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TimeLine (Chronology) of Zionism, Israeli and Palestinian History and the Conflict

2006-05-12T08:16:00.000-07:00

Concise Overview of Recent Events in Zionism and Israeli-Palestinian History
1843 First Zionist writings of Rabbi Alcalay and of Rabbi Kalischer, Emuna Yeshara.
1844 First census in Jerusalem shows 7120 Jews, 5760 Muslims, 3390 Christians.
1856 Ottoman reforms (Tanzimat) - including requirement to register ownership of land in Palestine and pay taxes on it.
1860 First Jewish settlement (Mishkenot Sha'ananim) outside Jerusalem walls.
1878 First Zionist Settlement - Petah Tikwa.
1870s Formation of Hovevei Tzion in Russia
1882 Leon Pinsker writes Auto-Emancipation in 1882; formation of BILU; beginning of the First Aliya (wave of immigration).
1897 First Zionist Congress in Basle, Switzerland.
Nov 2, 1917 British issued the Balfour Declaration, v promising a “National Home” for the Jews in Palestine.
1936-1939 Arab Revolt led by Haj Amin Al-Husseini. Over 5,000 Arabs were killed according to some sources, mostly by British. Several hundred Jews were killed by Arabs. Husseini fled to Iraq and then to Nazi Germany. British White Paper (1939) severely restricts Jewish immigration.
May 9, 1942 Biltmore Program - Zionist leaders, headed by Chaim Weizmann and David Ben-Gurion, convene at the Biltmore Hotel in New York and declare their postwar program (known as the Biltmore Program). The program recommended an end to the British Mandate and demand Jewish control over immigration to Palestine with the aim of founding a Jewish "Commonwealth." zionism, zionist, Jewish history, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Timeline, Zionist movement, Israel history, Middle East history
May 15, 1948 Israel War of Independence (1948 War). Declaration of Israel as the Jewish State; British leave Palestine; Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia declared war on Israel. Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian invasion began.
April 3, 1949 Armistice - Israel and Arab states agree to armistice. Israel gained about 50% more territory than was originally allotted to it by the UN Partition Plan.
Oct. 29, 1956 Suez Campaign. In retaliation for a series of escalating border raids as well as the closure of the straits of Tiran and Suez canal to Israeli shipping, and to prevent Egyptian use of newly acquired Soviet arms in a war, Israel invades the Sinai peninsula and occupies it for several months, with French and British collaboration.
May, 1964 PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) founded with the aim of destroying Israel. The Palestinian National Charter (1968) officially called for liquidation of Israel.
May, 1967 Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser closes the straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping and dismisses UN peacekeeping force. Negotiations with US to reopen the Straits of Tiran fail.
June 5-10,1967 6-day war . Israel destroys the Egyptian air force on the ground, conquers and occupies Sinai and Gaza, then conquers the West Bank from Jordan, and Golan Heights from Syria. UN resolution 242 called for Israeli withdrawal, establishment of peace.
Oct. 6, 1973 Yom Kippur War (October War). In a surprise attack on the Jewish day of atonement, Egypt retook the Suez canal and a narrow zone on the other side. Syria reconquered the Golan Heights. Following massive US and Soviet resupplying of the sides, Israel succeeded in pushing back the Syrians and threatening Damascus. Ariel Sharon was instrumental in the successful crossing of the Suez Canal, which cut off the Egyptian Third Army. Israeli casualties were unacceptably high however, and both Syria and Egypt celebrate the anniversary of the war as a victory.
March 26, 1979 Peace treaty signed between Egypt and Israel.
June 7, 1981 Israel destroys Iraqi nuclear reactor in daring raid.
Oct. 6, 1981 Egyptian President Anwar Sadat is assassinated while on the reviewing stand of a victory parade.
June 6, 1982 Massive Israeli invasion of Lebanon to fight PLO.
Sept. 13, 1993 Oslo Declaration of Principles - Israel and PLO agree to mutual recognition.
Sept 28, 1995 Oslo Interim Agreement signed. Palestinian Authority to be established.
Nov. 4, 1995 Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin assassinated by right-wing Israeli fanatic Yigal Amir. Rabin is replaced by Shimon Peres
June, 1996 Right-Wing Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu elected Prime Minister in Israel, replacing Shimon Peres.
Sept, 1996 Al-Aqsa tunnel riots - Arab sources spread the false rumor that a gate opened in an underground tunnel tourist attraction by the Israeli government, endangered the foundations of the Al-Aqsa mosque. This caused several days of rioting and numerous casualties.
Jan 18, 1997 Israel and Palestinians reach agreement on Israeli redeployment in the West-Bank city of Hebron
Oct. 1998 Wye River Plantation talks result in an agreement for Israeli redeployment and release of political prisoners and renewed Palestinian commitment to correct its violations of the Oslo accords including excess police force, illegal arms and incitement in public media and education.
May 17, 1999 Israel elects Labor party leader and Former General Ehud Barak as Prime Minister in a landslide. Barak promises rapid progress toward peace.
March, 2000 Israeli-Syrian peace negotiations fail when Hafez Assad rejects an Israeli offer relayed by US President Clinton in Geneva.
Sept. 28, 2000 Palestinians initiated riots after Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount, which is also the location of the Haram as Sharif holy to Muslims.
Feb 6, 2001 Right-wing Likud leader Ariel Sharon elected Prime Minister in Israel replacing Ehud Barak and promising "peace and security."
March-April 2002 Israel conducts operation Defensive Wall in the West Bank, following a large number of Palestinian suicide attacks on civilian targets. Saudi peace initiative adopted at Beirut summit.
Jan 28, 2003 Elections in Israel give wide margin (40 seats) to right wing Likud party, returning PM Ariel Sharon for another term.
July 9, 2004 International court of Justice (ICJ) rules that the Israeli security barrier violates international law and must be torn down.
Nov 11, 2004 Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat dies.
Jan 9, 2005 Mahmoud Abbas elected President of the Palestinian National Authority.
Jan 10, 2005 Ariel Sharon forms unity government with Labor and United Torah Judaism parties in Israel.
zionism, zionist, Jewish history, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Timeline, Zionist movement, Israel history, Middle East history

Detailed Timeline of Zionism, Jewish History of Israel and the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict
zionism, zionist, Jewish history, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Timeline, Zionist movement, Israel history, Middle East history
1800? BCE Abraham migrates to Canaan according to Jewish tradition.
1300? BCE Migration and conquest of Canaan by the Philistines and Israelite tribes. Map of Canaan.
1000? BCE Jewish conquest of Jerusalem; reign of David (maps); After the death of David's son, Solomon, the kingdom split into two: Israel in the north, Judea in Jerusalem and the south (maps). Brief History of Early Palestine in maps.
721 BCE Fall of Israel (Northern Kingdom) to Assyria
586 BCE Fall of Judea (Southern Kingdom) to Babylon and destruction of the first temple
About 539 BCE Fall of Babylon. Jews allowed to return to Judea. Tradition has it that Ezra and Nehemia led this return, and later rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, but the walls were apparently not built until 100 years later.
About 519 BCE Rebuilding of the Second Temple under Persian rule.
331 BCE Alexander the Great conquers Persia. The land was subject to Egyptian rule after his death, followed by Seleucid Syrian rule.
313 BCE Ptolemy of Egypt rules Jerusalem and Judea.
170 BCE Antiochus Ephiphanes rules Judea.
166 BCE Revolt of Judah Maccabee against Syrian Hellenic dynasty; Simon. 164 - Liberation of Jerusalem. Judah is named Friend of the Roman Senate and People; Rule of the Maccabees: 166 - Judah 160 -Jonathan 143
About 61 BCE Roman conquest of Jerusalem by Pompei. Land is divided into various provinces (maps).
40 BCE Reign of Herod the Great; Herod conquered Jerusalem in 37 BCE. Herod began an extensive restoration of the temple about 20 BC
4 BCE Probable year of birth of Jesus. Jesus was crucified between 31 and 33 AD.
66-73 AD First Jewish revolt. Fall of the Jewish Second Temple to Romans in 70 AD.
133-135 Second Jewish revolt under Bar - Kochba crushed. Judea renamed Palestina. Jews are banned from Jerusalem by Hadrianus Caesar.
313 Roman Emperor Constantine legalizes Christianity
614 Persians conquer Judea and Jerusalem..
628 Emperor Heraclius defeats Sassanid Persians, reconquers Jerusalem..
About 638 Arab conquest of Jerusalem. (slightly earlier or later according to different sources). Caliph Omar provides the Christians of Jerusalem with a Covenant guaranteeing their protection. Land divided into the Jund of filastin, in the south (capital in Al-Lod and later in Ramlah), and the Jund of Urdunn in the north, with capital in Tiberias (Tabariyeh).
969 Fatimid conquest. Churches and synagogues of Jerusalem destroyed.
1071

Battle of Manzikert. The Byzantine emperor Romanus IV Diogenes is defeated by the Seljuk Turks, opening Asia Minor to Turkish invasion. Seljuks devastate Jerusalem.
1099 Crusaders conquer Jerusalem, slaughter most Jewish and Moslem inhabitants, expel Jews.
1141 Poet Yehuda Halevi dies in Jerusalem.
1187 Salah-ed-din (Saladin) reconquers Jerusalem
1244 Rise of the Mamlukes. Jerusalem taken by Muslims.
1260 Battle of Ayn Jalut (Nazereth) - Holagu (Mongols) defeated.
1291 Crusaders defeated at Acre and evicted from Palestine.
1517 Ottoman Turkish conquest of Palestine.
1537-41 Muslim walls built around Jerusalem by Suleiman the Magnificent.
1626 - 1676 False Messiah Sabbatai Zevi.

