Timeline

Two peoples, two histories of the same land.

Israeli schools and the pro-Palestinian movement (BDS and the campaigns around it) each tell this history with their own focal points. Neither story is invented, but each dwells on some events and passes over others, and much of the talking past each other starts there. Every event below says what happened, then marks which story puts it at the centre and how each tells it. Extra lenses — the Qur'an and early Islam, end-times beliefs on every side, Iran, the Soviet Union, and the pogroms and massacres suffered by both peoples — have their own filters. Figures marked ⚠ are still being checked.

  1. Antiquity

  2. c. 1208 BCE

    First mention of 'Israel'

    Israeli story: central

    An Egyptian victory stele of Pharaoh Merneptah names 'Israel' as a people in Canaan — the oldest known reference outside the Bible. Israelites emerge from the wider Canaanite population of the highlands.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    The start of an unbroken Jewish connection to the land, three thousand years before modern Zionism.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    Often skipped, or used to argue that Palestinians descend from the Canaanites who were there first.
    A 3,000-year-old promise doesn't justify a genocide.Only a small share of ancient Jews ever left; Palestinians are the real descendants of the ancient inhabitants, and today's Jews are mostly Europeans.
  3. c. 1000–586 BCE

    Kingdoms of Israel and Judah

    Israeli story: central

    Two Israelite kingdoms: Israel in the north (destroyed by Assyria in 722 BCE) and Judah in the south with Jerusalem as its capital. The name 'Jew' comes from Judah.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    Jerusalem as the historic capital of the Jewish people.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    Some activists dispute or minimise the archaeology; others accept it and argue it confers no modern claim.
    A 3,000-year-old promise doesn't justify a genocide.A religion doesn't justify having a country.
  4. —

    The Qur'an on the Children of Israel and the Holy Land ⚠

    Qur'an & early IslamEnd-times beliefs

    The Qur'an retells the story of Moses, David and Solomon, and has Moses say: 'O my people, enter the Holy Land which God has assigned to you' (5:21). Some Muslim scholars and commentators cite this verse for a Jewish connection to the land; others read it as conditional, or as fulfilled in the past. Qur'an 17:104 speaks of the Children of Israel dwelling in the land and being gathered 'when the promise of the Hereafter comes'. Some modern preachers read that as the ingathering in Israel, before an end-times battle.

    A 3,000-year-old promise doesn't justify a genocide.A religion doesn't justify having a country.◆ Which name?
  5. 586 BCE

    Babylonian exile

    Israeli story: central

    IranQur'an & early Islam

    Babylon destroys Jerusalem and the First Temple and deports much of Judah's elite. 'By the rivers of Babylon' — the first exile, and the first return: in 538 BCE the Persian king Cyrus lets the exiles go home and rebuild the Temple. Jewish tradition honours him for it (the Bible calls him God's 'anointed', Isaiah 45:1), and Iranian and Jewish history have been linked ever since. Classical Muslim commentators read Qur'an 17:4–7 ('twice you will cause corruption on earth') as referring to the two destructions of Jerusalem, this one and 70 CE.

    A 3,000-year-old promise doesn't justify a genocide.
  6. 167–63 BCE

    Maccabean revolt and Hasmonean kingdom

    Israeli story: central

    A Jewish revolt against the Seleucid Greeks (remembered at Hanukkah) leads to an independent Jewish kingdom, which ends when Rome takes Jerusalem in 63 BCE.

    A 3,000-year-old promise doesn't justify a genocide.
  7. 66–73 CE

    Great Revolt; the Second Temple destroyed

    Israeli story: central

    Qur'an & early Islam

    A Jewish revolt against Rome ends with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple in 70 CE and the fall of Masada. Many Jews are killed or enslaved; a large Jewish population remains in the land, especially in Galilee.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    The beginning of the long exile; Masada as a symbol of 'never again'.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    Used in the 'real descendants' argument: if most Jews stayed, their descendants became today's Palestinians.
    Only a small share of ancient Jews ever left; Palestinians are the real descendants of the ancient inhabitants, and today's Jews are mostly Europeans.A 3,000-year-old promise doesn't justify a genocide.
  8. 132–136 CE

    Bar Kokhba revolt; Judea renamed 'Syria Palaestina' ⚠

    Israeli story: centralPalestinian story: central

    After a second failed revolt, Rome devastates Judea, bars Jews from Jerusalem, and renames the province Syria Palaestina, after the ancient Philistines. The name 'Palestine' enters administrative use here; Greek writers had used it for the region before.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    Rome renamed the land to erase the Jewish connection — 'Palestine' began as a punishment.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    'Palestine' is an ancient name for the land, used for two thousand years before Zionism.
    There's no such thing as a Palestinian people — it was invented in 1964.Palestine was definitely a thing — there was even a newspaper called Filastin in 1911 — and almost no Jews lived there, so Israel was a hostile takeover.◆ Which Palestine?◆ Which name?

  9. Late antiquity

  10. c. 200–600

    The Mishnah, the Talmud, and Christian Palestine

    The Mishnah (c. 200) and the Jerusalem Talmud (c. 400) are compiled in Galilee. Under Byzantine rule the land becomes largely Christian; Jewish and Samaritan communities remain, with revolts in the 5th–6th centuries.

    Only a small share of ancient Jews ever left; Palestinians are the real descendants of the ancient inhabitants, and today's Jews are mostly Europeans.

  11. Islamic rule

  12. c. 621–624

    The Night Journey and the change of qibla

    Palestinian story: central

    Qur'an & early Islam

    Qur'an 17:1 tells of the Prophet's Night Journey 'from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque' (al-Masjid al-Aqsa). Muslim tradition locates the Farthest Mosque in Jerusalem, on the Temple Mount, and this is the root of al-Aqsa's holiness in Islam. The first Muslims prayed towards Jerusalem until the direction of prayer (qibla) was changed to Mecca (2:142–144).

    Al-Aqsa is in danger.
  13. 627–628

    Medina's Jewish tribes: Banu Qurayza and Khaybar ⚠

    Israeli story: central

    Qur'an & early IslamPogroms & massacres

    According to the early Muslim sources, the men of the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayza in Medina were executed after the siege of 627 and the women and children enslaved (alluded to in Qur'an 33:26–27); in 628 the Muslims conquered the Jewish oasis of Khaybar, whose inhabitants became tributaries. Historians debate the numbers and details. The chant 'Khaybar, Khaybar, ya Yahud' ('Khaybar, Khaybar, O Jews, the army of Muhammad will return'), heard at some protests today, refers to this.

