West Bank

There is a long history of settlement in the area of the West Bank, dating back to the age of Australopithecus, the first erect toolmakers, whose bones have been found in the Jordan Valley. Excavations in the area of Jericho indicate that it may be the oldest city on earth, with remains dating back to 8000 BC. During ancient times, the area that became the West Bank experienced a long succession of conquest by tribal and foreign powers. In the 13th century BC Israelites settled there (see Israel, Kingdom of). The region later changed hands among Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, and Roman rulers, and in the 7th century AD, the West Bank was captured by Arab Muslim armies. After that time the area was ruled almost continuously by a series of Muslim empires, culminating in its inclusion in the Ottoman Empire during the 16th century. The Ottomans were defeated during World War I (1914-1918) and driven from the area by the British; in 1920 the West Bank became part of the British mandate of Palestine. After this time, the number of European Jewish immigrants in Palestine grew considerably but became concentrated in areas outside of the West Bank. Meanwhile, the Arab population in the West Bank increased, and towns and villages expanded accordingly. In 1947 the UN voted to partition Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states, with the West Bank included in the Arab territory. The plan was rejected by the Palestinian Arabs; their allies attacked Israel on May 15, 1948, immediately following Israel's declaration of independence. During the war, which became known as the first Arab-Israeli War, Jordan occupied the West Bank and the eastern portion of Jerusalem. An armistice agreement signed by Jordan and Israel in 1949 determined the boundary of the West Bank, known thereafter as the Green Line. Many Arab refugees from the fighting in Israel entered the West Bank and Jordan, some settling in refugee camps administered by the UN, others finding permanent homes. In 1950 Jordan formally annexed the West Bank; the move was recognized only by Great Britain and Pakistan. For the next 17 years the West Bank was governed as part of Jordan, and Palestinians were granted full citizenship. Relations between Jordanians and West Bank Palestinians, however, remained strained. In 1967 fighting broke out between Israel and the armies of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan in what came to be called the Six-Day War. The combined Arab armies were quickly defeated. Israel took control of the Golan Heights (from Syria), the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip (from Egypt), and the West Bank (from Jordan). Soon after the war, the West Bank came under Israeli military administration, and eastern Jerusalem was incorporated into Israel proper. The Occupied, or Administered, Territories were secured by the Israeli government via the settlement of Israeli citizens in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Despite some improvement in living conditions, West Bank Palestinians strongly opposed Israel's presence in the region. Conflicts intensified during the late 1970s, as Israelis appropriated Palestinian-owned land for new settlements. In the early 1980s Palestinian resistance efforts became increasingly aggressive, spearheaded by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Rioting and unrest developed into the intifada, which began in the Gaza Strip in December 1987 and soon spread to the West Bank. In 1988 Jordan ceded to the PLO all territorial claims to the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Violent clashes between Palestinians and the Israeli army in the West Bank continued throughout the 1980s and early 1990s with many deaths on both sides. The clashes were sometimes accompanied by peaceful demonstrations and civil disobedience. Reprisals by the Israeli government resulted in significant property damage, a high rate of unemployment, and a general decline in living standards for Palestinians. In 1991 a peace conference was convened between Israel, its Arab neighbors, and a Palestinian delegation advised by the PLO. The negotiations, which focused on the issue of Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank, were the first direct talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. The talks continued into 1992, and in September 1993 Israel and the PLO signed a historic peace accord. Among its provisions, the accord called for a five-year period of limited Palestinian autonomy, beginning in the Gaza Strip and Jericho. Despite violent opposition to the accord by Palestinian and Israeli extremists, Jericho and the Gaza Strip came under self-rule in May 1994. The remaining Palestinian towns and refugee camps in the West Bank, with the exception of Hebron, were transferred to Palestinian administration in late 1995 and early 1996. In Hebron, where several hundred Israeli settlers live among thousands of Palestinians, Israel maintained a military force to protect the settlers, but Palestinians were given civil administration of the city. In January 1996, elections were held for the Palestinian Authority (PA), which is made up of a president and an 88-member legislative council who administer the Palestinian areas of the Occupied Territories. Yasir Arafat was elected president of the PA. In May 1996 Israelis narrowly elected Benjamin Netanyahu of the conservative Likud Party as prime minister. Netanyahu was opposed to several parts of the peace process negotiated by the previous Labor government; his promise to reexamine the agreements angered many Palestinians but won him the support of many Israelis. For the next several months, tensions ran high in the West Bank, with sporadic violence between Palestinians and Israelis. In September, when Israel opened an exit to a tourist tunnel near Muslim shrines in Jerusalem, three days of fighting in the Occupied Territories followed. More than 70 Palestinians and Israelis died. Nonetheless, in January 1997 Israel withdrew its troops from Hebron, as promised under the peace accord. In March violence again broke out in the Occupied Territories, as Israel began construction of a controversial housing project for Jews in mostly Arab East Jerusalem. The project was criticized by many other countries, including Israel's close ally the United States.