Israel is facing a very difficult time. Men, women and children are all confronting danger daily. Many are afraid to go to the mall, the market, a restaurant, the bakery, school, or the synagogue. They also worry about riding on a bus or even just walking down the street. People do not know from where an Arab suicide bomber (also now known as a homicide bomber) or gunman will suddenly appear.

This has been the situation in Israel since September 2000. Some Palestinian Arabs feel they have found an effective way to express their grievances against the Israeli government and achieve their goal of an independent Palestinian state: Kill as many Jews as possible and totally disrupt the lives of the Jews in Israel. Many Arab states and many European countries are not speaking out against these murderous acts. It is reported that some Arab states support this form of terrorism with money by offering the family of a suicide bomber $25,000. Still, a recent summit meeting between President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, and Syrian President Bashar Assad condemned violence in all its manifestations and there are reports in Arab-language newspapers that Saudi Arabia has begun to act on its promise to reign in Hamas and Islamic Jihad and bring about an end to the suicide attacks.

It was after a sucide attack that where Jews celebrating a seder at a hotel in Netanya were murdered that Israel decided to put an end to these acts of terrorism by destroying as many of the bases of terrorism in the Palestinian areas as possible. You may have some questions about recent events. Why is this happening? Why are some Palestinians -- some of whom are members of groups such as Islamic Jihad, Hamas, or the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade -- choosing to become suicide bombers in Israeli cities and why were Israeli troops sent into the Palestinian areas? Didn’t the former Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Barak, promise the Palestinians a state of their own in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip? What happened? Why are some Palestinians choosing violence? Why do many Palestinians refuse to accept the right of Israel to exist? How this all begin? In the following pages, we have prepared two time lines, Time Line A and Time Line B. Examining these time lines will help you understand and follow the development of the struggle.

1864: Dr. Leon Pinsker, a founder and leader of the Hibbat Zion movement, argues the case for a Jewish State in his pamphlet Autoemancipation.

1882: Palestine, as Israel was then known, is ruled by the Ottoman Empire. This is the beginning of the new Jewish immigration to Palestine. Jews are coming back to their homeland, Eretz Yisrael, for nationalist reasons, in addition to those coming for religious ones. These new immigrants are known as the halutzim – the pioneers who drain swamps and build the land. There are deaths from malaria and some pioneers are killed by some local Arabs do not want Jews to come to this area.

1896: Theodore Herzl writes Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State) and calls for the creation of a Jewish State.

1897: The First International Zionist Congress is held in Basel, Switzerland. The World Zionist Congress is created.

1909: Hashomer defense patrols begin in Kfar Tabor. Tel Aviv, the first modern all-Jewish city, is founded.

1914: World War I begins. Germany, Austria, and the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) wage war against England, France, and Russia. The United States enters the war on the side of England, France, and Russia in 1917. Palestinian Jews form a special unit to help England.

1917: England issues the Balfour Declaration, announcing, “His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national homeland for the Jewish people...” Arabs in Palestine and also outside of Palestine are upset. They oppose a Jewish state in Palestine. They are worried that Jews will become a majority in the land. At the same time, England also promises the Arabs a state.

1918: End of World War I. Since British conquered Palestine during WWI, they now govern the land under what is called “The British Mandate.” In the period 1918 - 1922, the British protectorate of Palestine included land on both sides of the Jordan River (see map).

1920: The Histadrut and the Haganah are established. The Histradrut is an abbreviation of ha-Histradrut ha-Kelalit shel ha-Ovedim b’Eretz Yisrael, the General Federation of Labor in Israel. It is more than a labor union; it is a means of developing a modern, independent Jewish society though organizing educational and cultural activities for new immigrants, publishing a newspaper, and sponsoring the largest sports organization in Israel. The Haganah was the underground military organization of the Jewish settlement in Israel during the British Mandate, which became the regular army of Israel after the State was proclaimed in 1948.

1922: British Mandate confirmed by the League of Nations, including commitment to historic Jewish connection to their homeland. England separates Transjordan, located on the eastern side of the Jordan River and later to become the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, from the area to be affected by the “Jewish National Home” provisions of the Balfour Declaration and Mandate (see maps). Britain establishes the “Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan” to rule the new country.

