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"Honoring
Our Past Is Respecting Our Future"
Palestine
today...
"Dispossessed,
deprived of their birthright and denied basic human rights and
freedoms, millions of Palestinians daily endure a rare fate.
Just the simple act of surviving through the day under
occupation requires enormous resilience in the face of a
superior war machine, supported by the world's single
superpower. Yet Palestinians have never lost hope that one day
they will be able to live in freedom, peace and prosperity in
their own independent homeland."
-Al Jazeera
Click here to view and download
a large map of Palestine before the Nakba
(it is 7MB, but is worth the wait if you are using Dialup,
although, it will take just a few seconds if you are using
DSL)
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B.C.
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A.D.
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Birth
dates of living family members are not listed on this historical
chronology to protect individual privacy.
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I. B.C.
600,000 - 10,000 BC
Paleolithic and Mesolithic period.
Earliest human remains in the area (found south of the Lake of Tabariyya),
date back to ca. 600,000 BC.
TOP
10,000 - 5,000 BC
Neolithic period. Establishment of settled agricultural communities.
TOP
5,000 - 3,000 BC
Chalcolithic period. Copper and stone tools and artifacts from this
period found near Jericho, Bi'r As-Sabi' and the Dead Sea.
TOP
3,000 - 2,000 BC
Early Bronze Age. Arrival and settlement of the Canaanites (3,000 -
2,500 BC)
TOP
ca. 1,250 BC
Israelite conquest of Canaan.
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965 - 928 BC
King Solomon (Sulayman), construction of the temple in Jerusalem.
TOP
928 BC
Division of the Israelite state into the kingdom of Israel and Judah.
TOP
721 BC
Assyrian conquest of the kingdom of Israel.
TOP
586 BC
Judah defeated by Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar, deportation of its
population to Babylon and destruction of the temple.
TOP
539 BC
Persians conquer Babylonia, allowance of deportees to return and
construction of a new temple.
TOP
333 BC
Alexander the Great conquers Persia and Palestine comes under the Greek
rule.
TOP
323 BC
Alexander the Great dies, alternate rule by Ptolemies of Egypt and
Seleucids of Syria.
TOP
165 BC
Maccabees revolt against the Seleucid ruler (Antiochus Epiphanes) and
establish an independent state.
TOP
63 BC
Incorporation of Palestine into the Roman Empire.
TOP
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II. A.D.
70
Destruction of the second temple by the Roman Emperor Titus.
TOP
132-135
Suppression of the Bar Kokhba revolt. Jews barred from Jerusalem and
Emperor Hadrian builds a pagan city on its ruins.
TOP
330-638
Palestine under Byzantine rule, Christianity spreads.
TOP
638
Omar Ibn al-Khattab enters Jerusalem and ends the Byzantine rule.
TOP
661-750
Palestine administered by the Umayyad caliphs from Damascus and
construct the Dome of the Rock ('Abdul al-Malik, 685-705) and Al-Aqsa in
its current shape (al-Waleed, 705-715).
TOP
750-1258
Palestine administered from Baghdad by the 'Abbasid caliphs.
TOP
969
Palestine administered by the Fatimids from Egypt as rivals to Baghdad.
TOP
1071
Saljuqs (originally from Isfahan) rule Jerusalem and parts of Palestine
(officially still under the 'Abbasids).
TOP
1099-1187
The Crusaders arrive and establish the "Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem".
TOP
1187
Salah al-Deen al-Ayyoubi (Saladin) conquers the crusaders in the battle
of Hittin, forcing them to retreat back to Europe and frees Jerusalem.
Palestine administered from Cairo.
TOP
1260
The Mamluks succeed the Ayyoubi's, continue to administer Palestine from
Cairo and kick the Mongols in the battle of 'Ayn Jaluut near An-Nasira.
TOP
1291
The Mamluks (Khalil bin Qalawuun) conquer the last crusader stronghold
in Akka and Qisariya.
TOP
1516-1917
Palestine incorporated into the Ottoman state and administered from
Istanbul.
TOP
1832-1840
Mohammed Ali Pasha (Egypt) rules Palestine, Ottomans take over afterwards.
