by Adam LeBor
IBRAHIM ABU-LUGHOD, from ‘The War of 1948: Disputed Perspectives and Outcomes’, Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 18, no. 2, winter 1989, reproduced by permission of Journal of Palestine Studies. MERON BENVENISTI, from Sacred Landscape © 2000 by the Regents of the University of California, reproduced by permission of the University of California Press. LINDA GRANT, from When I Lived in Modern Times, reproduced by permission of Granta Books, London. GHASSAN KANAFANI (translation), from Land of the Sad Oranges © www.palestineremembered.com. ARTHUR KOESTLER, from Arrow in the Blue, permission granted by PFD on behalf of the Arthur Koestler Estate, published by Vintage, London. MIDDLE EAST MEDIA RESEARCH INSTITUTE, translations taken from: The Diaspora, television series broadcast on Al-Manar, Lebanon, 2003; Knight Without a Horse, Egyptian television series, broadcast 2002; Palestine Television broadcast of sermons at Gaza main mosque, 3 August and 17 August; interviews with passers-by broadcast on Iqra channel, Saudi Arabia, 26 September 2004; Life is Sweet, broadcast on Jordanian television, 2001; extract of article by Wagih Abou Zikra, in Al-Akhbar, Cairo, 2002 © MEMRI, Washington DC. JOSEPH ROTH, from What I Saw, reproduced by permission of Granta Books, London and W. W. Norton, New York; translation copyright © 2003 Michael Hoffman, copyright © 1996 by Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Köln and Verlag Allert de Lange, Amsterdam. JOSEPH ROTH, from The Wandering Jews, reproduced by permission of Granta Books, London and W. W. Norton, New York; translation copyright © 2001 by Michael Hoffman, copyright © 1976, 1985 by Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Köln and Verlag Allert de Lange, Amsterdam. S. YIZ-HAR, extract from Silence of the Villages, reproduced by permission of Kinneret-Zmora-Dvir Publishing, Or-Yehuda, Israel.
Chronology
1517
Ottomans occupy Jerusalem, the start of five hundred years of rule over Palestine
1799
Napoleon briefly conquers Jaffa, but withdraws
1878
First Zionist settlement, Petach Tikva, founded in central Palestine
1887
Foundation of Neve Tsedek, first Jewish quarter of Jaffa
1892
Railway opens from Jaffa to Jerusalem
1896
Theodor Herzl publishes The Jewish State, the basic text of political Zionism
1897
Herzl presides over the First Zionist Congress at Basel, Switzerland
1902
Anglo-Palestine Company (Bank) founded 1909 Foundation of Jewish town of Ahuza Bayit, later Tel Aviv, outside Jaffa
1911
Falastin newspaper founded
August 1914
Start of First World War; Turkey allies with Germany and Austria-Hungary against Britain, France, Russia and others
January 1916
Britain and France sign the Sykes-Picot Agreement, drawing up new borders for the Middle East
Spring 1917
Turkish authorities expel Jews from Jaffa
November 1917
Britain issues the Balfour Declaration, expressing support for Jewish homeland in Palestine
Autumn–winter 1917
British forces under General Allenby capture Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Jaffa; start of British rule over Palestine
1918
Muslim-Christian Arab association formed in Jaffa to oppose Zionism
1920
Haganah, Jewish self-defence organisation, founded in May
May 1921
Anti-Jewish riots in Jaffa; Tel Aviv given ‘town council’ status
1922
Areas of Jaffa annexed to Tel Aviv
July 1922
Britain given mandate to rule Palestine by League of Nations
August 1929
Further anti-Jewish riots in Jaffa and other cities in Palestine
1931
Irgun, right-wing Zionist militia, splits off from Haganah
1933
Arab demonstrations across Palestine against Jewish immigration
1934
Tel Aviv receives city status
April 1936
Arab Revolt begins against British
July 1936
British demolish large section of Old Jaffa
July 1937
Peel Commission recommends partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states; British outlaw Arab Higher Committee
1938
Woodhead Commission makes similar recommendations on partition
May 1939
British White Paper limits Jewish immigrants to Palestine to 75,000 over next five years
September 1939
Second World War begins; Haganah and Irgun work with British
1940
Avraham Stern splits from Irgun to form Stern Group (Lehi) to fight British
February 1944
Menachem Begin’s Irgun militia relaunches operations against British
November 1944
Stern Group assassinates Lord Moyne in Cairo. Jewish Agency launches ‘Hunting Season’ against Irgun and Lehi members, with British
April 1946
Report of Anglo-American Commission of Inquiry recommends immigration of one hundred thousand Jews to Palestine
February 1947
Britain refers Palestine Mandate to United Nations
November 1947
The United Nations votes to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab states
