Introduction

This straightforward, comprehensive, and non-partisan compilation is designed to provide the reader with relevant source material on the history and evolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The book consists of three parts. Part I provides a chronology of events in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Part II puts the conflict into perspective by providing the historical background and discussing the various conflicts, military strategies, prospects for peace, and more. Part III includes summaries and cites to 690 documents on the Arab-Israeli conflict covering the period from 1897 to 2008, as well as key texts on Jerusalem going back to 636 C.E.

The documents begin with the Program of the First World Zionist Congress, held in Basle, Switzerland, in 1897, and conclude with the Security Council resolution on the conflict in Gaza in the beginning of 2009.

What sets this compilation apart from others is its comprehensive inclusion of documents from diverse civil, religious, national, and international bodies, including the League of Nations; United Nations agencies; the governments of Britain, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, and the United States; the European Union; the League of Arab States; the Jewish Agency; and the Holy See.

Part III is organized according to the conflict’s major topic areas, with introductory notes for each part and section, as well as a summary of each document. It is divided into nine main section, with documents therein presented in chronological order. The division of the sections reflects both a historical and topical approach, and, thus, some of the documents contained in one section are necessarily relevant to other sections. In such cases, they are cross-referenced and should be jointly consulted.

Section 1 covers World War I, the fall and dismemberment of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, the British occupation of Jerusalem, and the general period that preceded the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine.

Section 2 covers the period of the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine from 1922 to 1948, when Britain held administrative authority in Palestine. Documents in this section include the text of the 1922 mandate,∣which gave Britain formal and internationally recognized control over Palestine, and United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 (1947),Iwhich if implemented would have divided Palestine into two states—one Arab and one Jewish, with Jerusalem reserved as a corpus seporatum.

Section 3 covers the five major Arab-Israeli Wars of 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973, and 1982. It should be read alongside relevant documents from Section 6, Jerusalem and the Holy Sites, and Section 8, Status of the Palestinians.

Section 4 includes documents on the Arab-Israeli peace process. Although the actual peace process did not gain real momentum until Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat’s speech before the Israeli Knesset in 1977, United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973) lead this section because of their integral role in establishing a legal basis for peace in the region.

Section 5 includes documents on pressing security concerns in the Middle East—demilitarization, disarmament, and the regulation and control of nuclear capabilities and weapons of mass destruction. It begins with a series of documents on the demilitarization of Mount Scopus in Jerusalem during the 1948 war and includes United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3263 (1974), the first United Nations resolution calling for the establishment of a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the Middle East.

Section 6 contains documents pertaining to the City of Jerusalem and the Holy Sites. It includes historical documents from 636 to 2008 that outline the unique legal regimes that have been specially established for Jerusalem during the last fourteen centuries—including the Turkish Ottoman Status Quo Decree of 1852, which protects the rights of worshippers and grants religious denominations the right to manage their respective Holy Sites, and the 1948 United Nations Draft Statute for the City of Jerusalem.

Section 7 contains documents from the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. It includes groundbreaking agreements such as the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and Gaza Strip between Israel and the PLO, the Amendment to I-Ti r≡r PT T~^, Ti o r∙1^r≡ι r∙ tlao VΛi¹uo NfornArnnrlntn I^-Tt ro T? ∕^^λ*^ι r^! A ∕fnn nnrl

the PLO Charter, the Wye River Memorandum, the Road Map, and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Disengagement Plan.

Section 8 includes documents on the legal status of the Palestinians since 1948. Divided into four sub-sections, it reveals the evolving nature of their conflict with Israel: as refugees from 1948-2008 (Section A); under occupation from 1967-2008 (Section B); as an emerging national entity, 1964-2008 (Section C); and as a minority group in Israel (Section D). Section 8 also provides the reader with a systematic examination of Palestinian legal rights and claims in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel.

Section 9 covers the escalation of violence during the two Palestinian Intifadas (or uprisings) of 1987 and 2000. International humanitarian law defines these military conflicts as different from the major Arab-Israeli wars because they are not of an international character. The reader is invited to examine these sections alongside documents in Section 8, Status of the Palestinians.

Most of the documents contained in this compilation are of a legal nature. The majority are United Nations documents, international treaties, and other agreements. Redundant United Nations resolutions have not been included, but whenever relevant, they are referred to in a footnote. Also included are a number of reports issued by investigatory commissions at key points in the conflict, as well as political documents, such as letters and memoranda from heads of state. Several laws, decrees, and commission reports from the State of Israel are included because of their relevant subject matter—as are Arab summit declarations and resolutions that contribute to an understanding of position of the Arab states. The dates of issue or publication and citations for the documents are also provided.