TOP
1876-1877
First Palestinian deputies from Jerusalem attend the first Ottoman
parliament.
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1878
First Zionist settlement (Petach Tiqva) established under the guise of
agricultural community.
TOP
1882-1903
First wave of Zionists (25000 strong) enters Palestine as illegal
immigrants from Eastern Europe.
TOP
1882
French Baron E. de Rothschild starts backing Zionists activities in
Palestine financially.
TOP
1887-1888
Ottomans divide Palestine into three districts: Jerusalem (follows
Istanbul) , Akka and Nablus (follow the 'wilaya' of Beirut).
TOP
1896
Theodore Hertzl, a journalist from an Austro-Hungarian origin published
Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State) advocating the establishment of a
Jewish state in Palestine or elsewhere.
TOP
1896
JCA (Jewish Colonization Association) starts aiding Zionist settlements
in Palestine.
TOP
1897
First Zionist congress in Switzerland issues the Basle Program "calling
for a home for the Jewish people in Palestine" and establishes the WZO
(World Zionist Organization) to that end.
TOP
1901
JNF (Jewish National Fund) set up by the 5th Zionist congress to acquire
land (in Palestine) and 'make it Jewish'.
TOP
1904-1914
Second wave (around 40000 strong) of Zionist illegal immigrants arrive
in Palestine and increase the Jewish percentage to 6% of the total
population.
TOP
ca. 1907
Ayyad A. Ayyad born in Gaza,
Palestine.
1909
First Zionist Kibbutz (collective farm), establishment of Tel Aviv north
of Yaffa.
December: Sararri M.
Ayyad Born in Gaza, Palestine.
TOP
1914
World War I starts.
TOP
1916
- January: Hussein-McMahon talks regarding steps leading to Arab
countries/provinces' independence from the Ottoman empire.
- May: The signing of the Sykes-Picot agreement dividing Arab
countries/provinces between Britain and France!
- June: Shareef Hussein declares independence from Ottoman Empire and the
start of Arab revolt against Istanbul.
TOP
1917
- November: The Balfour declaration - UK foreign minister declares
support towards establishing a Jewish state in Palestine.
TOP
1918
- September: British forces, led by Gen. Allenby, occupy Palestine
- October: World War I ends.
TOP
1919
- Jan-Feb: first Palestinian National Conference in Jerusalem rejects
Balfour declaration and calls (with letters to the Paris peace
conference) for independence.
- August: Paris peace conference sends investigation committee to the
Near East. UK and France did not participate. Committee recommends
modification of Balfour ideas.
TOP
1919- 1923
- Third wave of Zionist-Jewish immigrants (around 35000) raising their
percentage in Palestine to 12%, with land ownership at 3%.
TOP
1920
- April: disturbances start in Palestine. Five Jewish people killed and
200 injured. UK investigates and attributes causes to broken promises
and fears of new waves of immigrants.
- April: Peace conference higher council in San Rimo places Palestine
under British mandate
- May: British occupation prevents the second Palestinian National
Council (PNC) from convening
- July: Sir H. Samuel (British Jew) opens British civil administration
in Palestine.
- December: third PNC convenes in Haifa, elects executive committee that
steers Palestinian political movement till 1935
TOP
1921
- March: formation of the Haganah, Jewish underground terror
organization
- May: Disturbances in Haifa protesting Zionist waves of immigration
leading, among casualties, to 46 Jewish immigrants. The British
investigate, found as before.
- May: Hajj Ameen al-Husseini appointed a mufti for Jerusalem
- May-June: fourth PNC convenes in Jerusalem, sends a mission to London
to explain position
TOP
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Changing Face of Palestine... The Division & Occupation
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Great Britain gained
Palestine from the Ottoman Empire after World War I and ruled it by a
League of Nations mandate. During and after World War II waves of
Jewish refugees from Europe overwhelmed the region, hoping to create a
Jewish homeland.
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The United Nations
voted to divide Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states, a plan
the Arabs did not accept. The following year Israel declared
independence and five Arab nations attacked. In the war that followed
more than half a million Palestinians were displaced from their homes.
