Historical source documents:
Zionism, Israel and Palestine
Source documents about Zionism, Israel, the Israeli-Palestinian (Palestine-Israel, Arab-Israeli) Conflict and Jewish History
Some
additional source document links are at
Israel Documents
Israel-related news item links are at
Israel News Archives
Additional recent news items are at Israel
News
Undated -
The Ethical Code of the IDF - This is how Israel's actions are, and should be, judged by itself.
Palestine's
Rural Economy - Kenneth Stein - This 1987 article explores the roots of the land problem in mandatory Palestine.
Source documents by year
2009 -
Address by Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Begin-Sadat Center, June 14, 2009 -
In this speech, Netanyahu gave Israeli support to a Palestinian state, in
response to US President Obama's initiative, but would not accede to US demands
for a freeze in construction of new housing in Israeli West Bank settlements.
2009 -
Address by President Obama in Cairo, June 4, 2009 - This speech is bound to be
marked as a historic turning point in relations between the United States and
the Muslim and Arab worlds.
2007:
Riyadh Arab Summit Resolutions - The Arab League resolved to
renew the Arab peace initiative of 2003, but most of the resolutions were not conciliatory to Israel.
2007: UN Security Council Resolution 1747 - This resolution was passed after lengthy negotiations in March of 2007,
to impose further sanctions on Iran for failing to halt enrichment of uranium, after its failure to comply with
resolutions 1737 and 1696.
2007: Platform of the Palestinian Unity government - On
March 17, 2007, the Palestinians formed a unity government. Its platform is at best ambiguous regarding the prospects
for peace, and promises "resistance" until the return of Palestinian refugees and the end of the occupation, which, it
states, began 60 years ago.
2006: UN Security Council Resolution 1737 - This resolution was passed after lengthy negotiations in December of
2006, to impose sanctions on Iran for failing to halt enrichment of uranium.
2006: Iraq Study Group Report: A US bipartisan group
commissioned by the government gave recommendations for dealing with the deteriorating situation in Iraq. These included
a call for Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab negotiations, which the authors felt would somehow affect the situation
in Iraq.
2006: UN Security Council Resolution 1701 - This resolution was passed to end the Israeli retaliatory attack on
Lebanon in August of 2006 and to disarm the Hezbollah, after Hezbollah attacked Israel, killing three soldiers and
kidnapping two others and triggering a month of intense hostilities.
2006: UN Security Council Resolution 1696 - Iran is ordered to cease enrichment of uranium, under suspicion that it
is developing nuclear weapons.
2006: Statement of the G-8 on the Lebanon-Israel Crisis - The
G-8, meeting in St. Petersburg, issued this statement regarding the crisis that began when Lebanese Hezbollah terrorists
abducted two Israeli soldiers, killed 3 others and began firing rocket attacks on Israel.
2006: UN Security Council Resolution 1680 - This resolution urges
Syria to delineate borders with Lebanon, and open an embassy. It reiterates the call for disarming of militias including
the Hezbollah terrorists.
2005: PM Ariel Sharon's Address before the United
Nations - Following completion of the Israeli
disengagement plan, Ariel Sharon gave this speech to the UN General Assembly on September 15, 2005.
2005: Sasson report on
Illegal outposts - Israel report that documented the fact that numerous "outposts" were created in the occupied
territories without government approval and in blatant violation of the law.
2004: UN Security Council
Resolution 1566 - For the first time, the Security Council adopts an internationally recognized definition of terror
and calls on member countries to fight terrorism.
2004: ICJ Ruling on the Israeli Security Wall
(Barrier, Fence)The International Court of Justice in the Hague ruled that the security fence is
illegal under international law. Several judges also submitted concurring or dissenting opinions: Dissent of Judge Buergenthal concerning
the ICJ Israel Security Fence Ruling,
Judge Ozawa, Opinion of Judge Higgins, Opinion of Judge Kooijmans, Opinion of Judge El Araby,
Opinion of Judge Khawasneh,
Opinion of Judge Koroma
2004: UN Security Council
Resolution 1559 - This resolution is aimed at Syria and was an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the amendment of the
Lebanese constitution to allow Syrian-sponsored Emile Lahoud to remain President for an additional three years. It calls
for an end to interference in Lebanese internal affairs for withdrawal of foreign (Syrian) troops from Lebanon and
the disarming of all militias.
2004: Ariel Sharon's
Disengagement Plan - Exchange of letters between Israeli PM Ariel Sharon and US President George W. Bush regarding
Sharon's proposal for unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and portions of the West Bank.
2003: UN Security Council
Resolution 1515 - This resolution, introduced by Russia, adopts the quartet roadmap for peace between Palestinians
and Israel as UN policy, explicitly endorses a permanent two-state solution to the conflict and calls on the sides to
implement their obligations under the roadmap.
2003: UN GA Resolution Condemning the Israeli Security Barrier ("Wall")
- The fence or wall that
Israel is building in the West Bank has been the subject of acrimonious debate. This General Assembly Resolution
condemned the fence as illegal, after the US threatened to veto a similar resolution in the Security Council.
2003: Draft Final Status
Agreement (Geneva Accord (Beilin-Abd Rabbo Document) - Israeli opposition leaders, led by Shahar party leader Yossi
Beilin and Palestinians led by Yasser Abd-Rabbo, negotiated a new draft agreement, that would supposedly replace the
Oslo accords as the basis for Israeli-Palestinian peace.
2003:Israeli Reservations on the Middle East
Peace Roadmap - The Israeli government accepted the Roadmap for Middle East Peace with 14
reservations on key points.
2003: Updated Middle East
Peace Roadmap - Official updated version published by the Government of the United States April 30, 2003.
2003: Inaugural Speech of
Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas - Official version of the address promising to fight corruption and
violence, given on the election of Mahmud Abbas (Abu Mazen) to the post of Prime Minister, paving the way for
publication of the Middle East Peace Roadmap, as promised by the United States.
2003: Draft
Palestinian Constitution - Under pressure for reform, Palestinians evolved a draft constitution based upon the
basic law. The democratic constitution was one of the demands of the Middle East Peace
Roadmap as well as of Palestinians. Comments on the constitution by
Dr. Sami
Aldeeb, a Palestinian legal expert, are given here.
2002: Jerusalem:
Foreign Relations Authorization Act - This act calls for removing the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and
recognizing Jerusalem as part of Israel. President Bush announced that he will treat it as "advisory," meaning that he
will ignore it.
2002: President Bush's
Draft Road Map for a Palestinian- Israeli Settlement - In October of 2002, US President Bush issued his own version
of a detailed road map for a Palestinian - Israeli settlement, based on the Quartet statement of September 17. It is
known as Elements of a Performance-Based Road Map to a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.
2002: Quartet Road Map
Statement - Sept. 17 - Representatives from the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia formed group known as
the " The Quartet," which began to shape international policy toward resolution of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Quartet issued the statement below regarding a road map for peace on September
17, 2002.
2002: Announcement of the
Quartet - July 16 - Following Colin Powell's mission to the Middle East, a four nation "Quartet"
committee was formed to develop a road map for an Israeli-Palestinian settlement
2002: President George
Bush Jr: Speech on the Palestine-Israel Conflict - In this controversial and historic speech, delivered following
repeated Palestinian terror attacks and while Israel had reoccupied all of the West Bank in retaliation, US President
Bush called for establishment of a Palestinian state following democratic reform.