    Under Islam, Jews were humiliated second-class dhimmis — and Islamists want to bring it back.Islam is a cancer destroying the West — Israel is just the front line.◆ Which Islam?
  14. 634–641

    The Arab Muslim conquest

    Palestinian story: central

    Qur'an & early Islam

    Arab armies conquer the Byzantine Levant. Caliph Umar lets Jews live in Jerusalem again. Over the following centuries most of the local population — Christians, Jews, Samaritans — gradually adopt Arabic and, more slowly, Islam, alongside Arab settlement.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    Often framed as the first Arab colonisation of the land — the mirror of the 'settler-colonial' charge.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    The roots of Arab Palestine: a people descended both from the land's ancient inhabitants and from Arabs who came with Islam.
    Only a small share of ancient Jews ever left; Palestinians are the real descendants of the ancient inhabitants, and today's Jews are mostly Europeans.Most Palestinians are descendants of recent Arab immigrants who came for the jobs Zionism created; the real locals were only a few villagers and tribes.Israel is a settler-colonial state.Al-Aqsa is in danger.
  15. 691–705

    The Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa mosque ⚠

    Israeli story: centralPalestinian story: central

    Qur'an & early Islam

    Caliph Abd al-Malik builds the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount, on the site of the destroyed Jewish Temple, with inscriptions addressed to Christians rejecting the Trinity; the al-Aqsa mosque at the south end of the platform follows under al-Walid. Muslim tradition identifies this place with 'the Farthest Mosque' (al-Masjid al-Aqsa) of Qur'an 17:1, which the Qur'an does not locate and which did not yet exist as a building in the Prophet's lifetime. Some historians (from Ignaz Goldziher onward) argue that the Umayyads promoted Jerusalem's sanctity for political reasons, while a rival caliph held Mecca; others reject this. Jerusalem is never named in the Qur'an, a point often raised in pro-Israel arguments; for Muslims its holiness rests on the tradition that identifies it.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    A shrine built on the Jewish Temple: the conquering religion building over the one before it. Often cited as Arab colonialism, the mirror of the 'settler-colonial' charge.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    The third holiest site in Islam, the heart of Jerusalem's Muslim identity for 1,300 years.
    Al-Aqsa is in danger.Israel is a settler-colonial state.◆ Which Islam?
  16. —

    What genetics says about both peoples ⚠

    Genetic studies find that Jewish communities (Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Mizrahi) and Palestinians both carry substantial ancient Levantine ancestry — Jews with admixture from their diaspora host populations, Palestinians with admixture from Arabia and elsewhere. Neither people is 'fake'; both are, in large part, descended from the land's ancient inhabitants.

    Only a small share of ancient Jews ever left; Palestinians are the real descendants of the ancient inhabitants, and today's Jews are mostly Europeans.Most Palestinians are descendants of recent Arab immigrants who came for the jobs Zionism created; the real locals were only a few villagers and tribes.
  17. 1099

    Crusaders take Jerusalem

    Pogroms & massacres

    Crusaders massacre Muslims and Jews in Jerusalem. Saladin retakes it in 1187 and allows Jews to resettle; the Mamluks rule from 1260. In 1267 Nachmanides finds only a few Jewish families in the city and re-founds its community.

    Israel was a British colonial project — the Empire planted the Jews in Palestine.

  18. Ottoman

  19. 1492–1600

    Spanish expulsion; Safed flourishes

    Israeli story: central

    Jews expelled from Spain (1492) and Portugal settle across the Ottoman Empire, which takes the land in 1516. Safed becomes a centre of Jewish law and mysticism (the Shulchan Aruch, Lurianic Kabbalah).

    Jews lived peacefully in the Arab world for centuries until Zionism ruined it; they left because Israel lured them.
  20. 16th c. – today

    The millet system: religion as community law ⚠

    Qur'an & early Islam

    The Ottoman Empire governs its non-Muslim subjects as religious communities (millets), each running its own personal-status law and courts under its religious leaders. The system outlives the empire. The British Mandate keeps it, and so do Israel, Lebanon, Jordan and others, which is why Israel today has rabbinical courts for Jews, Sharia courts for Muslims and church courts for Christians, and no civil marriage.

    A religion doesn't justify having a country.Under Islam, Jews were humiliated second-class dhimmis — and Islamists want to bring it back.
  21. 1831–1840

    Egyptian rule and the 1834 revolt ⚠

    Pogroms & massacres

    Muhammad Ali's Egypt rules the region, bringing Egyptian soldiers and settlers. In 1834 a peasant revolt against conscription is crushed; some historians see in it an early sign of a local Palestinian identity. Rioters also plunder the Jewish community of Safed.

    Most Palestinians are descendants of recent Arab immigrants who came for the jobs Zionism created; the real locals were only a few villagers and tribes.There's no such thing as a Palestinian people — it was invented in 1964.
  22. 1840

    The Damascus blood libel ⚠

    Pogroms & massacres

    Jews in Damascus are accused of murdering a Capuchin monk for his blood; community leaders are arrested and tortured, and several die. The case, pushed by the French consul, brings the European blood libel into the Middle East, and it sparks the first international Jewish protest campaign (Montefiore, Crémieux).

    Jews lived peacefully in the Arab world for centuries until Zionism ruined it; they left because Israel lured them.
  23. 1858

    Ottoman Land Code

    Palestinian story: central

    Land must now be registered. Many peasants register it in the names of urban notables to avoid tax and conscription. Decades later, absentee owners sell land to Zionist buyers, and tenant farmers who had worked it for generations lose their livelihood. The Code still underpins land law in the West Bank today, including Israel's 'state land' declarations.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    The land was bought legally, often from absentee landlords at high prices.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    Legal sales dispossessed the farmers who actually lived on the land.
    It was a land without a people, for a people without a land.Palestine was definitely a thing — there was even a newspaper called Filastin in 1911 — and almost no Jews lived there, so Israel was a hostile takeover.
  24. 1885

    Reform Judaism: 'no longer a nation' ⚠

    American Reform rabbis adopt the Pittsburgh Platform: Jews are 'no longer a nation, but a religious community' and expect no return to Palestine. Reform reverses course in 1937 (Columbus Platform) and supports a Jewish homeland.

    Anti-Zionism before 1948A religion doesn't justify having a country.
  25. 1881–1882

    Pogroms in Russia; the First Aliyah ⚠

    Israeli story: centralPalestinian story: central

    Pogroms in the Russian Empire drive mass Jewish emigration, mostly to America. A small organised wave goes to Ottoman Palestine and joins the existing Jewish community (the Old Yishuv) in Jerusalem, Safed, Tiberias and Hebron. Jerusalem already has a Jewish plurality by then.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    A return home by refugees from persecution.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    The start of European settler colonisation.
    Palestine was definitely a thing — there was even a newspaper called Filastin in 1911 — and almost no Jews lived there, so Israel was a hostile takeover.It was a land without a people, for a people without a land.Israel is a settler-colonial state.
  26. 1903

    The Kishinev pogrom ⚠

    Israeli story: central

    Pogroms & massacres

    Over two days at Easter, 49 Jews are killed and hundreds injured in Kishinev, a city nearly half Jewish, while the authorities stand by. The pogrom shocks the world and pushes many young Jews towards self-defence and Zionism; Bialik's poem 'In the City of Slaughter' becomes its lament.