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Forty-four years after
Israeli independence a Palestinian homeland still did not exist.
During the Six Day War of 1967 Israel captured the West Bank, formerly
held by Jordan, and the Gaza Strip, held by Egypt.
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The Israeli-PLO
agreement signed in Washington in September 1993 provided for a
transitional period not exceeding five years of limited Palestinian
self-rule in parts of the Gaza Strip and the Jericho area of the West
Bank.
Source: ©1996 National
Geographic Society. All rights reserved.
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Imperial
era Flags of Palestine (1922-)
n.b. The flag with the green bar in the
middle is from the Arab revolt of 1917. The green and white bars were
switched in 1921. After 1923, the Union Jack was used.
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1922
- June: British minister for colonies (W. Churchill) publishes the white
paper excluding East of Jordan river from the Balfour declaration and
calls for organizing Zionist immigration according to economic capacity
of Palestine.
- July: League of Nations approves British mandate over Palestine
- August: 5th PNC approves economic boycott of the Zionists.
- October: 1st British census in Palestine found total population to be
757182 , 78% of whom were Muslim Arabs, 9.6 Christian Arabs and 11 %
Jewish (mainly new immigrants)
TOP
1923
- September: British mandate officially begins
![[Civil Ensign 1927-1948 (British Mandate of Palestine)]](pal_BM_flag.jpg)
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1924-1928
4th wave of Zionist immigrants (67000) arrives (50% of whom were from
Polonia). This increases Jewish percentage to 16%, with land ownership
up to 4.2 % in 1928).
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1925
- Vladimir Jabutinsky's Zionist party calls for the establishment of a
Jewish state in Palestine and east of the River Jordan. Stresses the
military aspects of Zionism.
- October: 6th PNC convenes in Haifa
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1928
- June: 7th PNC convenes in Jerusalem
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1929
- August: clashes over the Western (Al-Buraq) Wall in Jerusalem. Clashes
led to 116 killed and 232 wounded among Palestinians (mainly by British
fire) and 133 dead and 339 wounded among the Jewish side.
- October: General Palestinian Conference convenes in Jerusalem to
discuss the situation around the Western (Al-Buraq) Wall
TOP
1929-1939
5th Zionist immigration wave brings 250000 immigrants raising their
percentage to 30% and their land ownership to 5.7 %.
TOP
1930
- January: League of Nations forms an international committee to
investigate the legal situation over the Jerusalem Wall.
- March: the British Shaw committee releases findings in the 1929
clashes.
- October: The Hope-Simpson report on immigration finds no enough
resources for Zionist waves of immigration. UK colonies' minister issues
a white paper incorporating findings of Shaw and H-S.
- Rabi A. Ayyad born to
Ayyad & Sararri Ayyad in Al-Shuja'ia, Gaza, Palestine.
TOP
1931
- Irgon, another Jewish terrorist organization, formed by Zionist
extremists and those who split from Haganah. Led by Vladimir Jabutinsky.
- February: British PM, R MacDonald, retracts from the white paper of
October 1930, in a letter to H. Weissman, the Zionist leader.
- November: 2nd British census in Palestine finds 1,035,154 people. 73%
Muslim Arabs, 8.6% Christian Arabs and 16.9% Jewish (mainly immigrants).
- December: L French, UK development director, publishes a report about
Palestinian Arabs who lost their land due to Zionist settlements.
TOP
1933
-UK foreign minister issues a report concerning the need to re-settle
Palestinian farmers who were expelled from their lands in favor of
Zionist immigrants.
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1935
- October: Zionist revisionists leave the World Zionist Organization and
establish a new one aiming at "liberating" Palestine and East Jordan.
- November: Sh. Izz Edeen al-Qassam leads the first Palestinian unit
resisting British policies and dies in a battle with British forces near
Jenin.
TOP
1936
- April: Palestinian parties for the Arab Higher Committee headed by
Hajj.
Ameen Husseini.
- May: Palestinian National Committees conference calls for a stop of
tax payment (no taxation without representation). Revolt begins.