2002: President
Bush: Colin Powell to Travel to the Middle East - Following the initiation of the Israel Defensive Wall operation,
President Bush announced that he was sending Secretary of State Colin Powell to the Middle East in an attempt to
negotiate a cease fire.
2002: PNA Basic Law - Under pressure for reform, PNA Chairman Yasser Arafat signs the transitional constitution of the Palestine authority. (Approved by PLC in October 1997, signed into law on May 30, 2002). The law guarantees basic rights, but states that Palestinian legislation will be based on the principles of Islamic Sha'arieh law.
2002: PNA Basic Law - Under pressure for reform, PNA Chairman Yasser Arafat signs the transitional constitution of the Palestine authority. (Approved by PLC in October 1997, signed into law on May 30, 2002). The law guarantees basic rights, but states that Palestinian legislation will be based on the principles of Islamic Sha'arieh law.
2002: UN Security Council
Resolution 1405 - Calls for lifting the restrictions on the work of humanitarian organizations in Jenin and for a
fact finding committee to investigate the conditions following Israeli operations against terrorists. The resolution was
passed following Palestinian allegations of a massacre in Jenin.
2002: UN Security Council
Resolution 1403 - Calls for implementation of resolution 1402. It was passed against the backdrop of continuing
Israeli incursions and continuing Palestinian suicide attacks.
2002: UN Security Council
Resolution 1402 - This resolution was drafted by Norway following the Israeli incursions into Jenin, Ramallah,
Bethlehem and other towns. The towns were occupied and the Israeli Army defeated entrenched guerilla forces of the
Al-Aqsa Martyrs suicide brigades, after Palestinians stepped up attacks at the end of March. The almost daily attacks
included a suicide attack that killed 27 people in a Nethanya hotel while they were celebrating the Passover holiday.
Syria abstained, ostensibly because the resolution didn't condemn Israel strongly enough.
2002: UN Security Council
Resolution 1397 - This resolution was adopted in the face of mounting violence and failure to obtain a ceasefire.
Israel had invaded Balata refugee camp following several Palestinian suicide attacks and other incidents. The Security
Council called for establishment of a Palestinian state.
2002: Arab Peace Initiative
(Saudi Peace Plan) - Saudi Crown prince Abdullah floated an Arab peace plan that was discussed and modified at am
Arab League summit conference in Beirut in March of 2002. The plan calls for Israeli withdrawal from all territories
occupied since 1967 and return of the Palestine refugees to Israel in return for recognition of Israel and normal
relations. The King of Jordan and President of Egypt did not attend. Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat was prevented
from attending by the Israeli government.
2001: Who is Osama Bin
Ladin? - On September 11, 2001, simultaneous terror attacks on the Twin Towers financial center in New York City and
on the Pentagon in Washington DC killed thousands. The man behind these bombings is (or was?) Osama Bin Laden,
Saudi millionaire and religious fanatic.
2001: Tenet Plan - Plan
proposed by the US CIA director to end the violence and revive the stalled peace process.
2001: The Mitchell
Report - Report of the Mitchell Commission regarding the origins of the Al-Aqsa Intifadeh and steps that should be
taken to end the violence.
2001: UN Report on Human
Rights in the Occupied Territories - In the wake of the Intifada, the UN Commission on Human Rights resolved to
investigate human rights in the occupied territories of Israel-Palestine.
2001: The
Jordanian-Egyptian Peace Proposal - Proposal by Jordan and Egypt for ending the violence of the Al-Aqsa Intifadeh
and resumption of negotiations.
2001: The Moratinos
Non-Paper - EU envoy Miguel Moratinos prepared a "non-paper" summarizing the positions of the sides at the
conclusion of the Taba talks.
2001: The Palestinian and Israel
Proposals at Taba regarding the Refugee Problem - The Palestine refugee problem remains perhaps the most difficult
obstacle facing Israeli and Palestinian negotiators. In January 2001, the sides met at Taba in a last-minute effort to
salvage a peace agreement. At the conclusion of negotiations, they issued an optimistic joint communique. Their
positions regarding the refugee problem were published in the French newspaper Le Monde, and indicate fundamental
differences of opinion.
2000: The Clinton
Bridging Proposals - Negotiators of the Palestinian and Israeli sides, together with American officials met in the
United States. After several days of negotiations, President Clinton offered these proposals to bridge differences
between the sides.
2000: Mahmoud Abbas on why Camp David Failed - According to Abbas, the Camp
David negotiations failed because Israel refused to surrender all sovereignty in East Jerusalem, and refused to accept
the return of descendants the Arab Palestinian refugees of 1948.
2000: The Israeli Camp
David II Summit Proposals - An unofficial summary of Israel proposals for final settlement made at the Camp David
Summit in July 2000.
2000: Camp David Summit Statement - Israeli, Palestinian and American leaders met at Camp David in an attempt to
frame a final status agreement. The meeting ended in stalemate, but the statement issued at least left a small opening
for hope.
1999: Opening of Final Status
Negotiations - Following resumption of implementation of the Wye River Memorandum, Final Status negotiations opened
in Ramalla.
1998 - The
Palestinian Refugee Issue From A FATEH Perspective - This address by Fatah
Central Committee member Sakher Habash explains that Fateh policy is to
perpetuate the refugee problem and to use return of the Palestinian refugees as
a "winning card" that will mean the end of Israel. According Habash, this is
also the policy of the Palestinian National Authority.
1998: US Letters of Assurance Regarding Wye Memorandum Issues
- Following the conclusion of the Wye River Memorandum negotiations, US officials provided Israel with letters of
assurance regarding the cancellation of PLO charter provisions about destruction of Israel, and elimination of armament
and surplus police not permitted under the Oslo agreement.
1998: Wye River Memorandum -
Palestinian and Israeli commitments regarding the "second redeployment" (the first one was never implemented) under the
interim Oslo agreement.
1998: Letter of Assurance from PNA Chairman Yasser Arafat - In
1998, PLO Chairman Arafat issued a letter assuring the US that provisions of the PLO charter regarding destruction of
Israel were null and void, and specified which provisions were nullified.
1996: "Grapes of Wrath" understanding regarding Lebanon - Agreement concluded after the Israeli Operation Grapes of
Wrath, during which Israel bombarded wide areas of South Lebanon in retaliation for Hizballah bombardment of Israel.
1995- Last Speech of Yitzhak Rabin - Israeli Prime Minister Yitshak Rabin was assassinated by right-wing
fanatic Yigal Amir at a giant peace rally in 1995. The rally had been called to protest violence that had been rising on
both sides, and to reaffirm the commitment of the government and the Israeli people to peace.
1995: Jerusalem Embassy Act - This act of the US congress called for moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, and for
recognizing Jerusalem as the united capital of Israel. It has had no practical effect, because presidents Clinton and
Bush issued periodic waivers stating that implementation of the act would interfere with US policy.
1995: The Oslo Interim Agreement - This frequently misunderstood document made it possible to hold elections
and set up a Palestinian Authority that would negotiate a final settlement with the Israelis. It did not stipulate the
nature of the final settlement in any way.