    Jews can only be safe as a majority in their own state.
  27. 1894–1897

    The Dreyfus affair and the First Zionist Congress

    Israeli story: centralPalestinian story: central

    The antisemitic Dreyfus trial in France convinces Theodor Herzl that Jews need their own state. In 1897 he convenes the Congress in Basel, which calls for a publicly secured home for the Jewish people in Palestine. The same year, 1897, Jewish socialists in Vilna found the Bund, which fights for Jewish rights where Jews live and rejects Zionism.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    National liberation, born of the failure of European emancipation.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    The founding of a colonial project.
    Israel is a settler-colonial state.A religion doesn't justify having a country.Anti-Zionism before 1948Jews don't need a state — they should live as equal citizens wherever they're from.
  28. 1897

    The Bund: 'here, where we live, is our country'

    In Vilna, Jewish socialists found the General Jewish Labour Bund. Against Zionism it preaches doykeit, 'hereness': Jewish workers' rights, Yiddish culture and equality where Jews already live. The Bund organises strikes and armed self-defence against pogroms, and becomes a mass movement across the Russian Empire and later Poland.

    Jews don't need a state — they should live as equal citizens wherever they're from.Anti-Zionism before 1948
  29. 1911

    The newspaper Filastin is founded in Jaffa

    Palestinian story: central

    An Arabic newspaper named after the region, founded by Christian Arab cousins, voices the concerns of the land's Arabs, including opposition to Zionist land purchase.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    Usually unknown, which makes 'there was never a Palestinian people' feel plausible.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    Evidence of a Palestinian identity before the Mandate.
    There's no such thing as a Palestinian people — it was invented in 1964.Palestine was definitely a thing — there was even a newspaper called Filastin in 1911 — and almost no Jews lived there, so Israel was a hostile takeover.

  30. Mandate

  31. 1917-11-02

    Balfour Declaration

    Israeli story: centralPalestinian story: central

    Britain declares support for 'a national home for the Jewish people' in Palestine, adding that nothing should prejudice the civil and religious rights of 'existing non-Jewish communities'. The only Jewish member of the British cabinet, Edwin Montagu, opposed it as 'anti-Semitic', fearing it would brand British Jews as foreigners.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    International recognition of the Jewish right to a national home.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    An empire promising away a land that wasn't its own — the original sin.
    Israel was a British colonial project — the Empire planted the Jews in Palestine.A 3,000-year-old promise doesn't justify a genocide.Anti-Zionism before 1948
  32. 1920–1921

    Nebi Musa and Jaffa riots

    Israeli story: central

    Arab rioting against Jews in Jerusalem (April 1920) and Jaffa (May 1921) leaves dozens dead on both sides. The Haganah is founded in 1920 as a Jewish defence force.

    Coexistence where there's contact
  33. 1922

    League of Nations Mandate for Palestine

    Israeli story: central

    The Mandate writes the Balfour commitment into international law and entrusts it to Britain. Transjordan is exempted from the Jewish national home provisions. Its coins and stamps read 'Palestine' in English and Arabic, and in Hebrew 'Palestina' followed by the initials of Eretz Yisrael — a compromise both sides protested.

    Israel was a British colonial project — the Empire planted the Jews in Palestine.Palestine was definitely a thing — there was even a newspaper called Filastin in 1911 — and almost no Jews lived there, so Israel was a hostile takeover.◆ Which Palestine?
  34. 1929-08

    1929 riots and the Hebron massacre ⚠

    Israeli story: central

    Pogroms & massacres

    Tensions over the Western Wall, fuelled by rumours that Jews planned to seize al-Aqsa, erupt into riots. In Hebron 67 Jews are killed and in Safed about 18, while Arab families shelter hundreds of others. British forces kill many rioters.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    Proof that the violence predates the occupation and even the state.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    Rarely mentioned; when it is, it's framed as a reaction to Zionist provocations at the Wall.
    Al-Aqsa is in danger.Coexistence where there's contactThe Mufti was Hitler's ally — Palestinian nationalism has Nazi roots.
    1930-07-19 · The New York Times · ✓Arabs Won't Yield on Wailing Wall
  35. 1936–1939

    Arab Revolt

    Palestinian story: central

    A general strike and armed uprising against British rule and Jewish immigration, led in part by the Mufti's faction. The British suppress it harshly, and internal Arab violence kills many rival Palestinians.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    Arab terror, led by the Mufti.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    The great revolt against British colonialism.
    The Mufti was Hitler's ally — Palestinian nationalism has Nazi roots.Who can afford to speak
    1938-08-22 · The New York Times · ✓Arabs in Palestine Talk of Holy War
  36. 1937

    Peel Commission proposes partition

    Israeli story: central

    A British commission proposes the first partition plan, with population transfer. The Zionist leadership accepts it in principle with reservations; the Arab Higher Committee rejects it.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    The first of many compromises the Arabs rejected.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    Usually skipped; its transfer clause is cited as proof that expulsion was always the plan.
    The Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.The Nakba was a pre-planned ethnic cleansing — Plan Dalet was the blueprint.
  37. 1938-10-02

    The Tiberias massacre ⚠

    Israeli story: central

    Pogroms & massacres

    During the Arab Revolt, Arab fighters attack the Jewish quarter of Tiberias and kill 19 Jews, 11 of them children.

    The Mufti was Hitler's ally — Palestinian nationalism has Nazi roots.Coexistence where there's contact
  38. 1939

    The White Paper

    Israeli story: central

    Britain caps Jewish immigration at 75,000 over five years and promises an Arab-majority state — as the Holocaust begins. Illegal immigration (Aliyah Bet) grows.

    Israel was a British colonial project — the Empire planted the Jews in Palestine.Palestine was definitely a thing — there was even a newspaper called Filastin in 1911 — and almost no Jews lived there, so Israel was a hostile takeover.
  39. 1938-12

    The Bund at its peak ⚠

    In Warsaw's municipal elections, the Bund wins 17 of the 20 city-council seats that go to Jewish parties, and it does well in Łódź and elsewhere. On the eve of the war, 'hereness' is the choice of most Jewish voters in Poland's largest cities.

    Jews don't need a state — they should live as equal citizens wherever they're from.
  40. 1939–1945

    The Holocaust

    Israeli story: central

    Nazi Germany and its collaborators murder six million Jews. The Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, spends the war in Berlin, broadcasting Nazi propaganda and lobbying against Jewish emigration to Palestine. After the war, a quarter of a million Jewish survivors are in displaced-persons camps.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    The proof that Jews need a state of their own.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    'Why should Palestinians pay for Europe's crime?' The Mufti's role is usually left out.
    The Mufti was Hitler's ally — Palestinian nationalism has Nazi roots.Zionists are the modern Nazis.
    1947-05-12 · The New York Times · ✓mufti called axis partner
  41. 1943

    The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising; Zygielbojm's protest ⚠

    Israeli story: central

    Pogroms & massacres

    In April 1943 Jewish fighters in the Warsaw Ghetto rise against the Nazis; Bundists fight alongside Zionist youth groups, and the Bundist Marek Edelman is one of the commanders. On 12 May, the Bund's representative in London, Szmul Zygielbojm, takes his own life in protest at the world's indifference to the murder of Poland's Jews. The Bund's world is destroyed; Edelman stays in Poland and remains a non-Zionist until his death in 2009.

