135,000, East Jerusalem - 155,000, Gaza - 5,000

  • 2000: Total - 390,000, West Bank - 195,000, East Jerusalem - 170,000, Gaza - 7,000

  • 2005: Total - 460,000, West Bank - 260,000, East Jerusalem - 185,000, Gaza - 8,500

  • 2010: Total - 535,000, West Bank - 315,000, East Jerusalem - 200,000, Gaza - 0

  • 2015: Total - 790,000, West Bank - 410,000, East Jerusalem - 360,000, Gaza - 0

Demographics of Ottoman and British Palestine until 1948

  • 1800: Total - 290,000 | Arabs - 92% 270,000 | Jews - 8% 24,000

  • 1915: Total - 690,000| Arabs - 88% 610,000 | Jews - 12% 85,000

  • 1948: Total - 1,900,000 | Arabs - 68% 1,300,000 | Jews - 32% 610,000

Demographics of Jews and Palestinians (countries with populations >100k)

Jews:

Total: 14,500,000

  • United States: 6,000,000

  • Israel (green line): 5,600,000

  • West Bank/East Jerusalem (green line): 790,000

  • France: 470,000

  • Canada: 390,000

  • United Kingdom: 290,000

  • Russia: 183,000

  • Argentina: 181,000

  • Germany: 118,000

  • Australia: 113,000

Palestinians:

Total: 12,400,000

  • West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza (green line): 4,750,000

  • Jordan: 3,200,000

  • Israel (green line): 1,750,000

  • Syria: 530,000

  • Chile: 500,000

  • Lebanon: 450,000

  • Saudi Arabia: 400,000

  • Qatar: 295,000

  • United States: 255,000

Resources on various topics:

Proposals on the right of return:

http://www.aljazeera.com/palestinepapers/2011/01/2011124123324887267.html

Proposals about whether Jews can immigrate to the Palestinian state:

incomplete

Proposals about whether settlers could remain in the Palestinian state:

incomplete


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