Chapter 3: Tension and conflict Flashcards
When was the Six Day War launched?
On 5th June 1967 when Israel launched a successful attack on Egypt and then targeted the airfields of Syria and Jordan where by June 7th reached the suez canal
What did Israel achieve in the six days?
They achieved spectacular victory. While only 779 Israelis were killed, 20’000 Arab men had been killed and 70’00 square metres of land was taken and since the Arabs had been aggressive before the war, Israel’s attack was labelled as a pre-emptive strike
What happened to Egypt and Nasser?
They were deeply humiliated by the defeat as Egyptian forces had been destroyed and Sinai and Gaza had been taken. The Suez canal which was an important source of revenue for the Egyptians and had been blocked by sunken ships in the fighting
What caused the War of Attrition?
Israel’s refusal to clear the ships out of the Canal, Egyptian forces regularly bombarded and raided Israeli positions on the Sinai side of the Suez Canal but Israel reacted fiercely raiding Egyptian towns and bombing their cities
What impact did the USA and the USSR have on Egypt and Israel?
USSR- Provided Egypt with fighter planes and anti-aircraft missiles to defend the Aswan Dam
USA- Supported Israel with weapons and aid, and also organised a ceasefire in August 1970 where both sides realised they couldn’t win and accepted it
What were the consequences of the Six day war for Israel?
They had captured East Jerusalem (which had the Wailing Wall, Temple Mount, West bank, Gaza strip, Sinai and the Golan Heights), so were 350% bigger and had obtained huge amounts of powerful soviet weapons plus the forces of their enemies had been destroyed
What happened to the land that Israel had won?
As a country couldn’t occupy territory gained by force and they couldn’t annex the territories into Israel as that would give 1 million Arabs Israeli citizenship, it was then decided East Jerusalem would stay in Jewish hands forever and the rest of land was put under military control
What was Resolution 242?
6 months after the 6 day war, the UN adopted it and it stated that Israel must withdraw from recently gained territories while Arabs must recognise Israel’s right to exist
What did Palestine plan to do after the six day war?
Take back their homeland by using Arafat’s group, Fatah, to launch guerrilla attacks to force Israel to leave its occupied territories or the PFLP’s attempt to draw global attention with terrorist actions outside of Israel
What happened in March 1968 which prompted Israel to retaliate extremely harshly?
A Fatah mine blew up an Israeli school bus, killing the teachers and wounding 10 children, it was the 38th Fatah attack of the year
How did Israel respond to the school bus?
It sent 15’000 troops to Karameh to destroy Fatah bases, it succeeded but lost 28 soldiers, 27 tanks, two aircrafts and was condemned by the world for using excessive force
Why was King Hussein annoyed with the PLO?
Much of Jordan viewed Arafat as their leader which challenged his position and the PLO used Jordan as a base for its operations against Israel which angered Hussein as they always retaliated and damaged Jordan
What did Hussein order his troops to do?
To seize control of Palestinian bases in Jordan and over 10 days known as ‘Black September’ Jordanian troops killed nearly 2000 Palestinian fighters
When was it and what happened after the PLO was expelled from Jordan?
July 1971 and afterwards the Black September Organisation, an extreme group emerged and its first act was the assassination of the Jordanian Prime Minister
What happened at the Munich Olympic Games?
On 5th September, 8 armed members of the Black September killed 2 Israeli athletes and took the other 9 hostage who all ended up dying with 5 members being killed as well