1995: The Beilin Abu-Mazen Draft Agreement - Draft
agreement, never ratified, between Israeli negotiator Yossi Beilin and PLO negotiator Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas). Though
repudiated by both sides, many of the principles of the agreement have been reflected in subsequent negotiations.
1994: Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty - After the Palestinian - Israeli peace process appeared to be well under way,
Jordan and Israel were able to rapidly conclude a peace treaty, aided by warm personal relations between HM King Hussein
and PM Rabin.
1993: The Oslo Declaration of Principles - Breakthrough agreement of mutual recognition between the State of Israel
and the Palestine Liberation Organization, which began the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
1993: Exchange of Letters between Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat - Prior to the signing of the Oslo Declaration of
Principles, Yasser Arafat of the PLO and Yitzhak Rabin exchanged letters. Arafat promised to refrain from violence and
to amend the PLO Charter which called for liquidation of Israel. Rabin promised to work for normalization of life for
Palestinians and peace.
1991: Syrian-Lebanese Cooperation Agreement was a bilateral Syrian Lebanese agreement that began to implement the
principles of the Taif agreement regarding Syrian occupation of Lebanon.
1989- The Taif
Accords - This agreement was concluded between warring factions in Lebanon under the auspices of the Arab league and
Syria. They were intended to settle the Lebanese civil war and legitimize the Syrian occupation.
1989:
Israeli Peace Proposal - Under pressure from the US following the Palestine National Council declaration of
acceptance of UN Resolutions 242 and 338, Israel issues a peace plan for negotiations with the Palestinians, but not
with the PLO.
1988:
Speech by PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, Recognizing Resolution 242 - Under internal pressure, as well as pressure from
the United States, Yasser Arafat declares that the PLO recognizes UN resolution 242.
1988:
Palestinian Declaration of Independence - Under the impetus of the uprising ("Intifadeh") in the Israeli-occupied
Arab territories, the Palestine Liberation Organization declared a state in exile. Some see this declaration as implying
recognition of Israel, but the declaration makes no mention of Israel or of UN resolution 242.
1988: The Hamas Charter -
This Islamic fundamentalist group was formed to fight the idea of compromise over Palestine/Israel. Its charter declared
that all of Palestine belongs to the Moslems, that it can only be liberated by Jihad - holy war, and that the program of
Zionism was to expand and take over Arab countries one by one. This Zionist program, according to the charter, is set
forth in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion (an anti - Semitic forgery).
1985: Program
of the Hezbollah (Hizbullah) - The Hezbollah was originally organized as a radical Shi'ite militia to fight the
Israeli occupation of Lebanon in 1985. It evolved into an Iranian and Syrian supported movement for the destruction of
Israel.
1983: Draft Israeli-Lebanese Treaty - This treaty was signed
during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1983, but it was never ratified.
1982: Kahan Commission Report - This report summarizes
the investigation of massacres perpetrated in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps by Phalangist Christian militia allied
to Israel. The report concluded that Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon and others had indirect responsibility for
the massacres, since they had ample reason to believe that they could occur, and nonetheless allowed the militia to
enter the camps.
1980 UN Security Council Resolution 478
- This resolution protested the passage of the Israeli Basic Law: Jerusalem, declaring
that united Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.
1980: Basic Law: Jerusalem - Declared united Jerusalem to be the capital of
Israel.
1980 UN Security Council Resolution 476
- This resolution protested the Israeli intention to pass a basic law declaring
that united Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.
1979: Peace Treaty Between Israel and Egypt - The peace
treaty was signed almost a year after the historic Camp David agreement, and after intensive shuttle diplomacy by US
President Jimmy Carter.
1978: The Camp David Framework Agreements - Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli PM Menachem Begin, meeting at
Camp David under the auspices of US President Jimmy Carter, sign framework agreements for peace in the Middle East and
peace between Egypt and Israel. The Middle East framework was not implemented, but its some principles were incorporated
in later negotiations with the Palestinians and Syrians.
1978: UN
Security Council Resolution 425 - Adopted in March, 1978, when Israel invaded Lebanon (Operation Litani).
1977:
PLO Six Point Program - In reaction to the visit of Egyptian President Anwar As Sadat to Jerusalem, offering peace,
the PLO formed a block of opposition states and groups, reiterating its rejection of UN Resolutions 242 and 338, and its
intention to destroy Israel.
1977:
Anwar Sadat Speech to the Knesset - In November of 1977, President Anwar as Sadat of Egypt traveled to Jerusalem and
delivered this plea for peace that initiated the Israeli-Egyptian peace process.
1975: Harold H. Saunders
Testimony before a House Subcommittee: " In many ways, the Palestinian dimension of the Arab-Israeli conflict is the
heart of that conflict." The content of this speech was to set the agenda for US policy in next three decades.
1975:
UN General Assembly Resolution 3379 - The "Zionism is Racism"
resolution, adopted November 10, 1975.
1975:
Kissinger tells Iraqis, "We Can Reduce Israel's Size" - Kissinger's conversation with the Iraqi foreign minister
seems to be shocking, but it was in fact an expression of U.S. policy.
1974:
Diaspora Influence on Israel: The Ben-Gurion-Blaustein "Exchange" and its
Aftermath - This article provides the background of an important statement
that defined the relation between the new state of Israel and Diaspora Jews.
1974
UN General Assembly Resolutions 3236 and 3237 - These resolutions recognized the right of the Palestinian people to
"resist" the occupation and granted observer status to the Palestine Liberation Organization.
1974- Yasser Arafat's
Speech Before the UN General Assembly - Yasser Arafat, chairman of the PLO was invited to speak before the UN
General Assembly. He equated Zionism with racism and anti-Semitism, asserted that terrorism was legitimate for the
purpose of revolution, and vowed to liberate Palestine and replace Israel with a secular democratic state.
1974
- Palestine National Council Resolution - In 1974, the Palestine National Council adopted a program for gradual
"liberation" of Palestine, declaring that it would establish a state on any part of Palestine liberated from the
Zionists. This has variously been interpreted as a historic compromise implying that Palestinians would be willing to
live alongside Israel, or as a "staged plan" for the destruction of Israel.
1973: UN Security Council Resolution 338
- Resolution adopted following the October Yom Kippur War.
1968:
Palestinian National Charter - Revised document adopted by the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1968, as the basis for
their struggle against Israel and Zionism. In 1993, as part of the Oslo agreement, the Palestinians promised to cancel
key provisions of the charter that denied the right of Israel to exist. The PLO executive met on two different occasions
(the second one in the presence of President Clinton) to alter the charter.
1967: Khartoum Resolutions - Following the 6-Day war, an Arab summit meeting in Khartoum
rejected the possibility of peace or negotiations with Israel.
1967:
UN Security Council Resolution 242- Resolution adopted following the 6-Day War,
calling for a negotiated peace and Israeli withdrawal from territories conquered in the 6 Day war.
1967 - Yitzhak Rabin: Acceptance Speech for Honorary
Doctorate, Mount Scopus - This speech, given in the newly liberated campus of the Hebrew University, came to
symbolize the way a generation of Israelis regarded the Six day war and the moral stature of the IDF.
1967: Senator Fulbright asserts that the Jews control congress
- The chairman of the Senate Committee on foreign relations asserted that "they" control congress and would not allow
passage of anti-Israel legislation.
