VIENNA MUN CLUB

STUDY GUIDE
M AY S ESSION 2011 T HE SITUATION IN THE M IDDLE E AST

Study Guide

The Situation in the Middle East

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
1914-1948:
SEEDS OF THE C ONFLICT In order to weaken the Ottoman Empire, which sided with Germany during the First World War, British officers encouraged the Arab tribes to start a rebellion and promised them an independent Arab state in the region. The Arab Revolt begins in 1916. But at the same time, British Foreign Secretary A.J. Balfour expresses official support for the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. The Balfour Declaration spurs Jewish immigration and lays the foundation for the eventual establishment of Israel. When the Ottoman Empire collapsed, France and Britain defined their spheres of influence in the Middle East. The British controlled territory equivalent to modern-day Israel and Jordan. France gained control of modern-day Syria and Lebanon. When in the early 1930s Hitler came to power in Germany, many Jews tried to escape the Holocaust, the systematical killing of 6 million Jews, by immigrating to Palestine. But as a reaction to the continued Jewish immigration, violence broke out between Jews and Arabs living in the British Mandate. Still the flow of Jewish refugees was going on, a 1945 survey found some 600,000 Jews living in Palestine, up from 175,000 in 1931. By 1947, the British have made plans to leave and the mandate is engulfed by civil conflict, and the UN passed Resolution 181 calling for separate Jewish and Arab states in Palestine. But most Arabs objected the partition, which gave more land to the Jews. Fighting intensified, and when the British completed their withdrawal in May 1948, Israel declared itself an independent state. The next day, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq invaded, but ultimately loosed much of the land the UN had set aside for Arabs. Egypt and Jordan are left in control of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, respectively.

1948 - 1978:

WAR , BUT NO PEAC E

In July 1956, Egyptian President Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal. Nasser also warned of settling scores with Israel. Israel invaded the Sinai Peninsula in October, while Britain and France attacked the Canal Zone. Although Egyptian forces are driven back, the intervention stokes Cold War tensions. U.S. President Eisenhower compelled a withdrawal as the conflict threatened to escalate into a showdown with the Soviet Union. The war made Nasser a hero in the Arab World, and inspired the pan-Arabian Idea. These developments led to the founding of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, as the sole representative for the Palestinian people. The PLO vows to use "material, military and spiritual forces" to resist Zionism and form a Palestinian state. It also declared as "null and void" the 1917 Balfour Declaration and asserted that "Judaism, being a religion, is not an independent nationality."

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The Situation in the Middle East

In 1967 Soviet reports of an Israeli troop buildup along Syria's border prompted Nasser to expel UN peacekeepers and to send troops into the Sinai. Israel responded with a preemptive strike on Egyptian air forces, catching most of it on the ground, followed by an armored thrust that threw Egyptian troops back across the Suez Canal. Meanwhile Jordan and Syria attacked from the east, but Israeli forces resisted, seizing the Golan Heights from Syria and the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan. Although The UN passed Resolution 242, calling for the return of Arab lands in exchange for a "lasting peace." Israel holds onto the lands, and began major expansions of Jewish settlements. During the month of Ramadan in 1973, Egypt and Syria mount a surprise attack in the Sinai and the Golan Heights on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur. The war brought the United States and Soviet Union perilously close to open confrontation, and made the Arab-dominated OPEC oil cartel to embargo shipments to Western nations that support Israel. The embargo intensifies a shift several leading European states toward a more pro-Arab stance. As for Egypt, two agreements prompted step-by-step Israeli withdrawal in Sinai-in the process confirming Egypt's shift from the Soviet to the U.S. camp in the Cold War. This shift made further peace talks possible and ultimately led to the Camp David Talks in 1978, which set the stage for an Egypt-Israel peace treaty, brokered by the USA.