    Jews don't need a state — they should live as equal citizens wherever they're from.Jews can only be safe as a majority in their own state.
  42. 1941-06

    The Farhud in Baghdad ⚠

    Israeli story: central

    Pogroms & massacres

    After a pro-Axis coup, a pogrom in Baghdad kills on the order of 180 Jews. The Mufti, in Iraq at the time, had backed the coup; later that year he meets Hitler in Berlin.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    Arab-world antisemitism was not caused by Israel.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    Largely absent; the story is one of Jews living peacefully in Arab lands until Zionism.
    Jews lived peacefully in the Arab world for centuries until Zionism ruined it; they left because Israel lured them.The Mufti was Hitler's ally — Palestinian nationalism has Nazi roots.
  43. 1944–1947

    The Jewish underground revolt: Irgun and Lehi

    Palestinian story: central

    The Irgun and Lehi attack British targets; Lehi assassinates Lord Moyne (1944). On 22 July 1946 the Irgun bombs the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, the British administrative headquarters, killing 91 people — British, Arab and Jewish. The mainstream Haganah condemns parts of the campaign. Britain deports Jewish refugees to camps on Cyprus.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    Part of the fight for independence. The King David bombing is contested (a warning call was made) and memorialised by the Irgun's heirs in Likud.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    Proof that Israel was founded by terrorists — and that the West calls it terror only when Palestinians do it.
    Israel was a British colonial project — the Empire planted the Jews in Palestine.Israel is a settler-colonial state.◆ "What about you?"
    1946-08-14 · The New York Times · ✓British Battle Jews, Kill 3 in Haifa Riot as Refugees are sent to Cyprus Camps1945-08-17 · The New York Times · ✓Truman Discloses Plea on Palestine

    Further reading: Wikipedia: King David Hotel bombing reference

  44. 1945–1947

    Pogroms after the war: Tripoli, Kielce, Aden, Aleppo ⚠

    Israeli story: central

    Pogroms & massacres

    In Tripoli (Libya), November 1945, rioters kill around 130 Jews. In Kielce (Poland), July 1946, 42 Holocaust survivors are murdered, and tens of thousands of Polish Jews flee west. After the UN partition vote in December 1947, riots in Aden kill 82 Jews, and in Aleppo synagogues and homes are burned and much of the ancient community flees.

    Jews can only be safe as a majority in their own state.Jews lived peacefully in the Arab world for centuries until Zionism ruined it; they left because Israel lured them.

  45. 1948

  46. 1947-11-29

    UN partition plan (Resolution 181)

    Israeli story: centralPalestinian story: central

    The General Assembly recommends a Jewish state, an Arab state and an international Jerusalem. The Jewish Agency accepts; the Arab Higher Committee and Arab states reject it. Civil war breaks out the next day.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    The Jews said yes; the Arabs said no, and went to war.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    The UN gave 56% of the land to a third of the population.
    The Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.A 3,000-year-old promise doesn't justify a genocide.
  47. Dec 1947 – Mar 1948

    Civil war: bombs on both sides ⚠

    Israeli story: centralPalestinian story: central

    Pogroms & massacres

    After the partition vote the land slides into civil war, with attacks on civilians from both sides. The Irgun throws bombs into a crowd of Arab workers at the Haifa oil refinery (30 December 1947), and Arab workers then kill 39 Jewish colleagues inside. Lehi bombs the Jaffa Serail (January 1948), and the Haganah blows up the Semiramis Hotel in Jerusalem, killing some two dozen civilians. Arab forces bomb the Palestine Post and Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem (February 1948, about 50 killed) and besiege Jewish Jerusalem.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    A war of survival forced on the Jewish community, with Jerusalem under siege; Irgun and Lehi actions are often treated as the work of 'dissidents'.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    The start of the Nakba: Zionist militias, including the Irgun and Lehi, terrorise Arab towns and villages.
    The Nakba was a pre-planned ethnic cleansing — Plan Dalet was the blueprint.◆ "What about you?"◆ Where does the story start?
  48. 1948-03-10

    Plan Dalet

    Palestinian story: central

    The Haganah adopts Plan D: securing the territory of the planned Jewish state and its borders ahead of the expected Arab invasion, including orders to occupy, and where villages resist, destroy them and expel their populations. Historians disagree on whether it was a master plan for expulsion or a military plan that allowed it.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    A defensive military plan against invading armies.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    The blueprint for ethnic cleansing.
    The Nakba was a pre-planned ethnic cleansing — Plan Dalet was the blueprint.The Palestinians left voluntarily in 1948 — their own leaders told them to go.
  49. 1948-04-09

    Deir Yassin ⚠

    Palestinian story: central

    Pogroms & massacres

    Irgun and Lehi fighters attack the Arab village of Deir Yassin near Jerusalem, killing around 100–110 villagers, many of them civilians; early reports said 254. The Jewish Agency and Haganah condemn it. News of the massacre spreads fear and speeds up Arab flight elsewhere.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    Acknowledged in school as a stain, blamed on the dissident Irgun and Lehi rather than the Haganah; the death toll and the 'massacre' framing are debated.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    The emblem of the Nakba: deliberate terror to drive Palestinians out.
    The Palestinians left voluntarily in 1948 — their own leaders told them to go.The Nakba was a pre-planned ethnic cleansing — Plan Dalet was the blueprint.

    Further reading: Nice Jewish Girl in NYC: 'Let's talk about Deir Yassin' pro-Israel

  50. 1948-04-13

    Hadassah convoy massacre ⚠

    Israeli story: central

    Pogroms & massacres

    Arab forces attack a medical convoy to Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus, killing around 78 Jews, mostly doctors, nurses and patients.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    Remembered as the answer to 'what about Deir Yassin?'
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    Almost never mentioned.
    Coexistence where there's contact◆ "What about you?"
  51. 1948-04-22

    The fall of Haifa

    Israeli story: central

    The Haganah takes Haifa. Most of the city's Arabs leave, with their leadership organising the evacuation while some Jewish leaders urge them to stay.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    Proof that Arabs left on their own leaders' orders.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    The flight followed a military assault and shelling; urging people to stay didn't make it voluntary.
    The Palestinians left voluntarily in 1948 — their own leaders told them to go.
    1948-04-26 · The New York Times · ✓Arabs to End Haifa Evacuation
  52. Apr – May 1948

    Jaffa, Tiberias, Safed: the Arab towns empty ⚠

    Palestinian story: central

    Arab Tiberias falls (18 April), and its Arab population leaves under British escort. The Irgun assaults Jaffa (late April), and most of its roughly 70,000 Arabs flee by sea and land before the city surrenders on 13 May. Safed falls on 10–11 May, and its Arab majority flees. By the time the state is declared, the largest Arab towns in the Jewish state's territory are mostly empty.