1967-
Nasser-Hussein telephone conversation
fabricating the accusation that USA and Britain aided Israel - On June 6, 1967, President Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt and King Hussein of Jordan
had a telephone conversation. Nasser told Hussein his forces were striking back at Israel, and they both agreed to
fabricate the claim that the United States and Britain were aiding Israel. As a result, angry mobs stormed US and
British embassies, Gulf states embargoed oil shipments and 6 countries broke off diplomatic relations with the United
States and Great Britain. The lie is apparently still taught in Egyptian schools.
1967: President Johnson's Reply to Levy Eshkol's letter, June 3- Even though the situation had changed for the worse since Johnson had met with Abba Eban, his reply to Israeli PM Levi
Eshkol's letter, sent 4 days later, offered nothing new. Johnson counseled restraint.
1967: Memorandum by Harold Saunders
- This recently declassified memorandum of May 31, 1967 urges US officials to consider the option of allowing Israel to
"go it alone" in order to extricate the US from its commitments to Israel, which could not be fulfilled owing to Arab
pressure.
1967:
Letter sent by
Israeli Levi Eshkol to US President Lyndon Johnson - In this letter, sent May 30, 1967, Eshkol implored
Johnson to either live up to US commitments to Israel, or allow Israel to act independently to break the blockade of the
straights of Tiran.
1967:
Levi Eshkol radio address, 1967 - In these famous remarks
on May 28, Eshkol appeared to hesitate, exacerbating a government crisis at a critical time.
1967: National board of estimates estimate of Arab-Israeli war outcome
- On May 26, 1967 the CIA National Board of Estimates submitted this recently declassified document, which noted that
Israel faced difficult choices and would probably incur serious casualties in the event of war.
1967: CIA estimate of Outcome of Israeli-Arab war -
On May 26, the CIA submitted this recently declassified estimate, which insisted that Israel would beat Arabs handily in
a war, but its projections for recovery after Israel would lose half its aircraft, as it predicted, were unrealistic.
1967: Abba Eban meeting with US President Johnson - Prior to the Six day war, Israeli Foreign Minister Eban was sent to the United States to obtain support for opening
the straits of Tiran, in accordance with US commitments. He came away empty handed essentially. In this meeting on May
26, Johnson, like other US officials, insisted that there was no danger of Egyptian attack, and that it was in Israel's
best interests to wait for a diplomatic solution. The US however, was pressured by its own diplomats not to pursue
freedom of navigation for Israel.
1967: Memorandum from Dean Rusk to President Johnson on May 25
- Prior to the Six day war, Israeli Foreign Minister Eban was sent to the United States to obtain support for opening
the straits of Tiran, in accordance with US commitments. In this memorandum to President Johnson, preparatory to
Johnson's meeting with Eban, Rusk explains that
allowing Israel to act against Egypt would be detrimental to US interests, because of fear of an oil embargo.
1967: Abba Eban meeting with US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara
- Prior to the Six day war, Israeli Foreign Minister Eban was sent to the United States to obtain support for opening
the straits of Tiran, in accordance with US commitments. American officials stalled for time and tried to prevent
Israeli action. This recently declassified
document records a meeting with Secretary of Defense McNamara on May 25.
1967: Abba Eban meeting with Secretary of State Dean Rusk
- Prior to the Six day war, Israeli Foreign Minister Eban was sent to the United States to obtain support for opening
the straits of Tiran, in accordance with US commitments. American officials stalled for time. This recently declassified
document records a meeting with Secretary of State Dean Rusk on May 26.
1967: CIA estimate of May 25 - This
recently declassified CIA estimate negated Israeli claims that an Egyptian attack was imminent. However, several sources
indicate that in fact an Egyptian attack had been planned for the morning of May 27 and was cancelled due to Soviet
pressure and Egyptian belief that Israel had discovered the attack plans.
1967:
U.S. ambassador Smythe's Views on Israel - Prior to the Six Day war, Ambassador Smythe summarized his views of Israel, representing the views of
the diplomatic corps. Israel, in his opinion was an "unviable client state." This recently declassified
document epitomizes the views of many State Department diplomats.
1967: Aramco Company Pressures US not to honor commitments to Israel - Declassified document reveals pressure on the
US from Aramco and Arab countries to refrain from honoring its commitments to freedom of navigation.
1967: Speech by Gamal Nasser to Arab Trade Unionists- Made on May 26, 1967 - Nasser claimed that Egypt was only looking for the right movement and the proper
excuse to fight for the Palestinian cause.
1967: Speech by Gamal Nasser to Egyptian National
Assembly Members- Made on May 26, 1967, - Nasser insisted that the battle with Israel
would reverse the Arab loss of 1948, or in other words, that Egypt was preparing to destroy Israel.
1967: Dean Rusk predicts there will not be a war; - Rusk told the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
on January 16, that he
believed there would not be a war, ignoring considerable evidence.
1967: Symington on Samu Raid - Senator Stuart Symington asserted
on January 11 that Israel had attacked Jordan at Samu because Jordan is a client of the United States.
1964: Israeli Notes to the UN Following Arab Summit- Following the Arab Summit of September 13, Israel sent two notes to the UN regarding the declared intention to destroy
Israel which was among the resolutions of conference.
1964: The second Arab summit conference
- The conference held in Alexandria on Sept. 13, 1964, declared the goal of eliminating
Israel, and made concrete decisions regarding unification of army commands, increased size of armed forces and diversion
of the waters of the Jordan before they reached the Sea of Galilee, in Syria and Lebanon.
1964 -
Palestinian National Charter (original)
- The Palestine Liberation Organization was formed in this period at the
instigation of Syria and Egypt and adopted a charter calling for the destruction
of Israel and "liberation" of all of "Palestine.
1964(?) The Fateh Constitution - The Fateh Palestinian resistance movement began to form
about 1957, but was not officially organized until the 60s. It soon became the leading Palestinian group. Their
constitution, which has not been changed following the peace accords, calls for the destruction of Israel and of
Zionism.
1951: UN Security Council Resolution 95- Called on Egypt to open the Suez Canal to Israeli shipping and to desist from belligerent acts.
!950 -
Ben-Gurion-Blaustein "exchange" - also called the Ben-Gurion-Blaustein
agreement, these remarks by
David
Ben Gurion tried to define the relations between the State of Israel and
Diaspora Jews.
1949: UN General Assembly Resolution 302
- created the United Nations Relief Works Agency for assisting Palestinian Arab refugees.
1949: UN General
Assembly Resolution 212 - This resolution provided interim aid to Arab refugees from
Palestine.
1949:
Palestine Holy Places: Letters pledging access
- Pledges by belligerents to allow access to holy places in Palestine, provided
in reply to the request for such pledges (see
Implementation of UN Resolution 194).
1949: Palestine Holy Places: Implementation of UN Resolution 194 - This document called for written undertakings by different governments
regarding access to holy places in Palestine outside the "internationalized
Jerusalem sector.
1949:
Palestine Holy Places - Document prepared for the UN Secretariat listing the
major holy places and the status and resolution of conflicting claims of
ownership.
1949 -
David Ben Gurion - Among the
Gentiles.- An explanation of anti-Semitism.