1978 - 2001:

THE Q UEST FOR A LASTING A GREEMENT Another bloody conflict arose in the beginning of the 1980s in the neighboring state of Lebanon. Like many other states bordering with Israel, Lebanon received many Palestinian refugees throughout the whole conflict. The Majority of the Lebanese population, primarily the supported the Palestinians, but the other part, most of them Christians, was hostile towards them. Numerous clashes between the Palestinians and the Lebanese resulted in a bloody Civil War. As Palestinian refugees used this chaos to provoke Israel, the IDF launched an invasion into Lebanon in 1982. Their main objective was the physical elimination of PLO bases and troops because their presence near the Israeli border posed a constant threat to Israeli security. Lebanon suffered much from the Israeli aggression: 6 cities, 30 villages and 17 refugee camps were completely destroyed, as a result of this Hezbollah was founded in the same year. The ongoing Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip caused stagnation of the economy and considerable decrease of standards of life there. In respond to this, the first Palestinian uprising, the so called Intifada, began spontaneously 8 December 1987 in Gaza Strip; it was not planned or initiated by some Palestinian organization. It was just a movement of those unwilling to surrender, eager to recreate their own independent state there is no denying the fact that the uprising was strongly suppressed; and punitive measures lead to thousands of deaths including innocent civilians. In respond the Palestinian National Council declared the creation of an independent Palestinian state on the territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip with the capital in East Jerusalem. In 1991 the USA and the Soviet Union jointly sponsored the Madrid Conference. The conference established a framework for multilateral negotiations to address broad regional issues as well as bilateral talks between Israel and each of the other delegations. The ensuing dialogues led to Israel-Jordan and Israeli-Palestinian peace agreements. Two years later, at the Oslo Conference, Israel and the PLO agreed to Declaration of Principles, resulting in each side officially recognizing the other and renouncing the use of violence and establishing a Palestinian Authority, which receives limited autonomy in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. This was even expanded in 1995, when both parties agreed in the so called Oslo II treaty, to create a Palestinian police force which shall provide security and ensure "safe passage" for Palestinians traveling between Gaza and the West Bank. So far the closest point to a possible solution for the conflict had been the Camp David Talks in 2000. U.S. President Clinton hosted two weeks of intense Israeli-Palestinian negotiations at Camp David. Israeli Prime Minister Barak offered substantial concessions, including withdrawal from more than 90 percent of the occupied territories, possible partition of Jerusalem's Old City, and a Palestinian state in the area of withdrawal. According to U.S. negotiators involved, Palestinian President Yasir Arafat turns down the deal. The summit ends with a Trilateral Statement to serve as a framework for future negotiations, though subsequent efforts by Clinton and others to rekindle the process yield little. Due to the unsatisfying outcome a new series of upheaval started in the Palestinian territories.

2000 TODAY:

THE LATEST DEVELOPME NTS The 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States forced Washington to rethink its posture toward the Middle East. Appalled at images of Palestinians celebrating the attacks, the United States distanced itself further from Palestinian leaders. Meanwhile, Israel and the U.S. started to cooperate closely in the newly declared War on Terror. After the invasion of Iraq in 2003, U.S. President Bush outlined the "Road Map for Peace," which seeks to restart the peace process by outlining specific benchmarks for progress. The road map calls for Palestinian reforms and an abandonment of terrorism in exchange for an end to Israeli settlements and the creation of a Palestinian state. 3

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The Situation in the Middle East