August: Fawzi Qawikji, along with 150 volunteers enter Palestine from
Lebanon to help fight against the British occupation.
October 15:
Mohammed A. Ayyad,
born to Ayyad & Sararri Ayyad in Gaza, Palestine.
November: British royal committee, headed by Lord peel, arrives in
Palestine.
TOP
1937
- January: Royal committee leaves Palestine
- April: The Irgon, headed by Jabutinsky, re-organizes and calls for
start of raids against Palestinians
- July: Peel committee report recommends partitioning Palestine into
Jewish state (33%) on
preeminent
areas, and one for Palestinian Arabs in
addition to British protectorates including Jerusalem. Reports refers to
forced transfer, if needed, of Palestinians from the 'Jewish' partition.
- July: Arab Higher Committee rejects the Peel recommendations, calls
for Independence of whole Palestine with protection for the rights of
all and the British interests. Revolution continues.
- September: Arab National Conference convenes in Bludan (Syria).
Rejects partition plans, calls for an end to British mandate, Zionist
immigration and transfer of land ownership.
- October: British occupation dissolves Arab Higher Committee and the
rest of Palestinian political organizations. Five leaders expelled and
Hajj A. Husseini escapes to Lebanon.
- November: Britain forms court martials to face the Palestinian
revolution.
- Mahmoud A. Ayyad born
in Gaza, Palestine.
TOP
1938
- April - August: Irgon (Jewish underground terror organization) starts
offensive against the Palestinians killing 119. Palestinians resist
killing 8.
- June: British officer Orde Wingate forms Special Night Units from
British soldiers and Irgon terrorists to attack Palestinian villages.
- October: Britain calls reinforcements. Governors replaced by army
general to face the revolution.
- October: British forces re-occupy Jerusalem from the Palestinian
rebels.
- November: Woodhead technical fact finding committee declares partition
plan inappropriate, calls for general conference to be attended by
Palestinians, Arabs and Zionists.
TOP
1939
- February: London conference convenes
- March: London conference ends. No agreement.
- May: British House of Commons votes in favor of a white paper by
minister of colonies M. MacDonald. The paper calls for: conditional
independence of a Palestinian state after ten years, acceptance of 15000
Zionist immigrants a year for 5 years, then by Arab agreement. British
official sources put the number of Palestinians killed in the revolt at
3500-4000 in addition to 500 Jews/Zionists.
- September 1: World War II begins.
- October: Separatists from the Zionist Irgon organization form the
Stern gang headed by Abraham Stern.
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1940
- February: Land ownership rules according to British 1939 white paper
enforced.
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1940 - 1945
- Over 60,000 Zionist/Jewish immigrants enter Palestine (over 20,000
'illegally' as determined by Britain who controlled borders).
Jewish/Zionist percentage rises to 31% and land they control to 6%.
TOP
1942
- February: Abraham Stern killed by British police
- May: Baltimore conference for Zionist leaders convenes in NY, calls
for "making Palestine a Jewish homeland"
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1943
- November: Britain extends the five year Zionist influx to exhaust the
75,000 permits according to its 1939 white paper.
TOP
1944
- January: Zionist organizations Irgon and Stern unite against the
British.
- November: Stern group assassinates Lord Moyne (British minister)
TOP
1945
May 8: World War II ends.
- September: Zionist influx resumes, protected by the Haganah (Zionist
terror organization).
- November: British foreign minister, E. Bevin, releases a white paper
declaring the resumption of Jewish immigration.
TOP
1946
- March: Anglo-American committee arrives in Palestine to investigate
British white paper of 1945.
- May: Anglo-America committee report indicates 61, 000 - 69,000 armed
members in Zionist organizations Stern, Haganah and Irgon; declares
special armies illegal, recommends 100,000 more immigrants and the
cancellation of land ownership regulations. Palestinians strike in
protest.
- June: Arab League convenes in Bludan (Syria), approves 'secret'
decisions and warns UK and US that ignoring Palestinian rights will
affect their interests in the Arab world.
- July: British white paper on terrorism in Palestine accuses Haganah,
Stern and Irgon of 'violence and destruction'.