1740
Ottoman Sultan invites Rabbi Haim Abulafia (1660-1744), Kabbalist and Rabbi of Izmir, to come to rebuild the city of Tiberias; thousands of Jews immigrate to the land in a wave of Messianic fervor, including Rabbi Moses Haim Luzzatto (1707-1746).
1799 Napoleon conquers Jaffa but retreats before Acco (Acre); 1799 - Napoleon's Proclamation of a Jewish State was stillborn, and his declaration of equal rights for Jews was repealed in part in 1806.
1831 Egyptian Conquest of Palestine area by Mehmed Ali of Egypt, who rebelled against the Ottomans. He was forced to withdraw in 1840 under pressure by European allies.
1834 Jerusalem Arab families including the Abu Ghosh clan revolt against Egyptian rule. The rebellion is eventually crushed.
1839 Tanzimat - reorganization program- is proclaimed in the Ottoman empire.
1840 Blood libel (accusation that Jews kill Christian children to use their blood for Passover Matzoth) against Damascus Jewry
1843 First Zionist writings of Rabbi Alcalay and of Rabbi Kalischer, ( Emuna Yeshara, Minhat Yehuda) .
1844 First census in Jerusalem shows 7120 Jews, 5760 Muslims, 3390 Christians.
1856 Ottoman reforms (Tanzimat) - including requirement to register ownership of land and pay taxes on it. Laemel school founded in Jerusalem, provides secular as well as religious education, infuriating orthodox Jews.
1860 First Jewish settlement (Mishkenot Sha'ananim) outside Jerusalem walls.
1861 The Zion Society is formed in Frankfort, Germany; Moses Hess writes "Rome and Jerusalem." Pub 1862
1870s Formation of 'Hovevei Tziyon in Russia
1878 First Zionist Settlement - Petah Tikwa; Naphtali Herz Imber writes Tikvatenu (Our Hope), later adopted as the Zionist anthem and the Israeli national anthem, Hatiqvah (Hatikva).
1881-84 Pogroms in Russia kill tens of thousands of Jews (1881-1884).Leon Pinsker writes Auto-Emancipation in 1882; formation of Bilu; beginning of the First Aliya (wave of immigration) which lasted until 1903. The First Aliya was characterized by plantation settlements funded by the Baron de Rothschild beginning in 1883. Formation of Hibbat Tziyon federation of 'Hovevei Tziyon in 1884, headed by Pinsker.
1890 Publicist Nathan Birnbaum coins the word Sionismus - Zionism.
1892 Railroad from Jaffa to Jerusalem. The Jerusalem railway station was to appear in the first movie newsreels of Palestine.
1893-4 In France, Captain Alfred Dreyfus, falsely charged with espionage. Ultimately he is exonerated with the help of Emile Zola, but the trial and attendant wave of antisemitism cause many Jews to rethink their commitment to assimilation. The trial and other influences led Theodor Herzl to write Die Judenstadt - The Jewish State.
1897 First Zionist Congress in Basle, Switzerland.
1901 Fifth Zionist Congress establishes the Jewish National Fund; Eliezer Ben Yehuda publishes a Hebrew newspaper, “Hashkafah" (The Outlook), supported by Baron Edmond de Rothschild.
1902 Herzl publishes Altneuland.
1903 Following the horrors of the Kishinev pogroms, Herzl proposes to substitute another country as a "night refuge" for persecuted Jews. British officials suggest El Arish and later Uganda. The idea is rejected by the Russian Jews whom Herzl wanted to help. Sixth Zionist Congress split over British offer to settle Uganda. A commission is appointed to look into the question. Eventually the British offer is withdrawn. Laemel school moved to "new" part of Jerusalem, outside the walls.
1904 Second Aliya (wave of immigration) - young socialist immigrants (1904-1914). Catalyzed by pogroms and a coincidental wave of arrests in Russia preceding and following the 1905 revolution. Herzl dies. Vaad Halahshon founded by Eliezer Ben Yehuda to popularize Hebrew as the language of the Jewish people.
1905 The seventh Zionist Congress (Basel) rules out any alternative to Palestine as the objective of the Zionism.
1906 David Gruen (later David Ben-Gurion) arrives in Israel; First Hebrew high school founded in Jaffa; Bezalel School of Art founded in Jerusalem by Boris Schatz. First Congress of Poalei Tziyon in Poltava, under the leadership of Ber Borochov.
1907 Arthur Ruppin visits Palestine, reports to Zionist organization on status of settlements and is sent to open the Palestine Bureau in 1908.
July 3 1908 The Young Turks revolt breaks out in the Ottoman empire, and is eventually led by Enver Pasha; Sultan ‘Abd al-Hamid II is forced to restore the constitution of 1876, entailing the creation of a new parliament, and indirect representative elections. ‘Abd al-Hamid is then deposed (27Apr 09), and his brother Mehmet V installed. Policies for the ‘Turkification’ of the Ottoman territories promulgated through 1909, resulting in the creation of societies promoting pan-Arab ideas,
1908 First Arabic newspaper in Haifa, al-Karmil, popularizes opposition to selling land to Zionists.
1908 The eighth Zionist congress in 1908 adopted "Synthetic Zionism" incorporating both Practical Zionism (settlement on the land) and Political Zionism (attempts to get an internationally recognized homeland). Jewish Agency brings Yemenite Jews as immigrants to provide inexpensive labor 1908-1914.
1909 Foundation of Tel Aviv (Called Ahuzat Bayit) near Jaffa; foundation of first Kibbutz - Degania (1910 according to some sources); foundation of Hashomer (the Watchman) patrol group.
1910 British archeologist Montague Parker excavates under the Haram as Sharif (temple mount). Rumors that he had found and stolen the Ark of the Covenant caused riots by Jews and Arabs.
1911 Filastin, large Arabic newspaper, launched in Jaffa.
1912 Aref el Aref, later the historian of Palestine, mandate Southern District officer and mayor of East Jerusalem, warns in Filastin that the Jews want to take over the country.
Aug 1914 Start of WW I. Foreign nationals (including Zionists with Russian citizenship) expelled from Palestine during the war..
July 1915 Husayn-McMahon Correspondence - Britain promises independence for Arabia. Zion Mule Corps ("the Jewish Legion") established by Yosef Trumpeldor in British Army.
May 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement divides up Fertile Crescent between France & Britain into zones of influence, recognizing Arab independence in part of the land.
Nov 2, 1917 British issued The Balfour Declaration, promising a “National Home” for the Jews in Palestine.
Dec 1917 Gen. Sir Edmund Allenby captures Jerusalem from Ottomans for the British. Col. Reginald Storrs is appointed military governor. Allenby's conquest was aided by information from the Jewish Nili underground. However, the conquest of northern Palestine is delayed for 9 more months because fresh German advances in France force Allenby to send troops back to Europe.
Apr, 1918 Zionist commission arrives in Palestine.
June, 1918 Emir Feisal and Dr. Haim Weizmann meet near Aqaba
Nov 1918 First Muslim-Christian association formed in Jaffa to oppose the creation of a Jewish homeland. Another was formed in Jerusalem soon after. Armistice between Allies and Germany, Nov 11.
Jan. 1919 First Palestinian (Arab) Congress advocated incorporation of Palestine into greater Syria.
Jan 18, 1919 Paris Peace Conference opens - results in Treaty of Versailles, June 28, 1919. Haim Weizmann headed the Zionist delegation.
July 1919 General Syrian Congress (which included prominent Palestinians, Transjordanians, Lebanese & Syrians) held in Damascus, supporting the independence of an undivided Syria, and opposed to Zionism. Britain cedes authority over Syria to France after the congress finishes; Gen. Henri Gourand becomes High Commissioner.
28 Aug 1919 Henry King and Charles Crane, the US members of the International Commission of Inquiry, sent primarily on the initiative of President Wilson, present their report based on their visit to the region in June-July, against creation of a Jewish National home in Palestine.
1919-1922 Third Aliyah (Wave of immigration) - consisted mostly of Jews returning to Palestine from exile.
Feb - Mar 1920 Jewish settlements of Tel Hai and Metullah in N. Palestine attacked (Feb 20). Josef Trumpeldor killed in second attack at Tel Hai (March 1)
March 1920 Faysal elected and crowned king of Greater Syria at 2nd General Syrian Congress in Damascus; assembly proclaims independence from France of Greater Syria; rejects Balfour Declaration and Sykes-Picot agreement. Allies occupy Constantinople.
April, 1920 Musa Kazim al-Husayni, mayor of Jerusalem, is replaced by Raghib al-Nashashibi; clan rivalry grows.
April, 1920 "Nebi musa" Arab riots led by Hajj Amin El Husseini and Aref El Aref in Jerusalem. Forty six Jews Killed.
Apr 25, 1920 San Remo Conference - Supreme Allied Council assigns mandates for Mesopotamia and Palestine to Britain, and Syria and Lebanon to France.
June 1920 Haganah, Jewish Self Defense, organized by Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky, Eliahu Golumb and others.
July 1920 Herbert Samuel named High Commissioner of Palestine. King Faisal recognizes French Mandate. French forces under Gourand retake Damascus by force with British support. Britain arrests Palestinian notables who had supported Faysal.
Dec 1920 Histadrut, the General Federation of Hebrew Workers in the Land of Israel (Histadrut Haklalit Shel Haovdim Haivriyim Be'eretz Yisrael), was formed. Remained exclusively Jewish until 1960s, when it officially dropped ‘Hebrew’ from its name (1966).
1921 12th Zionist Congress. Haim Weizmann becomes President of the Zionist Organization. First Moshav, Nahalal, founded.
May 1921 Arab riots in Jaffa against Jewish population. Yossef Haim Brenner killed.
May 10, 1921 Hajj Amin El Husseini appointed Grand Mufti by British High Commissioner Herbert Samuel, though Husseini had been convicted of organizing riots in 1920 and had been sentenced to ten years in jail
Jan 1922 Hajj Amin El Husseini appointed President of the Supreme Muslim Council.
June 3, 1922 The Churchill ("Command") White Paper notes that the Balfour declaration only promised a Jewish homeland in Palestine, and reserves East Palestine for Transjordan.
July 24, 1922 British Mandate for Palestine; Official establishment of Transjordan as a separate state; Britain, in military control of Syria, allows French forces led by Gourand to retake Damascus by force.
1922-1932 Fourth Aliya (wave of immigration)
May 25, 1923 Proclamation of Transjordanian Independence under Emir Abdullah
May 29, 1923 Palestine Constitution suspended by British after Arabs refuse to participate in the government.
July 24, 1923 Lausanne Peace Treaty signed by Greece, Turkey and the Allies
Sept 29, 1923 Palestine British Mandate officially comes into force.
1924 Official inauguration of the Israel Technical Institute (Technion) in Haifa
1925 Official inauguration of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Revisionist movement founded by Zeev Jabotinsky ;Brit Shalom (Covenant of Peace) movement founded by Martin Buber, Yehuda Magnes and others advocating a binational state.
Feb. 20, 1928 Britain recognizes Transjordanian independence (subject to treaty provisions).
July 5, 1928 Sir John Chancellor becomes High Commissioner in Palestine.
August, 1929 Arab Riots and Massacres in Hebron, Jerusalem, Safed, Haifa, Motza and elsewhere. The Jews had set up a dividing screen at the Wailing Wall in Yom Kippur of 1928 to separate men and women worshippers, prompting rumors that the Jews wanted to build a synagogue at wall, which were spread deliberately by Hajj Amin El Husseini. Amid heightening tensions, a demonstration by Jews in 1929 and Arab incitement ignited violence and rioting against Jews. Thousands of Jews fled the ancient Jewish quarter in Jerusalem. The Hebron Jewish community was evacuated after 64-67 were killed in riots.
1930 The Hope-Simpson Report recommends cessation of Jewish immigration.
Oct 21, 1930 British Passfield White Paper proposes to limit Jewish immigration to Palestine.
1931 After questions in commons, Zionist pressure and League condemnation, Letter of PM Ramsay MacDonald to Chaim Weizmann Rescinding the Passfield White Paper
1931 IZL (Irgun or Etzel - The Irgum Tzvai Leumi) formed by Jabotinsky and others who leave the Haganah.
1932-1939 Fifth Aliya (wave of immigrants) - Consisting mostly of Jews fleeing Nazi Germany and neighboring countries. Beginning in 1936, riots and administrative restrictions greatly reduced the number of immigrants. 1933 - Assassination of Chaim Arlozorov.
1936-1939 Arab Revolt led or coopted by the Al-Husseini family and Fawzi al-Kaukji and apparently financed by Axis powers. Over 5,000 Arabs were killed according to some sources; most were killed by other Arabs and by British. Eleven Arab clans were wiped out by Hajj Amin El Husseini and his men. Several hundred Jews were killed by Arabs. Husseini fled to Iraq and then to Nazi Germany. 1937- Orde Wingate forms "night squads" for Jewish self-defense. Between 1937 and 1939 Jews build 54 "stockade and watchtower" (Homa Umigdal) settlements to circumvent British regulations against new settlements, and bring tens of thousands of illegal immigrants into Palestine (Aliya Bet).
1937-1938 Peel and Woodhead commissions recommend partitioning Palestine into a small Jewish state and a large Arab one.
Oct. 1, 1937 British declare Arab Higher Committee in Palestine an illegal body.
Oct. 16, 1937 (approximate date) Hajj Amin El Husseini , Grand Mufti of Jerusalem escapes to Syria and thence to Iraq.
Jan.-Mar. 1939 St James Conference - Round-table conference on Palestine in London, with Arab countries, Zionists and Palestinian representatives.
May 17, 1939 1939 White Paper limits Jewish immigration to Palestine to 75,000 in total, restricts Jewish land purchases (regulations come into effect in 1940), envisions an Arab Palestinian state. Jews found the Mossad l'aliya bet to arrange for illegal immigration.
Sept. 3, 1939 Britain and France declare war on Germany. In Palestine, soldiers are recruited for the British army. About 26,000 Jews and 6,000 Arabs join and fight with the allies.
Nov 25, 1940 The Jewish illegal immigrant ship Patria (also called Patra) carrying refugees from Europe, detained in Haifa by the British, is blown up by the Jewish underground Hagana to prevent transshipment of the refugees to Mauritius. The explosion was supposed to cause a small leak. Instead, the ship sank and 252 people died.
1940 LEHI (Lochami Heruth Yisrael - Freedom fighters of Israel) underground formed by Avraham Stern ("Yair").
1941 Palmach underground established, originally with British help, as part of a force that was to fight a Nazi takeover in Syria.
Apr. 1, 1941 Agitation by exiled Palestinian Mufti Hajj Amin El Husseini in Iraq leads to coup. Pro-Axis Government under Rashid Ali.
May -June, 1941 British reoccupy Habbanieh and Baghdad, Rashid Ali and pro-Axis leaders flee to Teheran and Berlin; After the revolt is suppressed, a pogrom against the Jews (Farhoud) takes place in Baghdad, while British troops stand by and refuse to intervene.. Click for details of Mufti, British Intervention and the Farhud
Feb. 24, 1942 The Jewish illegal immigrant ship Struma, forced to sail north from Turkey, is torpedoed by a Soviet submarine (either collaborating with British or because the ship was mistaken for German shipping) and sunk with the loss of 428 men, 269 women and 70 children.
Oct. 1942 Battle of El Alamein. British under General Montgomery defeat Rommel's Afrika Korps and end the Nazi threat on Egypt and Palestine.
May 9, 1942 Biltmore Program - Zionist leaders, headed by Chaim Weizmann and David Ben-Gurion, convene at the Biltmore Hotel in New York and set their postwar program (known as the Biltmore Program). The program recommended an end to the British Mandate and demand Jewish control over immigration to Palestine with the aim of founding a Jewish "Commonwealth."
1943 Warsaw Ghetto uprising; Palmach members parachuted behind enemy lines in Europe.
1944 Jewish Brigade formed to fight as part of the British forces in World War II.
Oct 7, 1944 Arab leaders meet in Alexandria to discuss postwar plans for independence and ways to prevent implementation of Jewish control over Palestine.
Nov 6, 1944 Members of the Jewish Lehi underground Eliyahu Hakim and Eliyahu Bet Zuri assassinated Lord Moyne in Cairo. Moyne, a known anti-Zionist, was Minister of State for the Middle East and in charge of carrying out the terms of the 1939 White paper - preventing Jewish immigration to Palestine by force.
March 22, 1945 League of Arab States (Arab League) set up (Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Transjordan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, with Musa ‘Alami as Arab States’ chosen representative of the Palestinians) with British approval to shift welfare responsibility onto local population and to ensure continuing Arab support. The goals of the league were as stated in the Alexandria Protocol, of which it was an outgrowth. Charter proclaims goal of achieving closer aims between Arab States and declares that Palestine is a member of the League in a special annex.
Aug, 1945 US President Truman asks British to admit 110,000 Jewish refugees to Palestine.
Sept., 1945 British limit Jewish immigration into Palestine to 1,500 a month.
Nov. 1945 Anglo American Committee of Inquiry for Palestine appointed.
Mar, 1946 British-Tranjordanian treaty; British recognize Emir Abdullah as King of Transjordan.
Apr. 1946 Report of Anglo American Committee of Inquiry published. Recommend admission of 100,000 Jews to Palestine.
June,, 1946 Hajj Amin El Husseini, Mufti of Jerusalem, escapes from detention in France aided by French collaborators. Husseini was to have been deported to Germany and tried for war crimes after spending the war working for the Nazis in Germany.
July 22, 1946 Irgun Jewish underground blows up British HQ in King David Hotel, Jerusalem, killing 91 persons.
Aug, 1946 British start deporting illegal Jewish immigrants to detention camps in Cyprus.
Sept, 1946 Palestine round-table conference opens in London.
Feb. 1947 Britain refers Palestine issue to the UN
April 16, 1947 Dov Bela Gruner and three other Jews convicted of anti-British violence handed in Acre prison. Gruner was a member of the Irgun Tzvai Leumi (Etzel).
May, 1947 UN General Assembly appoints UN Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP ).
July 18, 1947 British rammed the Jewish illegal immigrant ship Exodus (formerly "President Warfield") on the high seas. They towed it to Haifa where it was the subject of extensive publicity, generating public sympathy for the Zionist cause. The passengers were eventually disembarked in Hamburg. The incident set world and particularly US opinion against the British, and caused the British to intern illegal immigrants thereafter in Cyprus, rather than attempting to return them to Europe.
Sept 1, 1947 UNSCOP issues its report, calling for partition of Palestine.
Nov. 29, 1947 UN Partition Resolution (GA 181) - Palestine was to be divided into a Jewish State and an Arab State; Jerusalem was to be internationalized. The resolution is supported by both the US and USSR. Arab countries and Arab league refuse to recognize the resolution.
Dec. 1, 1947 Arab riots in Jerusalem. Beginning of Arab blockade of Jerusalem. The period to May 1948 was characterized by numerous skirmishes, road ambushes, riots, bombings and massacres, whether organized by one of the other sides or spontaneous. The Haifa riots and massacres were typical. T
January 1948 Arab Salvation Army (also called Arab Liberation Army - ALA) are admitted to Palestine by the British, following a promise not to attack Jewish settlements. Their leader, Fawzi Al-Kaukji may have entered Palestine only in March. Jewish Agency concludes arms deal with Czechoslovakia, but most arms do not arrive until June 1948, after the British have left. The UN, including the US, had placed an arms embargo on Palestine. This did not apply to Arab countries including Transjordan. As independent states, they were allowed to acquire arms. The Jordan Legion received a steady supply of arms from Britain through the Suez Canal, at least until May 1948, including a large number of 25 pounder cannon at the beginning of 1948. Hagana agents purchased 20 Auster light aircraft in Britain, sold for scrap, rebuilt them and brought them to Palestine for use of the Haganah. Haganah later rebuilt Spitfires left by the mandate for scrap as well, but did not have real fighter and bomber aircraft until May 1948 when Czech Messerschmidts and B-17s purchased clandestinely were brought into the country.
Jan 16, 1948 Convoy of 35 - Jewish convoy to Gush Etzion, near Jerusalem, ambushed, 35 underground members massacred.
Mar. 1948 Provisional Jewish government formed in Tel-Aviv. Convoy to Gush Etzion ambushed in Nebi Daniel. Arabs begin to flee Haifa.
April 6-8, 1948 Arab blockade of Jerusalem is broken temporarily by operation Nachshon. Death of Abd-El-Qader Al-Husseini at Kastel - The foremost Palestinian military leader is shot by a Jewish sentry when he wanders into Jewish held Kastel in the Jerusalem corridor thinking it is in Arab hands.
April 9, 1948 Deir Yassin Massacre - Jewish dissident underground groups - Irgun and Lehi, invade Palestinian village of Deir Yassin. Over 100 Palestinian civilians and 4 attackers are killed.
April 13, 1948 Haddassah Convoy Massacre - In retaliation for Deir Yassin, Arabs killed about 80 Jewish medical personnel and sick persons on their way to Hadassah hospital.
April 13-20, 1948 Operation Har'el launched by Hagannah at conclusion of Operation Nachshon, does not succeed in opening the road to Jerusalem.
April 1948 Arab flight from Haifa continues; Arab flight from Jaffa.
April 22-31 1948 Operation Misparayim launched by Hagannah to assume control of Haifa after British withdrawal and attacks by Arab forces and Irgun.
May 12, 1948 Haganah captures Tsfat (Safed). Arab population flees the city before it is captured.
May 13, 1948 Jaffa surrenders to Haganah.
May 13, 1948 Kfar Etzion Massacre - In retaliation for Deir Yassin Massacre, Arabs killed about 128 Jewish defenders at Kfar Etzion, after they had surrendered.
May 14, 1948 Remaining kibbutzim of Gush Etzion surrender. British High Commissioner Cunningham leaves Palestine. State of Israel declared on Friday May 14, in advance of the Sabbath. recognized immediately by USA and on May 17 by USSR.
May 15, 1948 Israel War of Independence (1948 War). Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia declared war on Israel. Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian invasion began.
May 17, 1948 Haganah captures Acco (Acre). Most of the Arab population flees the city before it is captured.
May 18, 1948 Syrian army captures Massada and Merom Hagolan.
May 28, 1948 Jewish quarter of the old city of Jerusalem falls to the Jordan Legion. The inhabitants were protected from the wrath of a lynch mob by the Legion under Abdullah Tell, and noncombatants were expelled to West Jerusalem. About 300 Haganah defenders were taken prisoner and sent to Jordan. The entire quarter including 58 of the 59 synagogues was demolished by the Arab mob despite efforts of the Legion.
June 11, 1948 First truce begins, lasting until 8 July.
June 23, 1948 Irgun’s Altalena ship brings weapons and 940 immigrants to Palestine. The arms shipment was a violation of UN embargo, but Israel government agreed to it, provided the Irgun handed over the weapons to IDF and formed a unified force. Irgun Commander Menahem Begin refused to hand over weapons and Irgun insisted on keeping a portion of the arms for its own use as a separate force. Palmach units of IDF under Yigal Allon attempted to capture weapons by force, killing 14 Irgun men. Yizhak Rabin, in command of shore batteries in Tel-Aviv, was ordered to fire upon and sink the Altalena after it attempted a landing there. According to some reports, factions of the Irgun (Etzel) were planning a coup with the arms.
June, 28, 1948 Count Folke Bernadotte's first peace plan - Jerusalem to be Arab.
July 08, 1948 Egyptian army breaks truce, due to end July 9. Attacks from neighborhood of Majdal (Ashdod). Israeli counterattack at Faluja was unsuccessful. This phase of the war is known as "the ten days," and included Mivtza Dani - the Israeli conquest of Lydda (Lod) and Ramla, breaking the Arab siege of Jerusalem, and creating thousands of refugees, as well as advances in the north. During this time Israel had acquired three B-17s and some Dakotas. One of the B-17s succeeded in dropping some bombs on Cairo on its way to delivery in Israel, others bombed Damascus and Rafa.
July 10, 1948 Arab League announced the establishment of a temporary Palestinian civilian administration over Arab held-areas of Palestine, but it was never implemented.
July 12, 1948 Egyptians attack Kibbutz Negba with armor and massive troop concentrations. Israelis suffer 5 dead, 16 wounded, Egyptian casualties 200- 300 dead and wounded.
July 19, 1948 Second truce in Palestine.
Sept 17, 1948 Swedish Count Folke Bernadotte, a UN mediator, was assassinated in Jerusalem, and Lehi members were suspected. The Israel government outlawed the organization's branch in Jerusalem and shut down its publication, Hamivrak. The leaders of Lehi, Natan Yellin-Mor and Mattityahu Shmuelevitz, were sentenced to long jail terms by a military court, but were released in a general amnesty. Bernadotte, who had been instrumental in saving about 21,000 Jews in WW II, was proposing to "relieve" Israel of the Negev and force return of the Palestinian refugees. The latter proposal was adopted in UN General Assembly Resolution 194.
Sept 22, 1948 Palestinian States created - AHC communiqué announces the establishment of the Government of All Palestine (APG; Hukumat 'Umum Filastin); Declaration of Independence proclaimed by Hajj Amin El Husseini to Palestine National Council in Gaza (30 Sept-1Oct) on 1Oct, with Hajj Amin as President of the PNC, Ahmad Hilmi ‘Abd al-Baqi as PM, Jamal al-Husayni as Foreign Minister, in the Mandate territory of Palestine, with the flag of the 1916 Arab Revolt. Jerusalem as capital, Gaza as seat of government. Recognized and sponsored by Egypt and Arab League, who sought to forestall ‘Abdullah’s plan to annex West Bank; strongly opposed by Jordan, who organized a much larger rival Palestinian Congress in Amman on 30 Sept to support Jordan’s policy in Palestine. APG issued Palestinian passports; but with Egyptian disillusionment, HQ transferred to Cairo in Oct, Hajj Amin was confined to Cairo and his actions curtailed; many leading members left to work for Amman. Ahmad Hilmi continued to represent Palestine in the League until his death in September 63.
Oct. 15, 1948 Second truce ends; Israeli offensive breaks Egyptian siege of Israeli settlements in the Negev (operation Yoav). Beersheva is taken. In the north, operation Hiram defeats the Arab Liberation army. IDF massacres in Eilabun, Saliba, Safsaf, Jish, Hule, Majd el-Krum, Bi'na, Dier el assad and Arab al-Mawassa.
Dec. 11, 1948 UN Resolution 194 called for cessation of hostilities, return of refugees who wish to live in peace. The resolution reflected UN and US anger over the assassination of Count Bernadotte.
Dec. 1948 Israelis advance into Egypt; Nokrashy Pasha, Egyptian PM, assassinated.
Dec 19, 1948- Jan 7, 49 Israeli Operation Horev conquers Gaza and enters Sinai. Intervention by British and US forces Israel to withdraw. Israel shot down several British reconnaissance planes, apparently unarmed (four Spitfires and one Tempest) January 7, 1949.
March 7-10, 1949 Operation Uvda - IDF captures southern Negev including Eilat with no resistance.
Feb-Jun, 1949 Israel and Arab states agree to armistice in separate agreements. Israel-Egypt Israel -Lebanon Israel-Jordan Israel-Syria) Israel gained about 50% more territory than was originally allotted to it by the UN Partition Plan. The war created about 780,000 Palestinian refugees who fled or were evicted from Jewish held areas. Gaza fell under the jurisdiction of Egypt. The West Bank of the Jordan was occupied by Jordan and later annexed, consistent with secret agreements with the Jewish leadership made before the outbreak of hostilities.
April 27 – Sept 1949 Lausanne conference - Abortive Israel Arab Truce Negotiations. Minor achievements - working recognition of Israel by Arab States who attended the conference, and acceptance of UN Resolutions by both sides. However no substantive agreements were reached.
Apr. 1950 De Jure British recognition to Israel and Greater Jordan (including West Bank).
1950 Law of Return passed. Massive immigration to Israel in 1949-1951 and imposition of rationing program. Rationing lasted until 1959. Immigration curtailed because of extreme economic problems.
July, 1951 Assassination of Jordan's King Abdulla because of rumored plans for peace with Israel. His grandson Hussein was crowned in his place following the brief reign of Tallal.
1951-1958 Israel drains the Huleh valley swamps to eradicate malaria and reclaim the land.
Jam. 18, 1953 Beginning of anti-Zionist stance in USSR. Moscow accuses "Zionist agents" of murdering Zhdanov and attempting to murder other Soviet leaders.
July 12, 1953 Shishakly becomes President of Syria.
Sept. 7, 1954 Ben-Gurion resigns as Israeli PM, succeeded by Moshe Sharett.
October 1953 IDF paratrooper unit 101 under Ariel Sharon killed 69 civilians and destroyed a great deal of property in a raid on the Jordanian village of Qibieh. The raid was a reprisal for a raid on Tirat Yehuda.
July 1954 The Lavon Affair: Israeli government spies, seemingly without PM Sharett’s knowledge, attempt to sabotage British & US property in Egypt to put blame on Egyptian terrorists, thus driving a wedge between Britain and Egypt, and postponing British evacuation of the Suez. The plan’s failure leads to the fragmentation of Mapai’s leadership, with recurring crises of mutual recrimination over the next decade. Ben Gurion insisted on a full investigation of the affair but was rebuffed by Lavon partisans. Defense Minister Pinhas Lavon resigns in Feb 1955. Egypt retaliated against Egyptian Jews, some of whom were involved in the plot.
Oct 19, 1954 Anglo-Egyptian evacuation agreement signed (troops guarding canal to leave).
Jan. 27, 1955 Military court in Cairo sentences 2 members of Israeli spy ring to death They are executed Jan 27.
Feb, 1955 Pinhas Lavon resigns as Israel defense minister and is replaced by David Ben-Gurion;
1955 Continuous incidents between Egypt and Israel/Syria, primarily in Gaza DMZ. Operation Black Arrow (Hetz Shahor) launched by Israel in Feb 1955, following Egyptian incursions, killed 38 Egyptians, resulted in a major embarrassment for Egypt and caused Nasser to rethink his strategy with Israel.
Sept 27, 1955 Egyptian-Czech arms deal. Secret clause requires Egypt to get financing of Aswan dam from USSR.
Nov. 2, 1955 Ben-Gurion replaces Moshe Sharett as Israeli PM.
Dec 11, 1955 Israel launched an attack on Syria following firing on a police patrol boat possibly sent as a deliberate provocation. (operation Olive Leaves), condemned in SCR111, 19 Jan 56,
April 5 1956 Increased tension between Israel & Egypt-Syria. IDF claimed 180 attacks on Israel from Gaza in past four months. Three Israelis killed April 4 when Egyptians opened fire on an Israeli patrol. Israel responded, and an artillery duel culminated in an Israeli artillery barrage at centre of Gaza City (4-5Apr) that killed 59, wounds about 100, mostly civilians. Egypt responded with increased commando raids, sending hundreds of fedayeen across the border in separate raids and killing 12 Israelis. Temporarily calmed through offices of UNS-G.
June 1956 Moshe Sharett resigns as Israeli FM ( dies.1965); Golda Meir takes over; Last British troops leave Suez Canal base on June 13.
July 26, 1956 The US withdraws funding from the Aswan dam, USSR steps in. In response, Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal Company (26 Jul), to opposition of British (lease due to terminate in 1968). Is unanimously supported in this by the Arab League (Aug), though Iraqi leaders secretly call on the British to topple Nasser; imposition of martial law in Iraq. Britain, France and USA announce financial retaliation.
Aug. 16, 1956 London Conference on Suez Canal boycotted by Egypt.
Sept 10, 1956 Egypt rejects 18 nation proposals for Suez Canal.
Sept 19, 1956 Second London conference on Suez.
Sept. 23, 1956 Britain and France refer Suez dispute to UN Security Council.
Oct. 29, 1956