Palestinian President Arafat died in a French hospital in 2004. Palestinians elected Mahmoud Abbas as Arafat's successor. In the same year Israel began to unilateral withdrawal nine thousand Jewish settlers from Gaza. The move was designed to diminish attacks on Israel, though Israel soon began taking rocket fire from Gaza. Within months, much of the optimism surrounding the disengagement was dashed when Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a pair of strokes, leaving him incapacitated. In 2006 Hamas scores a victory in Palestinian Authority elections in January, causing international donors to suspend aid to the Palestinian Authority. A series of terror attacks followed, prompting Israel to invade both Gaza and Lebanon. The two-front war lasted for more than a month, and although Israel inflicted heavy casualties among the enemys ranks, the war accomplished little, as Hezbollah and its Syrian and Iranian sponsors emerged highly popular in far parts of Lebanon. In the following year President Bush hosted a conference aimed at restarting the peace process. The conference endorses a Joint Understanding between Israeli and Palestinian leaders to take part in ongoing negotiations with the goal of a peace agreement. But another outbreak of violence impeded all peace efforts. After Hamas had continued its policy of launching rocket attacks, Israel began airstrikes on the Gaza Strip with the aim of stopping rocket fire from the territory. An Israeli ground invasion began on January 3, 2009. In response, Hamas intensified its rocket attacks against Southern Israel. The war ended on January 18, when Israel first declared a unilateral ceasefire, followed by Hamas hours later. In September 2009, the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict produced a report accusing both Palestinian militants and Israeli Defense Forces of war crimes and possible crimes against humanity, and recommending that those responsible be brought to justice. The subsequent blockade of Gaza Strip, started by Israel in 2007, and continued with the escalation of hostilities, caused a humanitarian crisis in Gaza Strip. The UN reported that the Gaza strip humanitarian crisis is significant and entails a massive destruction of livelihoods and a significant deterioration of infrastructure and basic services. In 2009 80% of the population of Gaza Strip could not support themselves and were dependent on humanitarian assistance. 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 since the Gaza War. The direct talks are aimed to put the IsraeliPalestinian conflict to an official end by forming a twostate solution for the Jewish people and the Palestinian people, promoting the idea of everlasting peace and an official halt to any further land claims as well as accepting the rejection of any new dispute advancements if violence should reoccur. Hamas and Hezbollah however reaffirmed to threat peace talks if both sides were matriculated towards any possible agreement. In response the Israeli government clearly rejected any possible agreement with the Palestinian side as long as the Palestinian Authority does not abandon any form of support for terrorist groups and recognizes Israel as a Jewish state. During this process, Palestinian Leader Abbas said that the Palestinians and Israel have agreed on the principle of a land swap, for which Israel has yet to confirm. The issue of the ratio of land Israel would give to the Palestinians in exchange for keeping settlement blocs is an issue of dispute, with the Palestinians demanding that the ratio be 1:1, and Israel offering less. One of the Palestinian preconditions for peace talks has always been the stop of Jewish settlement building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. As Israels 10-month partial moratorium on settlement building expired on 26 September 2010, the Palestinian Authority leaders walked out of the talks and stated that they will quit all negotiations unless Israel extends its partial freeze on settlement building. Since then there had been no further direct talks between the Israeli and the Palestinian side. 4

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The Situation in the Middle East

CORE PROBLEMS
R EFUGEES
The problem of the Palestinian refugees is one of the most urgent and burning issues of the whole conflict in the Middle East. It is impossible to achieve a viable peace settlement without finding a compromise for this paramount problem. In accordance with the calculations of the UNRWA, the number of refugees as of the end of 2006 reached as much as 3.724.583 people. Moreover, 500.000 refugees were registered on the territory of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Palestinians therefore refer to the World Declaration of human rights: Article 13/2: every human being is entitled to leaving the country of his/her citizenship as well as to returning to it However Israel insists that the refugees right to come back home should be expelled from the fundamental principles of the adjustment of the conflict. Western states keep on presenting a great variety of plans of solving the problem of refugees via their naturalization in the countries they are currently staying. These states should be paid compensation for the discharge of emancipation of the Palestinian refugees in the societies of these countries. Some plans suggest the variant of the choice: to come back home or not with significant sum of money being paid to the refugees in case they should choose the second variant. The main problem is that in case of a return of all 4 million Palestinian refugees to Israel the Jewish population would become a minority within the state, which would be a national catastrophe for the Israeli and is therefore absolutely unacceptable.