    The Palestinians left voluntarily in 1948 — their own leaders told them to go.The Nakba was a pre-planned ethnic cleansing — Plan Dalet was the blueprint.
  53. 1948-05-13

    Kfar Etzion massacre ⚠

    Israeli story: central

    Pogroms & massacres

    After the Etzion bloc surrenders, around 127 Jewish defenders and residents are killed by Arab forces and irregulars.

    The Palestinians left voluntarily in 1948 — their own leaders told them to go.
  54. 1948-05-14

    Israel declares independence; Arab states invade

    Israeli story: centralPalestinian story: central

    Israel declares independence as the Mandate ends. The next day Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon send armies into Palestine.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    Independence Day: a new state survives an invasion by five armies.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    Nakba Day (15 May): the day the catastrophe is remembered.
    Palestine was definitely a thing — there was even a newspaper called Filastin in 1911 — and almost no Jews lived there, so Israel was a hostile takeover.The Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
    1948-05-16 · The New York Times · ✓Jews in Grave Danger in All moslem Lands
  55. 1948

    Moscow backs the Jewish state ⚠

    Israeli story: central

    Soviet Union

    The Soviet Union votes for partition (1947), recognises Israel de jure on 17 May 1948 (the first state to do so), and through Czechoslovakia supplies the rifles, machine guns and fighter planes that are crucial to Israel in the 1948 war. Soviet support was aimed at pushing Britain out of the Middle East.

    Israel was a British colonial project — the Empire planted the Jews in Palestine.Israel is a settler-colonial state.
  56. 1948-05-22

    Tantura ⚠

    Palestinian story: central

    Pogroms & massacres

    After the Alexandroni Brigade takes the coastal village of Tantura, villagers are killed; the numbers and circumstances are fiercely disputed. A 1998 master's thesis alleging a massacre led to a libel case and a retraction by its author, and later testimony by veterans (2022 documentary 'Tantura') revived the claims.

    The Palestinians left voluntarily in 1948 — their own leaders told them to go.◆ Reading an incident story
  57. 1948-06

    The Altalena affair ⚠

    Israeli story: central

    Ben-Gurion orders the new army to fire on the Altalena, an Irgun arms ship, off Tel Aviv; 16 Irgun fighters and 3 soldiers are killed. The Irgun is folded into the IDF: one state, one army. The rift between Ben-Gurion's camp and Begin's lasts decades.

  58. 1948-07-12

    Lydda and Ramle ⚠

    Palestinian story: central

    Pogroms & massacres

    Israeli forces take the towns of Lydda and Ramle. After fighting in Lydda, in which many Arab residents are killed (including in and around a mosque), some 50,000–70,000 inhabitants are expelled on orders issued in Yitzhak Rabin's name and march east in the summer heat; some die on the way. It is the largest single expulsion of the war.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    Long left out of school histories; Rabin's own account of the expulsion was censored from his 1979 memoirs.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    The death march, a core memory of the Nakba.
    The Palestinians left voluntarily in 1948 — their own leaders told them to go.The Nakba was a pre-planned ethnic cleansing — Plan Dalet was the blueprint.
  59. 1948-09-17

    Lehi assassinates the UN mediator ⚠

    Lehi gunmen assassinate Count Folke Bernadotte, the UN mediator, in Jerusalem. His plan had proposed the return of refugees. Israel outlaws Lehi, but no one is ever tried for the killing.

    UNRWA keeps millions of Palestinians as refugees forever — a problem kept alive on purpose.
  60. Oct – Nov 1948

    Al-Dawayima and the massacres of the war's last months ⚠

    Palestinian story: central

    Pogroms & massacres

    In the final offensives, Israeli soldiers kill civilians in several villages: at al-Dawayima near Hebron (29 October) estimates range from dozens to several hundred, and in Operation Hiram in the Galilee there are killings in villages such as Safsaf, Saliha and Eilaboun. Some were investigated at the time, and few were punished.

    The Palestinians left voluntarily in 1948 — their own leaders told them to go.The IDF is a terrorist army that targets Palestinian civilians on purpose.
  61. 1948–1949

    The Nakba

    Israeli story: centralPalestinian story: central

    Around 700,000 Palestinian Arabs flee or are expelled from what becomes Israel — through fear, fighting, the collapse of their leadership, and in many places direct expulsion (Lydda and Ramle, July 1948). Hundreds of villages are emptied, and Israel bars return.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    The War of Independence: a war of survival against invading armies. For decades the flight was taught as mostly voluntary or on Arab orders; Israel's 'new historians' of the 1980s challenged this, and the word 'Nakba' remains contested in Israeli schools.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    The Nakba — deliberate ethnic cleansing and the defining catastrophe. The civil war the Arab side started and the invasion are often left out.
    The Palestinians left voluntarily in 1948 — their own leaders told them to go.The Nakba was a pre-planned ethnic cleansing — Plan Dalet was the blueprint.UNRWA keeps millions of Palestinians as refugees forever — a problem kept alive on purpose.
    1948-08-02 · The New York Times · ✓Bars Repatriation Now1948-08-10 · The New York Times · ✓IRO Shuns Problem of Arab Refugees

    Further reading: Nice Jewish Girl in NYC: 'About the Nakba' pro-Israel · Nice Jewish Girl in NYC: 'How did Jewish refugees end up in Palestinian homes' pro-Israel · Palquest (Institute for Palestine Studies): encyclopedia of the Palestine question pro-Palestinian

  62. 1948–1970s

    Exodus of Jews from Arab countries

    Israeli story: central

    Around 850,000 Jews leave or are driven out of Arab countries, through pogroms, legal persecution, denationalisation and expulsion; most go to Israel.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    The forgotten refugees — a population exchange, in effect.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    Largely absent, or framed as Zionist-engineered emigration.
    Jews lived peacefully in the Arab world for centuries until Zionism ruined it; they left because Israel lured them.There was a Jewish Nakba too — it was a population exchange, so the Palestinian refugee question is settled.
    1950-08-27 · The New York Times · ✓Tripoli Described as Refugee Haven1955-08-26 · The New York Times · ✓African Jews Ask Haven In Israel
  63. 1949

    Armistice lines (the 'Green Line')

    Armistice agreements end the war. Jordan holds the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and Egypt holds Gaza; no Palestinian state is created. UNRWA is set up in December.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    Jordan and Egypt could have created a Palestinian state and didn't.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    The line that became the basis of the '1967 borders'.
    ◆ Which territory?UNRWA keeps millions of Palestinians as refugees forever — a problem kept alive on purpose.
    1950-04-22 · The New York Times · ✓Problems in Palestine1959-08-19 · The New York Times · ✓Arab States Bar Refugee Aid Plan

  64. 1949–1967

  65. 1948–1966

    Military rule, absentee property, Iqrit and Kafr Bir'im ⚠

    Palestinian story: central

    The Arabs who stay in Israel become citizens but live under military rule until 1966, with permits to travel and work. The Absentees' Property Law (1950) transfers refugees' land, and that of 'present absentees' who never left the country, to the state. The Christian villages of Iqrit and Kafr Bir'im are evacuated in 1948 with a promise of return; the Supreme Court rules for the villagers in 1951, but the army demolishes the villages and they have never been allowed back.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    Security measures in a state surrounded by enemies; Arab citizens got the vote from the start.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    The Nakba continued inside Israel: land taken by law, and a people governed by permits.
    Arab citizens of Israel have full equality — they vote, sit in the Knesset and on the Supreme Court.The Palestinians left voluntarily in 1948 — their own leaders told them to go.
  66. 1950

    Iran recognises Israel de facto ⚠

    Iran

    Under the Shah, Iran becomes the second Muslim-majority country (after Turkey) to recognise Israel de facto. For three decades the two are quiet partners: oil, trade, security cooperation, and Israel's 'periphery doctrine' of alliances with non-Arab neighbours. Iran's Jewish community, one of the oldest in the world, numbers around 80,000–100,000.