1949: Armistice Agreements - Under the aegis of UN Mediator
Ralph Bunche, negotiations were conducted between Israel and the four neighboring states that were at war with it. The
agreements incorporated lands that had been allocated to the Palestinian state into Israel, Jordan and Syria, and left
the Gaza Strip under Egyptian administration Armistice between Israel and Egypt - February
24, 1949
Armistice between Israel and Lebanon - March 23,
1949
Armistice between Israel and Jordan - April
3, 1949
Armistice between Israel and Syria- June 20, 1949
1948:
UN General Assembly Resolution 194- This resolution, adopted near the close of the
Israel War of Independence (1948 War), calls for repatriation of any
Palestinian refugees who
are "willing to live in peace with their neighbors," and compensation for loss of property as a result of the war.
1948
Second plan of Count
Bernadotte for settlement of the Arab-Israeli war of 1948 - The second plan of Count Bernadotte called for
a
tiny Jewish state and internationalization of Jerusalem.
1948
First Plan of Count Bernadotte for settling
the Arab-Israel war of 1948.- This plan of the UN mediator ignored
General Assembly Resolution 181 and called for annexation of the Jewish areas of Palestine as an enclave
within Transjordan, with limitations of Jewish immigration.
1948:
UN Security Council Resolution 62 - This resolution called on the parties in the
Arab-Israeli war to conclude armistice agreements that would lead to a lasting peace.
1948: Arab League Statement- Immediately following the Israeli declaration of independence, the Arab League states declared war on Israel and
issued a statement announcing their intentions to restore the state of affairs prevailing prior to partition - in other
words, to eliminate the State of Israel.
1948:
Jews in Grave Danger in All Moslem Lands - A news report outlining the
steps taken by Arab and Muslim countries against Jews just prior to the outbreak of the Israeli War of Independence.
Arab countries planned not only ethnic cleansing of Jews in Israel,
but also draconic steps against their own Jewish
citizens. Eventually, most Jews in these countries had to flee, many
leaving behind extensive properties. A report on the danger
had been submitted to the UN, but the UN never acted to protect Jews in
Muslim countries and never recognized these Jews
as refugees or provided them with any relief or legal rights.
1948: Declaration of Independence of the State of
Israel - Issued May 14 1948, as the British were departing Palestine, the declaration of
independence promised equality to all citizens of Israel in a "Jewish State."
1948:
The British Record on Partition - A study by the Nation magazine submitted
as a report to the U.N., with documentation, showed how the British had fought
to subvert the UN partition resolution on Palestine, and made a key contribution
to founding the Israeli-Arab conflict.
1948:Situation in Jerusalem and Palestine, April 1948 - These
assessments by Jewish officials leave no doubt at all that they perceived the defense situation to be perilous and the
outcome of the civil war to be very much in doubt.
1948: Haganah Intelligence Report Regarding the Situation in Jerusalem -
Following the decision of the UN to partition Palestine
, Arabs tried to put into effect a blockade of Jerusalem that would force the surrender of
the Jewish community there. As this Haganah report shows, the situation had become desperate, belying the claim that the
Jews had clear military superiority over the Arabs.
1948: British Police Report Regarding Arab Evacuation of Haifa- In the chaos that
ensued following the decision of the UN to partition
Palestine , Palestinian Arabs began fleeing from major towns, including Haifa. Part of
the flight was directed from above, by the Arab higher command, part was due to fear following the attack of Jewish
dissidents on Deir Yassin, in which
over a hundred civilians were killed. In Haifa, Jewish attacks by the
Haganah and Irgun as well
as Arab attacks and Jewish counter-attacks, turned the city into a battle field. Some Jewish authorities intervened to
try to convince Arabs to stay, but the leadership explained that Arab higher committee members had left, the community
was disintegrating as they talked, and there was nothing they could do.
1948: Truman Statement on Trusteeship for Palestine- Issued March 25, 1948, it was Truman's way of defusing the trusteeship plan that had been backed by the State
Department and advanced at the UN without his approval. The purpose of the trusteeship plan was to prevent Israeli
statehood. Truman's statement turned trusteeship into a prelude to statehood. In fact, the idea was never implemented.
Support of the Truman administration for
Israeli statehood is discussed here.
1948:
Plan Dalet (Plan D)- The general plan developed over several years by the Haganah for
defense in case of Arab attack on the Jewish state.
1948: David Ben-Gurion: Address to the Mapai Central Committee
on the coming war - total commitment to war, without abandoning
ideals and spiritual values, would be what would win the war according
to Ben Gurion.
1947: The Silver
Platter - Poem by Hebrew poet Natan Alterman, written in 1947 in anticipation of the coming bloody struggle.
1947: Draft Arab League Law Against Jews (Excerpts) - Following the
partition resolution of the United Nations, the Arab League drafted a proposed law that would force all Jewish citizens
of member countries to register, and that would lead to freezing and confiscation of their assets, reminiscent of
draconic Nazi-era legislation,
1947: Haifa Refinery Riots- Following the announcement of the partition plan, violence
erupted sporadically throughout Palestine. Here is one account of a major incident in Haifa.
1947:
UN Partition Plan for Palestine: General Assembly Resolution 181 -
Plan to partition Palestine into two states after the British Mandate ended.
1947: The Consequences of Partition of Palestine - CIA Report - The CIA estimated that the Arab states would not
dare to attack Israel and defy the UN, but that Israel would lose a guerrilla war against the Palestinian Arabs and
their supporters. The opposition of the Arab states was based on their claim that Palestine was part of the Arab world,
and not on fears of dispossession by Jews or the issue of self-determination for Palestinian Arabs.
1947: UN Debate on Palestine Partition- November, 26,
1947 - The USSR favored the partition
plan.
1947: UN Debate on Palestine - US Position
-The US supported the partition plan.
1947: Report of UNSCOP - The UN Special Commission on
Palestine- On September 1, 1947, the UN Special
Commission on Palestine submitted this report.
1947
Testimony of Chaim Weizmann to UNSCOP
- This remarkable testimony to the UNSCOP on July 8, 1947, contains both a
capsule summary of Zionism as well as important background on the intent of the
Balfour declaration.
1947: UN Debate on Palestine - Remarks of Soviet
Representative Andrei Gromyko, May 14, 1947 -
The USSR supported a one-state solution at this time, but would support
partition if the one-state solution was unworkable.
1947: Speech of David Ben-Gurion Before the Elected Assembly of the
Jewish Community in Palestine - As the mandate drew to a close, leaders of the Jewish community met met to consider
probable defense needs.
1946:
Report of the Anglo American Committee of Inquiry - The Committee rejected partition and recommended allowing
100,000 Jewish immigrants to enter Palestine. Palestine would remain a cultural "Jewish Homeland" but Jews and Arabs
would work together. The report of the commission provides an excellent
detailed summary of the history of Palestine under the
mandate and of security conditions, as well as appalling
documentation of the Holocaust and its effects on European Jewry.
1946: Arab
Office Report to the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry - The Arab Office in Jerusalem rejected any partition plan
or binational state, and called instead for the establishment of an Arab state in the whole of Palestine, that would
safeguard the rights of the Jewish minority as well.
