The Middle East

The Middle East

in 1967-1995

In 1967 few would have believed that in 1995 Israeli leaders and Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasir Arafat would be charting a program for peace. Arafat, once a brutal terrorist responsible for bombings of innocent civilians, is now regarded, albeit warily, as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. The City of Jericho on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are under Palestinian control and more should follow. Many hurdles still remain, but the Arabs and Jews are closer to a comprehensive settlement of their differences than at any time since Israel became a state in 1948.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, Islam – a way of life as well as a religion – is newly resurgent. In Iran, Iraq, and other Arab states, autocratic leaders fuse Islam with government, Women are accorded few rights. Rulers go to considerable lengths to shield their citizens from “immoral” Western influences. Vast reserves of oil fuel the region’s economies and keep the rest of the world responsive to Arab interests.

1967 – The Six-Day War: The third Arab-Israeli war since 1948. After Nasser imposes a blockade on Israeli shipping in the Straits of Tiran, Israel attacks Egypt, Syria, and Jordan simultaneously. When the war ends, Israel occupies the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights, the Old City of Jerusalem, the Gaz Strip, and the West Bank, all of which had previously been under Egyptian or Jordanian control.

The UN Security Council unanimously adopts Resolution 242, denouncing the acquisition of territory by war but does not insist on any specific terms for the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

1969 – Yasir Arafat takes over the PLO: Arafat, then the leader of the al-Fatah guerrillas, is elected chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s (PLO) executive committee. Former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser had led Arab leaders in creating the PLO five years earlier.

1970 – The PLO Is Expelled from Jordan: King Hussein defeats PLO leader Yasir Arafat’s guerrillas and expels the PLO from his territory. PLO headquarters move from Jordan to Lebanon.

A Middle-Easterner Lady. Photo by Elena.

1970 – Terror in the Sky: The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a radical Palestinian group, attempts to hijack four passenger planes over western Europe. The skyjacking of a New York-bound El Al plane fails, but a Pan Am plane is taken to Beirut and then Cairo. Three other flights are diverted to an unused airstrip in the Jordanian desert and demands are made for the release of Palestinians detained in Israel, West Germany, Britain, and Switzerland. The plane’s passengers are released eventually, but the planes are destroyed.

1972 – Murder at the Olympics: During the Munich Olympic games, Palestinian guerrillas capture Israeli athletes and call for release of Palestinians held by Israeli police. After promising the terrorists safe passage out of the country, West German police open fire at the Munich airport, leading the gunmen to kill all of the hostages. Israel responds with bombing raids in Lebanon.

1973 – the Yom Kippur War: The fourth Arab-Israeli war breaks out when Syria and Egypt attack Israeli forces in the Sinai and the Golan Heights on the Jewish Day of Atonement. Israel dries back enemy forces, but the initial successes of the Arab forces demonstrate that they have dramatically strengthened their military might in the six years since the previous war.

1973 – the Arab Oil Embargo: Arab oil-producing countries impose an oil embargo on Israel during the Yom Kippur War and agree to cut production 5 percent each month until Israel withdraws from occupied lands and restores “Palestinian rights.” They also cut exports to nations that are sympathetic to Israel, including the United States. Oil prices skyrocket and many industrialized countries restrict fuel usage.

1977 – Sadat in Jerusalem: Speaking to the Israeli Knesset in Jerusalem, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat proposes peace with Israel in exchange for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Sinai Peninsula.

1978 – The Camp David Accords: U.S. President Jimmy Carter finally hammers out a settlement between Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in which Israel recognizes the Palestinian people’s right of self-determination and agrees to withdraw its forces from the Sinai Peninsula in exchange for peace. Egypt and Israel establish formal diplomatic relations for the first time. In protest, the Arab League moves its headquarters from Cairo to Tunis.

1979 – Revolution in Iran: The pro-American regime of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi falls as a result of widespread political dissent. Soon after the shah’s departure, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, previously in exile, establishes an Islamic republic. Under the new constitution, final authority over all legislation and command of the armed forces are vested in the faqih, the primary theologian in the country – in this case, Khomeini.

1979 — 81 – America Held Hostage: Muslim extremists seize the U.S. Embassy in Tehran after the United States refuses to extradite the shah, who has received a death sentence from new Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The last 52 hostages are released on January 20, 1981, after 444 days in captivity.

1981 – Sadat is Assassinated: The Egyptian president is gunned down by Muslim extremists at a military parade in Cairo.

1982 – Israel Invades Lebanon: To stop PLO guerrillas from mounting raids into Israel, Israeli forces bomb Beirut from land, sea, and air for nearly two months. The PLO finally agrees to leave. In 1985, Israeli troops withdraw from most of Lebanon.

1983 – 81 – U. S. Marines Die in Beirut: At a U. S. Military compound in Beirut, 239 U. S. Troops die when an Arab extremist drives a truck wired with explosives through the gates. Soon after, U. S. troops are withdrawn.

1986 – United States Bombs Libya: U. S. Bombers raid Tripoli and Benghazi in response to Libya’s alleged involvement in terrorist attacks in Europe. Civilian and military casualties are estimated at about 130 and include Libyan leader Mu’ammar al-Quaddafi’s adopted daughter.

1987 – The Intifada Begins: A Palestinian uprising protesting Israeli rule begins in the occupied territories. Riots continue through 1990. Attempting to contain the protests in which troops and police ar attacked by rock-throwing mobs, Israeli forces use arrests, beatings, deportations, and curfews.

1990 – 91 – Operation Desert Storm: Iraq invades and occupies Kuwait in August 1990. In January 1991, a U.S. – led Western alliance launches Operation Desert Storm to expel the Iraqi invaders from Kuwait. More than half a million U. S. Troops are involved in the action, which succeeds in expelling the Iraqis from Kuwait, but Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein remains in power.

1993 – Israel and the PLO Sign Pact: In Washington, D.C., Israel and the PLO sign the Declaration of Principles on Palestinian Self-Rule in the Occupied Territories. Both parties officially recognize each other.

1994 – The PLO Takes Over: A transfer of power from Israel to Palestinian authorities begins in the town of Jericho and much of the Gaza Strip. But violence continues, as a radical Jewish settler who opposes the peace agreement murders 29 Palestinian worshipers at a Hebron mosque with an army-issued automatic rifle. Palestinians respond with protests and random attacks against settlers.

The Middle East

    Largest Lake – Caspian Sea, Iran, Turkestan, 143,205 square miles.

    Longest River – Euphrates. Syria, Iraq, 1,750 miles.

    Largest Country – Saudi Arabia. Over 95 percent desert. 830,001 square miles.

    Largest point – Dead Sea. Israel, Jordan, 1,286 feet below sea level.

    Largest city – Istanbul, Turkey, 9 million pop.