J ERUSALEM
Jerusalem is the religious centre for the Arabs, the Muslims and the Christians as well as for the followers of Judaism. At the same time, Jerusalem is the socio-economic and cultural center; moreover it is a connecting link between the Palestinian South and North. It is by the virtue of such an importance of the very city that the issue of Jerusalem is rightfully considered to be one of the most complex ones. In the war of 1948 the Israeli forces occupied the majority of Jerusalem which was subsequently called the Western Part, and in the Six Day War of 1967 the citys Eastern Part was occupied as well. In 1970 the Israeli government adopted a law in accordance with which Eastern Jerusalem became the region under the Israeli jurisdiction. 2 August 1967 there was adopted a law which reckoned the Old City and the Territories to the South of Jerusalem among the part of Israel. Nowadays the status of Jerusalem is not determined. Israel considers the city to be its territory and accordingly its capital proceeding with its policy of building settlements on the territory of the East Jerusalem. The international community does not recognize the East Jerusalem as the Israeli territory considering Tel-Aviv to be the capital of the Country.

J EWISH

SETTLEMENTS After Israel's territorial gains resulting from the 1967 war, the Labor-led government faced pressures to support the establishment of settlements in Gaza and the West Bank. The settlements drew international criticism and seriously exacerbated tensions with Palestinians living under occupation, contributing to the outbreak of the intifada or "uprising" in 1987. In 2005, Israel elected to remove the nine thousand Jews living in twenty one Gaza Strip settlements. Nonetheless, the Jewish population of the West Bank's settlements had swollen to more than a quarter million by that time, and has continued to grow. At present, the predominant view of the international community, as reflected in numerous UN resolutions, regards the building and existence of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights as a violation of international law. UN Security Council Resolution 446 refers to the Fourth Geneva Convention as the applicable international legal instrument, and calls upon Israel to desist from transferring its own population into the territories or changing their demographic makeup. Also the International Court of Justice, the primary judicial organ of the UN, has declared the settlements illegal. The position of successive Israeli governments is that all authorized settlements are entirely legal and consistent with international law. In practice, Israel does not accept that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies de jure, but has stated that on humanitarian issues it will govern itself de facto by its provisions, without specifying which these are. However the Palestinian authority demands the immediate stop of all settlement activities as a precondition for further peace talks. 5

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UN ACTIONS
General Assembly Resolution 181 (November 29, 1947) Recommends that the British (as mandatory power for Palestine) evacuate; armed forces should withdraw no later than August 1, 1948; independent Arab and Jewish states and the Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem administered by the United Nations should come into existence; and the city of Jerusalem should preserve the interests of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths. General Assembly Resolution 194 (December 11, 1948) Calls for protection and open access to the Holy Places, including Nazareth and Jerusalem; places Jerusalem under United Nations control; determines that Palestinian and Jewish refugees wishing to return home should be allowed to as soon as possible and the remaining refugees be compensated for loss of property. General Assembly Resolution 273 (May 11, 1949) Admits Israel into the United Nations and recalls the November 29, 1947, and December 11, 1948, resolutions. Security Council Resolution 242 (November 22, 1967) Calls for Israeli armed forces to withdraw from territories occupied in the 1967 conflict. During that conflict, Israel captured the Golan Heights, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the Sinai Peninsula. The resolution also affirms the respect for and acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence of every state in the area, including Israel, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. The resolution calls on the international community to recognize the state of Israel. It also highlights the "necessity to settle the refugee problem," a reference to displaced Palestinians, though the term "Palestinian" never appears in the resolution. Arab and Israeli interpretations of the call for a "withdrawal from territories" differ sharply, with Arabs arguing this is an affirmation that a Palestinian state should exist. Resolution 242 also guarantees freedom of navigation through international waterways in the area. Security Council Resolution 338 (October 23, 1973) Calls for an immediate ceasefire in the October 1973 War (within twelve hours after the adoption of the Security Council decision) and implementation of Security Resolution 242. Essential terminology in this resolution is the rare Security Council "decision," not just a demand or recommendation. General Assembly Resolution 3379 (November 10, 1975) Proclaims "any doctrine of racial differentiation of superiority is scientifically false, morally condemnable, socially unjust, and dangerous." The resolution is a response to racial discrimination by governments around the world. The General Assembly's examples of "racist regimes" are the occupied territories of Palestine, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. The resolution specifically notes that eliminating colonialism, foreign occupation, Zionism, and apartheid are necessary to end discrimination. In 1975, the Soviet Union pioneered Resolution 3379 and was bolstered by Arab and African states amidst accusations that Israel supported the apartheid regime in South Africa through economic cooperation. In the early 1990s, with the emerging war in Iraq and the collapse of both South Africa's apartheid government and the Soviet Union, the resolution was formally repealed. Security Council Resolution 446 (March 22, 1979) The Israeli settlements in Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967 have "no legal validation" and obstruct the achievement of peace in that region (occupied areas include Gaza and the West Bank). The resolution also calls upon Israel not to transfer members of its own civilian population into occupied Arab territories. A commission of three Security Council members was established to examine the Israeli-occupied settlements in Arab territories since 1967, including Jerusalem. Security Council Resolution 478 (August 20, 1980) Demands that Israel rescind declaration of "basic law," which establishes Jerusalem as Israel's unified capital. Censures "in the strongest terms" Israel's refusal to comply with Security Council resolutions in the past by changing the character and status of Jerusalem. The Security Council determines that "basic law" in Jerusalem is null and void. Security Council Resolution 1397 (March 12, 2002) The first resolution to introduce the idea of a two-state solution, it also orders an immediate stop of all violence.

