ORTA DOĞU VE KUZEY AFRİKA

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 control. 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.

Britain ruled Palestine for nearly 30 years and prepared the ground for a Jewish state while trying to restrain an Arab reaction.

The correct answer is A.

In the 1948 War, Israel was able to defend Tel Aviv and pushed Arabs back. Israel implemented Plan Dalet, which aimed to control and conquer Arab towns and villages and expel the Arab population outside of the Jewish State.

The correct answer is C.

After the Yom Kippur War, PLO’s position as the sole representative of Palestinians was cemented, and PLO Chairman Arafat was invited to speak at the United Nations in 1974. The Yom Kippur War had many implications for the Middle East conflict in general. Israel’s vulnerability came to light, and Israeli leaders realized that without a durable peace settlement, they would be open to risks, and Arab armies could attack anytime in the future. From Egypt’s perspective, Sadat understood that the Soviet aid was not enough to get Egyptian territory back, and the US would not let Israel’s failure. This led to his bold move of visiting Jerusalem, triggering the peace process between Egypt and Israel. Sadat was able to get back Sinai through talks with American mediation, and Egypt signed a peace deal in 1979, which is known as the Camp David Peace Agreement. The first framework of the agreement also dealt with Palestine, although Palestinians were not represented in the talks. The Israeli-Egyptian peace to normalize relations was the first peaceful recognition of Israel by an Arab country. Egypt left the Soviet orbit entirely.

The correct answer is A.

The First Palestinian Intifada broke out in Gaza in December 1987. People defied Israeli authorities, after the death of four Palestinians, who were allegedly killed in a car accident. Palestinians believed that an Israeli military vehicle deliberately hit a Palestinian car and caused the death of the four. The uprisings began in the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza on December 8th and lasted for almost four years. The methods of uprising included strikes, protests, riots, barricading, throwing stones to soldiers on a daily basis. To stop protests, the Israeli army wielded excessive force. Israeli Defence Forces deployed 80,000 soldiers in Palestinian territories, who brutally suppressed protestors, firing live ammunition at times. Israeli Defence Minister of the time Yitzhak Rabin ordered his soldiers “to break the arms” of Palestinians. Israeli soldiers exactly did what their minister ordered and video of this action was filmed and broadcasted by the international media. Israel’s narrative of suffering as being “a lonely state in the Arab Sea” was debased by those violent images. Israel turned into a “ruthless military machine” in the eyes of the world public.

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.

The correct answer is E.

The Declaration of Principles of 1993, was a five-year agreement between Israel and PLO. It was an Interim Self Government Arrangements for Palestinians in return for security to Israel. With this document, Israel accepted to permit elections in the West Bank and Gaza, which would enable Palestinians to form a National Autonomous government. 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 correct answer is B.

In May 1999, Labour Party’s new leader Ehud Barak defeated Prime Minister Netanyahu and came to power. Because of the elections, Palestinians accepted the delay of the final status talks for another year. Finally, in July 2000, Israeli and Palestinian delegations met in the US to discuss the issues pertaining to the final status at the Camp David.

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 correct answer is D.

In 2013, the US had another attempt to bring sides to the negotiation table. President Obama emphasized his nation’s support for a Palestinian state in Ramallah. After Obama’s Middle East tour, Arab foreign ministers from Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and the PNA convened in Washington in April 2013. The ministers re-endorsed the Arab peace plan after going through the original text of the Arab Peace initiative of 2002 line by line, with minor changes. A new initiative called as “Kerry plan”, which included four billion US dollars economic plans for financially desperate Palestinians to make them return to the talks, was also revealed. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met in Washington to formally launch an American-mediated process, with a nine-month deadline to reach a final agreement.

The correct answer is E.

After the Justice and Development Party came to power in 2002, relations with Israel went gradually downhill. Turkey heavily criticized Israeli atrocities and downgraded its political engagement. In 2005 Israeli decision to disengage from Gaza softened Turkey’s position vis a vis Israel. Turkey welcomed the idea and continued its efforts to keep talks alive. “Ankara Forum for Economic Cooperation between Palestine, Israel, and Turkey" was established to serve as a permanent tripartite dialogue mechanism between business people”. Business leaders proposed revitalizing the Erez industrial estate in Gaza. The project aimed at producing ten thousand jobs for Palestinians. Opening Gaza airport to flights and building of a new Gaza Seaport were also part of the plan. However, this cooperation was short- lived until Hamas win in the 2006 election.

The correct answer is D.

In the Beirut Declaration, the Arab League requested Israel to reconsider its policies and called

Full Israeli withdrawal from all the territories

occupied since 1967, including the Syrian Golan Heights, to the June 4, 1967 lines as well as the remaining occupied Lebanese territories in the south of Lebanon.

Achievement of a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem to be agreed upon in accordance with U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194.

The acceptance of the establishment of a sovereign independent Palestinian state on the Palestinian territories occupied since June 4, 1967 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The correct answer is E.

Turkey was very critical to Israel when IDF launched operations against Palestinians like the one in 2008, Operation Hot Winter, in which 112 Palestinians were killed. Israeli operation on December 27, 2008, had a devastating effect on Turkish-Israeli relations. According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), 1,284 Gazans were killed, and 4,336 wounded, the majority were civilians (CBS News, 2013). Death of civilians caused outrage in the World. Turkey was one of the fierce leading critics of Israel.

The correct answer is C.

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.