  67. 1948–1953

    Stalin turns on the Jews: 'rootless cosmopolitans' ⚠

    Israeli story: central

    Soviet UnionPogroms & massacres

    Stalin's campaign against 'rootless cosmopolitans' purges Jews from Soviet cultural life. On 12 August 1952 thirteen Yiddish writers and other members of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee are executed ('the Night of the Murdered Poets'). In Czechoslovakia the Slánský trial (1952) convicts mostly Jewish Communist leaders as 'Zionist' conspirators, and in January 1953 the 'Doctors' Plot' accuses Jewish doctors of plotting to kill Soviet leaders. 'Zionist' becomes a code word for Jew.

    'Zionist' is not an ethnicity, a race or a religion — so nothing said about Zionists can be antisemitic.◆ Which Zionism?
  68. 1953-10

    Qibya ⚠

    Palestinian story: central

    Pogroms & massacres

    After a grenade attack killed an Israeli mother and two children, Israel's Unit 101 under Ariel Sharon raids the Jordanian-held village of Qibya. Around 69 villagers are killed, most in their demolished homes, and Israel is condemned internationally.

    ◆ The strict enemy frame
  69. 1955

    The Czech arms deal with Egypt ⚠

    Soviet Union

    The Soviet bloc, through Czechoslovakia, sells Egypt large quantities of modern weapons. Moscow switches sides: from now on it arms and backs the Arab states against Israel.

  70. 1956-10-29

    Kafr Qasim massacre and the Suez war ⚠

    Palestinian story: central

    Pogroms & massacres

    On the eve of the Suez war, Israeli Border Police kill 48 Arab citizens of Israel returning home unaware of a curfew; officers are later convicted. Israel, Britain and France attack Egypt, and Israel withdraws from Sinai in 1957.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    Taught as the origin of the 'blatantly illegal order' doctrine: soldiers must refuse such orders.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    A massacre of citizens under military rule, whose perpetrators were soon pardoned.
    Arab citizens of Israel have full equality — they vote, sit in the Knesset and on the Supreme Court.
  71. 1964

    The PLO is founded

    Israeli story: central

    The Palestine Liberation Organization is established. Its Charter (1964, revised 1968) defines Palestine as the whole Mandate territory and Palestinians as Arab nationals.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    Founded to destroy Israel three years before there was any occupation.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    The birth of the national movement.
    There's no such thing as a Palestinian people — it was invented in 1964.From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.Recognising a state vs a people

  72. 1967–1993

  73. 1967-06

    Six-Day War; the occupation begins

    Israeli story: centralPalestinian story: central

    End-times beliefs

    After Egypt closes the Straits of Tiran and masses troops, Israel strikes first and takes Sinai, Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan. Its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza begins. In September the Arab League's Khartoum summit answers with 'no peace, no recognition, no negotiation'. For religious Zionists, the capture of Jerusalem's Old City and the biblical heartland was read as a step in redemption; the settler movement Gush Emunim (1974) grew from that messianic reading.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    A war of survival and the reunification of Jerusalem; the territories as a bargaining chip, and then, for some, a homeland regained.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    The Naksa ('setback'): the start of the occupation, and for many the start of the story.
    ◆ Which territory?Israel is a settler-colonial state.Israel's real goal is 'Greater Israel' — from the Nile to the Euphrates.

    Further reading: Nice Jewish Girl in NYC: 'Israeli occupation, 1967–1987' pro-Israel

  74. 1967-06

    The Temple Mount Status Quo ⚠

    Israeli story: centralPalestinian story: central

    Days after Israeli paratroopers reach the Western Wall, Defence Minister Moshe Dayan hands day-to-day control of the Temple Mount compound back to the Jordanian-run Islamic Waqf. Jews may visit but not pray there, and Jewish prayer moves to the Western Wall below. The Chief Rabbinate rules that Jews should not enter the Mount at all, for reasons of ritual purity. This 'Status Quo' is what every later crisis is about.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    A remarkable act of restraint: the holiest site in Judaism left in Muslim hands.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    The occupier's arrangement, which it has been chipping away at ever since.
    Al-Aqsa is in danger.
  75. —

    'Which al-Aqsa?': the compound, the mosque, the Mount

    In Muslim usage 'al-Aqsa' means the whole walled compound (the Haram al-Sharif, about 14 hectares, including the Dome of the Rock and its courtyards). In Western usage it often means only the silver-domed mosque at the south end. For Jews the same platform is the Temple Mount (Har HaBayit), the holiest site in Judaism. So 'Israelis stormed al-Aqsa' can mean police entering a mosque building or Jewish visitors walking on the compound, and 'Jews on the Temple Mount' can mean either a visit or an attempt to pray. Each side's headlines use the word that makes the other side the aggressor.

    Al-Aqsa is in danger.◆ Which territory?◆ Where does the story start?◆ Which name?
  76. 1967–1970s

    Soviet 'anti-Zionism': Zionism as Nazism ⚠

    Israeli story: central

    Soviet Union

    After the Six-Day War the Soviet bloc breaks relations with Israel and launches a massive propaganda campaign: books such as Yuri Ivanov's 'Beware: Zionism!' (1969) and cartoons portraying Israelis as Nazis, alleging Zionist–Nazi collaboration and a worldwide Zionist conspiracy. Much of today's 'Zionism is Nazism' and 'Zionism is racism' vocabulary was developed here and spread through the Soviet bloc, Arab state media and the Western far left.

    Zionists are the modern Nazis.◆ Holocaust inversionThe chain: coloniser → apartheid → genocideIsrael is a settler-colonial state.
  77. 1970s–1980s

    Refuseniks and the fight to emigrate ⚠

    Israeli story: central

    Soviet Union

    Soviet Jews who apply to emigrate to Israel are refused, fired from their jobs and sometimes imprisoned (Natan Sharansky, 1977–1986). The 1970 'Dymshits–Kuznetsov' attempt to hijack a plane out of Leningrad draws the world's attention; the US Jackson–Vanik amendment (1974) ties trade to the right to emigrate.