- July 22: Irgon blows up the King David Hotel in Jerusalem killing 91
people (among them British, Palestinian and Jewish employees of the
mandate)
- July: Anglo-American conference convenes in London, suggests a federal
plan (M-G) to solve the Palestinian problem. Suggestions rejected by
both Zionist and Palestinian leaders.
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1947
- January: round table conference re-convenes in London.
- February: British foreign minister, E. Bevin, suggests an amendment to
the M-G plan and presents it to London conference. Plan rejected by Arab
representatives and Jewish Agency.
- February 18: Bevin announces he'll take the problem of Palestine to
the United Nations
- April 28 - May 15: UN General Assembly convenes the Palestine session,
forms the 11-member UNSCOP committee
- September 8: UNSCOP report published. Majority of its members suggest
partition, minority suggest federal solution.
- September 16-19: Arab League denounces partition, forms a committee to
help in Palestinian defense needs
- September 26: Arthur Jones, British minister for colonies, announces
Britain's decision to end its mandate over Palestine
- September 29: Arab Higher Committee rejects the partition plan.
- October 2: the Jewish Agency accepts the partition plan.
- October 7 - 15: Arab League convenes in Lebanon, warns of Zionist
danger after Mandate and allocates a million Sterling Pounds for
Palestine
- October 29: Britain announces departure in 6 months if no solution
achieved
- November 27: Arab League Committee head report warns of inability of
Palestinians to face the Zionist armies without help and organization.
- November 29: UN general Assembly votes on an amended partition plan
calling for a 56.5 % of Palestine for a Jewish state, 43 % for a
Palestinian one and internationalization of Jerusalem. Votes were 33
for, 13 against, 10 abstentions. Arab representatives left the meeting.
- November 30: The Haganah calls for Jews aged 17 to 25 to enlist for
military service
- December: Arab League establishes the "Arab Salvation Army" from Arab
non-regular volunteers, headed by Fawzi Qawikji.
- December 2: Palestinians declare a 3-day strike protesting partition.
Disturbances result in killing of 6 Palestinians and 8 Zionists/Jews.
- December 8: Britain presents a recommendation to the UN calling for an
end of its mandate on Palestine, immediate formation of a Jewish state
and a Palestinian state two weeks after.
- December 8 - 17: Arab League political committee declares partition
illegal and decides to supply the League Palestine Committee with rifles
and volunteers
- December 15: Britain announces it will hand the admin of Tel Aviv/Petah
Tikva to the Jews and Yaffa to the Palestinians
- December 17: Jewish Agency executive body announces that American Jews
should pay 250 million US$ to help the Zionists in Palestine
- December 21 - March 1948: Zionist organizations Irgon and Haganah
start coastal ethnic cleansing of Palestinian villages
- December - January 1948: Arab Higher Committee forms local committees
to defend Palestinian villages, towns and localities against Zionist
cleansing.
TOP
1948
- January: Abdul-Qadir al-Husseini returns to Palestine from exile and
becomes active in resisting the partition
- January 8 - 10: Arab Salvation Army's first unit of 330 fighters
arrives in Palestine, meets resistance from both Britain and Zionist
organizations
- January 14: The Haganah stockpiles on arms, mainly imported from
Czechoslovakia, including artillery, machine guns, ammunition and 25
planes.
- January 16: British report to the UN estimates 1974 killed during the
period November 30, 1947 and January 10, 1948
- January 20: Britain says it'll hand over administration according to
local majority in each area
- January 21 - 28: an extra 760 volunteers arrive to join Arab Salvation
Army (ASA)
- January - March: Jewish National Fund encourages the expulsion of
Arabs from Haifa. The Haganah attacks Palestinians near al-Hula lake
(north of Tabariyya) and the Palmach (another Zionist armed group)
attacks Bedouins in An-Naqab.
- February 16: ASA loses near Bisan.
- February 18: The Haganah calls men and women aged 25 - 35 to enlist in
'military service'.