1945- American Council for Judaism Proposal for Palestine
- The anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism
proposed in effect, a trusteeship for Palestine that would limit immigration to absorptive capacity, without
discriminating among immigrants of different origin, and without a realistic solution for Jewish displaced persons.
1945: Rabbi Milton Steinberg Creed of An American Zionist -
An historic article outlining the case for Zionism and a democratic Jewish state just after World War II.
1944: Imperatives of the Jewish
Revolution - Ben Gurion's classic speech outlines his vision for the Jewish people and the Zionist movement, as
well as particularistic political concerns.
1942: The Biltmore Program
- The1939
British White Paper had closed Palestine to Jewish immigration, trapping millions of
Jews in Nazi occupied Europe. Zionist leaders met in the Biltmore Hotel in New York, and declared their support for a
Jewish Commonwealth and renewed immigration, in open defiance of the British mandatory authorities.
1942: Wannsee Conference Protocol Conference
of Nazi leader chaired by Reinhard Heydrich that discussed the
transportation of European Jews to the East, where they were to be
murdered. The Wannsee conference did not decide on the "Final Solution."
It discussed the implementation of the solution, which had been
decided earlier.
1941 - Palestinian Grand Mufti Haj Amin El Husseini - Fatwa of 1941 - Declares Holy War on Britain
- During the Pro-Axis
Coup he engineered in Iraq, the Mufti issued a Fatwa calling for Holy War against Britain in a radio speech broadcast on
Axis radio as well as in Iraq.
1939: Permanent
Mandates Commission of the League of Nations- Report 29th June 1939: A.
Palestine: observations on the policy laid down in the White Paper of May 1939
- League of Nations Mandates commission found that British policy was not
in conformance with the mandate, but did not make a unanimous recommendation to
the League Council.
1939: The
British White Paper - This policy statement limited Jewish immigration to Palestine to 15,000 per year for five
years, effectively rescinding the Balfour declaration. which had
been the basis for the British Mandate.
1938: Disposition of the Peel and Woodhead reports - The British government decided to abandon the partition plan
because the Arab state would not be economically viable.
1937 -
King Saud's Views on Palestine and Partition - In 1937, King
Saud explained to a retired British official, H.R.P. Dickson, why the Arabs would oppose partition of Palestine as
recommended by the Peel Commission, and urged the British to stop Jewish immigration and not to make concessions to the
Jews, who he said were 'a race accursed by God according to His Holy Book, and destined to final destruction and
eternal damnation hereafter.' Saud's threat that the Arabs would abandon Britain if partition was implemented, may
have been instrumental in shaping British policy in Palestine.
1937:
The Peel Commission Report and Partition Plan Maps - The Peel Commission, set up after the Arab revolt had begun in
1936, recommended Partition of Palestine into a tiny Jewish area and a much larger Palestinian area.
1937
The Columbus Platform of Reform Judaism
- In 1937, Reform Jewish leaders met and, for the first time, reversed the historic antipathy
of reform Judaism to Zionism.
1937(?) - Bund Flyer Ridiculing Ze'ev Jabotinsky -
Jabotinsky had come to Poland to warn Jews to leave before it was too late. The anti-Zionist Bund ridiculed him as a
paper general and bade him "evacuate Poland."
1931:
Letter of PM Ramsay MacDonald to Chaim Weizmann Rescinding the Passfield White Paper - This letter explained that the
British government had no intention of stopping immigration to Palestine, despite the Hope-Simpson report and Passfield
White Paper.
1930: The
Passfield White Paper- The Passfield White Paper, issued simultaneously with the Hope-Simpson report, adopted the
provisions of the Hope-Simpson report and declared that the protection of the rights of Arab inhabitants was of equal
importance to the mission of the British Mandate with the development of a Jewish National Home.
1930: The
Hope-Simpson Report - (note - this is a very large document) The Hope Simpson report, issued following the
riots of 1929, recommended the cessation of Jewish immigration to Palestine pending development of irrigation, which
might allow the immigration of an additional 20,000 families.
1929 -
Louis Brandeis - Palestine has developed Jewish Character -
Brandeis, who
was instrumental in the popularization of American Zionism, speaking
before an emergency fundraising meeting at the start of the great
depression, and following the murderous riots of 1929.
1929: Arthur Ruppin: Buying the Emek - This historic
account explains the vicissitudes of Zionist land purchases in Palestine.
1923: Vladimir Jabotinsky: The Iron Wall - This essay was published by the head of the
Zionist Revisionist movement, Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky in 1923. In reaction to riots that had occurred in 1920 and
1921. It called for an independent, legal Jewish defense force, a Jewish Legion in Palestine, which Jabotinsky referred
to as an "Iron Wall."
1923
Louis Brandeis - Realization will not come as a gift
- Brandeis describing progress and raised funds for land purchase
1923 -
Louis Brandeis - The Human Resource
- A prescient speech which singled out the real saving resource of the Zionist
endeavor - the human resource, which is what was to make the Jewish state a
reality and eventually, economically viable.
1923 - The Pilgrims had Faith
- American Zionist Leader Justice Louis Brandeis liked to compare Jewish
Halutzim to American Pilgrims, as he did in this touching address to the
Palestine Land Council in 1923.
1922: The British Mandate for Palestine- The League of Nations Mandate giving Great
Britain control of Palestine for the purpose of making a Jewish national home there.
1922: The
Churchill ("Command") White Paper - Document that created, in effect, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, while
reasserting the commitment of Great Britain to a Jewish National Home in Palestine west of the Jordan river.
1922:
Correspondence related to the Churchill White Paper of 1922 - Prior to publication of the Churchill White paper, the
document was circulated to both Zionist and Palestinian representatives, who commented on it.
1921- John Evelyn
Shuckburgh, Colonial Office Memo on Jewish Gun-Running in Palestine - Evidence that at least some British officials
supported Jewish self-defense, and understood the Balfour declaration to be a commitment to foster a Jewish national
home.
1920 - Efficiency in Public Service -
Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis told the American delegation to the London
Zionist meeting that the Zionist organization must be reorganized among more efficient principles, replacing many leaders.
1920 - The time is
urgent
- Address of American Zionist leader, Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis,
to the Zionist meeting in London following World War I, calling for an effort to
raise the sums and create the organization needed to settle and develop the
Jewish national home that was promised by the Balfour declaration.
1920 -
Haganah oath - Oath sworn by new recruits to the
Hebrew clandestine defense forces ("Hebrew Defense Organization" - Irgun Hahagannah Hayehudi) - the Haganah
1920 -
Haganah
Foundation Doctrine - The foundation principles of the
Hebrew clandestine defense forces ("Hebrew Defense Organization" - Irgun Hahagannah Hayehudi) - the Haganah.
1920 - San Remo Resolution
- Resolution of the 1920 San Remo conference of the four principal
allied powers, concerning the distribution of class "A" mandates in the
Middle East territories of the former Ottoman Empire.
Syria was to have been an independent state. Palestine was to have been a
Jewish
homeland, but the mandate was not yet assigned to any country. This
document
should not be confused with a document called the "San Remo Convention"
that
appears in a few places on the Web, but which is identical to the text
of the
British Mandate for Palestine
issued in London in 1922 by the League of Nations.