Suez Campaign. In retaliation for a series of escalating border raids as well as the closure of the straits of Tiran and Suez canal to Israeli shipping, and to prevent Egyptian use of newly acquired Soviet arms in a war, Israel invades the Sinai peninsula and occupies it for several months, with French and British collaboration. French and British were interested in reversing the nationalization of the canal. Israel withdraws after a UN peace keeping force is placed in Sinai, and US guarantees right of passage for Israeli shipping through the Straits of Tiran. Suez Canal reopened March 23, 1957.
1957 Fatah founded (informally) with the aim of destroying Israel. Formal establishment about 1964.
1957 (?) Construction of Israel nuclear breeder reactor using French technology begins in Dimona some time in the latter part of the 1950s. The French later tried to stop the program, but backed down when Israeli FM Peres said Israel would make the deal public. Reactor was discovered by the US in U-2 flights in 1960 or 1961.
Oct. 23, 1958 Soviet loan to Egypt to finance Aswan Dam.
Nov 18, 1959 Israel abandons earlier Jordan river diversion scheme, begins work on the National Water Carrier Project, to divert the waters of the River Jordan from the Sea of Galilee to the Negev, taking its share of Jordan water in accordance with Johnston plan.
1959(?) Yasser Arafat, Khalil al Wazir and others found the Palestine Liberation Committee, soon renamed "Fatah" (Conquest). The organization was to be modeled on the Algerian FLN.
1960 Israeli Agents capture Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Argentina and abduct him to Israel. Eichmann had order the deaths of millions of Jews as well as Romany people and other minorities.
1961 Eichmann trial is televised and seen around the world. Eichmann was executed in June, 1962.
24 June, 1963 Ben-Gurion resigns as Israeli PM, because of his frustration at being unable to get justice in the Lavon Affair.
Jan 13-17 1964 First Arab summit at Cairo (the Egyptians count this as the third Arab Summit) (ie. heads of State, instigated by Nasser), prompted by Israel’s R .Jordan diversion scheme and Palestinian agitation against it. Arabs declare their intentions of stopping the Israeli diversion scheme, which is in accordance with the Johnson plan, and decided on establishment of the PLO. A Unified Arab Command under Egyptian supervision was created. This summit and the one that followed in September caused considerable alarm in Israel, and is cited by Avi Shlaim (The Iron Wall) as the actual beginning of the 6 day war.
May, 1964 PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) founded with the aim of destroying Israel. The Palestinian National Charter (1968) officially called for liquidation of Israel. PLO was founded by Egypt to divert Palestinian energies from the nascent Fatah movement of Yasser Arafat, which had become anti-Nasserist.
Sept 13, 1964 Second Arab Summit at Alexandria decides on diversion of the headwaters of the Jordan as well as strengthening regional Arab armies. Arabs declare the aim of destroying Israel. Israel addressed two notes to the UN Security Council, concerning the alarming nature of the summit resolutions to destroy Israel.
Sept. 18. 1965 Third Arab Summit at Casablanca. Conference draws up staged plan for combating Israel, first building up armed forces of Jordan, Syria and Lebanon over 2.5-3 yrs & refraining from war with Israel; then proceeding to war.
Nov 13, 1966 Samu' raid: Israeli troops kill 15 Jordanian soldiers and 3 civilians, & dynamite 125 houses, in an attack on the frontier village of Samu‘ near Hebron; in response to the death of 3 Israeli soldiers by a road mine. Israel is censured by SCR228 (25 Nov 66), but there is no military response from Amman. This leads to recriminations in the Israeli government, which had intended a smaller scale raid, and Palestinian anger & clashes with Jordanian security forces throughout West Bank, especially in Nablus where the army had to intervene. The PLO gains support.
May, 1967 Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser closes the straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping and dismisses UN peacekeeping force. Negotiations with US to reopen the Straits of Tiran fail.
May 27, 1967 Nasser cancels a planned Egyptian attack on Israel, after it became obvious that the Israelis knew about the plan.
May 30, 1967 Jordan signs a defense pact with Egypt, allows Egyptian command of Jordan Legion.
Jun 2, 1967 Moshe Dayan joins Israeli cabinet as Minister of Defense. Unity gov't formed.
June 5-10,1967 6-day war . Following a long period of tension, Israel attacks - destroys the Egyptian air force on the ground, conquers and occupies Sinai and Gaza, then conquers the West Bank from Jordan, and Golan Heights from Syria. UN resolution 242 (November 1967) called for Israeli withdrawal, establishment of peace.
Aug-Sept 1967 Khartoum Conference - Arab summit says no to peace or negotiations with Israel.
Nov 22, 1967 UN Security Council resolution 242 (November 1967) called for Israeli withdrawal, establishment of peace
Oct 21, 1967 Egyptian missile ship sinks the Israeli destroyer Eilath. Israel retaliates by heavy artillery bombardment of Suez refinery complex.
March 21, 1968 Battle of Karameh - Jordanian and Palestinian forces inflicted a partial defeat on Israel troops staging a massive retaliatory raid on a Jordanian town that had served as a staging area for guerilla attacks and a base for PLO/Fatah guerillas.. The Fatah declared a great victory and retreated into the hills. The anniversary of Karameh is still celebrated as a victory by Palestinians.
Jun 1968 Escalation along the Suez Canal. Egyptians violated the cease fire repeatedly along the Suez canal. Nasser stated as strategy that Egypt can suffer numerous casualties because of manpower reserves, while Israel cannot.
Dec 1968 PFLP attack on El Al plane in Athens. One Israeli killed; Israel responds on Dec 28 with helicopter raid on Beirut International Airport. Commandos destroy 13 Arab planes and damage airport. SCR262 of 31Dec unanimously censures Israel,
Jan 6, 1969 French ban on arms supplies made public by Israel.
Jan 27, 1969 Iraqis hang 14 (9 Jews) as Israeli spies.
Feb 1-4, 1969 Fifth Palestine National Council (PNC) in Cairo. Fatah gains formal control with Yasser Arafat declared chair of Executive Committee. PNC statement sets goal of a "secular democratic state" society for Muslims, Christians & Jews.
Feb 18, 1969 PFLP attack El Al plane in Zurich; strong international condemnation.
Feb 20, 1969 PFLP bomb attacks on a Jerusalem supermarket
Feb 24, 1969 Israeli airstrike against 2 al-Fatah camps near Damascus; large no of casualties. Fatah moves to strengthen its position in Jordan; PFLP becomes more explicit in its call for the overthrow of King Hussein, seen as a Western puppet.
Feb 1969 Internal struggles in Syrian Baa‘th party: Hafez al-Assad, defense minister, takes full control over military in Syria; civilian institutions left under the control of President Atasi. Former stressed pan-Arab cooperation, especially with Egypt; latter rejected cooperation with the conservative regimes, & controlled the Sa‘iqa fida’i organization.
Mar 11 1969 Golda Meir becomes Prime Minister in Israel after death of Levi Eshkol.
Aug 29, 1969 Group commanded by Leila Khalid hijacks TWA plane flying to Tel Aviv.
March 1969 Hostilities along the Suez canal. between Israel and Egypt escalate as Soviets supply SAM-2 radar and pilots, US supplies Israel with Phantom jets and Hawk missiles.
April, 23, 1969 War of attrition between Israel and Egypt - Nasser formally declares that he is no longer bound by the terms of the armistice. Constant artillery and air duels around the Suez canal, as well as IAF bombardment of Egyptian targets. US agreed with Israeli reports that Nasser was violating the cease fire agreement and preparing for another war.
Sept 9, 1969 Major Israeli raid on Egypt.
Oct. 22, 1969 Palestinian guerillas clash with Lebanese security forces. An agreement between al-Fatah and the Lebanese was concluded on Nov. 3.
Dec. 9, 1969 US Secretary of State William Rogers outlines US proposals for an Israeli-Egyptian peace settlement (Rogers Plan), which are rejected by both sides.
Dec 21-23 Fifth Arab summit in Rabat ends in disagreement.
July 1970 Israel-Egypt War of attrition terminated by a cease fire, July 1970, following pressure from USA and USSR on both sides.
Sept. 1970 "Black September"- King Hussein of Jordan moves against the increasingly menacing power of the PLO. Palestinian guerillas flee Jordan and take up residence in Lebanon.
Sept 6, 1970 PFLP hijack Swissair, BOAC, PanAm and TWA flights and divert them to Jordan. 310 passengers are held hostage and released after governments agree to release Palestinian prisoners. In the wake of the hijackings Lufthansa reportedly paid protection money to guerilla movements, and France purchased immunity for Air France by agreeing to maintain an anti-Israel policy.
Sept 28 1970 Nasser dies of cardiac arrest after negotiating Jordan-Palestinian truce; Anwar al-Sadat comes to power in Egypt.
May 30, 1972 PFLP and Japanese Red Army attack at Lod Airport killed 27.
Sept 5, 1972 Black September movement massacres Israeli Olympic team in Munich, triggering a systematic manhunt by Israelis for the assassins.
Oct. 6, 1973 Yom Kippur War (October War) In a surprise attack on the Jewish day of atonement, Egypt retook the Suez canal and a narrow zone on the other side. Syria reconquered the Golan Heights. Following massive US and Soviet resupplying of the sides, Israel succeeded in pushing back the Syrians and threatening Damascus. Ariel Sharon crossed the Suez Canal and cut off the Egyptian Third Army.
Oct. 22, 1973 UN Security Council Resolution 338 called for cease fire and negotiations for peace. Following the cease fire, Israel withdrew from part of Sinai in stages, beginning with relief of the Egyptian third army, and likewise withdrew from a small part of the Golan heights.
Dec - 21-29 1973 Middle East Peace Conference convened in Geneva, with Jordan, Egypt, SU, US & Israel attending (Syria refused). First objective is the disengagement of forces.
Jan 18 1974 Egypt-Israel Separation of Forces Agreement (Sinai I), opposed by Syria. UN Emergency Force takes up positions in the buffer zones established in Sinai; fully deployed by Mar. 3.
April 10, 1974 Golda Meir resigns as PM of Israel following popular protest over the Yom Kippur War.Yitzhak Rabin, former Chief of Staff of IDF and ambassador to US takes her place.
April 11 1974 Kiriat Shmona Massacre - PFLP-GC takes dozens of teenagers hostage in Qiryat Shmona, Israel, to demand the release of prisoners. IDF storms the building, but terrorists kill 19. Israeli reprisal raids on Southern Lebanon condemned by UN Security Council in SCR347 on April 24.
May 15, 1974 Ma'alot Massacre - PLO (PDFLP) gunmen took over a school in the northern Israeli village of Ma’alot, demand release of prisoners, killing 25 and wounding many others.
May 31, 1974

