LE 4. What is life like for Palestinians living under Israeli occupation?

For Palestinians, the Nakba is a tragedy and the start of decades of settler colonial violence. Here are some of the major events that have shaped the lives of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.

• 1948 The years following the Nakba see a major increase in Jewish settlement. By the 1960s, over a million Jewish settlers have moved in, expelling over 750,000 Palestinians from their homeland. Another 35,000 are displaced within Israel’s new colonial borders.

• 1964 The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) forms as the political representative of the Palestinian people. Its founders are willing to use armed resistance to liberate Palestine and united the Arab powers. Under the PLO umbrella, numerous groups form over time.

• 1967 The “Six-Day War” between Israel and an Arab coalition of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan occurs. Israel prevails and takes over Gaza and the West Bank, and takes land from both Egypt and Syria. In this Naksa, or setback, an additional 300,000 Palestinians are violently displaced from their homes. Arabs are also displaced from the newly conquered Golian Heights in Syria. The UN calls for Israel’s withdrawal, but it does not obey.

• 1973 In the October War, Soviet-backed Egypt & Syria attack Israel in efforts to regain lost territory in the Sinai and Golan Heights. With support from the U.S., Israel prevails.

• 1978 With the United States in the middle, Camp David Accords are signed between Israel and Egypt; the Sinai Peninsula is returned to Egypt in 1979 and Egypt recognizes Israel and opens Suez Canal. They create a “framework” for peace in Palestine, without approval by any Palestinians.

• 1987 The First Intifada breaks out. Intifada means “shaking off,” and this period is marked by an uprising by the Palestinian people. HAMAS forms during this time, an Islamic group branching off from the Muslim Brotherhood, a resistance movement that started in Egypt.

• 1988 PLO Leader Yasir Arafat- previously labeled a terrorist by Israel & the U.S., agrees to negotiate with Israel.

• 1995 The PLO & Israel start secretly discussing peaceful resolutions in Oslo, Norway. In 1995, they sign the Oslo accords, resulting in (1) the PLO being recognized as the legitimate political representative of the Palestinian people (2) Israel withdrawing from Gaza and parts of the West Bank and (3) the West Bank being split into three areas, labeled A, B, and C.

• 2000 The Second Intifada breaks out, resulting in more violence and death than the first (see Lesson 5 for more on Palestinian resistance).

• 2002 Israel starts building its separation wall to protect its illegal Zionist settlements.

• 2006 Hamas is elected by the Palestinian people over Fatah, the more secular branch of the PLO that was expected to win. After infighting, Hamas keeps power in Gaza while the West Bank and east Jerusalem remain under Fatah authority.

• 2007-2022 Israel imposes a military blockade on Gaza, controlling the air space, the sea, and all border crossings. The IDF continues to carry out violent sieges of Gaza, using a strategy known as “mowing the lawn” now and then to lessen the Palestinian population and maintain terror. Over five “wars” take place in Gaza following the blockade. By 2022, nearly half of Gaza’s population are children and more than 60% are refugees.

• 2022 Benjamin Netanyahu once again becomes Israel’s Prime Minister, bringing into power with him the most far right, extremist government Israel has ever had. Numerous attacks on Palestinian villages are carried out and 4,500 new illegal Israeli settlements are approved in the following year.

• 2023- ongoing Hamas shocks the world with a highly coordinated attack on Israel known as Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. Israel responds with Operation Swords of Iron, an attack that has so far killed more than 30,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children. Numerous war crimes have been committed and the attack has since been qualified as a genocide by numerous human rights groups.