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The Situation in the Middle East

INTERNATIONAL INVOLVEMENT
I SRAEL
Israel's very existence remains a point of contention with many Arabs, though increasingly its neighbors have signaled a willingness to accept it in exchange for territorial and other compromises. Israel's decision to build settlements in lands occupied during the 1967 War has complicated the conflict. Most Israelis now say they are eager to end the occupation, but only if iron-clad security guarantees-backed by Washington-can be obtained.

P ALESTINIAN A UTHORITY
Created by the 1993 Olso Accords, the Palestinian Authority (PA) is the official governing body of the Palestinian people, led by President Mahmoud Abbas of the Fatah faction. Hobbled by corruption and by political infighting, the PA has failed to become the stable negotiating partner its creators had hoped. The death of Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat in 2004 and the subsequent electoral successes of the militant Hamas movement have seriously threatened its existence. The split in Palestinian politics became bloody in 2007 when Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip from the Abbas government.

L EBANON
Unlike Israel's other neighbors, Lebanon was not a combatant in the 1967 or 1973 wars. However, the country contains groups bent on eliminating the Israeli state. Over the years these have included the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and more recently, Hezbollah. Israel regularly has pursued its assailants into Lebanese territory, including a major invasion in 1982 and an occupation in the south which lasted until 2000, and a brief war in 2006. Syria's deep involvement in Lebanese politics-including its claim that Lebanon should rightly be part of Syria-and Iran's support for Hezbollah further strains Beirut's relations with Israel.

U NITED S TATES
Economics, geopolitics, and other arguments all underpin the United States' intense interest in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As Washington's closest ally in the volatile, oil-rich region, Israel long has been the top recipient of U.S. foreign aid, and the two nations often share intelligence and military technology. These ties have cast Washington as Israel's protector and arsenal, however, and in some cases hurt U.S. standing in the wider region. On the other hand, Arab leaders have often recognized Washington's importance as a diplomatic player. Still, successive U.S. efforts to mediate a solution since the 1967 War have fallen short.

R USSIA
Though one of the first nations to recognize Israel, the Soviet Union soon aligned itself with Arab nationalist regimes and lent support to Palestinian militants. In the post-Soviet era, Moscow became more involved in diplomacy, joining the diplomatic Quartet, which includes the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations. Arms deals with Syria and support for Iran's nuclear program, however, continue to raise questions about Moscow's motives. Since Israel declared independence in 1948, over a million Jews from the former Soviet Union have immigrated to Israel.