Syria-Israel disengagement agreement over the Golan, with Syria accepting SCR 338 (& thus 242) as a basis for peace, & Israel partially withdrawing to establish a demilitarized zone, with UN Disengagement Observer Force separating parties. Israel withdrew from Quneitra on 26 June, but Syria did not rebuild or repopulate the town.
June 1974 Twelfth Palestine National Council resolves that “the PLO will struggle by every means ... to liberate Palestinian land & establish the people’s national, independent ad fighting authority on every part of Palestinian land to be liberated." Israelis interpret this as staged liberation of Palestine. However, this was also widely portrayed later as meaning that a State in part of Palestine was acceptable to the PLO, eventually causing PFLP (George Habash) to leave the PLO on Sept. 26, forming the "refusal front." PFLP rejoined the PLO in 1980.
Oct 29, 1974 Rabat Summit - Arab League summit in Rabat declares that the PLO is the only legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. This makes it more difficult for Israel to conclude a peace treaty with Jordan on the basis of return of the West Bank. Hussein declares that he is no longer empowered to act for the Palestinians, and prevents possibility of negotiation with local Palestinians.
Nov 13 1974 Yasser Arafat speaks at UN General Assembly debate on Palestine, on invitation of Oct 14 (GAR3210; vote: 105-4), with his pistol showing. UNGA recognizes Palestinians’ right to sovereignty (GAR3236) and grants PLO observer status (GAR3237; 22Nov).
November 1975 UN General Assembly Resolution 3379 equates Zionism with racism. Harold H. Saunders tells house subcommittee that the Palestinian problem is in many ways the heart of the conflict, and that the US must seek partners who will recognize the relevant UN resolutions and engage them in dialog for peace.
June-July 1976 Palestinians hijacked an Air-France Air bus to Entebbe in Uganda. IDF commando units landed in Uganda, storm the plane and free most of the hostages.
Aug 13, 1976 Lebanese militias massacre over 2000 Palestinians in the Tel Al-Zaatar refugee camp, apparently with participation of Syrian troops. According to journalist Robert Fisk, the attack began when Yasser Arafat asked that the camps be considered a non-combat zone, and then ordered Fatah gunmen to open fire on Christian militia. Palestinians retaliated with a massacre of Christians in Damour.
June 20, 1977 Likud party and Begin government took office in Israel. Israeli settlement of the West Bank and Gaza was intensified following the rise of the Likud to power.
Nov. 20, 1977 Egyptian President Anwar Sadat came to Jerusalem, spoke in Israeli Knesset (Parliament).
Mar. 15, 1978 Israel invaded Lebanon (operation Litani) after the PLO hijacked a bus on the main Tel-Aviv to Haifa highway. UN resolution 425 of March 19, 1978 called for withdrawal of Israeli forces. Israel did not fulfill the terms of Resolution 425 until May 2000.
Sept. 17, 1978 Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli PM Menachem Begin, meeting at Camp David under the auspices of US President Jimmy Carter, sign framework agreements for peace in the Middle East and peace between Egypt and Israel.
Mar 26, 1979 Peace treaty signed between Egypt and Israel.
June 7, 1981 Israel destroys Iraqi nuclear reactor in daring raid.
Oct. 6, 1981 Egyptian President Anwar Sadat is assassinated while on the reviewing stand of a victory parade.
April 29, 1982 Israel completes return of Sinai to Egypt under the peace agreement, including Yamit settlement.
June 3, 1982 Attempted assassination of Israeli Ambassador Shlomo Argov in London apparently by Abu Nidal faction, backed by Iraq. Large scale bombings by Israel in Lebanon especially on W.Beirut (4Jun). PLO send First rockets at towns in N Israel since Jul 81.
June 6, 1982 Massive Israeli invasion of Lebanon to fight PLO. . UN Security Council Resolution 509 demands that Israel withdraw all its military forces forthwith, but Israel advances rapidly to Beirut, surrounding the capital by 13 Jun. Israeli cabinet is split on the sudden expansion of the war, beyond the 40 KM limit originally declared by Sharon.
June 9, 1982 Syrian Soviet SAM radar destroyed by Israel, Israeli-Syrian armor engagements.
Summer, 1982 Foundation of the Lebanese Shi’ite Hizbulla Islamist terror group.
Aug. 22, 1982 PLO evacuation of Beirut. About 14,000 leave. PLO headquarters in Tunis. Evacuation complete Sept 1.
Aug 23, 1982 Bashir Jemayeel made President of Lebanon.
Sept. 14, 1982 Lebanese President-elect Bashir Gemayeel assassinated, by explosion of a bomb operated by Habib Tanious Shartouni, apparently an agent of Syrian intelligence. Amin Gemayeel, his brother was elected instead, Sept 21.
Sept. 15, 1982 Israeli invasion of West Beirut
Sept. 16-17, 1982 Lebanese Christian Phalange units under Elie Hobeika, allowed by Israeli forces to enter the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatilla, massacre between 400 and 800 Palestinian civilians. Israel Gen. Yaron and others overheard incriminating conversations between Phalange officers but no action was taken by Israel to stop the massacre.
24 Sept, 1982 Peace Now movement holds record demonstration in Israel (~300,000), demanding end to war, commission of inquiry for Sabra and Shatilla
Nov 11, 1982 Israeli military headquarters in Tyre destroyed in an explosion, killing 75 Israelis and 16 of their prisoners.
Feb 8, 1983 Israeli Kahan commission found Ariel Sharon and others indirectly responsible for allowing the massacre in Sabra and Shatilla.
April 18, 1983 Hizbulla suicide bomber destroyed the American Embassy in Beirut, killing over 60 people.
May 17, 1983 Israel and Lebanon conclude an abortive non-belligerency agreement.
Sept.3, 1983 Israel began partial withdrawal from Lebanon.
Oct. 23, 1983 Hizbulla suicide bomber destroyed the US Marine compound in Beirut, killing 241.
Sept. 20, 1984 Hizbulla suicide bomber destroyed the rebuilt American Embassy in Beirut, killing 25.
June 1985 Israel unity government, headed by Shimon Peres, orders withdrawal from most of conquered Lebanese territory.
Nov. 1985 Jonathan Pollard arrested by US authorities for spying for Israel. He was ultimately sentenced to life imprisonment.
Dec 8, 1987 First Intifadeh - Stone-throwing Palestinian teens led by local groups took on the Israeli occupation, attacking Israeli soldiers relentlessly. The triggering incident may have been the death of four Palestinian workers in a road accident with an Israeli vehicle.
Jan. 1988 Foundation of the Hamas. Hamas published their Charter in August 1988, based on the forged Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and advocating destruction of Israel.
Nov. 15, 1988 Palestine National Council of the PLO declare a Palestinian state in absentia - See Palestinian Declaration of Independence
May 14, 1989 Israeli Peace Plan of May 14, 1989, calls for a negotiating process with the Palestinians very similar to the one actually implemented by the Oslo accords.
Oct 30, 1991 Madrid Peace Conference for peaceful resolution of the Middle East Conflict.
June 23, 1992 Labor party leader and former General Yitzhak Rabin, elected Prime Minister of Israel
Sept. 13, 1993 Oslo Declaration of Principles - Israel and PLO agree to mutual recognition, Yasser Arafat and PLO will be allowed to return to Gaza. PLO and Palestinian leadership renounce violence and use of terrorism, and agree to revise the PLO charter to remove chapters referring to destruction of Israel. Over the next, years, Israel withdraws from a small area (Area A) that is given to Palestinian sovereignty, a larger area (Area B) is given to Palestinian civil control only, while a third area of the West Bank and Gaza strip remains under total Israeli control. Israel does not dismantle any settlements, and the number of settlers and new settlements increases considerably.
Feb 25, 1994 Settler Baruch Goldstein opens fire on Muslims praying in the Tomb of Abraham mosque in Hebron, killing 30. This massacre formed the excuse for numerous terrorist acts by Hamas and other groups. Following the bombing, the Israel government placed restrictions on Hebron's Arab population and closed the Tomb to visitors for a an extended period. Goldstein's grave became a shrine for right-wing settlers. The shrine was dismantled by the Israeli government in 2,000.
April, 1994 Hamas carries out suicide bombings in Israeli towns of Afula and Hadera, killing 13, wounding 80.
May 1994 Yasser Arafat arrives in Gaza.
Oct 19, 1994 Hamas suicide bombing on a Tel Aviv bus kills 22, wounds 40.
July 24, 1994 Hamas suicide bomber blows up a Dan bus in Tel Aviv.
Oct. 26, 1994 Peace treaty between Jordan and Israel.
May, 1995 Israeli-Syrian peace negotiations seem close to conclusion.
Sept 28, 1995 Oslo Interim Agreement signed.
Nov. 4, 1995 Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin assassinated by right-wing Israeli fanatic Yigal Amir.
Jan 5, 1996 Israeli security service assassinates Palestinian terrorist Yihyeh Ayash, 'The Engineer," responsible for the death of over 60 Israelis. Ayash was lionized by Palestinians as a martyr and the PNA named a square after him in Jericho.
Feb. 25, 1996 Hamas suicide bomber blows up a No. 18 bus near Jerusalem's central bus station, killing 26 people and wounding 48 others. Less than an hour later, a second Hamas suicide bomb explodes at a soldiers' hitchhiking station near Ashkelon, killing one and injuring 31 others. The two attacks are said to be in retaliation for the slaying in Gaza of Yehiya Ayash.
March 3, 1996 A Hamas suicide bomber blows up a bus on Jerusalem's Jaffa Road, killing 19 people and leaving at least 9 wounded. The attack takes place on the same No. 18 bus line and almost at the same time as the previous week's attack.
March 4, 1996 Dizengoff Center Bombing - A suicide bomb is detonated in Tel Aviv's Dizengoff Center, killing 13, including children, and wounding at least 130 on the eve of Purim (anniversary of Goldstein massacre). Hamas claims responsibility.
June, 1996 Right-Wing Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu elected Prime Minister in Israel, replacing Shimon Peres.
Sept, 1996 "Al-Aqsa tunnel riots - Arab sources spread the false rumor that a gate opened in an underground tunnel tourist attraction by the Israeli government, endangered the foundations of the Al-Aqsa mosque. This caused several days of rioting and numerous casualties.
Jan 18, 1997 Israel and Palestinians reach agreement on Israeli redeployment in the West-Bank city of Hebron
March 21, 1997 Cafe Apropos Bombing - A Hamas suicide bomber detonates an explosion at the Cafe Apropos in central Tel Aviv, killing 3 Israelis and wounding 47 others.
July 30, 1997 Two suicide bombers strike in the Mahane Yehuda open-air market in Jerusalem, claiming at least 12 victims and wounding at least 150 others. Hamas and Islamic Jihad claim responsibility.
Sept, 1997 Israeli agents bungled an attempt to kill Hamas terrorist leader Khaled Mashaal in Jordan (Sept 26). To placate Jordanian public opinion, Israel subsequently released Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin from jail.
Oct. 1998 Wye River Plantation talks result in an agreement for Israeli redeployment and release of political prisoners and renewed Palestinian commitment to correct its violations of the Oslo accords including excess police force, illegal arms and incitement in public media and education.
May 17, 1999 Israel elects Labor party leader and Former General Ehud Barak as Prime Minister in a landslide. Barak promises rapid progress toward peace.
Jan. 2000 Israeli-Syrian peace negotiations resumed by PM Ehud Barak.
March, 2000 Israeli-Syrian peace negotiations fail when Hafez Assad rejects an Israeli offer relayed by US President Clinton in Geneva.
May 2000 Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon to international border is completed after many years of harassment by Hizbullah guerillas. UN declares Israel is compliant with Resolution 425, but the Hizbullah continues to harass Israeli positions, kidnapping three Israeli soldiers later in the summer.
May, 2000 Plan to turn over Abu Dis (Jerusalem suburb) to Palestinians is scuttled after Palestinians riot and Palestinian police open fire on Israelis.
June 10, 2000 Hafez Assad, President of Syria, dies. He is quickly replaced by his son, Bashar.
July, 2000 Israeli PM Barak, US President Clinton and Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat meet at Camp David in a failed attempt to hammer out a final settlement.
Sept. 28, 2000 Palestinians initiated riots after Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount, which is also the location of the Haram as Sharif, holy to Muslims. Violence was apparently encouraged by Fatah Tanzim, as admitted by Marwan Barghouti. Violence escalated rapidly from rock throwing to machine gun and mortar fire, suicide bombings and lethal road ambushes, including some incidents instigated by settlers against Palestinians. Israelis killed 15 Israeli Arabs in riots in September/October 2000, and over 2,000 Palestinians in retaliatory raids thereafter. Palestinians kill over 700 Israelis. Violence continues for over a year [to present - March 2003].
Dec, 2000 Talks begun at Taba continuing to January 2001 in different venues, end inconclusively.
Feb 6, 2001 Right-wing Likud leader Ariel Sharon elected Prime Minister in Israel replacing Ehud Barak and promising "peace and security."
April, 2001 Mitchell commission recommendations for restoration of peace, return to the negotiating table.
June 1, 2001 Dolphinarium Discotheque in Tel Aviv hit by suicide bomb, killing 20, including many teenagers. Islamic Jihad and Palestine Hizbulla both claim the bombing.
August 9, 2001 Sbarro pizzeria suicide bombing in Jerusalem by Islamic Jihad movement kills 15, wounds 130.
Aug 27. 2001 Israel assassinates Abu Ali Mustafa, Secretary General of the PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine)
Oct., 17, 2001 Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine assassinates Israeli tourism minister Rehav’am Ze’evi, known for extreme right-wing views, in retaliation for killing of Abu Ali Mustafa. After Palestine National Authority refuses to take effective action, Israeli troops enter Palestinian areas in the West Bank
Jan 3, 2002 Israel captures Karine-A carrying a boatload of illegal arms bound for Palestinian Authority as US envoy Anthony Zinni arrives to try to mediate a settlement.
March 2002 Amidst mounting violence, Saudi Prince Abdullah announces a peace plan, according to which Israel would withdraw from the occupied territories in return for Arab recognition.
March-April 2002 In retaliation for a series of suicide bombings, Israel mounts operation "Defensive Wall" in the West Bank, arrests Palestinian leaders and particularly Marwan Barghouti, imprisoning PNA Chairman Arafat in the "Mukata" compound in Ramalah and besieges militants in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. During the operation, about 50 people, including at least some civilians, were killed in the Jenin refugee camp, prompting charges of a massacre by Palestinians. A proposed UN investigation of the alleged massacres is abandoned after Israel refuses to cooperate. From objective reports, it appears that about 22 noncombatant civilians were killed in Jenin, either wrongfully and intentionally by Israeli troops, or when bulldozers crushed houses in the belief they were empty, or when booby-trapped houses exploded and fell in on their occupants.
May 2002 End of sieges in Mukata; Church of Nativity. Militants in church of nativity exiled abroad. Wanted men in Mukata jailed in Jericho. Head of PFLP allegedly coordinated a suicide attack from his cell in Jericho.
May 30, 2002 PNA Chairman Arafat, under pressure for reform, signs the 2002: PNA Basic Law that was passed several years ago by the PLC.
June 24, 2002 Controversial speech by US President Bush calls for Israeli withdrawal and Palestinian state, but insists the PNA must first be reformed and current leaders replaced. Israel moves to reoccupy the entire West Bank, with the exception of Jericho.
July 23 2002 Israel assassinates Saleh Shehadeh, head of Hamas Izzeldin-El Kassam armed brigades responsible for numerous terror attacks.
Nov 3, 2002 Israel government unstable as resignations of Labor party ministers become official.
Jan, 2003 Cairo conference of Palestinian groups, first in 20 years. Conference fails to agree on cease fire offer to Israel. Islamist movements say PLO no longer represents the Palestinian people.
Jan 5, 2003 Double suicide bombing in Tel Aviv kills 23, prompting increased action of IDF against Hamas.
Jan 28, 2003 Elections in Israel give wide margin (40 seats) to right wing Likud party, returning PM Ariel Sharon for another term.
Feb, 2003 Israel initiates a series of incursions in the Gaza strip and Nablus with numerous civilian casualties beginning at the end of February.
Mar 5, 2003 Hamas suicide bombing of Haifa bus kills 17. Qassam rocket fire from Gaza on Sderot brings Israeli reoccupation of parts of Gaza around Jebalya refugee camp.
March 6, 2003 Qassam rocket fire from Gaza on Sderot brings Israeli reoccupation of parts of Gaza around Jebalya refugee camp.
March 10, 2003 Central Council of the PLO meets in Ramalla and approves Chairman Arafat's proposal to nominate a Prime Minister. His nominee, Abu Mazen is also approved. The Council also condemns violence against all civilians. The appointment of a PM is due to Israeli and US pressure to reform the PNA and provide leadership other than Arafat, who is considered untrustworthy.
April 24, 2003 Bowing to international pressure, Yasser Arafat allows the nomination of Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) as new Palestinian PM. The Quartet (US, Britain, Russia and Spain) hope that he will institute reforms. Israeli government backs Abu-Mazen, promises concessions.
April 29, 2003 Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) appointed Palestinian PM & vows reform, but Arafat maneuvers to retain control. Violence continues. US released updated road map on April 30
June 4, 2003 Aqaba Summit - Abu Mazen and Ariel Sharon vow to stop violence, end occupation according to the road map. Hamas and Islamic Jihad vow to continue violence. Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad joined in killing four Israeli soldiers in Gaza (June 8) despite the call to end violence from Fatah leaders.
June 10-11, 2003 Failed Israeli assassination attempt on Hamas leader Ahmed Rantissi (June 10) and Hamas suicide attack that kills 15 in Jerusalem (June 11) jeopardize the future of the road map.
Aug 20, 2003 Hamas suicide bombing in a Jerusalem bus claims 21 lives
August 21, 2003 Israel, vowing that all Hamas leaders were now targets, assassinates Hamas leader Ismail Abu Shanab. Others killed in widespread operations in the West bank; Arafat moves to replace Abbas appointee Mohamed Dahlan as security chief in Gaza and to weaken Abbas.
Sept 6, 2003 Mahmud Abbas resigns; Failed Israeli assassination attempt on Hamas "spiritual leader" Ahmed Yassin, who is aged and crippled.
Sept 8, 2003 Yasser Arafat and Fatah/PLO name Ahmed Qureia ("Abu Ala") as PM to replace Mahmud Abbas.
Sept 10, 2003 Twin suicide bombings kill 15 in Israel; Israel moves against against buildings surrounding Yasser Arafat's Mukata compound on the following day. US official Condoleeza Rice insists that the Road Map is "still on the table."
Oct 4, 2003 Palestinian Islamic Jihad Suicide bomber kills 20 in Arab-Jewish owned Haifa restaurant.
Oct 5, 2003 Israeli jets strike a camp in Syria allegedly used for training Palestinian terrorists. The strike gets US approval.
Oct 9, 2003 Palestinian PM designate Ahmed Qurei submits his resignation to Chairman Yasser Arafat because of differences of opinion regarding the mandate and composition of his government's cabinet. Increasing rumors of Arafat's illness attributed variously to cardiac problems or stomach cancer.
Nov 12, 2003 Palestinian PM Ahmed Qurei forms a government after a long period of negotiations, pledging to end terror and chaos in the Palestine Authority
Nov 19, 2003 UN Security Council passes resolution 1515 in support of the roadmap for peace.
Nov 24, 2003 Israeli PM Sharon announces Disengagement Plan for unilateral withdrawal of Israeli forces if the roadmap fails to produce an end to terrorism.
Dec 2003 Geneva Accord peace plan of Yossi Beilin and Yasser Abed Rabbo officially launched in Geneva (it was leaked at at the beginning of November). December 8 - UN General Assembly meets in Emergency Session to adopt Resolution ES-10/14 asking the International Court of Justice to rule on the legality of the Israeli security barrier.
Feb 24, 2004 International Court of Justice begins hearings on the legality of the Israeli security barrier, Israel and Palestinians use the hearings as a platform for demonstrations about terror and the occupation.
March 22, 2004 IDF assassinates Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin.
April 14, 2004 Israeli PM Sharon meets with US President George Bush, gets letter supporting disengagement plan
April 17, 2004 IDF assassinates Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantissi.
May 2004 Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan turned down in Likud party vote May 2; After 6 Israeli soldiers are killed when their APC is blown up in Gaza, Israel launches operation Rainbow to stop infiltration of arms across the Egypt-Gaza border in Rafah and to widen the Philadelphi patrol road. Demolition of houses and killing of over 40 Palestinians including noncombatants evokes world protest; plans to widen the corridor by demolishing houses meet legal snags and international protest; Fatah-Tanzim leader Marwan Barghouti found guilty on 5 counts of murder; Arab summit in Tunis meets after postponement; Sharon proposes new disengagement plan.
July 9, 2004 International court of Justice (ICJ) rules that the Israeli security barrier violates international law and must be torn down. UN GA later votes to order Israel to dismantle the barrier. Israel announces that it will ignore the ruling, but makes changes in the barrier route according to the rulings of the Israeli High Court.
July 12-19, 2004 UN Envoy Terje Roede Larsen slammed by Palestinian leaders for issuing a report that claims there is chaos in the Palestinian areas. Fighting between Fatah factions breaks out in Gaza, amidst kidnappings of Palestinians and foreigners.
Aug 31, 2004 16 Israelis were killed in a suicide attack on a Beersheba bus. This was the first successful attack in many months. Another attack in the French Hill section of Jerusalem on September 22 killed one. During this period Israeli troops continued to operate in the West bank and Gaza, catching would-be terrorists, but also inflicting many casualties among civilians.
Sept 26, 2004 Hamas leader Izz El-Deen Al-Sheikh Khalil is assassinated by a car bomb in Damascus by Mossad agents. Hamas spokesmen announce they will consider attacking Israeli targets outside Israel. Under pressure from US, Syria forced many leaders of terrorist groups to leave Damascus.
Sept 29, 2004 Qassam rockets launched from Gaza kill two children in the Israeli town of Sderoth. Israel launches operation "Days of Repentance," occupying a large area in northern Gaza, demolishing houses and killing over 80 Palestinians by October 7.
Oct 7, 2004 Multiple suicide attacks in the Sinai desert against Egyptian tourist areas frequented by Israelis including the Taba Hilton hotel and Ras al-Shaitan (Ras Satan). About 27 persons killed, mostly Israelis. Initial reports attributed the attack variously to Al Qaida and to Palestinian groups, though Palestinian groups claimed no involvement.
Oct 25-26, 2004 Israel Knesset approves disengagement plan calling for withdrawal from Gaza with the support of Labor and Yahad leftist parties. Ruling rightist Likud members and NRP demand a referendum.
Nov 11, 2004 Yasser Arafat dies. Abu Mazen and Abu Ala share his powers. Abu Mazen is selected as the Fatah candidate for head of the PNA and will have little serious opposition after Marwan Barghouthi, who had announced his candidacy, drops out of the race in December.
Dec. 5, 2004 Egypt releases Azzam Azzam, Israeli Druze jailed in Egypt for 8 years on espionage charges.
Dec 12, 2004 An explosion destroys an Israeli Joint Verification Team (JVT) terminal near the Egyptian-Gaza border, within Israel. Five Israeli soldiers killed. The explosion was carried out by tunneling from the Gaza side and planting a huge explosive charge. Hamas and the Fatah Eagles take responsibility. The attack was not condemned by the PNA.
Dec 14, 2004 Egypt, US and Israel sign a three way trade agreement that allows Egypt to establish Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZ) with a small share (about 11%) of Israeli participation, with the output of those ventures exported to the US free of tariffs.
Jan 9, 2005 Mahmoud Abbas elected President of the Palestinian National Authority.
Jan 10, 2005 Ariel Sharon forms unity government with Labor and United Torah Judaism parties in Israel.
Feb 8, 2005 Sharm El Sheikh Summit Conference - Israeli PM Ariel Sharon, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, President Mubarak of Egypt and King Abdullah II of Jordan meet in Sharm El Sheikh. Abbas and Sharon announce an end to the violence. Israel will release over 900 Palestinian prisoners and withdraw from Palestinian cities. Jordan and Egypt will return ambassadors to Israel. The Intifada is deemed to be over.
Feb 20, 2005 Israeli cabinet approves plan for implementing disengagement.
Feb 25, 2005 Suicide bombing by Islamic Jihad kills 5 in Tel Aviv. Israel freezes planned handover of Palestinian towns.
Mar 1, 2005 London Conference hosted by Great Britain aims at organizing Palestinian security forces and getting financial backing for the Palestinian Authority.
Mar 16,2005 Cairo Conference - Palestinian militant groups agree to a tahediyeh - a lull in the fighting. Hamas and Islamic Jihad will join the PLO. Hamas will participate in May elections for the Palestine Legislative Council. Israel withdrew from Jericho and a week later it withdrew from Jericho.
May 26, 2005 Mahmoud Abbas received in White House by President George Bush and is promised an additional $50 million in aid. Bush declares US support for a settlement based on 1949 armistice borders. Israel releases about 400 prisoners and promises to withdraw from Palestinian cities in the West Bank. Commentary.
June 20, 2005 Would-be suicide bomber Wafa Bis arrested at Gaza checkpoint on her way to carry out a suicide attack against an Israeli hospital. Commentary.
June 21, 2005 Following visit of Condoleeza Rice, summit meeting between Abbas and Sharon ends in failure.
June 30, 2005 Gaza settlers initiate violent clashes, tale over an Arab house and attempt to lynch a Palestinian youth, Hilal Majaida near Muasi. Shimshon Sitrin, Avinoam Krispin are arrested. IDF raids Maoz Yam hotel in Gaza where about 100 right-wing disengagement activists have gathered, and evicts them.
July 13, 2005 Islamic Jihad suicide bomber kills 5 civilians in Netanya mall. (Commentary). IDF reoccupies Tulkarm. Hamas responds with massive rocket fire on Israeli settlements and inside Israel, killing one. Israel responds with massive manhunt against Hamas members in Hebron area and in Gaza, renewing the policy of assassinating terror leaders, claiming they are only killing those who are about to carry out terror attacks. PNA attack Hamas in Gaza, Hamas counterattacks. Civilians are killed in the cross fire.