- February 24: UN discusses the situation
- March: East Jordan government head meets UK's Bevin and both agree
that East Jordan government forces enter areas allocated to Palestinians
(according to partition plan) after the end of Mandate
- March 5 - 7: Qawikji assumes leadership of ASA units in the Jenin-Nablus-Tulkarm
triangle 9areas assigned to an Arab state according to partition plan)
- March 6: the Haganah announces general mobilization
- March 10: British House of Commons votes on ending the mandate on May
15. The Haganah drafts "Plan Dalet" (Dalet is Hebrew for D) for military
operations in Palestine.
- March 18: American president, Truman, receives Chaim Weizman and
promises to support the declaration of the Jewish State on May 15.
- March 19 - 20: USA representative in the Security Council asks it to
suspend the partition plan and calls for a General Assembly session to
discuss a trusteeship on Palestine. Arabs accepted a limited one with a
truce conditioned by Jewish acceptance. The Jewish Agency rejected.
- March 25: Truman calls for an immediate truce, announces willingness
to participate in temporary trusteeship
- March 30 - May 15: 2nd coastal ethnic cleansing operation by the
Haganah against Palestinians between Haifa and Yaffa.
- April 1: First arms shipment to Jewish organizations lands in Haifa,
more in air cargo. Security Council calls for a General Assembly session
according to US suggestion.
- April 4: The Haganah starts executing "Plan Dalet (D)".
- April 4 - 15: Battle of Mishmar Ha 'Emeq. Haganah wins and Palmach
occupies villages in the plains of Marj bin Aamer
- April 6 - 15: Operation Nachshon (first part of Dalet Plan). Villages
and towns on the Jerusalem - Tel Aviv road fell to Haganah.
- April 8: Abdul-Qadir Husseini dies in counter offensive to restore al-Qastal
(near Jerusalem)
- April 9: Deir Yaseen massacre. Irgon and Stern terrorists massacre 250
civilians in this village in Jerusalem district
- April 12: General Zionist Council decides to establish an independent
state in Palestine on May 16.
- April 20: Operation Hariel of Plan Dalet. Palestinian villages on
Jerusalem road targeted and destroyed. Continues till May 15.
- April 15 - May 25: Operation Yiftah captures Safad and uses
psychological war to expel Palestinians. Operation Sweeper drives
Bedouins to Jordan River.
- April 16 - 17: Golani and Palmach units occupy Tabariyya (Tiberias)
after British forces leave. Palestinian residents leave.
- April 17: Security Council calls for a military and political truce
- April 20: USA brings its trusteeship proposal to the UN
- April 21: Operation Misparim. British forces leave Haifa, Haganah
launches offensive.
- April 22: Local defenders in Haifa lose. Residents leave due to heavy
shelling and round offensive.
- April 25: Irgon attacks Yaffa.
- April 26 - 30: Haganah launches Operation Yabusi on and around
Jerusalem and occu | |
Note
that Moses was born circa 1400 B.C. in Egypt (the original land
the Jewish
inhabited prior to escaping to Palestine); hence, also note that the
total history of the Jewish people ruling any part of Palestine ("with
the help of Moses and god" who they disobeyed and refused to follow)
equals less than 0.01
of the documented
history of the land; based on
which the zionist organization now claim Palestine as their
motherland, and all others must be banished by any and all means, using
"religion" as an excuse to steal by force what is not theirs?!
Their claim is questionable to say the least...
United States President
Franklin D. Roosevelt was wise enough to see
through this, and refused to support the zionist organization goals
predicting in advance the chaos that the Middle East (and the world) lives
today and since the occupation of Palestine (the ensuing battles to-date
for the liberation of the land of Palestine by its people... The
Palestinians... The people who refuse to relinquish their land and/or
identity under any threats or prosecution with extreme prejudice, as had
other peoples done throughout history.)
Franklin
Delano Roosevelt, shown here in photograph (c.1936), was the 32d
president of the United States (1933-1945). Elected for an unprecedented
four terms, Roosevelt led the U.S. through two of the most critical events
of its history
the
Depression of the 1930s and World War II. He died in office in April 1945,
shortly before the Allied victory was achieved. (The Bettmann Archive)