    Jews can only be safe as a majority in their own state.
  78. 1975-11-10

    UN: 'Zionism is a form of racism'

    Israeli story: centralPalestinian story: central

    Soviet Union

    The UN General Assembly adopts Resolution 3379, backed by the Soviet bloc and Arab and many non-aligned states, determining that 'Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination'. It is revoked in 1991 (Resolution 46/86), after the end of the Cold War.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    A Soviet-Arab propaganda victory at the UN, later revoked.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    International recognition that Zionism is a colonial, discriminatory project.
    Israel is an apartheid state.'Zionist' is not an ethnicity, a race or a religion — so nothing said about Zionists can be antisemitic.The chain: coloniser → apartheid → genocide
  79. 1970-09

    Black September in Jordan

    Jordan's army crushes PLO forces that were trying to topple King Hussein. Thousands are killed, and the PLO moves to Lebanon.

    Who can afford to speakJordan is Palestine — the Palestinians already have their state.
  80. 1969-08-21

    The al-Aqsa arson ⚠

    Palestinian story: central

    End-times beliefs

    Denis Michael Rohan, an Australian Christian extremist, sets fire to the al-Aqsa mosque, destroying Saladin's historic pulpit. Israel arrests and tries him (he is found insane), but across the Muslim world the fire is blamed on Israel and 'the Jews'. In direct response, Muslim states found the Organisation of the Islamic Conference in Rabat a month later.

    Al-Aqsa is in danger.◆ Where does the story start?
  81. 1972-09-05

    Munich Olympics massacre

    Israeli story: central

    Pogroms & massacres

    Black September militants take the Israeli Olympic team hostage; 11 Israeli athletes and coaches are killed.

    ◆ The strict enemy frame
  82. 1973-10

    Yom Kippur War

    Israeli story: central

    Egypt and Syria attack on Yom Kippur. After early losses, Israel pushes back. The war leads, through Egyptian–Israeli talks, to the 1979 peace treaty that returns Sinai.

    Israel's real goal is 'Greater Israel' — from the Nile to the Euphrates.◆ Negotiation as a weapon

    Further reading: Nice Jewish Girl in NYC: 'The war that almost broke Israel' pro-Israel

  83. 1979

    Iran's Islamic Revolution; Quds Day ⚠

    IranEnd-times beliefs

    Ayatollah Khomeini's revolution turns Iran from Israel's partner into its most determined enemy. Khomeini declares the last Friday of Ramadan 'Quds (Jerusalem) Day'. The new doctrine of rule by the jurist (velayat-e faqih) casts the state as guardian of the community until the return of the Hidden Imam, the Mahdi of Twelver Shia belief, which gives the enmity an end-times horizon. Most of Iran's Jews emigrate over the following decades; about 9,000–10,000 remain, with one reserved seat in parliament.

    Islam is a cancer destroying the West — Israel is just the front line.◆ The strict enemy frame
  84. 1982–1994

    Hezbollah, and Iran's reach abroad ⚠

    Israeli story: central

    Iran

    Iran's Revolutionary Guards help found Hezbollah in Lebanon during the 1982 war. The 1992 bombing of Israel's embassy in Buenos Aires (29 killed) and the 1994 AMIA Jewish community centre bombing there (85 killed) are attributed by Argentine prosecutors and courts to Hezbollah and Iranian officials.

    ◆ The strict enemy frame
  85. 1982

    Mahmoud Abbas's Moscow thesis ⚠

    Israeli story: central

    Soviet Union

    Mahmoud Abbas, later President of the Palestinian Authority, completes a doctoral thesis at the Institute of Oriental Studies in Moscow on alleged Zionist–Nazi relations. Published in 1984 as a book, it questions the number of Holocaust victims. In 2014 Abbas called the Holocaust 'the most heinous crime against humanity in the modern era'; in 2023 he drew wide condemnation for saying Hitler killed Jews because of their 'social role'.

    The Mufti was Hitler's ally — Palestinian nationalism has Nazi roots.◆ Holocaust inversion
  86. 1982

    Lebanon war; Sabra and Shatila ⚠

    Palestinian story: central

    Pogroms & massacres

    Israel invades Lebanon to expel the PLO. In September, Lebanese Christian Phalange militiamen massacre hundreds of Palestinians and Lebanese Shia in the Sabra and Shatila camps, in an area under Israeli army control; estimates of the dead vary widely. Israel's Kahan Commission finds defence minister Ariel Sharon indirectly responsible.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    The Phalange did the killing; Israel held its own inquiry and hundreds of thousands protested in Tel Aviv.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    Sharon's massacre.
    ◆ The strict enemy frame

    Further reading: Nice Jewish Girl in NYC: First Israel–Lebanon War, Episode 5 — Sabra and Shatila pro-Israel

  87. 1987-12

    First Intifada; Hamas is founded

    Palestinian story: central

    End-times beliefs

    A mass Palestinian uprising against the occupation begins in Gaza and spreads. Hamas grows out of the Muslim Brotherhood and issues its 1988 charter. Article 7 of the charter quotes an end-times hadith (Sahih Muslim): 'The Day of Judgement will not come until Muslims fight the Jews… when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees.' It is a hadith, not a verse of the Qur'an.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    Violent riots; Hamas's founding charter calls for killing Jews.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    A popular uprising — stones against tanks.
    Who can afford to speakFrom the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.

    Further reading: Nice Jewish Girl in NYC: 'The first intifada' pro-Israel · Nice Jewish Girl in NYC: 'All roads to October 7: the history of Hamas' pro-Israel

  88. Oslo

  89. 1993-09

    Oslo Accords

    Israeli story: centralPalestinian story: central

    Israel and the PLO exchange letters of recognition and sign the Declaration of Principles, which creates the Palestinian Authority and an interim framework.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    Land for peace — answered with suicide bombings.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    A trap that entrenched the occupation while settlements kept growing.
    Recognising a state vs a people◆ Negotiation as a weapon
  90. 1990 / 1996

    Temple Mount flashpoints ⚠

    Palestinian story: central

    Pogroms & massacresEnd-times beliefs

    October 1990: after rumours that a Jewish group will lay a cornerstone for a Third Temple, stones are thrown from the compound onto worshippers at the Western Wall, and Israeli police kill some 17–20 Palestinians. September 1996: Israel opens an exit to the Western Wall tunnel near the compound; rumours that it threatens al-Aqsa set off three days of clashes in which about 17 Israeli soldiers and some 70 Palestinians are killed.

    Al-Aqsa is in danger.◆ Reading an incident story
  91. 1989–2000

    The million: Soviet Jews come to Israel ⚠

    Israeli story: central

    Soviet Union

    As the Soviet Union opens and then collapses, about a million Jews and their families from the former USSR immigrate to Israel in a decade, changing its population, economy and politics. Moscow restores relations with Israel in October 1991 and co-sponsors the Madrid peace conference.