Gaza Closed - Israel closes the Gaza strip to Israeli citizens other than residents. This follows extensive settler violence and is intended to thwart a mass march organized by the Yesha (settler's) councils intended to thwart the disengagement.
Aug. 15, 2005 Israeli evacuation of Gaza settlements and four West Bank settlements began on August 15 and was completed August 24.
Sept. 1, 2005 Last Israeli soldiers leave Gaza. Settlements handed over to Palestinians Sept. 12. Israel also evacuates four settlements in northern West Bank without incident. Palestinians loot and destroy greenhouses that were bought for them by Jewish philanthropists.
Sept. 15, 2005 Israeli PM Ariel Sharon addresses the United Nations, calls for peace, recognizes Palestinian rights, reasserts Israeli right to united Jerusalem, determination to fight terror
Sept. 15, 2005 Israeli Supreme court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, rules that the security fence is not contrary to international law. Text of Israeli High Court Ruling Regarding the Legality of the Security Fence
Sept. 23, 2005 After Palestinian authority bans parades with weapons in Gaza, but before the ban goes into effect, the last such parade held by Hamas ends in an accidental explosion that kills about 20 people. Hamas fires about 40 rockets on Sderot, in Israel. Israel responds with massive campaign of arrests in West Bank and targeted killings in Gaza; Hamas pledges to respect cease fire.
Sept. 26, 2005

Ariel Sharon wins crucial vote in Likud central committee, narrowly edging out opponents of disengagement who wanted early primaries in order to oust him.
Oct. 2005 PNA partial local elections give 55 seats to Fatah, 24 to Hamas. Fighting between Fatah and Hamas in Gaza kills 3.

The Population of Palestine Prior to 1948

2006-05-12T08:14:00.000-07:00

Introduction

The population figures for mandatory and Turkish Palestine are of historical interest and figure in many historical debates. The Zionist claim that Palestine was "a land without a people" is challenged by pro-Palestinian historians who cite census figures showing a substantial Palestinian-Arab population by 1914. The Zionists note that most of this increase seems to have occurred after 1880, when Jews began developing Palestine. In particular, Joan Peters ("From Time Immemorial") claimed that a large proportion of the population increase among Arabs was due to immigration. Pro-Palestinian historians try to make a case that Zionist settlement had begun displacing Palestinians before 1948.

The goal of the present is to examine the claims in the light of the best available statistical data, without supporting the contentions of either side, and without any intention either to denigrate from the tragedy of Palestinian refugees or to use the data to question Jewish claims to Palestine. The moral claims of the sides should not depend on percentages of population. In practice, I am aware that the data on this page have been used to support various partisan claims. That is precisely the sort of abuse that this material is intended to fight. The major conclusion is "The nature of the data do not permit precise conclusions about the Arab population of Palestine in Ottoman and British times" Anyone who pretends otherwise is deliberately misleading you. We can reach some general conclusions - Palestine was not empty when Zionists started arriving, there was some Arab immigration as well etc. But we cannot give a precise number in any case, and even if we could, it would not constitute evidence to back any moral claims.

Uncertainties in the data - Debates about the population of Palestine flourish because of the lack of good information and confusion over the meaning of census figures, and the will of partisans to distort history. Census figures of the Ottoman Empire were unreliable. Foreign residents were not counted, and illegal residents did their best to evade the census, as did people wishing to evade military services and taxes. The population figures of the British mandate were more reliable, but there was no published census taken after 1931. Mandatory figures for the period after 1931 are based on hospital and immigration records and extrapolation, it seems. Nomadic Bedouin were not counted or undercounted in both Ottoman and British censuses. Those who became settled in Palestine would then add to population figures. In studying the population of Palestine between 1800 and 1948, we must keep in mind that there was only one agreed-upon reliable census in all that time, which took place in 1931. The British census of 1922 was taken in less than settled conditions, and may have undercounted the population. The Ottoman figures certainly undercounted. The census data of 1922 and 1931 and the estimates based on these censuses have also been challenged but they appear to be internally consistent. That is, in the main, the number of people reported by the British mandate in 1922 and 1931 is consistent with the rates of natural increase that they reported. The numbers given in the 1945 survey are about 100,000 or more below what would be expected based on the number of refugees and remaining population in 1948. Uncertainties in infant mortality and underreporting of births would not account for all of this discrepancy. It could be due to illegal immigration or in part to settling of nomadic Bedouins in the Palestinian Arab population..

Economics and Immigration - Under the British Mandate, which began after WWI, Jewish population increased due to immigration, especially in the 1930s. Arab population also increased at an exceptional rate. According to records, about 18,000 non-Jews entered Palestine between 1930 and 1939 when there were more or less reliable figures. In the same period, about 5,000 non-Jews left. This does not count illegal immigration of course, or immigration prior to 1930. Economic analyses show that by the 1930s the standard of living of Palestinian Arabs was approximately twice that of Arabs in surrounding countries, whereas in Ottoman Turkish times it was lower than in surrounding countries. Some of the farm population may have suffered economic hardship, characteristic of any industrializing and urbanizing society, but in the main, the standard of living improved, and it improved much faster than it did in surrounding countries. There is no doubt that this improvement in conditions was an attractant for immigrants as well as resulting in improved health and larger families. Additionally, British activity in building the port of Haifa during the 1920s and in operating it during WW II undoubtedly attracted at least some immigrants. However, there is no hard evidence that more than 100,000 or 200,000 (out of about 1.3 million in all of Palestine, and about 7-800,000 in the area that was to become Israel in 1948) Palestinians had immigrated to the land that was to become Israel. It is impossible to determine at present when this immigration took place. 100,000 Arabs immigrating in 1880 would have produced many more descendants by 1948 than 100,000 Arabs immigrating in 1930. However, since economic conditions did not improve until mandatory times, it is unlikely that the bulk of the immigration occurred under Turkish administration.

Joan Peters, in her book "From Time Immemorial," argues that most of the increase in Arab population was in fact due to illegal Arab immigration. Her figures are not accepted by most demographers and historians, including Zionists. Norman Finkelstein and others have criticized her thesis and shown evidence of poor scholarship. Finkelstein's analysis also shows that the largest increases of Palestinian Arab population occurred close to Jewish population centers in Palestine, which would argue against the Palestinian contention that the Zionists were dispossessing Arabs. We do not know if this increase was due to population shifts in Palestine or immigration from outside Palestine. It is certain that there was at least some illegal Palestinian-Arab immigration, as noted in British mandatory reports. Immigration from Transjordan was not illegal, and was not recorded as immigration at all until 1938. Beginning in the 1920s when they built Haifa port, and especially during and just prior to World War II, the British recruited Arab workers from the Houran in Syria and elsewhere. Arabs also came to Palestine before the war, attracted by higher wages. However, since much of the depletion of Palestinian population that had occurred in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was due to migration to neighboring countries, many of these returning Arabs may have been families returning to Palestine.

About this page - This page is the result of an ongoing analysis. It is not intended to be an exhaustive demographic study. Corrections and additions are most welcome.

Major Conclusions

1. The nature of the data do not permit precise conclusions about the Arab population of Palestine in Ottoman and British times, and the relative contributions of natural increase and immigration, imprecision in the counts and other issues.

2. Palestine was not an empty land when Zionist immigration began. The lowest estimates claim there were about 410,000 Arab Muslims and Christians in Palestine in 1893. A Zionist estimate claimed there were over 600,000 Arabs in Palestine. in the 1890s. At this time, the number of Jewish immigrants to Palestine was still negligible by all accounts. It is unlikely that Palestinian immigration prior to this period was due to Zionist development. Though uncertainty exists concerning the precise numbers of Arabs living in the areas that later became Israel, it is very unlikely that the claims of Joan Peters that there were less than 100,000 Arabs living there are valid.

3. Zionist settlement between 1880 and 1948 did not displace or dispossess Palestinians. Every indication is that there was net Arab immigration into Palestine in this period, and that the economic situation of Palestinian Arabs improved tremendously under the British Mandate relative to surrounding countries. By 1948, there were approximately 1.35 million Arabs and 650,000 Jews living between the Jordan and the Mediterranean, more Arabs than had ever lived in Palestine before, and more Jews than had lived there since Roman times. Analysis of population by subdistricts shows that Arab population tended to increase the most between 1931 and 1948 in the same areas where there were large proportions of Jews. Therefore, Zionist immigration did not displace Arabs. For a detailed discussion that focuses on this myth, please refer to Zionism and its Impact.

4. Historic population data in Palestine during Ottoman times and during Mandatory times show significant discrepancies. For example, figures reported by Rodinson for 1930 population of Arabs are about 100,000 too low according to census figures for 1931

5. It is not possible to estimate illegal Arab immigration directly, but apparently there was some immigration. The total Arab immigration to Palestine recorded or estimated by the Mandate government was in the neighborhood of 45,000. Illegal immigration that was not recorded would not register in the final population figures for 1945, because those figures were estimates. We simply do not know how many Arabs and Jews there were in Palestine before the declaration of the state of Israel. It is probable that there were about 100,000 Arab immigrants into Palestine. An unknown number may also have migrated internally, from the Arab areas in the West Bank that were formerly the centers of commercial activity and population to the coastal plain and Galilee. The Arab population increase of areas with large Jewish settlement was about 10% greater than that in areas without Jewish settlement. This effect cannot be totally separated from urbanization. A population of approximately 103,000 Bedouin (1922 estimate reported in the 1927-1929 reports of the Mandatory) may have been excluded or included in different population figures as the authorities and demographers saw fit. There is no way to know how many of these Bedouin made a permanent home in Palestine or how many became part of the city population in the course of industrialization between 1922 and 1948. However, the evidence indicates that they were in fact included in all the official population figures. This is shown by the fact that estimates of Muslim population that explicitly do not include Bedouin were significantly lower than the census figures, and by the fact that population growth is consistent with figures for natural increase if we assume that the Bedouin were included.

5. There are large discrepancies between official population figures and the number of Palestinian refugees - An analysis of population by subdistricts and villages, using the data of the Palestine Remembered Web site, shows that there were about 735,000 Muslim and Christian Arabs in Palestine in 1948. There would not have been more than 620,000 refugees in 1949 if these figures are correct, since the Israeli census showed 156,000 non-Jews living in Palestine in November 1948, of whom about 14,000 were Druze. The number of refugees reported by UNRWA in 1948 was 726,000. It might indicate that an unregistered and illegal population of 100,000 was included in the refugees, or it might be due to serious and systematic undercounting of Arab population by the Mandate authorities. McCarthy suggests that there was such undercounting, yet his figures for the total population of Palestine agree with projections based on official figures for 1945.

6. There are serious discrepancies in reporting of the number of refugees by UNRWA. In 1949, UNRWA reported 726,000 refugees. By 1950 they reported 914,000 according to one source (McCarthy), an increase of 26% that could not come either from births or further displacement of refugees, which were negligible.

7. The city of Jerusalem has had a Jewish majority since about 1896 - The city of Jerusalem itself there was a Jewish majority since about 1896, but probably not before. The district of Jerusalem (as opposed to the city) comprised a very wide area in Ottoman and British times, in which there was a Muslim majority. This included Jericho, Bethlehem and other towns. Within the Jerusalem district, there was a subdistrict of Jerusalem that includes many of the immediate suburbs such as Eyn Karem, Beit Zeit etc. In that subdistrict, the Jews remained a minority , with only about 52,000 out of 132,000 persons in 1931 for example.

Population of Ottoman Palestine

The population of Ottoman "Palestine" is difficult to estimate, because:

1. There was no administrative district of Palestine. Turkish census figures were for various districts, including the Jerusalem, Acco and Nablus districts for example. The Acre district included areas in Lebanon, outside the modern borders of Palestine in which there were no Jews.

2. Turkish census figures did not include Bedouins (estimated at a few thousand) and foreign subjects. A considerable proportion of the Jews retained their foreign nationality (usually Russian) in Ottoman Palestine.

3. Both Arabs and Jews avoided the Turkish census. Foreigners who were without residence permits did not want to make their presence known. Arabs and Jews wished to avoid taxes and conscription.

4. In the 19th century, only Muslims were subject to the draft, and accordingly, Muslims tended to avoid the census.

5. According to Justin McCarthy, the census tended to undercount women and children.

6. The Turkish census data were not published regularly, so only partial data are available.

As the data are ambiguous, different sources give different estimates. In particular, Zionist sources may exaggerate the number Jews in earlier years and undercount Arabs, and Arab sources According to Bachi, (cited here) there were there were 489,200 Arabs (Muslims and Christians) in Palestine in 1890 and 42,900 Jews.

According to Beinin and Hajjar the Turkish census for 1878 listed 462,465 Turkish subjects in the Jerusalem, Nablus and Acre districts: 403,795 Muslims (including Druze), 43,659 Christians and 15,011 Jews. In addition, there were at least 10,000 Jews with foreign citizenship (recent immigrants to the country), and several thousand Muslim Arab nomads (Bedouin) who were not counted as Ottoman subjects.

However, according to the data of Karpat, cited here, in the Ottoman Turkish Census of 1893, there were 371,959 Muslims and 42,689 Christians, for a total of 414,648 Arab Palestinians, and only about 9,000 Jews. The data of Beinin and Hajar probably include subdistricts of the Acre Sanjak that are in modern Lebanon. Everyone agrees that the numbers for Jews and Muslims are far too low. Rupin (cited in the same article here) claimed there were a total of 689,275 persons in Palestine in 1893, of whom about 80,000 were Jews. This number is probably an overestimate.

According to Justin McCarthy, in 1860, there were 411,000 Arabs in Palestine, in 1890 there were 553,000, in 1914 there were 738,000, but in 1918 there were only 689,000. As there was no census in several of those years, it is not clear how he draws these conclusions McCarthy tells us that these numbers have been adjusted for undercounting of women and children, accounting for the differences between McCarthy's figures and census data. The drop during the war may have been caused by famine and disease as McCarthy claims but he doesn't note that in 1922, the British census listed only 660,641 Arab Palestinians (Christians and Arabs, see table below) nor does he explain the drop from 1918. Perhaps the earlier figures include areas of Palestine not included in the mandate or other overestimates.

By 1908, according to Dr. Hala Fattah ( http://www.jerusalemites.org/jerusalem/ottoman/1.htm ) :

:" when Sultan Abdul-Hamid II's rule collapsed, it was estimated that the Jewish population of Palestine had risen to 80,000, three times its number in 1882, when the first entry restrictions were imposed." Other estimates put Jewish prewar population as low as 40,000 and as high as 100,000.

According to Arjan El Fassed in 1912 there were only 40,000 Jews and 525,000 Arabs in Palestine. However, Beinin and Hajjar claim that the "Arab population in 1914 was 683,000. By the outbreak of World War I (1914), the population of Jews in Palestine had risen to about 60,000, about 33,000 of whom were recent settlers."

The war reduced both Arab and Jewish populations to some extent, so that there were variously, according to different sources, 40,000 to about 80,000 Jews in Palestine.

Comparing some of these numbers is illuminating. The census of 1893 gives a total of 414,648 Arab Palestinians. Rodinson (1968 - see table below) listed 469,000 Arabs for 1893, Bachi claimed there were 489,000, McCarthy estimated 553,000, and Rupin estimated about 600,000 all for approximately the same year. Likewise, as noted, there were wide discrepancies for Jews as well. Maxime Rodinson (see table below) claimed there were only 7,000 Jews in 1870, and 10,000 in 1893 (apparently taking the Jewish population figures, but not the Arab ones from the Turkish census of that year) while Bachi estimated that there were about 42,000 Jews in 1893. Hala Fattah claimed about 80,000 Jews in 1908, while Maxime Rodinson listed only 60,000 in 1914.

