Our Roots Are Still Alive - Chronology

Chronology

1881 - Pogroms begin in Russia. First wave of Jewish immigration to Palestine.

1897 - First Zionist Congress, held in Basle, Switzerland, proclaims goal of a "national home in Palestine for the Jewish people."

1913 - Arab Congress in Paris demands self-government from Turkey. Anti-Zionist groups begin to form among Palestinians.

1916 - The Arab Revolt against the Turks begins. Britain promises the Arabs independence, but negotiates the secret Sykes-Picot treaty with France to colonize the Arab countries.

November, 1917 - Britain's Balfour Declaration promises a "national home" in Palestine to the Zionists.

1920 - World War I ends. Britain is granted a mandate over Palestine. Riots in Jerusalem.

1921 - 1929 - Series of Palestinian protests against British rule and increased Jewish immigration culminate in major incident at Wailing Wall in 1929.

1933 - Adolph Hitler comes to power in Germany. New influx of Jewish settlers to Palestine.

1936 - 1939 - Palestinian general strike and armed rebellion against the British Mandate government, demanding independence for Palestine. Heavy fighting throughout the country.

1939 - British issue White Paper restricting Jewish immigration to Palestine. World War II begins.

1942 - 1946 - Zionists shift organizing focus to the U.S. and issue Biltmore Program in New York City calling for the formation of a Jewish State in Palestine. Open warfare flares between Britain and the Zionists.

November 1947 - The UN votes to partition Palestine. War begins in Palestine between Zionists and Palestinians.

May 15, 1948 - State of Israel proclaimed. Arab League troops intervene in Palestine on behalf of Palestinians.

January 1949 - Ceasefire. Israel occupies 80 percent of Palestine. Three-quarters of a million Palestinians made refugees.

1956 - President Nasser of Egypt nationalizes the Suez Canal. Israel, France and Britain invade Egypt. On the eve of the invasion, Israeli soldiers massacre 37 Palestinians at Kfar Kassem. Israel withdraws from Egypt after six months of occupation.

1958 - Fateh - the Palestine National Liberation Movement - is founded.

1964 - Palestine Liberation Organization founded in Cairo.

1965 - Palestinian guerrillas launch armed struggle against Israel.

June 5 - June 11, 1967 - War between Israel and the Arab states of Egypt, Syria and Jordan. Israel triples in size, occupying the rest of Palestine, as well as the Egyptian Sinai and the Syrian Golan.

March 1968 - Palestinian guerrillas hold off major Israeli attack at Karameh, Jordan.

February 1969 - Palestinian Resistance assumes control of the Palestine Liberation Organization. PLO adopts goal of a "democratic secular state" in all of Palestine.

September 1970 - King Hussein launches all-out attack against Palestinians in Jordan.

May 1973 - Palestinians and Lebanese supporters defend refugee camps against attack by Lebanese Army.

August 1973 - Palestine National Front formed in the Occupied Territories - the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

October 6, 1973 - Egypt and Syria start limited war against Israel. After the ceasefire, U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger begins "shuttle diplomacy" to try to reach a settlement favorable to U.S. interests.

November 1974 - PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat addresses the United Nations. PLO granted observer status at UN. First General Uprising in the Occupied Territories.

April 1975 - Lebanese rightists begin civil war in an attempt to crush the Palestinian presence in Lebanon.

September 1975 - Kissinger engineers Israeli-Egyptian agreement.

November 1975 - UN condemns Zionism as a form of racism and recognizes the "national rights" of the Palestinians. Second General Uprising in the Occupied Territories.

January 1976 - Beginning of Third General Uprising in Occupied Territories when U.S. vetoes resolution supporting the national rights of the Palestinians in the UN Security Council.

May 31, 1976 - Syria invades Lebanon to tame Palestinians and prevent a leftist victory in the war.

August 12, 1976 -The refugee camp of Tal al Zaatar falls to the rightists after seven weeks of siege.

October, 1976 - Riyadh Summit Conference establishes an uneasy peace in Lebanon.

March 1977 - Palestine National Council affirms independence of the Palestinian movement and its goal of a democratic secular state.