    Jews can only be safe as a majority in their own state.Israel is a settler-colonial state.
  92. 1994-02-25

    Cave of the Patriarchs massacre

    Palestinian story: central

    Pogroms & massacres

    Baruch Goldstein, a Kahanist settler, kills 29 Palestinian worshippers in Hebron; the Kach movement is later banned as a terrorist organisation. Hamas begins suicide bombings inside Israel that spring.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    Condemned as the act of a lone fanatic.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    Settler terror, followed by years of Israeli restrictions on Hebron's Palestinians.
    ◆ The strict enemy frameSettler violence is a handful of extremists — the 'hilltop youth' — and Israel deals with them.
  93. 1995-11-04

    Rabin assassinated

    Israeli story: central

    Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is murdered by a Jewish extremist opposed to the Oslo process.

    ◆ Negotiation as a weapon
  94. 2000

    Camp David and the Second Intifada ⚠

    Israeli story: centralPalestinian story: central

    Talks at Camp David fail, and the Second Intifada follows: suicide bombings in Israeli cities and major Israeli military operations. By 2005 around 1,000 Israelis and more than 3,000 Palestinians have been killed.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    Arafat turned down a state and chose terror.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    The offer was a patchwork of cantons; Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount set off an uprising against an occupation that wasn't ending.
    The Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.◆ Negotiation as a weaponAl-Aqsa is in danger.

  95. Gaza

  96. 2005

    Gaza disengagement

    Israeli story: central

    Israel withdraws its soldiers and all settlers from Gaza.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    We left Gaza completely and got rockets in return.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    Israel still controlled Gaza's borders, airspace and sea, so the occupation continued in another form.
    ◆ Which territory?Israel's real goal is 'Greater Israel' — from the Nile to the Euphrates.Israel left Gaza in 2005 — there has been no occupation there since.
  97. 2006–2007

    Hamas wins the elections and takes Gaza

    Israeli story: centralPalestinian story: central

    Hamas wins the 2006 legislative elections, and in 2007 seizes Gaza from Fatah by force. Israel and Egypt impose a blockade.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    Gaza chose Hamas.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    The blockade: Gaza as an 'open-air prison'.
    Who can afford to speakIsrael is starving Gaza — famine has been confirmed.
  98. 2008–2021

    Recurring Gaza wars

    Palestinian story: central

    Wars between Israel and Hamas in 2008–09, 2012, 2014 and 2021, with heavy Palestinian casualties and rocket fire on Israel.

    ◆ Negotiation as a weaponIsrael is committing genocide in Gaza.
  99. 2023-02-26

    Huwara ⚠

    Palestinian story: central

    Pogroms & massacres

    After a Palestinian gunman kills two Israeli brothers near Huwara, hundreds of settlers rampage through the town, burning homes and cars; one Palestinian is killed. The IDF's Central Command chief calls it a 'pogrom', and a government minister says Huwara should be 'wiped out' (he later says he misspoke).

    Settler violence is a handful of extremists — the 'hilltop youth' — and Israel deals with them.◆ Reading an incident story
  100. 2015–2017

    'Israel will not see the next 25 years'

    IranEnd-times beliefs

    After the 2015 nuclear deal, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei says Israel will not exist in 25 years. In 2017 a countdown clock to that date (2040) goes up in Tehran's Palestine Square. Iran arms and funds the 'Axis of Resistance': Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Houthis and Iraqi militias.

    ◆ The strict enemy frameFrom the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.
  101. 2020

    Abraham Accords

    Israel normalises relations with the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan without a Palestinian settlement.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    Peace with the Arab world is possible.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    A betrayal that bypassed the Palestinians.
    ◆ Negotiation as a weapon
  102. 2017 / 2021

    Metal detectors and the 2021 war ⚠

    Palestinian story: central

    July 2017: after gunmen kill two Israeli (Druze) police officers at the compound, Israel installs metal detectors at the entrances. Muslim leaders call a boycott, mass prayers are held in the streets, and the detectors are removed after two weeks. May 2021: clashes inside the compound during Ramadan, together with evictions in Sheikh Jarrah, lead Hamas to fire rockets at Jerusalem, starting an eleven-day war.

    Al-Aqsa is in danger.◆ Where does the story start?
  103. 2023–2025

    Ministers on the Mount ⚠

    Palestinian story: central

    End-times beliefs

    National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits the compound repeatedly, and in 2025 openly prays there, breaking the Status Quo. The Prime Minister's office says the policy hasn't changed. Jewish visits and quiet prayer have grown steadily, and Temple movements prepare red heifers and Temple vessels. For many Muslims this confirms the 'al-Aqsa in danger' warnings; for Temple activists it corrects an injustice to the holiest site in Judaism.

    Al-Aqsa is in danger.
  104. 2023-10-07

    October 7

    Israeli story: centralPalestinian story: central

    End-times beliefsIranPogroms & massacres

    Hamas-led attackers kill about 1,200 people in Israel, mostly civilians, and take 251 hostages — the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. Hamas named the attack 'Al-Aqsa Flood'. In January 2024 its military spokesman listed among its causes the 'bringing of red cows', red heifers imported from Texas in 2022 by Temple Mount activist groups, which some Jews associate with rebuilding the Temple.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    A pogrom — the reason the war had to be fought.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    Framed by some as resistance with 'context'; by others as a crime whose scale is doubted or denied.
    Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.◆ The strict enemy frameAl-Aqsa is in danger.◆ DARVO: deny, attack, reverse
  105. 2023–2025

    The Gaza war

    Israeli story: centralPalestinian story: central

    Israel's war on Hamas in Gaza kills tens of thousands, destroys most housing and displaces nearly the whole population. South Africa brings a genocide case at the ICJ (provisional measures in January 2024). Famine is declared in Gaza Governorate in August 2025, and a ceasefire takes hold in October 2025.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    A war of self-defence against an enemy that hides behind civilians.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    A genocide.
    Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.Israel is starving Gaza — famine has been confirmed.'It's not genocide because the ICJ hasn't ruled' is like calling a school shooting a 'tussle' until a judge rules.
  106. 2025-03-25

    'Hamas out': protests inside Gaza ⚠

    Thousands of Gazans in Beit Lahia march against Hamas rule in the middle of the war, chanting 'Hamas out' and 'We want to live'. Protests spread for a few days and flare again in April. Amnesty International documents Hamas reprisals against protesters.

    As Israelis are usually taught
    Proof that Hamas rules Gaza by fear, not by consent.
    As the pro-Palestinian story tells it
    Often left out, or dismissed as Israeli-orchestrated; for others, a voice of Gazans themselves against both the war and Hamas.
    Who can afford to speak◆ Which Palestine?Hamas uses Gaza's civilians as human shields, so it is responsible for their deaths.
  107. 2024–2025

    Iran and Israel fight directly ⚠

    Iran

    In April and October 2024 Iran fires missiles and drones directly at Israel for the first time; Israel strikes back. In June 2025 Israel, joined by the United States, strikes Iran's nuclear and military sites in a twelve-day war, and Iranian missiles hit Israeli cities. The shadow war becomes an open one.

Walkthroughs to read further

Longer histories, labelled by perspective. Read at least one from each side, and check them against the sources they cite (see how to read sources).