GEOG 1982 Maymester Remember to put your name on your assignment

Assignment 3 The Arab-Israeli Conflict – Mapping the conflict

Due Mon. May 19

This assignment focuses on the issues of Israeli settlements in the occupied region of the West Bank. Your textbook provides an overview of the on-going Arab-Israeli conflict and its various dimensions (pp. 248-251). Here we examine one limited aspect of the conflict, one that is particularly geographical. The conflict over settlements and territorial sovereignty in the West Bank is very much a conflict over geography. Not surprisingly, then, it is a conflict that is perhaps best represented in maps.

Before we explore how maps reveal some of the key issues in the conflict, you may want to familiarize yourself with the basic geography and history of the West Bank. For a good introduction, go to the CIA's online factbook on the West Bank:

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/we.html

1. Use the Background section to write a rough timeline for the years 1993-2008.*

*if you do not know what a “settlement” as referred to here is, read this article

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3526791.stm

Now take a look at some maps showing various aspects of the conflict. Go to the settlement maps page of the Foundation for Middle East Peace:

http://www.fmep.org/maps/overview.html

Click on West Bank (http://www.fmep.org/maps/west_bank.html)

Compare these two maps:

· "The West Bank” (May1998 – near the bottom of the chart) is a map of the West Bank, showing cities and villages under Palestinian control, lands under Israeli control, and Israeli settlements.

· “West Bank Separation Barrier - April 2007” is a map of the most recent separation barrier of the West Bank, showing Palestinian controlled land, Israeli controlled land, and Israeli settlements.

2. Name one main difference between the two maps related to land control.

3. Name one main difference between the two maps related to settlements.