NPR section 3-7 synopsis

Section 3: Britain decided to withdraw from occupying the territory. They were pro-Zionist (Balfour Declaration)so they wanted to help Jews establish a homeland. Palestinians and Jews began to fight over the land.

Section 4:None of the Arab states were on good terms with Israel. Israel began a (allegedly defensive war) with Syria, Egypt, and Jordan in 1967 which became known as the 6day war. They annexed many popular landsd for Israelis, especially the West Bank and Gaza strip.

Section 5: In 1973, Egypt and Syria ensued the Yom Kippur War with Egypt to get back the land they lost in the 6day war which called for an assessment of the military strength of arabs states in the region although Israel recovered. During this time, the peace process began and the PLO was started under Arafat. The PLO determined that it would have to stand alone against Israelis but that peace was also necessary.

Section 6: In 1987, Palestinians grew tired of oppression and had a small scale rebellion. The Israelis countered with extremely excessive force. This became knonw as the first Intifada. In 1992, Rabin was made prime minister of Israel and organized secret peace meetings in Oslo, Sweden. The Oslo agreement was eventually signed at the White House in 1993.

Section 7: The Oslo agreement failed because Rabin was assassinated, Hamas started to bomb Jerusalem, and Netanyahu was elected prime minister. He drastically slowed peace agreements and increased Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Barak was then made prime minister and the Campa David Accords were signed between he and Arafat and mediated by Clinton (this also failed). The Second Intifada broke out and violence has escaladed ever since.