Arab Israeli Conflict. The Middle East: 1956 –1979
Tension between the Arab states and Israel was one of the major issues of the post war world. To this day the implications of the founding of Israel and the response to this are wide reaching. Beyond the boundaries of Israel there are other, related incidents. A region with a long history of conflict and division saw war and changes in the balance of power on several occasions in the post Second World War period. Here we focus on 1956 to 1979 as this period has been included in some history courses.
Key issue: How far did the events of the years 1956 to 1967 show how difficult it was to find a solution to the problems in the Middle East?
The background to the problems in the Middle East
The Suez Crisis, 1956; the end of British influence
The founding of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), 1964
The Arab Summits, 1964 –1965
The Six Day War, 1967.
Key issue: How close to victory were the Arabs in the 1970s?
Hijackings, 1970–1972
The Munich Olympics, 1972
The Yom Kippur War, 1973
Oil wars and economic pressures, 1973
The PLO, 1974–1975; Yasser Arafat speaking at the UN Assembly, 1975.
Key issue: How close was the Middle East to peace by the end of the 1970s
The Israeli occupation and settlement of the West Bank and Gaza, 1967
President Sadat speaking to the Israeli Parliament, 1977
The Israeli invasion of the Lebanon, March 1978
The meeting at Camp David, September 1978
Signing of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, March 1979.