November–December 1947
Fighting between Jewish and Arab militias; snipers fire between Tel Aviv and Jaffa
January 1948
Lehi blow up New Seray government building in Jaffa. Exodus of middle-class Arabs begins: soldiers of Arab Liberation Army start to arrive in Palestine
Winter–spring 1948
Fighting intensifies across Palestine. Jaffa’s Arabs form defence guards
April 1948
Irgun and Lehi carry out massacre at Deir Yassin
Late April 1948
Irgun launches attack on Jaffa, triggering massive exodus of civilian population. Haganah’s Operation Chametz campaign captures surrounding villages
9 May 1948
Jaffa Arab Emergency Committee writes to British authorities, declaring it an ‘open city’
13 May 1948
British Mandate in Palestine ends. Jaffa surrenders to Haganah
14 May 1948
David Ben-Gurion declares establishment of State of Israel. Egyptian, Jordanian, Syrian and Iraqi troops invade, aided by other Arab states. Exodus begins of Jewish communities in Arab countries after riots and attacks
May 1948–January 1949
First Arab-Israeli war; Palestinian Nakba, hundreds of thousands of refugees flee fighting
1950
Jaffa merged with Tel Aviv
July 1952
Gamal Abdel Nasser takes power in Egypt
October–November 1956
Suez crisis. Israel invades Sinai peninsula, supported by Britain and France
1961
Trial in Jerusalem of Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann
May 1962
Execution of Adolf Eichmann
May 1964
Palestine Liberation Organization founded in Jerusalem
May 1967
Nasser deploys troops in Sinai, blockades Straits of Tiran. UN troops withdraw
5–10 June 1967
Six Day War – Israel defeats Egypt, Jordan and Syria, occupies Sinai, Gaza, West Bank, East Jerusalem and Golan Heights
August–September 1967
Khartoum conference, Arab states reject peace with Israel
September 1970
Nasser dies and is succeeded by Anwar Sadat
October 1973
Yom Kippur War – Egypt and Syria launch surprise attack on Israel, result is stalemate
April 1974
Israeli prime minister Golda Meir resigns, succeeded by Yitzhak Rabin
May 1977
Menachem Begin, former Irgun commander and leader of right-wing Likud Party, is elected prime minister, ending almost th
irty years of Labour Party rule
November 1977
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat travels to Jerusalem
January 1978
Said Hammami, moderate PLO ambassador to London, is assassinated by Palestinian extremists
September 1978
Israel and Egypt negotiate peace accords at Camp David, overseen by President Jimmy Carter
March 1979
Israel signs peace treaty with Egypt, its first with an Arab neighbour
October 1981
President Sadat assassinated by Islamic radicals in Cairo
April 1982
Israel withdraws from Sinai
June 1982
Israeli invasion of Lebanon
August 1982
Yasser Arafat and PLO leadership leave Beirut for exile in Tunis
September 1982
Christian militiamen murder hundreds of Palestinians at Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Beirut
December 1987
The Palestinian Intifada, or uprising, erupts in West Bank and Gaza
January–February 1981
First Gulf War, as US-led force drives Iraq from Kuwait
October 1991
Middle East peace conference in Madrid
June 1992
Yitzhak Rabin elected Labour prime minister in Israel; secret negotiations continue between Israel and PLO
September 1993
Rabin and Arafat shake hands on White House lawn, sign Oslo Accords
July 1994
Rabin and King Hussein of Jordan sign peace treaty at White House
November 1995
Yitzhak Rabin assassinated in Tel Aviv by right-wing Jewish fanatic
January 1996
First elections in Palestinian territories, Yasser Arafat elected president
January–March 1996
Hamas launches suicide bombing campaign inside Israel
November 1996
Benjamin Netanyahu wins election for Likud, appointed prime minister
May 1999
Labour leader Ehud Barak defeats Netanyahu in Israeli elections
July 2000
Barak and Arafat negotiate at Camp David, fail to reach agreement
September 2000
Ariel Sharon visits Temple Mount in Jerusalem, start of Al-Aqsa Intifada; Arabs riot in Jaffa and other cities in Israel
February 2001
Ariel Sharon wins election for prime minister, forms National-Unity government with Labour
March 2002
Israel army incursions into Palestinian cities, several re-occupied
January 2003
Ariel Sharon wins elections for Likud
April 2003
President Bush publishes ‘Road Map’ for peace between Israel and Palestinians
October 2004
Knesset approves Ariel Sharon’s plan to disengage from Gaza Strip
November 2004
Yasser Arafat dies
January 2005
Mahmoud Abbas elected Palestinian president; Ariel Sharon forms National-Unity government with Labour Party
August 2005
Israel withdraws from Gaza
July 2006
Israel invades southern Lebanon
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