----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Brin-L" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2002 10:17 AM Subject: Re: Ignoring Source Materials (Was: re: CNN Breaking News)
> That's something that i never really understood... Given that Israel > conquered the West Bank from Jordan, and Gaza from Egypt, why don't > Jordan and Egypt seem to care? > This deals with the history of the region. I'll try to give a short go at this history, and will stand to be corrected by people with more details. Back a ways, the land in question was part of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). Turkey backed the wrong side in WWI, and the British got control over the land. The league of nations gave the British a mandate to establish a Jewish homeland in 1922. http://www.mideastweb.org/Mandate.htm Time went on, and the British kept control of the region. In, 1948, it was divided by the United Nations into an Arab and Jewish region. Many Arab countries attacked Israel, including Egypt, Syria, and Jordan, but the Jewish settlers somehow managed against truly overwhelming odds. Refugees existed after the war. The Jewish refugees were simply absorbed into the population of Israel. While many Arabs were allowed/encouraged to stay in Israel as citizens, many left. IIRC, the Arab countries encouraged the Arabs in the region to leave for temporary refugee camps in the area. These camps were mainly located in the Gaza strip (Egypt) and the West Bank (Jordan), but were also located in Syria and maybe in Lebanon. For political reasons, the refugees were not integrated into the society of the Arab countries in which they were residents. They were a very convenient rallying point, to show how cruel the Jews were for living were they were. The PLO was supported by Nasser and were allied with them. Then came the 1967 war, where they fought with the Arab armies. They Arab armies lost, and Israel was now in control of the West Bank and Gaza, as well as part of Syria. Many of the refugees, who are the Palestinians still lived in the West Bank and Gaza. However, they also lived and were active in other Arab countries. They almost pulled a successful coup to overthrow King Hussein, and were instrumental in the destabilization of Lebanon. They were why the Syrians came in as peace keepers. During this time, the Arabs attacked again, on Yom Kipper. The PLO was part of the movement that attacked Israel. Then Anwar Sadat and Begin agreed to a peace treaty. Sadat looked at the potential for great instability from the Palestinians in the Gaza strip, and agreed to peace without reclaiming that land. Rather, they agreed that possession of that land was to be decided between Israel and the Palestinians later. They just shoved the Palestinian problem on Israel's plate. I'm not sure when, but Jordan did the same, relinquishing their claims over the West Bank. Dan M.
