Source Note #4
Summary: The BBC gives a succinct history of the conflict between Israel and Palestine from ancient times to 2005.
Topic: Should the Obama administration fund the defense of Israel?
Category: Mainstream Journalistic
What is it? Multimedia recap of the conflict including maps and videos of historic moments.
Title: A History of Conflict: Israel and the Palestinians
Publication Information: BBC; last updated Jan. 30, 2009
Author: None listed
Location: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/middle_east/03/v3_ip_timeline/html/default.stm
Accessed: Jan. 30, 2009
Support:
The Balfour Declaration
UN Partition Plan
UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338
Camp David Accords
Ariel Sharon, former Israeli Prime Minister
Yasser Arafat, former leader of the PLO and Fatah
Harold Saunders, former US State Department official
Anwar Sadat, former Egyptian president
Yitzhak Shamir, former Israeli Prime Minister
Yitzhak Rabin, former Israeli Prime Minister
George W. Bush, former US president
Declaration of Principles
This article pulls on previous historic documents and accords as well as citing the words and actions of various world leaders involved in the conflict.
Source Analysis:
The BBC claims it is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world and broadcasts over television, radio, and the internet. It provides its news in 32 different languages to a worldwide audience. BBC Worldwide publishes books and television programs. According to the BBC’s “About” page, “the BBC is governed by the BBC Trust, which represents the interests of licence fee payers and sets the overall strategy.”
Usefulness:
In order to understand the context of the events taking place currently in the Middle East, one must have an understanding of the history of the conflict, which dates back to 1250 BC. While this article does not include the war with Lebanon in 2006 or the most recent crisis with Gaza, it does provide an overview of digestible length that includes multimedia clips of speeches and maps highlighting the changing boundaries throughout the years.
Works cited:
A History of Conflict: Israel and the Palestinians
What is the BBC?
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