ORTA DOĞU VE KUZEY AFRİKA - Deneme Sınavı - 3

The question of Palestine is one of the main problems remaining from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. In theory of peace, it can be defined as a protracted conflict, which simply means hard to resolve because of its multi-dimensional nature. The conflict is not only about the resource or power-sharing between two nations, but it is also about identity-based problems. It also involves global power competition, deep humanitarian problems such as forced migration, the abuse of power, and the status of holy places of the World’s three big religions.

An Austrian Jewish journalist Theodore Herzl, effected from the negative sentiments against Jews in Europe, defined Jewish nationalism and developed the idea of a Jewish State in his book Der Judenstaat (1896). Herzl convened the First Zionist Congress in Basel 1897.

World Zionist Organization also submitted its demand and claimed Palestine as their ‘national homeland’ once again. However, they could not get what they wanted. Arabs also tried to convince existing major powers to earn their independent state. After the end of the leaders’ summit in summer, talks went on in different cities. In April 1920, in Italy, San Remo Conference convened, and with a resolution accepted on April 25th, 1920, former Ottoman territories were classified as League of Nations Mandate A areas. “Palestine, “Syria,” and “Mesopotamia” came under British and French controls. Palestine and Iraq fell under the British mandate, while Syria and Lebanon became French-controlled territories. The Mandate for Palestine was approved on July, 24th 1922, made British occupation supposedly legal in terms of international law.

The UN General Assembly on 29 November 1947 adopted a resolution to partition Palestine, “Britain announced the termination of its Mandate for Palestine, which became effective on 15 May 1948. At midnight on 14 May 1948” (Ginat, 2018), David Ben Gurion announced the declaration of independence, and the State of Israel was proclaimed.

Secondly, during the war, some 711,000 Arabs (UN Report) were forced to leave their homes and villages. This expulsion has been confirmed and rejected by the international community, with the adoption of the United Nations General Assembly Resolution of 194.

The Six-Day War became a turning point not only for Palestine but also for all Arab World. Gamal Abdel Nasser and his version of Pan-Arabism lost its strength. Palestinians understood that they could only liberate Palestine themselves. PLO became the sole representative of the Palestinians. Fatah leader Yasser Arafat emerged as the key figure of the PLO, and he was recognized as the legitimate leader of Palestinians. Palestinian resistance movements were based in Jordan. After the war, they intensified their attacks until September 1970. Under the pressure of the US, King Hussein of Jordan forced PLO out of his country, and they were settled in Lebanon. This incident has been remembered as “Black September.”

The Palestinian leadership was caught by surprise with this sudden uprising. PLO leader Arafat seized the moment and tried to convert it into a diplomatic initiative. On November 15, 1988, Palestinian National Council convened in Algeria and accepted the Palestinian Declaration of Independence, which proclaimed a “State of Palestine on our Palestinian territory with its capital Jerusalem” and thus, implicitly accepted the existence of the State of Israel. Then, the Palestinian National Council called for multilateral negotiations based on UNSC Resolution 242. This was regarded as a historic compromise by Palestinians because they were accepting the principle of “two-state solution” by abandoning to the question of Israel’s right to exist.

On September 13, 1993, at the garden of the White House, Mahmud Abbas from PLO signed the Declaration of Principles Agreement with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres in the presence of US President Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat. For the first time in history, Israeli and Palestinian leaders shook hands in public and opened a new chapter in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The significance of this agreement was that, for the first time, Palestinians would rule themselves in Palestine, although within a limited area. The Palestinian leadership, which was in exile in Tunisia since 1982, would be able to return to the homeland. In 1994, Arafat returned Gaza as a hero after 26 years and was elected as the President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). Israeli troops withdrew from Gaza and Palestinian city centers in the West Bank.

The summit, which is known as the Camp David II, took place between July 11 and 24, under the auspices of US President Bill Clinton. Israeli and Palestinian delegations under the leadership of Prime Minister Barak and Chairman Arafat discussed four main issues: Borders, the situation of Jewish settlements, the return of refugees, and the status of Jerusalem.

The policy of Turkey was changed in the late 1960s. Despite its highly secularized administration, in 1969, Turkey attended the Islamic Conference meetings after sabotage in Al-Aqsa Mosque. Turkey became more active in supporting Palestinian cause in the Middle East after she was left alone by its western allies in the Cyprus crisis. Ankara began supporting Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in international forums, siding with Arab nations.

The starting point of the Arab Uprisings was Tunisia, which had been ruled by Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali since 1987.

The starting point of the Arab Uprisings was Tunisia, which had been ruled by Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali since 1987. Under the rule of Ben Ali, Tunisian people had been experiencing widespread corruption, high unemployment, and immense political repression

Yemen had been under the highly personalized rule of Ali Abdullah Saleh since 1978. On 27 January 2011, just two days after the outbreak of the Egyptian uprising, massive protests against poverty and corruption took place in the Yemeni capital Sana’a, and quickly spread to other major cities throughout February.

Tunisia has been the only Arab country where a successful “sui generis” transition has emerged, based on a policy of reconciliation between different actors, primarily Islamists and secularists, without any coups, civil war or international intervention.

The Yemeni Civil War started in 2015, after the capture of the capital Sanaa by Houthi rebels in the north.

The Libyan Civil War started in 2014 with the launch of Operation Dignity by forces loyal to Khalifa Hafter to grab power.

Bashar al-Assad has ruled Syria since the death of his father and former president Hafez al-Assad in 2000. Although Bashar first appeared as a young reformist leader, his reform initiatives were soon suppressed by the old guards in the military and the ruling Baath Party.