The data for Arab population estimates are given below. The Census of 1922 is the British Census of course, while that of 1893 is the Ottoman Census. As we can see from inspection there is no agreement between the numbers. In part this may be because they refer to different areas and some include subdistricts that were not part of Palestine after 1918. The origins of these data are not really known. McCarthy's prewar figures are probably overestimates of Arab population, even assuming great undercounting in the Turkish census.
Table 1: Comparison of different estimates of Arab Population of Ottoman Palestine
Bachi Census Rodinson Rupin McCarthy
Beinin & Hajar
1860 411,000
1870 367,224
1878 447,000
1893 489,000 414,648 469,000 600,000 553,000
1912-14 525,000 738,000
1918 689,000
1922 660,641

To give an idea of the variability and uncertainty in Ottoman data, Table 1-a presents estimates of population in the Qouds (Jerusalem) district, which comprised about 2/3 of the future area of Palestine
Table 1a: Ottoman population figures for the Qouds District1
Year2: 1885 1890 1900 1910
Population: 233.2 336.13 341.6 382.1

1. Data are from the statistics compiled by Jan Lahmeyer at the Populstat Web site using various sources.

2. The actual years are given as 1884/5, 1890/1, 1900/1, 1910/1911

3. An average value taken from two estimates by the same source.

It is very unlikely that the population increased by 44% in 5 or 6 years between 1885 and 1890, or that in 25 years the population increased 63%
The Areas of Jewish Settlement under the Ottoman empire

The principle arguments center around the population of Arab Palestinians in the areas of Palestine that were eventually included in the state of Israel in 1948. In 1948, it is estimated that these areas included some 800,000 Arabs (there is no certainty about this figure either. Joan Peters claimed that the population of these areas was about 92,000 in 1893, based on population figures for the seven Turkish subdistricts that approximately comprised Palestine in 1948. This would mean that Jews, who numbered perhaps 85,000 according to optimistic estimates, might comprise the largest single minority in that area. The origin of these figures is uncertain, since the Turkish census gave 198,000 non-Jewish persons for these subdistricts, probably an underestimate, and Cuinet, a traveler of this period, estimated about 186,000
Table 2: Arab Population of Future Area of Israel in 1893
Peters Cuinet Turkish Census
92,000 186,000 198,000

If we assume that the initial population was 200,000 in 1893, and that there was a yearly natural increase of 2.7%, we would reach the figure of 820,000 in 1948, without assuming any immigration at all. Assuming that the Ottoman census undercounted, this is not an unlikely surmise. For all of Palestine, between 1922 and 1931, the census figures for non-Jews, correspond to an annual increase of about 2.9%, while between 1931 and 1948 they correspond to an increase of 2.0%. This difference may be due to undercounting in the 1922 census or errors in the estimate after 1931, or to drops in the actual birthrate.

If we accept Peters' figures, then we would have to assume that the shortfall was made up by an additional immigration of somewhat under 100,000 Arab Palestinians since 1893, some of whom would have had considerable offspring by 1948. However, as Yehoshua Porath has shown (see note below) Peters' figures are very unlikely.
Population of Mandatory Palestine

A. Population Growth in Palestine

There were only two censuses taken in Mandatory Palestine, in 1922 and in 1931. All other figures for population of mandatory Palestine are based on reported births and deaths and immigration. The Anglo-American survey of 1945 provides valuable additional data for population in that year, but it too is probably incomplete. Zionists point out that data after 1931 do not reflect illegal immigration of Arabs, as well as Jews, while pro-Palestinians believe that the census omitted many Bedouin and understates the Palestinian birthrate. Justin McCarthy asserts that the census of 1922 was done carelessly, and other Palestinian sources challenge the data from 1931.

Jewish population during the mandate and immigration - The census of 1922 listed 83,790 Jews in Palestine. The census of 1931 listed 174,606. The Anglo-American report of 1945 listed 608,000 Jews in Palestine. According to the Israel Statistical Abstract, there were 716,000 Jews recorded in November 1948 and 758,000 recorded at the end of the year. It is not possible to ascertain the actual number of Jews present at the birth of the state, but the number given is generally 650,000. Considerably numbers of immigrants entered immediately after the state was declared. A net immigration of 216,000 Jews was recorded for 1930-1939. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, about 483,000 Jews immigrated to Palestine between 1919 and 1948.

Arab population and illegal immigration - The Anglo-American report of 1945 listed about 1,222,000 Muslim and Christian Arabs in Palestine and 15,000 "others." . The mandatory blue book reports for the 1920s estimated about 25,000 illegal Arab immigrants in total that were not recorded. The 1937 Mandatory report estimated about 25,000 legal Arab immigrants over the entire period.

In addition the report notes:

"5. There has been unrecorded illegal immigration both of Jews and of Arabs in the period since the census of 1931, but no estimate of its volume will be possible until the next census is taken."

The data concerning legal immigration of Arabs were also reported occasionally in the annual reports of the Mandatory submitted between 1923 and 1938) but in a haphazard and obscurantist fashion.

The table below summarizes approximate population growth in Mandatory Palestine
Table 3: Approximate population growth in Mandatory Palestine
Year

Source
Total Moslems Jews Christians Others
(No.) (%) (No.) (%) (No.) (%) (No.) (%)
1922 Census 752,048 589,177 78.34 83,790 11.14 71,464 9.50 7,617 1.01
1931 Census 1,033,314 759,700 73.52 174,606 16.90 88,907 8.60 10,101 0.98
1937 Estimate 1,383,320 875,947 63.32 386,084 27.91 109,769 7.94 11,520 0.83
1945 Survey2 1,845,560 1,076,780 58.35 608,230 32.96 145,060 7.86 15,490 0.84
19471 Projection 1,955,260 1,135,269 58.06 650,000 33.24 153,621 7.86 16370 0.84

1. Figures for Jewish population were estimated to include immigration. 650,000 is the accepted number. Number of others were estimated based on average rates of increase in 1922-1945. The source http://www.palestineremembered.com/Acre/Maps/Story574.html gives the number 608,250 for 1945 as a revised survey figure and this number is generally accepted. However, Rodinson and others list the survey numbers as if they are for 1946 rather than 1945.

2. These widely quoted numbers are apparently likewise based on the official estimates and were not due to a special survey. A copy of the report (abridged) that is on the Web gives only figures for 1944 (not revised for Jewish illegal immigration and of course not revised for Arab illegal immigration, which has never been estimated). It states:

Population

4. According to official estimates, the population of Palestine grew from 750,000 at the census of 1922 to 1,765,000 at the end of 1944. In this period the Jewish part of the population rose from 84,000 to 554,000, and from 13 to 31 percent of the whole. Three-fourths of this expansion of the Jewish community was accounted for by immigration. Meanwhile the Arabs, though their proportion of the total population was falling, had increased by an even greater number-the Moslems alone from 589,000 to 1,061,000.*

It seems likely that the Survey supplement numbers are from 1945, the year when the survey was done, and not from 1946 as is often stated. The reason is that in the body of the survey, prepared before these data were available, it gives figures for 1944 as quoted above. Projecting a birthrate of about 30.7 would give figures larger than the above for 1945, and certainly for 1946.
Table 4: Palestine Mandate: Growth of Non-Jewish population from 1922 - 1937

The report of the mandatory for 1937 lists population calculated according to the two census and according to estimates of population made based on immigration, emigration births and deaths in intervening years. No allowance is made for illegal immigration in these figures. These figures are given in the table below, along with calculated rates of increase for each year.
Year Muslims % Christians % Total "Arabs" % Others % Jews %
1922 589,177 71,464 660,641 7,617 83,790
1923 609,331 3.421 72,090 0.876 681,421 3.145 7,908 3.820 89,660 7.006
1924 627,660 3.008 74,094 2.780 701,754 2.984 8,263 4.489 94,945 5.894
1925 641,494 2.204 75,512 1.914 717,006 2.173 8,507 2.953 121,725 28.206
1926 663,613 3.448 76,467 1.265 740,080 3.218 8,782 3.233 149,500 22.818
1927 680,725 2.579 77,880 1.848 758,605 2.503 8,921 1.583 149,789 0.193
1928 695,280 2.138 79,812 2.481 775,092 2.173 9,203 3.161 151,656 1.246
1929 712,343 2.454 81,776 2.461 794,119 2.455 9,443 2.608 156,481 3.182
1930 733,149 2.921 84,986 3.925 818,135 3.024 9,628 1.959 164,796 5.314
1931 753,812 2.818 87,870 3.394 841,682 2.878 10,024 4.113 172,028 4.388
1932 771,174 2.303 90,624 3.134 861,798 2.390 10,281 2.564 180,793 5.095
1933 789,980 2.439 95,165 5.011 885,145 2.709 10,532 2.441 209,207 15.716
1934 807,180 2.177 99,532 4.589 906,712 2.437 10,746 2.032 253,700 21.267
1935 826,457 2.388 103,371 3.857 929,828 2.549 10,896 1.396 320,358 26.274
1936 848,342 2.648 106,474 3.002 954,816 2.687 11,219 2.964 370,483 15.647
1937 875,947 3.254 109,769 3.095 985,716 3.236 11,520 2.683 386,084 4.211
Average Increase 2.680 2.909 2.704 2.800 11.097

The numbers in Table 4, given in the Mandatory report of 1937, are only in approximate agreement with numbers reported by the mandatory for the same years elsewhere. The differences are apparently random. For example, for 1928, the above table lists 79,812 Christians, but the 1928 Mandatory report listed only 78,463. On the other hand, the mandatory report lists only 753,812 Muslims for 1931, but the census listed a total of about 759,000 or 761,000 (depending on whether you take the Statesman's Yearbook figures or British mandate figures)

The above series has unexplained fluctuations in annual increase of Christian and Muslim populations that could be due to immigration, or to undercounting and padding to make figures agree with census data, or other errors. For example, in 1933, the number of Christians is shown to increase by over 5% in a single year, an increase that might be accounted for by immigration. A note in an earlier mandatory report indicates that many Palestinians who had immigrated to the United States returned because of the severity of the depression. In 1923, the numbers recorded for Muslim Arabs represent a 3.4% increase over the census of the previous year, while those for Christian Arabs represent an increase of only 0.876%.

Population increase versus natural increase - Chapter 4 of the Anglo-American Survey of 1945 gives the following table for natural increase. As usual when dealing with mandatory data, there are unexplained lacunae:
Table 5: Palestine Mandate: Average Annual Rate of Natural Increase per 1,000
Years Moslems Jews Christians
1922/25 28.27 20.44 20.18
1928/30 26.19 22.70 20.00
1931/35 24.97 20.91 20.85
1936/40 27.68 17.75 20.77
1941/44 30.71 17.83 18.89

The natural "increase" numbers are somewhat suspicious. Beginning with the figures of the 1922 census, and using the natural increase figures to determine the population, we would have 1,061,464 Muslims in 1944 instead of 1,061,000, a close agreement. However, the Anglo-American survey indicated that there were 19,000 Muslim immigrants in addition between 1922 and 1944, and presumably some of these immigrants would have had children, so the numbers are about 30,000 below what they should be. Even so, the rates of "natural increase" for 1941-44 are suspiciously high, as though the data were "fixed" to give larger numbers. For Christians, the survey data of 1945 give 145,060, but the natural increase data would give only about 113,2200, suggesting a net immigration of perhaps 20,000 or 25,000 between 1922 and 1945, plus offspring.

Discrepancies in reported Data

The last year for which we have census data is 1931. The census figures are reported differently in different sources, but the variations are minor. They are in fair agreement with British Mandatory report data listed in the 1937 Report of the Mandatory for 1931. The Report of the mandatory listed about 753,000 Muslims for 1931, while the census figures are quoted as giving 759,000 or 761,000. The data follow approximately from the published birthrates. Other estimates of Arab population are somewhat different. McCarthy's figure apparently includes Druze, and Rodinson's figure may include only Muslims.
Table 6: Estimates of Arab Population of Mandatory Palestine in 1930-31
Census McCarthy Rodinson1
848,607 860,000 763,000

1 Data are for 1930
Population of Arabs in 1948 Israel and Number of Refugees

The number of Arabs residing in Palestine as citizens in 1948 and consequently the number of refugees, is a matter of controversy.

McCarthy (article in Encyclopedia of the Palestinians, Philip Mattar Ed. posted at the Palestine Remembered Web site ) states the following:

Of the 1,358,000 Palestinian Arab citizens of Palestine in 1948, approximately 873;600 resided within what would become the Israeli borders, 485,000 without. The Israelis recorded 156,000 non-Jews in 1948, a number that included perhaps 1,000 non-Arabs, leaving 155,000 Palestinians in Israel. This means that 718,000 Palestinians either were refugees or died during the war. Note that this number depends on the somewhat imprecise estimation of the numbers who lived on both sides of the border before the war, and so should be taken as a mean estimate. However, statistically it cannot be wrong by more than 5 to 10 percent (for other analyses, see Khalidi, 1992; Bachi, 1977).

The above estimates which according to McCarthy "cannot be wrong by more than 5 to 10 percent" probably overestimate the population within the area of Israel by about 20% as we shall see. The 156,000 "non-Jews" recorded by the Israelis included about 15,000 Druze. McCarthy counts these apparently in all statistics though he writes:

" all non-citizens, as well as non-Druze listed along with the Druze under the category "Other" in the British data, should be excluded."

If he did not count the Druze, then how else could he report 860,000 Arabs in 1931, when the census reported less than 849,000? The extra 10,000 Druze seem to make up the discrepancy.

The above numbers are based on the assumption of McCarthy that the Mandate figures for mortality and fertility were wrong. So he has corrected by "fudge factors." If indeed the mandate numbers for fertility and mortality were wrong, the numbers found in the Census of 1931 would have been very different from the estimates given in previous years. They were not.

Palestine was divided into districts and subdistricts, and the data of the 1945 survey provide population figures by subdistrict. The population of each village and town is likewise known for 1944. Therefore we can estimate the population of Arabs who were in the areas that eventually formed the State of Israel within the borders of the "Green Line" armistice, though McCarthy claims that this is not possible

A map of the subdistricts used in 1946 is shown at right, with the borders of 1948 superimposed (green line), and some major towns in Red. Palestine had been redistricted since 1931, so that the Bethlehem and Jericho districts were abolished and incorporated into the Jerusalem district.

By using data of the 1945 (or 1946) survey and multiplying by a factor to allow for population increase in 1945- 1948, we can arrive at some estimates of total Arab (Christian and Muslim) population of Palestine. The total given in the Anglo-American Survey was 1,221,840, of which 1,076,780 were Muslims and 145,060 were Christians. Assuming a 3% annual growth rate (an overestimate because it includes both the Muslim and Christian populations, we would have 1,335,105 in 1948, which is very close to the total figure for all of Palestine given by McCarthy and can be accepted as correct. However, his estimate of 873;600 for the population residing within Israel is not necessarily correct.
Map of Subdistricts of Mandatory Palestine and Borders of Israel

Table 7 gives the Arab population of districts that became part of Israel, the number of Arabs (excluding Druze) remaining in Israel at the end of 1948 as given by the Israel Central bureau of Statistics and the calculated number of possible refugees. The data are taken from Web pages of the Palestine Remembered Web site. One page gives the total population of each district according to the Anglo-American survey that was done in 1945 or 1946. However, some districts were not included entirely in Israel. For these districts the population figures listed for each town in 1944 were used, as given in individual pages at the Palestine Remembered Web site, which are linked from the index page. In the second column are the estimated populations of these districts in mid 1948. These estimates were obtained by multiplying survey data by 109.27%, (9.27) ( assuming that the data were for 1945 or early 1946, and multiplying the 1944 population data for towns by 112.55% (12.55). These factors represent 3% annual growth for 3 years and four years respectively. We cannot know with certainty that the data presented by the Palestine Remembered Web site for the five districts partially included in Israel are complete or are intended to be complete. The sum of their figures is 120,999. The entire population of the five subdistricts was 527,000 according to the survey data.
Table 7: Palestine: Estimate of Arab Population and Refugees in 1949 Borders of Israel
Population
Subdistrict . 1944/51 19482
Safad 48,940 53,477
Acre 62,930 68,764
Tiberias 26,410 28,858
Beisan 17,340 18,947
Nazareth 41,930 45,817
Haifa 129,680 141,701
Jaffa 113,770 124,316
Ramla 101,430 110,833
Beersheba 6,480 7,081
Gaza 3 59,900 67,417
Hebron 3 19,820 22,307
Jerusalem3 24,700 27,800
Jenin3 7,759 8,733
Tulkarm3 8,820 9,927
Total 669,909 735,978
Arabs in Israel 19484 141,500
Refugees5 594,478

Notes

1. 1945 figures are from the Palestine Survey for entire subdistricts. 1944 figures are the sum of populations of each village and town in partial subdistricts. In some cases the figures include "other" populations such as Bahai and Druze who did not become refugees in appreciable numbers.

2. The estimates were arrived by assuming a population growth of 3% per annum, and providing for 3 years of growth for survey figures, and four years of growth for partial subdistricts.

3. These districts were not incorporated into Israel as a whole, and therefore only the population of villages and towns listed by Palestine Remembered is given. This gives villages with as few as 20 people. In only a few cases of tiny villages, population was marked "not available." Palestine Remembered has assured me that these figures are intended to be complete and accurate within reason. However, it has been pointed out that some towns such as Majdal in Gaza district may not be listed at all. Nonetheless, demographers of the Israel government who used the same method arrived at an even lower number. See Benny Morris, Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem 1947-1949, Cambridge University Press, 1988, Appendix I. According to that appendix, the total official number of "non-Jewish persons living in the part of Palestine that became Israel was given by the British as 725,000, That is about 10,000 less than the number projected above. Of those "non-Jews" there were about 14,000 Druze. However, at the time the Israel census bureau estimated that only about 102,000 Jews remained in Palestine, rather than the 156,000 listed currently for 1949 by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. That would have given a larger total than we have. The Israeli officials, according to Morris, simply assumed for some reason that the British value was 6% too large, and so they arrived at an even lower total than the one given in Table 7. The British analysis of refugees, which added 95,000 Bedouins (no proof is offered of their existence) in the Negev, and hypothetical illegal immigrant Arabs, arrived at a total of 711,000 refugees according to Morris and references.

4. The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics figures for November 1948 estimated 156,000 non-Jews in Israel. For 1949 they listed 158,000 non-Jews on average during the year. Of these about 14,500 were separately identified as Druze by the end of the year. The figures for "Arabs" quoted by Palestine Remembered may or may not include Druze.

5,. As noted, the table may underestimate population of individual districts where only parts of the district were incorporated into Israel, because no figures are given for some towns in Palestine Remembered. On the other hand, it is probable that the original population was smaller than the estimate.

Table 7 indicates that there might have been about 736,000 Arabs in the area that became Israel in 1948, and that about 595,000 may have become refugees . Allowing about 5% for additional population growth in 1948 and 1949, we might estimate 620,000 refugees. According to the figures cited by McCarthy, the number of refugees was very much larger. He estimated 718,000 refugees in 1948, and he cites the UNRWA as estimating 726,000 refugees. This is for 1948, when we have shown from the above that there were less than 735,000 Palestinian Arabs in the area that became Israel, of whom over 135,000 had remained in Israel. Note that the calculations of Table 7 assume that the estimates of the British Survey were in fact for 1945 or early 1946, and not for end of year 1946 as is apparently assumed by Palestine Remembered. The numbers found by the survey are only a small percentage above the numbers found by the 1945 British Village Statistics book, even if we exclude the vast decrease in Beersheba (about 1.8% average growth without Beersheva). The Village Statistics (Vilstat) of 1945 provides figures for end of year 1944. If the numbers were really for 1946, we would have to subtract about 3% from the above estimates. The difference cannot be made up from the numbers of Bedouin, because Bedouin did not become refugees, and because as shall be shown, the population figures apparently included most of the Bedouin.

