This Middle East section is the result of several factors. I have had requests to produce such a site for some time. What gave the final impetus was:

• forthcoming changes to several examination courses that see Middle East issues up to the Camp David Accords assuming more prominence
• the realisation that the topic is one that if anything becomes more important to understand as resolution seems to grow less and less likely
• the difficulty for students of navigating the issue on the web and evaluating the validity of individual sites given the lack of objectivity behind those sites that appear highest on search engines. Indeed for that reason I have found this topic the hardest to provide a variety of valuable links for. Other casahistoria topics on issues that are still contentious such as Ireland and the Falklands/Malvinas are much easier to provide useful links for that are either independent in origin or have a bias that is easy to indicate to users but still of use. In this case of the Arab-Israeli conflict the difficulty comes partly from the fact that the internet has become an extension of the conflict itself. Pro Zionist sites are plentiful and often very well designed, often creating an impression of veracity through this in particular. Palestinian sites often tend to be less numerous and appear less well funded so creating a less positive image to the casual user. The task with the casahistoria links has been to sift through what is available, discarding the more overtly political, commenting much more on provenance and including only those sites which have a value to the student of history. Comments on how far readers feel this has succeeded or failed would be appreciated.

Use this home page as a sitemap: All of the blue web page titles and the blue section headings beneath them are "live" links and a click will take you directly to that page and section of the site.

The Pages:

                                    

---

 

  The British mandate in Palestine

 

1. World War 1, Palestine & Origins of Mandate

2. The Palestine Mandate

Key Documents

3. Living under the Mandate

Arab Communities Under the Mandate
The Arab Revolt
Jewish Community under the Mandate
The British in Palestine

4. The End of the Mandate

Zionism

Jewish immigration
Land Question
Zionist resistance to British & growing violence
Failure of the Mandate

5. Documents & Key Resources

 

 

                                    

---

 

  Arab-Israeli conflict, 1947-79

 

 

1. Key Beliefs 

Zionism
Emergence of Arabism & Palestinian nationalism

2. British withdrawal, establishment of Israel & 1948/9 War

Failure of the Mandate

United Nation Partition Plan
US Position

1948 "Independence/Nakba" War

3. The Israeli State

4. Wars of 1956 and 1967

1956
Six Day War of 1967
Six Day War to Yom Kippur

5. Consequences of wars and the growth of the Israeli state

Continued immigration
The Palestinian diaspora 1947 onwards
Arab world evictions of Jewish settlements
Growing terror & Emergence of militant Arab resistance:

        Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO)|Fatah| Hamas |Other groups

6. October War of 1973

7. Camp David & Egyptian-Israeli Peace Accords

Role of the USA in conflict
Camp David Agreements 

8. Key Resources 

Keeping in Touch

 

                                    

---

 

 The British in Mesopotamia/Iraq

 

 

1. General

2. 19th c: Ottoman collapse

3. British Mandate, 1918-32

Occupation

Control

End of the mandate

British invasion, WW2

4. The Oil factor

Early British oil exploitation

British-US rivalry, & cooperation 1918-73

Nationalisation 1973

5. Independence & continued intervention

Overview of the internal politics

 

 

                                    

---

 

 Iraq, Hussein, the West & war

 

 

1. Independence

2. Saddam Hussein & the west

Biographies

Wars before 1990

Repression

US support for Saddam Hussein

3. The Gulf War of 1990-91 & aftermath

Origins

The War

Oil for Food & Sanctions

Continued US-Iraq tension

4. Invasion & occupation of Iraq, 2002 - 2004  

Causes & Motives

Events

Casualties

Keeping up to date

5. Analysis

6. Key resources and sites

 

 

casahistoria is recommended by:

---

BBC radio, UK	Channel 4 TV, UK	Birmingham GRID for Learning, UK	UK joint university database	Argentina's national paper	SBC Education Blue Ribbon HOT site, USA	SovLit, Harvard Univ, USA