These hundred or so terms were provided to students at the beginning of each semester in Ken Stein’s Arab-Israeli conflict class taught at Emory University.

The terms are important concepts, peoples and events which would help them in reviewing content from their readings and lecture notes. The terms were provided to students for a quarter century from the 1990s to 2017. Students were not expected to learn the terms as facts, but to understand them in the context of the unfolding conflict over time. And particularly to understand how many of the terms connected with one another. Students repeatedly remarked that having these terms prior to doing theassigned readings and hearing the lectures allowed them to build broad familiarity with the ins and outs of the conflict.

IMPORTANT TERMS, NAMES, EVENTS AND DATES


Dr. Kenneth W. Stein, Emory University, Fall 1994-Spring 2021

Topography, geography, geology and ecology of the Middle East

Political Cultures of monotheistic religions

Absence of resources – who has cultivable land and water? 

Arab societies- characteristics

Jews in diaspora- characteristics

Origins and tenets of Islam and Judaism

Relevance of Holy Land to major monotheistic religions

Jewish historical connection to Land of Israel, Zion-Jerusalem

Middle East’s geographical importance to external powers

British and French goals in M.E. in 19th and 20th centuries

Early Zionist thinking – Alkalai, Hess, Pinsker Ahad Ha’am, Syrkin

Ottoman Empire’s objectives with Arab provinces

Millets

Sultan Abdul Hamid

Young Turks

Evolution of Arabism

Origins of Political Zionism and Practical Zionism -> Synthesis

Dreyfus affair

Herzl and Nordau

Who were the Arabs living in Palestine in the 19th century?

Sherif Husayn (Hashemites)  and Ibn Saud (Saudis) and Rashidis

Socio-economic composition of Palestine/Eretz Yisrael area

Musha’—Arab village politics

Albert Hourani and ‘Politics of Notables’

Palestine during World war I- effects and impact

Prince Feisal, Chaim Weizmann, and Emir Abdullah

Hussein-McMahon Correspondence, 1914-1915

Sykes-Picot Agreement, 1916

Balfour Declaration, 1917

The dual obligation: was it equal?

Zionist Commission, Palestine Zionist Executive, Jewish Agency

Majority Arab population impoverishment carries from Ottoman times

WWI in Palestine and Middle East

Churchill White Paper, 1922

Jewish immigrations- aliyot

Herbert Samuel, 1920-1925, “internal partition” – spatial separation

Supreme Muslim Council, Muslim Christian Associations, Arab Executive 

Jewish Agency, Jewish National Fund, Haganah, Histadrut, kibbutzim

August 1929 Disturbances

Sir John Chancellor, 1928-1931

Shaw Report, March 1930

Hope-Simpson Report, July 1930

Passefield White Paper, October 1930

MacDonald Letter, 1931

David Ben-Gurion and Zionist socialism

Mufti Hajj Amin al-Husseini- radicalization of PANM

Menachem Begin and Vladmir Jabotinsky – Revisionist Zionism

Irgun/Stern Gang

Jewish and Arab institution building: similarities and differences

Arab opposition to Zionism and recognition that a Jewish state is in the making

Arab Revolt in Palestine, 1936-1939

Peel Report, 1937

May 1939 White Paper Immigration and Land Transfer Regulations 

Mufti rejects majority Arab state in 10 years because Jews will be part of it

The Holocaust, 1939-1945

Ben-Gurion’s Biltmore Hotel Speech, May 1942

Arab League, 1945 

Arab boycott of Israel- 1945—de-legitimation commences

King David Hotel, July 1946

UNSCOP, majority and minority reports- two state solution

Cold war entering the ME—Truman Doctrine and USSR

Arab state involvement – Transjordan vs the rest—collusion with Zionists?

1947 United Nations Partition Resolution, UNGA, 181

Truman Doctrine – cold war impact on March 1947

Nakbah/Israel Independence War, 1947-1949 impact on Zionists, Arabs, and Palestinians – No treaties, Armistice agreements

Dir Yassin and Kfar Etzion, eg  of violence in civil war prior to 1948 war.

Israel’s Declaration of Independence, 1948

1948 United Nations Resolution, UNGA, 194

Arab refugees/Jewish refugees—how many, when, what happens to them?

US State Depart strongly prefers no Jewish state—then in mid 1948 says OK

Palestinian refugees- how many and where; UNWRA

Ben-Gurion and Mufti- leadership choices

Jews from Arab lands immigrate/flea to Israel, 1948-1952

Israel accepted into UN – May 1949

IMPORTANT TERMS, NAMES, EVENTS AND DATES

OF THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT, 1949-1969

Arab state transitions from monarchies to autocracies

Truman Doctrine – cold war impact on

Palestinian refugees- how many and where; UNWRA

Arab boycott of Israel- impact

French-British-American Tripartite Declaration, 1950

Egyptian-Soviet arms deal, 1955

Nassar

Pan-Arabism

The Baghdad Pact, 1955

Suez War, 1956 – causes and effects

Eisenhower Doctrine, 1958

West Bank and Gaza under Jordanian and Egyptian control

PLO’s creation and PLO Charter/Covenant

Shuqayri and Arafat

Arab Cold War – fears of Egyptian hegemony

Events of May 1967

The U.N. and U Thant

June 1967 war – causes and effects

Evolution of U.S-Israeli relations, 1950s and 1960s

Levi Eshkol and Moshe Dayan

Khartoum summit conference, August 1967

UNSC Resolution 242, November 1967

 

Development of “conceptia” in Israel

IMPORTANT TERMS, NAMES, EVENTS AND DATES

OF THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT, 1969-1989

Roger’s Plan, 1969

War of Attrition

Cold War heats up in Middle East

Sadat is the difference maker

October 1973 War – causes and effects

Kilometer 101 talks – Egyptian and Israeli Generals negotiate separation of forces

Geneva Middle East peace conference, December 1973

Sinai I agreement, January 1974- what is Henry Kissinger’s “shuttle diplomacy?”