1922-1939: Under Arab pressure, England issues a series of “White Papers” declaring that only a very small number of Jews will be allowed to enter Palestine. (Settlement in the eastern part of Palestine is forbidden to Jews.) Jews also are forbidden to purchase land. However, Jews continue to enter Palestine and buy land, but only on a limited scale.

1929-1936: Jewish communities in Palestine are attacked. A massacre of Jews in Hebron (where the Tomb of the Patriarchs is located) leaves the Jewish community there in ruins. Jews will not live in Hebron again until after 1967. Communities in Safed, Jerusalem, Tiberias, Jaffa, and Jerusalem also are attacked and Jewish residents killed.

1939: As World War II begins, Jews are sent to death camps in Europe. England continues to enforce the “White Papers” restricting immigration of Jews to Palestine. The Balfour Declaration is repealed. Jews are not allowed to enter Palestine unless the Arabs allow it and English soldiers guard the borders so Jews will not enter.

1939-1945: Jews do enter Palestine. They find ways illegally. If caught, the new immigrants are either sent back in their boats to Europe and to certain death or are exiled to other countries which do not want them. Later, Jews trying to enter Israel to escape from the Nazis are sent to to be imprisoned on the island of Cyprus.

1945: World War II ends. Jews still are not allowed to enter Palestine. The “Illegal” immigration, known as Aliyah Bet (the second wave of immigration) continues. The world is becoming aware of what has happened to the Jews in Europe during the Holocaust.

1947: On November 29, 1947, the United Nations votes to divide Palestine into an Arab and a Jewish State. This is called “The Partition Plan.” (see map) The Jews are willing to compromise and accept an independent Jewish state much smaller than they dreamt of for 2000 years. They rejoice with dancing in the streets. However, the Arabs countries refuse to compromise and Arab fighters begin to attack Jews. Roads are not safe. Britain announces it will accept the partition plan and end its rule, the “British Mandate” over Palestine.

1948: On May 14, 1948, as the last British soldier leaves Palestine, David Ben Gurion, leader of the Zionist movement since the 1920s, announced the establishment of an independent Jewish state, in the area designated by the United Nations. It would be called the State of Israel – Medinat Israel. In a live radio transMission, Ben Gurion, who became the first Prime Minister of Israel, reads Israel’s Declaration of Independence, which includes the following paragraphs:
16. We appeal – in the midst of the onslaught launched against us now for months – to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the up building of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions.
17. We extend our hand to all neighboring states and their peoples in an offer of peace and good neighborliness, and appeal to them to establish bonds of cooperation and mutual help with the sovereign Jewish people settled in its own land. The State of Israel is prepared to do its share in the common effort for the advancement of the entire Middle East. Five Arab countries immediately attack the new Jewish State. Some Palestinian Arabs, those living in the new state, also help in this assault. Israel fights hard during this War of Independence. Many local Arabs fled from their homes immediately after the partition vote on November 29, 1947. Some also flee now during the War of Independence; others are exiled by Israel; and some leave because Arab leaders tell them to do so and that they will return triumphantly when the Jews will leave. About 700,000 Arab refugees leave the new state. Those local Arabs who chose peace over war (and remain in Israel) today account for almost a million of Israel’s citizens.

1949: Israel wins the War of Independence (see maps). The Arabs are defeated and an armistice is brought about by the United Nations. Jordan remains in control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, while Egypt controls the Gaza Strip. Jordan destroys Jewish synagogues in the Old City of Jerusalem. No Jew is allowed to visit or pray at the Western Wall for the 19 years it is under Jordanian control.

1948-1956: Israel absorbs about 750,000 Jewish refugees from various Arab countries who are fleeing from persecution, leaving behind their homes and possessions.

1951-1956: Israel is attacked by terrorists who infiltrate from Jordan (the West Bank) and from Egypt. Both Egypt and Jordan permit their countries to be used as a base for these attacks.

1956: The Sinai Campaign. Israel helps England and France attack Egypt after the Egyptians close the Suez Canal and do not allow free travel through the canal. Israel captures Sinai and Gaza. America intervenes and forces Israel to return the Sinai to Egypt.

1964: The Palestinian Liberation Movement is founded. The PLO does not demand from Jordan (which annexed the West Bank) and from Egypt (which controls the Gaza Strip) the creation of a Palestinian State in the “Occupied Territories.” At this time, the PLO’s goal is a Palestinian state in all of Israel.

