Starting points

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• Timeline -- a detailed chronology of events in the region, as well as League of Nations,  UN, and other international activitions

• Israel's borders explained in maps (from the BBC)

• The Question of Palestine -- a collection of UN documents, maps, resolutions, and background from UNISPAL

• History & Background  -- a brief overview of the regions history from the UN

• The Middle East 1916-2001 : A Documentary Record -- The Avalon Project

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Early 20th Century diplomacy and the British Mandate and Balfour Declaration

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• Origins and Evolution of the Palestine Problem: 1917-1947

• Balfour Declaration (Encyclopedia Britannica) -- Statement in 1917 from the UK supporting the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.  Full text

• The Sykes-Picot Agreement : 1916 -- Plan to divide much of the Middle East into areas administered by Britain, France, and Russia.  Overview with map.  Full Text

• Palestine Mandate -- Overview  of the League of Nations Mandate post WWI, from the UK Government Communication Headquarters (GCHQ)  Full Text 

• British Whitepaper of 1939

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UN, early discussions, and partition

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Special Committee on Palestine--Report (1947) -- in May 1947 the General Assembly appointed a special committee to examine issues related to the end of the British Mandate and the future of Palestine (Resolution .  They were required to file a report by Sept. 1, 1947 for consideration at the Plenary Session that year.

 

Palestine plan of partition with economic union – General Assembly resolution 181 --

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Palestinian Resistance

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• The Palestinian Liberation Organization

• Hamas

• Hezbollah

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Major US Initiatives

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• Camp David Accords  - Brokered by President Jimmy Carter, the accords, signed at Camp David, outlined a framework for peace in the Middle East and led to a formal peace treaty between Egypt and Israel in 1979.  (from the Dept of State Historian)