G ERMANY
The "special relationship" between Israel and Germany arises out of Germany's murder of millions of Jews during the Holocaust. Germany paid large financial reparations to Israel in 1952 and established diplomatic relations in 1965. The countries enjoy close security, trade, and inter-parliamentary ties, though recent German governments have urged Israel to compromise in territorial disputes with its Arab neighbors.

F RANCE
After World War I, France ruled colonies in modern-day Syria and Lebanon. Though it gave these up a few years prior to Israel's independence, France remained a prominent player in the region until the 1956 Suez Crisis. In fact, France provided Israel with nuclear assistance and remained the nation's primary weapons supplier until the 1967 War. Paris remains involved in the region, but its diplomacy shifted sharply toward the Arab parties after the oil embargo that followed the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. After the 2006 Lebanon war, French peacekeepers played a significant role in enforcing a cease-fire.

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The Situation in the Middle East

THE UNITED KINGDOM Because of its post-World War I mandate over Palestine, Britain's fingerprints are all over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Jews and Arabs alike point with dismay to contradictory promises of national independence issued by the British Empire. Though it withdrew from Palestine in 1948 and further disengaged from the region after the 1956 Suez Crisis, Britain remains involved in efforts to resolve the conflict, offering support and criticism to both sides. Shortly after resigning as British prime minister in 2007, Tony Blair became the envoy of the Quartet-the United States, the European Union, Russia, and the United Nations-charged with institution building among Palestinian society.

A RAB L EAGUE
The Arab League maintains a hostile stance toward Israel. After the 1967 War, the league passed a resolution calling for no peace, recognition, or negotiations with Israel. Following the 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty, the league suspended Egypt's membership for a decade. The league has since changed course, promoting the Arab Peace Initiative as a means for Israel to normalize relations with the Arab world. The body's Sunni governments also have sought to advance peace talks to counterbalance the growing influence of Shiite Iran over rejectionist movements like Hezbollah and Hamas. However, many Israelis doubt the sincerity of Arab League peace plans, citing inciteful articles in Arab media and anti-Semitic propaganda in the textbooks used in many Arab school systems.

C HINA
Ties between the People's Republic of China and Israel were virtually non-existent until the 1980s owing to China's support for the nations of the Muslim world. China is recognizing Palestine as a legitimate and sovereign State since 1988. While the US and Israel considers Hamas to be a terrorist organization, China acknowledges Hamas role as a legitimate representative of the Palestinian people following the groups victory in the January 2006 parliamentary elections. China has been a harsh critic of Israels continued occupation of Palestinian land, including Israels policy of constructing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. China has also been critical with Israels economic blockade of Gaza and the ensuing humanitarian costs since Hamas took control of the territory in 2007. Chinas position on Israels construction of its separation wall reflects the advisory opinion by the International Criminal Court of Justice that declared the wall to be illegal.

I NDIA
India was the first non-Arab country to contemporaneously recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization's authority as "the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. Indian support was said to extend to "consistent and unwavering support" on the Palestinian issue, where it shared the perception that the question of Palestine is at the core of the Arab-Israeli conflict. India's government favors the creation of "sovereign, independent, united states of Palestine" asserting that its support for the cause remains unshaken. India called for an end to the expansion of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine and for an early and significant easing of restrictions on the free movement of persons and goods within Palestine. But at the same Time India became Israel's second largest trading partner, while India became Israel's largest arm's market and the latter became the former's largest arms supplier.

FURTHER READING
Official UN-Website for the Question of Palestine http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/home.htm

Crisis Guide: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict http://www.cfr.org/israel/crisis-guide-israeli-palestinian-conflict/p13850

Summary of Wikileaks regarding the Peace Talks http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/palestine-papers-documents/browse?intcmp=239 8