Road to conflict - A long history of occupation, uprising and disputed power

The starting point for many is the 1947 UN vote to partition British Mandate Palestine into two states - Jewish and Arab.

- Chris McGreal

What are the roots of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict? 

Neither the Palestinians nor the neighbouring Arab nations accepted the founding of modern Israel. Fighting between Jewish groups and Palestinians escalated until the armies of Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan and Syria invaded after Israel declared independence in May 1948.

With Israel's new army gaining ground, an armistice deal in 1949 saw new de facto borders that gave the fledgling Jewish state considerably more territory than it was awarded under the UN partition plan.

So what happened to the Palestinians?

About 700,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled - about 85% of the Arab population of the territory captured by Israel - and were never allowed to return. About 150,000 Palestinians remained in Israel. Palestinians called the exodus and eradication of much of their society in Israel the Nakba, or catastrophe.

Arabs who remained in Israel as citizens were subject to official discrimination. They were placed under military rule for nearly two decades, which deprived them of many basic civil rights. Much of their land was expropriated and Arab Israeli communities were deliberately kept poor and underfunded.

What is the Palestine Liberation Organisation?

In 1964, a coalition of Palestinian groups founded the Palestine Liberation Organisation under the leadership of Yasser Arafat to pursue armed struggle and establish an Arab state in place of Israel. The PLO drew international attention with high-profile attacks and hijackings.

How did the Palestinian territories come to be occupied?