1919: Arthur
Balfour: Introduction on Zionism - In 1919, Lord Arthur Balfour, author of the Balfour declaration, wrote this
document to introduce a history of Zionism written by Nahum Sokolov.
1919: Statement of the Zionist Organization to the
Paris Peace Conference- The Zionist organization presented this statement at the
Paris peace conference, outlining the Zionist position regarding Palestine, and supporting the British proposal for a
mandate that would create a Jewish national home, in line with the
Balfour Declaration . The
statement provides a great deal of background regarding the position of various Zionist groups and foreign governments,
and gives proposed borders for the Palestine mandate as well as proposals for organization of the Palestine government.
1919: Feisal-Frankfurter Correspondence - Letters exchanged
between Feisal,
the son of Sharif Hussayn and US Justice Felix Frankfurter, at the Paris peace conference in 1919, assuring Dr.
Frankfurter that Zionism had the support of the Arabs, and declaring that Zionism is a national movement and not an
imperialist movement.
1919: Feisal-Weizmann Agreement -
Agreement between Feisal,
the son of Sharif Hussayn, leader of the Arab revolt, and Dr. Chaim Weizmann, head of the Zionist movement, in which
Zionists agreed to further Arab nationalist aims and Feisal agreed to support the Balfour declaration and large scale
Jewish immigration to Palestine, provided that the Arabs received an independent state in Iraq and Syria. The British
agreed instead to give Syria to the French.
1919: A Jewish
Palestine by H. Sacher - An eminent Jewish scholar pleaded the case for a Jewish National Home in Palestine.
1917: The Balfour Declaration- The "letter" from Lord Balfour to Lord Rothschild, declaring that the British government "view with favor" the
establishment of a Jewish National Home in Palestine. This was to be the basis of the League of Nations Mandate for
Palestine, granted to Great Britain.
1917: Ber Borochov - Eretz Yisrael in our program and tactics
- This last recorded speech of
Borochov represents a radical change in some respects from his earlier doctrinaire Marxist position and blind faith in
historical inevitability, in favor of recognizing the importance of cultural factors in Zionist aspirations.
1917:
Poalei Tziyon Peace Platform
- Call for League of Nations, national self determination.
1917 - Edwin Montagu - Opposition to the Balfour Declaration
- Edwin Montagu, the only Jew in the British cabinet, was a bitter opponent of the Balfour declaration. In August of
1917, he presented the government with a memorandum claiming that the declaration was "anti-Semitic" and would result in
the expulsion of Jews from Europe. The Jewish problem, Montagu believed was being solved by "progress."
1916:
Louis Brandeis:
Zionism Brings Understanding and Happiness - A thank you speech for an award
presented to Brandeis on his 60th birthday. It is interesting because of
Brandeis' assertion about unity among Zionist ranks.
1916:
Sykes-Picot Agreement - Agreement between Mark Sykes for Britain and Georges Picot for France, granting parts of the
Middle East to French and International Control.
1916: Ber Borochov - The Economic Development of
the Jewish People - This article is a classic exposition of a central thesis of
Socialist Zionism - the anomalous class structure of the Jewish people.
1916: Louis Brandeis:
Democracy means Responsibility- An organizational and fund raising speech.
1916: Not by Charity Alone - Louis Brandeis
- The great American Zionist leader explains to a Chicago audience that
Zionism is not merely a charity but a form of Jewish self help that
will ultimately lead to liberation of the Jewish people.
This speech introduced Shmarya Levin, the European Zionist who was
frequently
sent to the United States for fund raising purposes.
1916:
The Common Cause of the Jewish People - Louis Brandeis
- An organizational speech regarding war relief efforts and the work of the
organizing committee of the American Jewish Congress.
1915 Louis Brandeis: Numbers Count
- Brandeis recognized the need for American Zionism to become a majority, if not
a universal, force in American Judaism, in order to form a unified pressure
group that could push for a Jewish national home at the end of the First World
War.
1915:
Husayn-McMahon Correspondence - Letter from Sir Henry McMahon to Sherif Husayn (Hussein of Mecca) in 1915,
reserving part of the area to be liberated from Turkish control for non-Arab control. The boundaries of the area
specified were vague. Various commentators decided that the area did or did not include Palestine according to their
partisan prejudices.
1915: True Americanism - Louis Dembitz Brandeis
- A patriotic fourth of July speech that also explains the foundation for
Brandeis' conception of American Zionism and the place of Jews in America.
1915:
Dreams may be made into realities - Louis Dembitz Brandeis
-
Remarks delivered before the Convention of the Federation of American
Zionists held in Boston and Chelsea in June, 1915, including the famous
Brandeis call to enroll every American Jew as a Zionist.
1915:
The Jewish
Problem: How to Solve it - Louis Dembitz Brandeis - Speech articulating
Brandeis's vision of Zionism as an American cause, given to Eastern Reform
rabbis.
1915:
A Call to the Educated Jew - Louis Dembitz Brandeis
- Brandeis's appeal to college educated Jews on behalf of Zionism, made in the
journal of the intercollegiate Menorah society.
1914-
Strain Every Nerve - Louis D. Brandeis - Appeal to American Jewry following Brandeis's election as chairman of the
Provisional Zionist Committee.
1914- The Jewish
People Should be Preserved - Louis Dembitz Brandeis - Speech of Louis
Brandeis accepting his election as chairman of the Provisional Zionist Committee
in New York City, following the outbreak of World War I.
1908: Arthur Ruppin - The Situation in 1907 - Ruppin visited Palestine, saw the
problems of Zionist settlement, proposed a solution, and was chosen to implement it.
1905: Max Nordau - Zionism- This brief survey by the co-founder of the Zionist movement explains Zionism, anti-Zionism, and Zionist aspirations in
the formative stage of the movement.
1905: Ber Borochov - The National Question and the
Class Struggle - One of the fathers of Socialist Zionism, Borochov pointed out the importance of nationalism,
as well as economic motives, in history.
1903- Max Nordau - Address to the Sixth Zionist Congress - Nordau noted the
progress and international recognition accumulated by the Zionist movement in
the relatively brief period since its founding, discussing the seeming successes
of the time in obtaining support for a Jewish state.
1902:
Altneuland
- Theodor Herzl's novel of a modern, democratic, pluralistic Jewish state in Palestine, with equality for Arabs. In
Hebrew, it was called "Tel Aviv."
1898: Nachman Syrkin - The Jewish Problem and the Socialist Jewish State
- This article
or pamphlet presents Syrkin's combination of non-Marxian socialism and Zionist nationalism.
1897 - Achad Ha'am - Jewish State, Jewish Problem - Achad Ha'am did not accept the
political Zionism of Herzl, or the practical settlement approach of others. This article was a reaction to the first
Zionist congress.
1897 -
Max Nordau - Address to the
First Zionist Congress Max Nordau gave the opening address at the
first Zionist congress, describing the pitiful plight of European Jews.
1897: Program of the First Zionist Congress - Theodore Herzl organized the first Zionist Congress in Basle, Switzerland in 1897. Prior to the Congress, Zionist
activities had been initiated by several different groups such as
Hovevei Tzion (lovers of Zion) with no central
direction or political program. The Basle Congress was the foundation of a mass Zionist movement.