By 1950, according to McCarthy (his Table 3), UNRWA estimated 914,221 Arab refugees plus 45,000 Jewish refugees. This number could not have occurred by population growth since 1948. Assuming that 726,000 is the correct figure in 1948, by 1950 there were 126% of the original numbers cited by the UN. No matter what fantastic values are assumed for Palestinian fertility rates, this increase is impossible. No population increases at the rate of 12% per annum. Israel did expel small numbers of Arabs from Majdal, Isdood and other areas after the war, but they could not make up this huge number. Relative to the estimate of 620,000 refugees in the above table, the value of 914,271 is an increase of 147% in two years, and that is certainly incorrect. Elsewhere, UNRWA estimates that there were only 870,000 refugees in 1953, a number that is more in line with realistic possibilities. If there had been 726,000 refugees in 1948, there would be 841,000 in 1953 using a 3% annual growth rate.
Estimate of Internal Migration of Population in Mandatory Palestine

The 1931 census, like the 1946 survey gave the population by subdistricts. These subdistricts were slightly different, since Jerusalem included Jericho and Bethlehem in 1946, but not in 1931, and there may have been other minor changes, but for the most part we can assume that the districts were similar. Therefore we can arrive at some conclusions regarding the increase in Arab population in different areas that were or were not settled by Jews.
Table 8: Palestine: Growth of Arab population in Jewish and non-Jewish Subdistricts
Subdistrict Total Moslems Jews Christians Others Arabs 1945 Arabs 1931 %Arab Growth %Jews
High % of Jews
Jaffa 409,290 95,980 295,160 17,790 360 113,770 75,713 150 72
Haifa 253,450 95,970 119,020 33,710 4,750 129,680 72,105 180 47
Jerusalem 253,270 104,460 102,520 46,130 160 150,590 105,046 143 40
Tiberias 41,470 23,940 13,640 2,470 1,420 26,410 19,190 138 33
Beisan 24,950 16,660 7,590 680 20 17,340 13,173 132 30
Ramla 134,030 95,590 31,590 5,840 10 101,430 62,083 163 24
Tulkarm 93,220 76,460 16,180 380 20 76,840 45,662 168 17
Nazareth 49,910 30,160 7,980 11,770 ---- 41,930 25,420 165 16
Total 1,259,590 539,220 593,680 118,770 6,740 657,990 418,392 157 47
Low % of Jews
Safad 56,970 47,310 7,170 1,630 860 48,940 36,035 136 13
Acre 73,600 51,130 3,030 11,800 7,640 62,930 44,846 140 4
Gaza 150,540 145,700 3,540 1,300 ---- 147,000 94,213 156 2
Hebron 93,120 92,640 300 170 10 92,810 67,496 138 0
Ramallah 48,930 40,520 0 8,410 ---- 48,930 39,061 125 0
Nablus 94,600 92,810 0 1,560 230 94,370 68,696 137 0
Jenin 61,210 60,000 0 1,210 ---- 61,210 41,407 148 0
Beersheba 7,000 6,270 510 210 10 6,480 51,094 13 7
Total 585,970 536,380 14,550 26,290 8,750 562,670 442,848 127 2
Total 1945 1,845,560 1,075,600 608,230 145,060 15,490 1,220,660 861,240 142 33

As shown in Table 8, areas of Jewish settlement had a growth rate of 157% in Arab population between 1931 and 1945, while in those with few or no Jewish settlers, the mean growth rate of Palestinian Arab population was 127%. Overall, the mean growth rate of Palestinian Arab population was 142% from 1931 to 1945. The urban areas Haifa had the highest growth rate, probably due to British port activity. There was a shift in population from the south and urban centers to the North. and Jerusalem, Ramla and Tulkarm had the highest growth rates. Jaffa, Haifa and Jerusalem. Excluding Beersheba district, where the census figures show a net loss of Arab population, the increase in non-Jewish areas was 142%. Therefore we cannot conclude that Jewish settlement displaced Arabs. On the contrary, Jewish settlement may have attracted Arabs, so that in the areas that that eventually became Israel in all probability there were more Arabs than there would have been without Jewish settlement. Another explanation is that the urban areas attracted Jewish settlers and Arabs because of better standard of living and employment opportunity. Health conditions were probably somewhat better in these areas as well. Note that Table 8 is not divided according to areas that did or did not become part of Israel. Therefore the data should not be misused to claim that a large number of Arabs present in Israel in 1948 had migrated from the non-Jewish areas of the West Bank and Gaza. Beersheba district, which became part of Israel, lost about 45,000 Arabs between 1931 and 1945, if we believe the survey.

The importance of the above is that it shows that rather than "dispossessing" or displacing the Arabs of Palestine, Zionist settlement apparently attracted them. The claim of dispossession is examined in detail in Zionism and its Impact..
Bedouin Population Statistics in Palestine
In the reports of the Mandatory for 1927, 1928 and 1929 there is a note in the population statistics that states:

*No figures are included for the nomadic Bedouin population, which in 1922 was estimated at 103,000.

No other reports of the Mandatory posted by the United Nations included detailed population statistics of that type, though summary statistics and immigration were reported periodically. This note has given rise to the idea, repeated in several sources, that Bedouin estimated at 100,000 in 1922 were not counted in any of the population data. However, the values for Muslim population given in these three notes in 1927 - 1929 are far below the 1922 census value of 589,000, and very far below the projected population growth that had to have taken place based on reported birthrates. Table 9 gives the projections for Muslim population based on the 1922 census and using the birthrates published in the Palestine Survey of 1946, the projections for Bedouin population using the same birthrates, and the difference between the two, which is the projected settled Muslim population. The last column gives the actual reported Muslim population in those years, which is a fair match for the projected figures. This seems to show that the census data and other values published as the number of Muslim Arabs in Palestine apparently included the Bedouin population. At least, we have no reason to think otherwise, and we have no other explanation for the low figures reported in the 1927-1929 Mandatory reports.. The total projected figures for Muslim population are about 13,000 below the actual census figures for 1931 which is fair agreement if we allow for migration and for various errors.
Table 9: Reported versus projected values for Muslim population in 1927-1929
Year Projected based on 1922 Census Reported
(Mandatory
Reports)
Total Muslim
(1922-589,000) Bedouin
(1922-103,000) Settled
(Total-Bedouin)
1927 677,301 118,406 558,895

545,225
1928 692,892 121,132 571,761

557,649
1929 710,824 124,266 586,558

572,443

Using the base of 103,000 Bedouin in 1922 and published birthrate figures for Muslims, there would have been 197,000 Bedouin in Palestine in 1948. This seems unlikely. In fact, in 1931, the district officer of the Beersheba subdistrict, Aref-El-Aref, who later achieved fame for writing a history of Palestine, estimated that there were 51,000 inhabitants in the district, including Bedouin. These numbers were carried forward and multiplied by a "factor" in the successive British population figures, until the Anglo-American survey, which could not find any Bedouin in the Negev, or else didn't look for them. The Bedouin population decreased either because they became settled and absorbed into the rest of the population or because they moved away. The borders imposed by the British and the strict control of the borders, as well as changes in the economy of the region, worked against the nomadic way of life. Many former Negev Bedouin must have remained in the much larger deserts in Sinai and neighboring Jordan, while other migrated north and settled down.

Since the population increase tracks the birthrate only if we include these numbers, this suggests that the shortfall might have been made up in part by unregistered immigrants who somehow came to be included in the census. This would be the case, for example, for wives acquired outside Palestine. Alternatively, the shortfall may be explained by the fact that Bedouin became sedentary and came to be included in the yearly counts. In modern Israel, nomadic Bedouin population has generally varied from 50-80,000. In any case, it is hard to see how the existence of uncounted Bedouin would affect Palestine population statistics at different times. Those Bedouin who are not counted in any census very probably were not permanent residents of Palestine, and weren't counted either as refugees, or in the British or Ottoman figures, or in the Israeli figures.

The Population of Jerusalem in Ottoman and British Times

The population of Jerusalem has been a matter of contention because of respective Jewish and Arab claims to the city. We must be careful to emphasize that the focus must be on the population of the city of Jerusalem within municipal boundaries, or of the population of "greater Jerusalem" including the the immediately surrounding Arab villages and neighborhoods such as Deir Yassin, Lifta, Beit Safafa etc. The population of the Palestine district of Jerusalem (approximately corresponding to Qouds in the Ottoman Empire) is irrelevant. The latter included a much wider area that encompassed Jericho, Bethlehem and other separate towns and villages. According to the Anglo-American Survey of 1946, the population of the city of Jerusalem in 1946 was made up as given in Table 10 below.

There was a plurality of Jews in Jerusalem in the late 19th century, but perhaps not a majority. Ottoman census figures underestimated the number of Jews, many of whom remained foreign nationals. However, we can be fairly confident that there has been a Jewish majority in the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem since before the beginning of the twentieth century.

Table 10 - Population of Jerusalem until 1945
Year Total Muslim Jewish Christian % Jews
18441 15,510 5,000 7,120 3,390 45.9
18762 25,030 7,560 12,000 5,470 47.9
18962 45,420 8,560 28,112 8,748 61.9
19223 52,081 13,411 33,971 4,699 65.2
19313 90,451 19,894 51,222 19,335 56.6
19454 164,330 33,680 99,320 31,330 60.4

1. This figure is quoted widely on the Web and is apparently the Ottoman census figure. It is given for example here.

2. John Oesterreicher and Anne Sinai, eds., Jerusalem, (NY: John Day, 1974), p. 1

3. British Mandate Census of 1922 and 1931

4. Anglo American Survey, 1945

In the subdistrict of Jerusalem within the Jerusalem district, the picture is different. The subdistrict included villages such as Lifta and Ein Karem that might properly belong as suburbs of Jerusalem, but it also included towns that were outside the "greater Jerusalem area" at least at the time. The subdistrict further included Bethlehem, Jericho and surroundings, which are scarcely relevant to describing the population of Jerusalem proper. In that whole area there were 132,600 persons in 1931, of which 78,000 were Arabs. The 1946 Anglo-American survey found about 150,00 Arabs in the Jerusalem subdistrict, and about 102,000 Jews.

Ami Isseroff

APPENDICES - ADDITIONAL PALESTINE DATA TABLES

Some additional tables and notes for mandatory and Ottoman Palestine are below.

The following table is given by Maxime Rodinson

(Rodinson, M., Israel and the Arabs, Penguin, 1968).
Table A-1 Estimated Population of Palestine 1870-1946 According to Rodinson
Year Arabs % Jews % Total

1870

367,224

98

7,000

2

375,000

1893

469,000

98

10,000

2

497,000

1912

525,000

93

40,000

6

565,000

1920

542,000

90

61,000

10

603,000

1925

598,000

83

120,000

17

719,000

1930

763,000

82

165,000

18

928,000

1935

886,000

71

355,000

29

1,241,000

1940

1,014,000

69

463,000

31

1,478,000

1946

1,237,000

65

608,000

35

1,845,000

* Figures are rounded.
Sources: The numbers in this table are estimates constructed from the following: Yehoshua Ben-Arieh, "The Population of the Large Towns in Palestine During the First Eighty Years of the Nineteenth Century, According to Western Sources" in Moshe Ma'oz, ed. Studies on Palestine during the Ottoman Period, Magnus, 1975; Alexander Scholch, "The Demographic Development of Palestine 1850-1882", International Journal of Middle East Studies, XII, 4, November 1985, pp. 485-505; "Palestine", Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th edn, 1911; "Palestine", Encyclopedia of Islam, 1964; UN Document A/AC 14/32, 11 November 1947, p.304; Justin McCarthy, "The Population of Ottoman Syria and Iraq, 1878-1914", Asian and African Studies, XV, 1 March 1981; Kemal Karpat, "Ottoman Population Records and the Census of 1881/82-1893", International Journal of Middle East Studies, XCI, 2, 1978; Bill Farell, "Review of Joan Peters", 'From Time Immemorial', Journal of Palestine Studies, 53, Fall 1984, pp. 126-34; Walid Khalidi, From Heaven to Conquest: Readings in Zionism and the Palestine Problem until 1948, Institute for Palestine Studies, 1971 appendix I; Janet L. Abu Lughod, "The Demographic Transformation of Palestine", in Ibrahim Abu Lughod, ed., The Transformation of Palestine: Essays on the Origin and Development of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, Northwestern University Press, 1971 pp. 139-63.

It must be understood that the figures in the above table are estimates. The figures for "1946" are actually the figures of the 1945 Anglo-American survey report. There was no census in most of the years given in the table above, and likewise in the estimates given below for Mandate population. However, the estimates for mandatory Palestine are in fair agreement. Rodinson gives 1.478 million total population in 1940, while the Esco figures estimate 1,544,530 for the same year. There is no explanation for the fact that 1930 figures are larger than the census figures of 1931.

Population Growth Estimates under the Mandate

These estimates are based primarily on the reports of the British Mandate for Palestine and the Mandatory censuses, conducted in 1922 and 1931. All figures following 1931 are estimates. There was an unknown amount of Arab and Jewish illegal immigration, which could only be estimated by the British authorities.

Source: http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/80859e/80859E05.htm
Table A-2 Population of Palestine, 1922-1942a,b
Year Total Moslems Jews Christians Others
(No.) (%) (No.) (%) (No.) (%) (No.) (%)
1922 Census 752,048 589,177 78.34 83,790 11.14 71,464 9.50 7,617 1.01
1931 Census 1,033,314 759,700 73.52 174,606 16.90 88,907 8.60 10,101 0.98
1931c 1,036,339 761,922 73.52 175,138 16.90 89,134 8 60 10,145 0.98
1932 1,073,827 778,803 72.52 192,137 17.90 92,520 8.61 10,367 0.97
1933 1,140,941 798,506 69.99 234,967 20.59 96,791 8.48 10,677 0.94
1934 1,210,554 814,379 67.27 282,975 23.38 102,407 8.46 10,793 0.89
1935 1,308,112 836,688 63.96 355,157 27.15 105,236 8.04 11,031 0.85
1936 1,366,692 862,730 63.13 384,078 28.10 108,506 7.94 11,378 0.83
1937 1,401,794 883,446 63.02 395,836 28.24 110,869 7.91 11,643 0.83
1938 1,435,285 900,250 62.72 411,222 28.65 111,974 7.80 11,839 0.83
1939 1,501,698 927,133 61.74 445,457 29.66 116,958 7.79 12,150 0.81
1940 1,544,530 947,846 61.37 463,535 30.01 120,587 7.81 12,562 0.81
1941 1,585,500 973,104 61.38 474,102 29.90 125,413 7.91 12,881 0.81
1942 1,620,005 995,292 61.44 484,408 29.90 127,184 7.85 13,121 0.81

Source: Esco Foundation (1947). (see http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/80859e/80859E05.htm )
a. Exclusive of members of His Majesty's Forces (Great Britain).
b. Adapted from table, "Estimated Population of Palestine," Statistical Abstract of Palestine 1943, p. 2.
c. The figures for 1931 and following years are as of 31 December of each year.
Table A-3 Recorded immigration and emigration, Palestine, 1930-1939
Year Immigration Emigration Net immigration
Jews Non-Jews Total Jews Non-Jews Total Jews Non-Jews Total
1930 4,944 1,489 6,433 1,679 1,324 3,003 3,265 165 3,430
1931 4,075 1,458 5,533 666 680 1,346 3,409 778 4,187
1932 9,553 1,736 11,289 xa x x 9,553 1,736 11,289
1933 30,327 1,650 31,977 x x x 30,327 1,650 31,977
1934 42,359 1,784 44,143 x x x 42,359 1,784 44,143
1935 61,854 2,293 64,147 396 387 783 61,458 1,906 63,364
1936 29,727 1,944 31,671 773 405 1,178 28,954 1,539 30,493
1937 10,536 1,939 12,475 889 639 1,528 9,647 1,300 10,947
1938 12,868 2,395 15,263 1,095 716 1,811 11,773 1,679 13,452
1939 16,405 2,028 18,433 1,019 977 1,996 15,386 1,051 16,437
Total 222,648 18,716 241,364 6,517 5,128 11,645 216,131 13,588 229,719

Source: Esco Foundation (1947). (see http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/80859e/80859E05.htm
a. "x" indicates that emigration was not reported.

The following tables were given in the reports of the Mandatory for the years 1927-1929 for birth and mortality statistics by population group.
Table A- 4: COMPARATIVE TABLE OF BIRTHS AND DEATHS BY RELIGIONS FOR THE YEAR 19271
Christians. Moslems. Jews. Others. Total.
*Population ... ... ... ... 76,839 545,225 147,687 8,618 778,369
Deaths... ... ... ... ... 1,545 18,031 1,987 243 21,806
Deaths per 1,000 of population... 20.1 33.07 13.45 28.19 28.01
Births... ... ... ... ... 2,991 30.586 5,182 434 39,193
Births per 1,000 of population... 38.92 56.09 35.08 50.35 50.35
Deaths of Infants under 1 year of age ... ... ... 560 6,631 598 68 7,857
Infantile Mortality Rate... ... 187.22 216.79 115.79 153.68 200.46

1 Report of the Mandatory, 1927
Table A- 5: COMPARATIVE TABLE OF BIRTHS AND DEATHS BY RELIGIONS FOR THE YEAR 19282
Christians. Moslems. Jews. Others. Total.
*Population ... ... ... ... 78,463 557,649 149,554 8,850 794,516
Deaths... ... ... ... ... 1,486 19,575 1,830

186 23,077
Deaths per 1,000 of population... 18.93 35.1

12.23

21.01

29.04

Births... ... ... ... ... 3,172 34,011 5,308

404

42,895

Births per 1,000 of population... 40.42 60.98

35.49

45.64

53.98

Deaths of Infants under 1 year of age ... ... ... 499 6,921 514 49 7,983

Infantile Mortality Rate... ... 157.31 203.49

96.83

121.28 186

2. Report of the Mandatory, 1928
Table A- 6: COMPARATIVE TABLE OF BIRTHS AND DEATHS BY RELIGIONS FOR THE YEAR 19293
Christians. Moslems. Jews. Others. Total.
Population* ... ... ... ... 80,225 572,443 154,330 9,066 816,064
Deaths... ... ... ... ... 1,439 18,133 1,820 242 21,634
Deaths per 1,000 of population... 17.93 31.67 11.79 26.69 26.51
Births... ... ... ... ... 3,036 33,053 5,257 396 41,742
Births per 1,000 of population... 37.84 57.74 34.06 43.67 51.15
Deaths of Infants under 1 year of age ... ... ... 473 6,775 472 66 7,786
Infantile Mortality Rate... ... 155.8 204.97 89.78 166.66 186.52
Natural Increase per 1,000of the population ... ... 19.9 26.06 22.27 16.98 24.64

3. Report of the Mandatory, 1929

Illegal Immigration in the 1930s

Under the pressures of the Arab revolt, the British government in Palestine reduced immigration quotas and took stricter measures to control illegal immigration beginning in 1938, as well as to curtail Jewish immigration. The excerpt of the mandate report of 1938 below shows that in fact, most of the illegal immigrants apprehended that were reported at different times were not Jewish, but "others." (the entire report of the mandatory is here:

( http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/cc68bab76ec42e79052565d0006f2df4?OpenDocument target = "n"

36. Jewish immigrants to the number of 12,868 were registered during the year. Of these, 1,753 were capitalist immigrants whose dependants numbered 1,722, 2,537 were students whose maintenance in an approved educational institution is assured, 2,573 were persons coming to employment whose dependants numbered 1,662, and 2,565 were dependants of residents of Palestine.
37. The Palestine Government has continued to take measures to check illegal immigration through the agency of His Majesty's Consular Officers abroad, by control arrangements at the ports and frontiers and by the employment of special preventive forces by land and sea.
Illicit immigration through the northern frontier is being more effectively controlled as the result of the construction of the frontier fence and frontier road and the employment of a special force of police in this area .The improvement of the existing control of illicit immigration by sea by the establishment of an organized coast guard service was under consideration at the end of the year.
38. Seven hundred and fifty-two persons, including 103 Jews who entered Palestine surreptitiously during 1935, were later detected, sentenced to imprisonment and recommended for deportation. Seven hundred and thirty-three deportations were carried out during the year, comprising 30 Jews and 703 other persons.