Syrian-Israeli Disengagement agreement, May 1974

Rabat Arab summit resolution on the PLO, October 1974

Sinai II agreement, September 1975 -American civilians do what?

The Brookings Institution statement on the Middle East, November 1975

Carter’s efforts to convene a Middle East Peace conference, 1977

Sadat’s visit to Jerusalem, November 1977

MENA House talks, political and military committees yield what? 

Leeds Castle talks, July 1978

Camp David Accords, September 1978

Iranian Revolution- shah falls- Ayatollah’s rule- Political Islam on ascendency

Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty, March 1979

Venice Declaration, May 1980

Carter Doctrine- Persian Gulf is a US priority – 1980

Settlements expansion

Sadat assassinated, October 1991- Mubarak keeps course steady with Israel

Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, June 1982

Reagan Statement, September 1982

Fez Declaration, September 1982

PLO Tunis Headquarters bombed by Israelis, October 1986 

Intifadah, December 1987—causes and effects

Jordan’s “disengagement” from the West Bank, July 1988

Hamas established, 1988

The U.S.- PLO dialogue commences, December 1988 : Conditions for

Hamas emergence and growth – principles and purposes

The Gulf war, January 1991- causes, results, impact

Baker cobbles together terms for a M.E. Peace conference, 1991 – how and why to Arabs play?

The Madrid Middle East Peace Conference, October 1991

Labor returns to power in Israel, June 1992

Israel and PLO mutual recognition, September 1993 – Oslo Accrods

Declaration of Principles or Oslo I, September 1993

Jordanian-Israeli Treaty, October 1994

Oslo II, September 1995

Rabin assassinated, November 1995 

Palestinian elections, January 1996

Terrorists attacks against Israelis, February-March 1996

Benjamin Netanyahu elected Israeli Prime Minister, May 1996

Western Wall Tunnel Incident, September 1996

Hebron agreement, January 1997

Wye River conference and memorandum, October 1998

IMPORTANT TERMS, NAMES, EVENTS AND DATES

OF THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT, 1999-present

King Hussein dies, February 1999: impact on Jordan and negotiations

Barak elected Israeli PM, May 17, 1999

Sharm al-Sheikh Agreement, September 1999

Bashar Assad succeeds father, June 2000: impact on Syria and negotiations?

Camp David summit, Arafat, Barak, Clinton, July 2000

Outbreak of Violence against Israel by Palestinians, September 2000 – 2nd Intifadah

Unilateralism: terrorism, withdrawals, settlements,  

Impact of 9/11 on A-I Conflict 

US Foreign Policy before and after 9/11

Two state solution to the conflict picks up speed in embrace

Syrian, Iranian, Hizballah alliance: impact for Palestinians and Israel

Arab League summit resolutions, 2002

American led invasion topples Iraqi leader, April 2003

The Quartet and its “Road Map”

Israel Separation Wall/Fence/ Barrier: purposes, objections, effectiveness?

Arafat’s Legacy- dies November 2004

Unilateral Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, August 2005: reasons and implications

Hamas elected to run PA, Jan 2006; implications for PA and PANM

Hamas grabs power from PA in Gaza Strip

Inter-Palestinian struggle for leadership – Gaza vs. Ramallah

Lebanese PM assassinated, March 2006

Sharon gives way to Olmert, March 2006- Sharon had reversed political course

Israeli-Lebanese war July-August 2006

Syrian “nuclear installation” destroyed by Israel, September 2007

International Middle East Peace Conference plans, Fall 2007

Syrian Civil war – half a million Syrians killed, 5 million homeless, Iranian troops in Syria- 2011

Netanyahu as Israeli PM 2010 – 2020

UN Res 2334 – in abstaining US severely condems Israel settlement policies – 2017

MOU – US and Israel 10yrs military aid  – 2016

US President Trump recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital – 2017

US President Trump Proclaims Golan Heights part of Israel – 2019

Abraham Accords, September 2020

PA and PLO in dither that Arab states embrace Israel without political something for Palestinians

End of 2020, Six Arab states recognize Israel

2021 Biden Administration advocates strongly for two-station solution, realizes it is in the distance

Gaza-Israel (fourth conflict) May 2021

Naftali Bennett becomes Israeli Prime Minister, June 2021

US withdraws from Afghanistan- US pulling in presence- August 2021

Russia invades Ukraine – says what about a geographic neighbors and territorial depth – Feb 2022

Palestinian political community riven by division, February 2022