1896: The Jewish State - Theodor Herzl
- This book became, essentially, the program of the Zionist movement and the embodiment of
its common ideology. Complete downloadable source, with a historical preface.
1891: Achad Ha'am - An Open Letter to my Brethren: Pinsker and his Pamphlet, Auto-Emancipation
- This eulogy of Leon Pinsker, written in 1891, shows clearly that Achad Ha'am was not opposed to the idea of settlement
in Palestine, and that "cultural Zionism" and "practical Zionism" were not incompatible in his view.
1891 - Achad Haam: Anticipations and Survivals - An analysis intended to show the evolution of the Zionist idea from Jewish orthodox traditions.
1889 - Achad Ha'am - This is not the way ("The wrong way")
- Achad Ha'am believed that Zionist settlement in Palestine
would never amount to anything important without a cultural revival of the Jewish people.
1885 -
The Pittsburgh platform of Reform Jews-
This platform reiterated Reform Jewish opposition to the idea of Jewish peoplehood.
1882:
Auto-Emancipation by Leon Pinsker- This early Zionist pamphlet was written by Leon Pinsker after violent pogroms in Russia.
1882: BILU Manifesto- Document issued by the
BILU,
a Proto-Zionist pioneer group in Constantinople, on their way to settle in the land of Israel.
1879 -
Blood libels in Damanhur, Egypt
- A letter describing the blood libel cases of 1873 and 1877, and
asking for the help of the Alliance Israelite in combating the
accusations.
1869- The Philadelphia Platform of Reform Jews - 1869
- The early reform Jewish movement in the USA, like German Reform Judaism, was opposed to the idea that there is a
"Jewish People" and of return to Zion. This is implicit in the Philadelphia Platform of 1869.
1862: Rome and Jerusalem: The
Last National Question by Moses Hess- This book was the
first call for Jewish national liberation couched in terms of nationalism and based on socialist and liberalist ideals.
It is presented here in three parts
Rome and Jerusalem
Rome and Jerusalem - Part II
Rome and Jerusalem - Conclusion
1840 - Letter concerning the Damascus blood libel
- A plea for help from the Cairo Jewish community, describing the
Damascus blood libel. This was perhaps the first case of persecution of
Jews in Arab lands that was incited by Christians, and it was followed
by others.
1834 - Safed
Plunder of 1834 - An account of the 1834 Safed Pogrom and the helplessness
of the Jews of Safed.
1815 - Collecting the Jizya tax in Mogadore -
A description by Captain James Riley of the collection of the Jizya tax and
humiliation suffered by the Jews of Mogadore during this procedure.
1799 - Napoleon's Proclamation of a Jewish State- In this stillborn proclamation, Napoleon offered the Jews a state in Palestine under French protection. This was the
first of many such nineteenth century projects for restoration of the Jews in Palestine.
1790 - Tetouan Pogrom - An account of the treatment of the Jews of Tetouan,
Morocco, in 1790.
1755-
Bull Beatus Andreas
- During the age of enlightenment, Pope Gregory XIV formally upheld the myth of
ritual sacrifice of Christian children by Jews that is the basis of the
blood libel. He
reviewed the history of many such cases, and affirmed the beatification of two
"child martyrs:
Andreas of Rinn and Simon of Trent.
1576 - Safed Deportation Order - Firman of the Sultan
Murad III ordering the deportation
of a thousand Jewish families from Safed to Cyprus. It was eventually withdrawn,
but it was one of the many threatened calamities faced by Jews in the land of
Israel under Muslim rule.
1555 -
Bull Cum Nimis Absurdum - An
example of European anti-Semitism in the renaissance period, this Papal decree
established the ghetto of Rome as well as re-imposing restrictions on Jewish
dress and trades that had been enforced intermittently.
c. 1485
Jews in Medieval Jerusalem - An unabashedly bigoted report by a Franciscan friar, lauding the persecution of Jews in Jerusalem about 1500.
1354 - Decree against the Dhimmi
- An Egyptian Muslim ruler chooses to enforce the pact of Umar against the
Christians and Jews.
c. 1290 - Treatise
against Dhimmi - anti-Semitic anecdotes - Ghazi al Wasiti's polemical
pamphlet attests to the existence of well rooted native anti-Semitism in
medieval Muslim-Arab society.
1198 - Forced
conversion of the Jews of Aden - A first hand account of the forced conversion
of the Jews, later rescinded.
c 1130 - Yehuda Halevi - Two Hebrew Poems - "My Heart is in the East and "Zion, surely thou art anxious.." - These
poems are part of a rich legacy that kept alive the love of Zion, enriched the Hebrew language, and had a profound
influence on modern Hebrew poetic idiom.
c 1090 - Report on the condition of the Jews of Baghdad - Obadia, the Norman
proselyte, authored this document recording the downtrodden condition of the
Jews of Baghdad in the eleventh century.
c.
1066 - Qasida - Abu Ishaq of Elvira's polemic poem against the Jews
- Motivated
by political rivalry, the poem is nonetheless evidence of Muslim
anti-Semitism. This poem may have helped to incite the Granada pogrom.
even in "golden" Spain.
c 820 - Why Muslims hate Jews more than Christians - Excerpts from a treatise by
al-Jahiz that bear witness to early Muslim anti-Semitism.
c 800 - Pact of Umar - Document attributed, probably falsely, to the Caliph Umar
ibn al Khatib, and setting forth the conditions of second class citizenship to
be applied to Christians, Jews and others.
Undated: List of Papal Bulls concerning Jews
- a list of bulls and other documents of the Catholic Church relating to Jews.
Other relevant materials:
Israel Pre-State
Intelligence Timeline |
Israel Intelligence Timeline - 1948-1956 |
Israel Intelligence Timeline 1956-1960 | Israel
Intelligence Timeline 1961-1967 |
Israel Intelligence Timeline 1968-1973 |
Israel Intelligence Timeline 1974-1982 | Israel Intelligence Timeline 1983-1991 |
Israel Intelligence Timeline 1992-present
A Timeline of Zionist and Israeli history provides further context and
background
Additional links Zionism and Israel - historical sources,
Photo Gallery of Zionist History and the
history of Zionism and Modern Israel
and
Zionism & its Impact will help round out the picture.
A detailed timeline of the Six Dar War 1967 Six Day War Timeline (chronology)
Additional information (off site)
Brief History of Israel and Palestine and
Labor Zionism
The article - Anti-Semitism includes a
Timeline of
Anti-Semitism
External Zionism Links
We are not responsible for information at external sites.Please do copy these links, and tell your friends about Zionism Website
Thank you.
Sister sites: Zionism and Israel Pages Zionism and Israel On the Web Brave Zionism
Web Logs at Zionism On the Web: Z
OTW's Blogs
ZNN - Zionism News Network - News and Views about Zionism, Israel and Antisemitism - serving a network of Zionist Web sites.
Friends and informative sites:
What is
Zionism?- ADL on Zionism
ZioNation - Zionism-Israel Web Log
Israel News Israel: like
this, as if Christian Zionism
Albert Einstein Bible Palestine Nakba 1948
Israel Independence - Birth of a Nation Six Day War
History of Zionism
War of Independence
Zionism FAQ Zionism Israel Center Maps of Israel Jew Zionism and its Impact Israel Christian Zionism
Zionism & Israel History source documents
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