Seven Jewish and twelve other travellers were deported for overstaying their period of permitted stay in the country. In addition, 1,111 persons were summarily deported to Syria and Egypt.Towards the close of the year illicit immigration of Jews from countries of Central and Eastern Europe appeared to be on the increase, doubtless as a result of the further deterioration in the political, social and economic situation of Jews in those countries.

Population and Land Ownership prior to the UN Partition Resolution

An Anglo-American commission of inquiry in 1945 and 1946 examined the status of Palestine. No official census figures were available, as no census had been conducted in Palestine in 1940, so all their surmises and figures are based on extrapolations and surmises. According to the report, at the end of 1946, About 1,220,000 Arabs and 608,000 Jews resided within the borders of Mandate Palestine. Jews had purchased 6 to 8 percent of the total land area of Palestine. This was about 20% of the land that could be settled and cultivated. About 46% of the land was registered in the tax registers to Arab villages, to Arabs living on the land, or absentee owners, and about the same amount was government land. However, most of this land was not privately owned. The Arabs of Palestine had received much of their land in leases conditional upon cultivation or used land that was part of village commons. The partition borders were drawn to give the Jews a majority within the allotted area of the Jewish state, but the land conquered during the fighting included the populous Arab areas of the Galilee, as well as Arab towns such as Lod and Ramla. Greater Jerusalem, which was to be internationalized, included about 100,000 Jews and a larger number of Arabs.

Yehoshua Porath on Joan Peters and the Population of Palestine

(from http://www.nybooks.com/articles/5172 )
s

The main flaw in Mrs. Peters's arguments, which Mr. Sanders seems to accept, is her statement (in Mr. Sanders's words) "that in 1893 about 92,000 non-Jews were living in the main area of Jewish settlement; alongside a Jewish population that she gives as just under 60,000." By 1947, she argues, the number of non-Jews in those areas had quintupled while in other areas of Palestine it only slightly more than doubled. This difference, in her view, can be accounted for only by the factor of Arab migration. But how did Mrs. Peters arrive at the number of the non-Jews in "the Jewish-settled areas" of Palestine for 1893? Her claim that there were about 92,000 non-Jews is made on page 250 of her book and the reader is referred there for the source to Appendix V. However, in the appendix no source is given. Only in the next appendix devoted to methodology does she claim that she used "Turkish census figures" (p. 427). But in the footnotes to chapters 10–12, where the composition of the Palestine population during the nineteenth century is discussed, no reference is made to the Ottoman archives where Mrs. Peters would, if she had consulted them, have found the returns of the Ottoman censuses of 1893 and 1915 that she uses in Appendix V.

The Ottoman census returns, in fact, were never published. Therefore Mrs. Peters could use them only by referring to a secondary source based on research in the Ottoman archives. And indeed that is the case with the article by Kemal Karpat quoted by Mrs. Peters and cited above. Karpat's figures are given, presumably as they appear in the Ottoman census returns, according to subdistricts (Kaza). It is impossible to ascertain from the figures he cites which of the Ottoman subdistricts of Palestine correspond to what Mrs. Peters defined as "the Jewish-settled areas" of Palestine. But one does find such a characterization of Ottoman subdistricts in the work by Vital Cuinet mentioned in Mr. Sanders's letter. And if one consults Cuinet's book to find where in Palestine, in 1893, 59,431 Jews (the number quoted by Mrs. Peters on page 251 of her book) were living, one finds that exactly the same number is given for the aggregate of Jews living in the seven subdistricts (Kaza) of Acre, Haifa, Tiberias, Safed, Nazareth, Jaffa, and Jerusalem. Consequently, we now know precisely what Peters defines as "the Jewish-settled areas"; she is evidently referring to the seven Ottoman subdistricts mentioned by Cuinet.

Now we must consider the number of non-Jews living in those areas. According to Mrs. Peters (again on page 251), and apparently Mr. Sanders accepts her view, they numbered about 92,300, of which nearly 38,000 were Christians (making the number of Muslims about 54,300). But the Ottoman census figures in Karpat's table (pages 262 and 271 of his article) give the number of Muslims as 158,379 and of the Christians as 39,884, making a total number of 198,263 non-Jews in "the Jewish settled areas." If we use Cuinet's own figures we still do not get an estimate of the non-Jewish population that brings us much closer to the number of non-Jews claimed by Mrs. Peters. According to Cuinet's data on the seven Ottoman subdistricts comprising "the Jewish-settled areas" we have 124,686 Muslims and 61,964 Christians, a total of 186,263 non-Jews.[3]

Obviously, these figures are more than double the figure of 92,000 non-Jews given in Mrs. Peters's book. One could argue that the actual area defined by Mrs. Peters as "the Jewish-settled areas" is smaller than the total area covered by the seven subdistricts listed above, and the map published on page 246 of her book indicates such a possibility. But if this were the case, nowhere in her main text or in the methodological appendices (V and VI) did Mrs. Peters bother to explain to her readers how she managed to break down the Ottoman or Cuinet's figures into smaller units than subdistricts. As far as I know no figures for the units smaller than subdistricts (Nahia; the parallel of the French commune), covering the area of Ottoman Palestine, were ever published. Therefore I can't avoid the conclusion that Mrs. Peters's figures were, at best, based on guesswork and an extremely tendentious guesswork at that.

I would add that even a superficial glance at Cuinet's figures should make any serious historian recoil from using them. While the official Ottoman figures for the Muslims are underestimated for the reasons I earlier explained, Cuinet's are much more so. As far as his figures for the Christians are concerned, their main flaws are not only their inflated character but also the distortion in the estimates he gives for the various Christian communities. First, Cuinet found hardly any Greek Orthodox Christians living in Palestine (450 in the Haifa subdistrict and 169 in the Jama'in subdistrict of the Nablus district). But by all other accounts, this community was the largest single Christian community living in Palestine at the end of the nineteenth century; indeed, it is still the largest such community in the combined territory of present-day Israel, the occupied West Bank, and the Gaza strip.

Secondly, Cuinet claimed that substantial numbers of Syrian Orthodox Christians (about seven thousand) were living throughout Palestine, whereas in fact this Christian community was hardly to be found in Palestine at all. Its only presence in the country was a small monastery in Jerusalem. And thirdly and most absurdly, Cuinet claimed that precisely five thousand Maronites, who amounted to 10 percent of the population of the district, were living in the district of Nablus. But as everyone knows Maronites were to be found in the Middle East only in Mount Lebanon. The only exceptions were a cluster of villages in Cyprus and one village and half a village in the upper-most Galilee in northern Palestine (Bir'am and Jish in Israel of today), a direct extension of the Lebanese stronghold. No Maronites were to be found in the Nablus district and no other writer claimed that they were. Cuinet's mistakes were deliberately made in order to prove that Palestine, as much as Lebanon and Syria, should be put under French protection. His attitude is well known and requires that his material be used with great caution.

Since we are left with no sound basis for Mrs. Peters's figures for the population in the "Jewish-settled areas" in 1893, there is no need to account for the supposed quintupling of the Arab population in those areas by 1947; so dramatic an increase did not take place. It is true nevertheless that during the Mandatory period the Arab population of the coastal area of Palestine grew faster than it did in other areas. But this fact does not necessarily prove an Arab immigration into Palestine took place. More reasonably it confirms the very well-known fact that the coastal area attracted Arab villagers from the mountainous parts of Palestine who preferred the economic opportunities in the fast-growing areas of Jaffa and Haifa to the meager opportunities available in their villages.

The coastal area had several main attractions for the Arab villagers. They found jobs in constructing, and later working in, the port of Haifa, the Iraq Petroleum Company refineries, the railway workshops, and the nascent Arab industries there. They also took part in the large-scale cultivation of the citrus groves between Haifa and Jaffa and found jobs connected with the shipment of citrus fruits from the Jaffa port. Contrary to what Mr. Pipes claims, all these developments had almost nothing to do with the growth of the Jewish National Home. The main foreign factor that brought them about was the Mandatory government. The Zionist settlers had a clearly stated policy against using Arab labor or investing in Arab industries. At the same time, the natural increase in the Palestinian Arab population I referred to is made clear in the statistical abstracts and quarterly surveys published by the Mandatory government in the years following the census of 1931.

President Harry S. Truman and US Support for Israeli Statehood

2006-05-12T08:12:00.000-07:00

United States support for the partition of Palestine was crucial to the adoption of the UN partition plan and to the creation of the state of Israel. During World War II, the USA was anxious to maintain good relations with Saudi Arabia. President Roosevelt had promised King Saud that the USA would make no policy decisions about Palestine without consulting the Arabs, though Roosevelt tried to enlist Saud's support for allowing Jewish immigration to Palestine. Following Roosevelt's verbal promise to Saud to consult the Arabs about Palestine policy, he reiterated the promise in writing on April 5, 1945. However, a week later, Roosevelt was dead, replaced by Vice President Harry S. Truman, and the end of the war created a different political reality as well as bringing the revelation of massive murder of Jews in the Holocaust.

Despite his plainspoken ways, Harry S. Truman had a sweeping grasp of geopolitical realities. He was also a friend of the Jews who had made clear his support for the Zionist cause before WWII. He was strengthened in his resolve to help the Jews following the revelations of Nazi atrocities. On May 25, 1939, following the British White Paper of 1939 that limited Jewish immigration, Truman inserted a remark in the Congressional Record condemning the White paper as a repudiation of British obligations. At a Chicago rally in 1944, then Senator Truman said, "Today, not tomorrow, we must do all that is humanly possible to provide a haven for all those who can be grasped from the hands of Nazi butchers. Free lands must be opened to them."

Truman wrote in his memoirs, "The question of Palestine as a Jewish homeland goes back to the solemn promise that had been made to them [the Jews] by the British in the Balfour Declaration of 1917 - a promise which had stirred the hopes and the dreams of these oppressed people. This promise, I felt, should be kept, just as all promises made by responsible, civilized governments should be kept."

Truman was inexperienced in foreign affairs and initially felt he was out of his league and crushed by the burden of his new office and responsibilities. Nonetheless, he did not forget the Palestine question as soon as World War II was over.

The end of Palestine

2006-05-12T08:11:00.000-07:00

End of Palestine
By Salama A Salama
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/794/op4.htm
Since Ehud Olmert and his party won the elections, Arab politicians have been
trying to get on the Israeli prime minister's good side. Perhaps Olmert would
give us some insight into his future policy regarding the Palestinians.
Perhaps Olmert would revive the so-called peace process. Or has he made up his
mind to implement Sharon's policy of disengagement? Would he draw up Israel's
borders unilaterally? Would he do so even without waiting for the consent of
Palestinian and Arab parties?

For the time being, Olmert is too busy preparing for talks in Washington on 21
May to talk to us. In all likelihood, Olmert is seeking US approval of his
plan, of his scheme to carve out substantial chunks of the West Bank. Olmert
apparently wants to dismantle minor settlements and incorporate major ones
within the new borders of Israel, behind the Great Wall of Israel, so to
speak.

According to the new scheme, Jerusalem would be divided, with Israel
maintaining control of Jewish parts and disputed religious sites. The
Palestinians would be given the Arab neighbourhoods, but only according to
special arrangements that would keep the city under Israeli sovereignty. In
his acceptance speech at the Knesset, Olmert said that Israel's final borders
would be drawn up by 2010.

Olmert's position is that a Hamas-led Palestinian government is not a viable
peace partner. The Americans agree, and the Europeans are toeing the US line,
as usual. The EU has discontinued assistance to the Hamas government,
practically strangulating the Palestinians in the hope of making them submit
to Israel's demands.

Arab reluctance to provide humanitarian aid and donations to the Palestinians
is the worst part. The US has threatened to place any banks transferring funds
to the Palestinian Authority on the list of supporters of terror. Mahmoud
Abbas has toured various countries but failed to resolve the problem. The
Palestinian president is now in the same place Arafat used to be, before he
was poisoned.

Meanwhile, the Palestinians remain bitterly divided, with Fatah and Hamas
bickering, Abbas and Ismail Haniyeh in disagreement, gangs seeking power at
any cost, and a doctrinal movement in government refusing to give way. Hopes
are fading for all Palestinian factions to come together, as are hopes of a
government of national unity seeing the light. Israel is about to achieve its
goals.

Israel has persuaded everyone that it has no partner for peace. Israel is not
going to negotiate with Abbas, irrespective of whether Hamas is in or out of
government. At most, Israel may ask Abbas to sign a document recognising its
unilateral plans. As things stand, Olmert is unlikely to have any trouble
getting America's endorsement. Washington, after all, has been trying to
weaken Abbas and deprive him of moral or political backing.

Abbas received nothing from Sharon but false promises. Abbas couldn't deliver
any tangible results to his people, neither with the help of the roadmap nor
the Quartet. Israel made its intentions clear to the world the moment Hamas
won the elections. Sharon's plan, which started with the Gaza pullout, was
only a taste of things to come.

The Quartet meeting -- due to be held in New York with the foreign ministers
of Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia in attendance -- is at best a formality.
Anything you will hear about the roadmap is likely to be little more than lip
service; a ruse meant to give Israel time and delude the Arabs and
Palestinians. With Hamas in a fix, with democracy uprooted, and with Israel
getting its way, what exactly is left for Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden and Abu
Musaab Al-Zarqawi to accomplish?

"Israel will vanish one day" says Iranian president

2006-05-12T08:08:00.000-07:00

JAKARTA (AFP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned that
Israel will "one day vanish," ramping up the stakes in the midst of frantic international diplomacy over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

In speeches to students in Jakarta, he shrugged off the threat of sanctions or even war and accused the West of peddling lies and oppression.

"This regime one day will vanish," Ahmadinejad said of the Jewish state in comments that echoed previous statements, in which he said Israel should be "wiped off the map" and also questioned the Holocaust.

"Is it logical to give compensation in the Middle East for an incident that occurred in Europe, if this incident is indeed true ... by murdering thousands of local Palestinians and making millions of Palestinian refugees?" he asked.

Nevertheless, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei, said he felt "a good sense of optimism" about diplomacy to resolve the crisis over
Iran's nuclear program.

"I think it is a very good idea for the Security Council to hold their horses, so to speak," he told a press conference during a visit to Amsterdam.

"The more we go back to the negotiating table, the more we have a chance at a durable solution."

Iran says its nuclear programme is a peaceful drive to generate electricity but the United States and Europe fear it is a cover for the secret development of atomic weapons.

On Wednesday Washington, which has so far failed to win support for UN sanctions against Tehran, said it would give its European partners "a couple of weeks" to draft a fresh approach.

Negotiators from the Security Council's five permanent members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany plan to confer in London on May 19 to weigh a new package of incentives, diplomats said.

They will also consider what penalties to seek if Iran does not comply with UN demands.

"I am very optimistic and I hope both sides will move away from their war of words ... we need compromises from both sides," ElBaradei said.

He said Tehran "owes it to the international community to make sure their nuclear program is for peaceful means."

The United States and
European Union troika of Britain, France and Germany are pushing for a binding UN resolution that could clear the way for economic sanctions, possible escalating toward military action.

They are meeting resistance from China and Russia, however, which both have close economic ties with Iran.

Igor Ivanov, the head of Russia's Security Council, described the talks as "fairly complicated," and warned that military action could ignite the whole region.

"Any military action in Iran will lead to consequences that could seriously explode the situation in the region and beyond," he was quoted as saying by state-run news agencies.

US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday the Europeans would present Tehran with two options: defiance leading to international isolation or "a path to a civil nuclear programme that is acceptable to the international community."

Ahmadinejad, who is on a five-day visit to Indonesia, told Metro TV that any military action against Iran would hurt its attackers more than Tehran.

"First of all, actually, the idea of going to war is a joke, it's like a joke. Why should there be a war?" he asked.

"They do know that any mistreatment of the Iranian people will actually cause more losses to them than for us. They need us more than we do actually need them. This is just rhetoric."

Separately, the influential head of Iran's hardline parliament reiterated that Tehran would not give up uranium enrichment, the process which makes the fuel for reactors but what can also be the core for an atom bomb.

Gholam Ali Hadad-Adel, who is close to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was quoted by news agencies as saying the Islamic republic "will in no way accept a suspension of enrichment."

And a nuclear spokesman said Iran was prepared to negotiate an anticipated European offer aimed at cooling the crisis, but would not suspend enrichment.

"For the moment we have received no offer (from the Europeans) but because Iran believes in a diplomatic solution, we believe that such a proposition can be taken into consideration and negotiated," Hossam Entezani was quoted by the semi-official Mehr news agency as saying.

He added that in "any offer, particularly one from Europe, suspending Iran's basic rights of uranium enrichment research is not acceptable."

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who met Ahmadinejad on Wednesday, backed Tehran's claim that its nuclear program was peaceful and also offered to help mediate in a bid to reduce rising tensions over the program.

But on Thursday Indonesia appeared to back down from the proposal, with Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda saying that "we did not claim that we offer mediation on Iran's nuclear issue."

"We suggested to Iran to maximize their effort to solve the problem of the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomatic and peaceful negotiations. I think Iran accepted that Iran as well as other countries concerned should try to settle this issue through negotiations," Wirayuda said.

In Beijing, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said the stand-off was now at "a critical moment," and called for fresh diplomatic efforts.

He warned, however, that "China is opposed to arbitrarily resorting to the use of sanctions or the use of force in international affairs."