1967: The Six Day War. Egypt, Syria, and Jordan prepare to attack Israel. The constant shelling of Israel’s northern cities by Syria and the repeated public threats to destroy Israel make the Israelis feel the noose is tightening. In a bold pre-emptive strike, Israel destroys the Egyptian air force. Israel wins the war. It captures Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and East Jerusalem from Jordan; the Sinai and the Gaza Strip from Egypt; and the Golan Heights from Syria (see maps). In the eyes of the world, Israel is no longer vulnerable and has become the aggressor rather than the victim. It prompts Israelis to say jokingly, “Please forgive us for winning.” In August 1967, there is a meeting in Khartoum of representatives from many Arab countries. They issue a statement that includes the three “Nos:” No to peace with Israel, No to negotiation with Israel, and No to recognition of Israel.

1970: Palestinian terrorists threaten Jordan, as well as Israel. Because King Hussein of Jordan feels threatened by the Palestinian terrorists, his army crushes them, killing thousands and sending many into exile. Many displaced Palestinians move to Lebanon. This episode becomes known as “Black September.”

1969-present: Israel builds Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and also in the Gaza Strip. Many people felt that, after the Khartoum conference, with their three “Nos,” Israel may be threatened again and needs the area of the Judea and Samaria for security reasons. Others felt that this is the biblical area of Eretz Yisrael, the cradle of our Jewish civilization. In looking back, some people, including many Israelis, feel that the settlements were a bad idea; others feel that they are perfectly legitimate.

1973: The Yom Kippur War: The Arabs did not give up their hope of defeating Israel. On Yom Kippur, Egypt and Syria launch a surprise attack on Israel. Israel’s survival was in mortal danger for a time, but Israel is the victor at the end of the fighting.

1975: UN General Assembly adopts a resolution equating Zionism with racism. This resolution was finally rescinded in 1991.

1979: Peace Treaty with Egypt. Understanding that peace with Israel will be better for Egypt, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt breaks the cycle of war. Israel returns the Sinai to Egypt, which refuses to take back the Gaza Strip.

1979-1982: Constant attacks on the north of Israel. Children spend almost all of their time in underground bunkers in Kiryat Shmona and the kibbutzim in the Galilee.

1981: Fearing that an atomic weapon would be used against it, Israeli fighter bombers take pre-emptive action and destroy Iraq's nuclear reactor, scheduled to go on-line shortly. While world reaction is negative at the time, ten years later, after the Gulf War against Iraq, it becomes clear that Iraq was well on its way to developing a nuclear bomb.

1982: “The Peace for Galilee War,” also known as “The Lebanon War.” Israel sends its troops into Lebanon when it became impossible to endure the attacks in the north of Israel any longer. Israel establishes a “security zone” in South Lebanon. Israel pulls out of Lebanon in 1999, under the leadership of Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

1988-1991: Intifada I. Some Palestinians in the West Bank begin rioting against the Israelis. The rioting stops during the Gulf War, in 1991.

1993: Oslo Peace Agreement. Both parties, the Israelis and the Palestinians, sign the Declaration of Principles, which sets up an interim system of self-government for the Palestinians. Both recognize the right of each party to exist in peace and security. The signing took place in Washington. Under the accords, Israel is to gradually hand over major Palestinian cities so self-rule could be established for the Palestinians in their own area. Only certain types of weapons were allowed to be owned by Palestinians, according to the agreement.

1994 : Peace Treaty with Jordan. A normal economic and trade relationship is established.

1995-1998: Suicide bombers attack buses, malls, and street gatherings. Many Jewish civilians are killed.

1995: Yitzhak Rabin, Israel’s Prime Minister, is assassinated by Yigal Amir, a religious young Jew opposed to the peace agreement.

Summer 2000: Ehud Barak, Israel’s Prime Minister of Israel, meets with Yasir Arafat, the Palestinian Chairman, and U. S. President Bill Clinton at Camp David, outside Washington, to negotiate a final peace agreement. The Israeli Prime Minister offers many concessions to the Palestinians, including the establishment of a Palestinian State on 98% of the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as the capital. Yasir Arafat does not accept this offer.

Sept. 2000: Some Palestinians unleash violence against Israel. The excuse, or trigger, is Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, where the First and Second Temples were located and where the al- Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, both sacred to Moslems, now stand. Weekly, and then almost-daily, suicide bombings begin. There are acts of terrorism throughout the country. Hundreds of Jewish civilians are killed and thousands wounded. Some Palestinians think that killing Jews in a good negotiating tool. The violence is called Intifada II.

Fall 2000: When negotiations resume in Taba, Egypt, work continues on the proposals made in the summer. While negotiators are close to an agreement, this occurs just prior to the Israeli elections, when it is already clear that Barak is losing power, thereby putting the relevance of these latest negotiations in doubt. Barak states clearly that the negotiations cannot be the basis for future talks.

Feb. 2001: Ariel Sharon is elected Prime Minster of Israel.

Sept. 2001: Islamic terrorists attack New York and Washington and kill over 3000 Americans. President Bush declares war against all terrorists.

2002: Yet another war in Israel. Israel fights back in a war against terrorism, after many suicide bombings, including the Passover massacre in Netanya. Several peace proposals are put forward, including those by Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (see page 17). The Palestinians would like to resume negotiations from where they were left off in Taba at the end of 2000, but the current Israeli government rejects this notion, in part because of the recent violence. It would also be difficult to get the support of the Israeli public for these painful compromises. Similarly, it is also unclear whether the Palestinian public would support what was discussed in Taba.

To the Editor:
It is not U.S. President George Bush who might be compared to the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. Sadat achieved a breakthrough in Egyptian-Israeli relations because he went to Jerusalem, which was a very symbolic move that the Israelis interpreted as meaning that there was Egyptian acceptance of the State of Israel. President Bush cannot make such a move. If Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Abdullah had announced his proposed peace plan in Jerusalem instead of in the newspaper, he might have had the same breakthrough as Sadat. The Palestinians and the Arab nations must recognize Israel before negotiations begin and not hold this out as the carrot on the stick.

To the Editor:
I am a 36-year-old Israeli architect and the father of two. I remember when my class took our high school graduation photo. We called it '”the memorial board" and wondered who of us smiling in the picture would still be alive in 10 years. I know that this sounds morbid, but with the situation in Israel, that is how we felt. That is why I think that Israel must leave the West Bank. We will not have peace in this region until Israel gets out of the West Bank. I, too, love Biblical Israel as much as those Israelis who now live in Judea and Samaria, but I don't see any other solution. We do not need to remain in an area where several million Arabs live. If we keep control of this area, the Arab population of Israel someday will exceed the Jewish population and Israel will not be able to remain a Jewish state. We should dismantle the settlements and allow for the creation of a Palestinian state. Maybe then we will have peace.

To the Editor:
The notion that Israeli settlements on the West Bank are an obstacle to peace in the Middle East is not valid. There were no settlements in 1948 when Israel was created and Arab armies tried to destroy it or in 1964 when the Palestine Liberation Organization was created. Now, more than one million Arabs live in the pre-1967 area of Israel as citizens, which refutes the Palestinian claim that Jews cannot live in parts of the West Bank where there are Jewish roots that go back many thousands of years. If the settlements were a major issue, then Yasir Arafat eagerly would have agreed to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's peace offer in 2000. Instead, he began the current Intifada, which proves, yet again, that the real block to peace is the Arab refusal to accept the existence of Israel as a Jewish state. Additionally, Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Abdullah's plan for Arab recognition of Israel is a only a smokescreen, because it calls for the right of return to Israel for four million Arabs, which would destroy Israel as a Jewish state. The Israeli government is correct when it says that at least the existence of the settlements be discussed in any negotiations.

To the Editor:
The question of settlements in the West Bank has become one of the most divisive issues in the current crisis in the Middle East. There are over 200,000 Israelis living among 2 million Palestinians on land each claim as their own. The fate of the settlements remains a major sticking point in any major peace initiative. Some Israeli leaders, and about half the Israeli population, regard settlements as a festering wound. The original idea was that the settlements would become a buffer zone to defend Israel. Instead, they have become the biggest impediment to security and the investment in defending them is huge. Particularly for settlements in areas very densely populated by Palestinians, there is no justification having built them in the first place and for defending them now. If the Israelis had not built settlements in the West Bank many years ago, and continued to expand these settlements in contravention of numerous agreements, one obstacle to peace in the Middle East would no longer exist.