A Land Divided

1947 United Nations Partition Plan

Moved to action by the horrors of the Holocaust, the U.N. votes to divide Palestine into Jewish and Arab states. Jerusalem, it says, will belong to the world.

1949 1948-49 War

Arab nations attack in 1948, soon after Israel declares independence, spawning the Palestinian refugee crisis. Israel wins both the war and territory.

1967 The Six-Day War

Egypt, Jordan and Syria mobilize against Israel, which thwarts the attack, taking over the West Bank, Sinai, Gaza and the Golan Heights.

1978 Camp David I

Egyptian and Israeli leaders meet in the U.S. to discuss a framework for lasting peace. In exchange for diplomatic recognition, Israel in 1979 agrees to return the Sinai peninsula. Other issues are shelved.

2000 Proposed Camp David II Settlement

Negotiations in summer 2000, of which President Clinton is host, break down over Jerusalem and the rights of Palestinian refugees. They resume in 2001 in Taba, Egypt, but fail again.

2002 Plans and Proposals

A variety of plans for Middle East peace are in circulation. The Mitchell Report, authored by a former U.S. Senator, suggests several steps each side must take toward a lasting peace, while the Tenet plan, proposed by the CIA director, focuses on a reduction of violence. Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah creates a flutter when he suggests that peace and normalization of relations would follow if Israel withdrew from lands occupied after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

GAZA STRIP (825,000 Palestinian refugees)

WEST BANK (583,000 Palestinian refugees)

SYRIA (383,000 Palestinian refugees)

LEBANON (376,000 Palestinian refugees)

JORDAN (1.57 million Palestinian refugees)

Populations

--The State of Israel

Jews 5.1 million 6.7 million (projected)

Arabs 1.0 million 2.0 million [projected]

--Fertility rate

Babies born per 100 residents 2.6 Israel 6.1 Palestinian territories

--Where the Palestinians are

West Bank 1.9 million Gaza Strip 1 million Jerusalem region 328,600 E. Jerusalem 85,800

Total 3.3 million Total in 2025 (projected) 7.5 million

Economies

--GDP West Bank Israel and Gaza

2000 $110.2 billion $4.36 billion Per capita $18,900 $1,600

--Unemployment rate

Israel 9.0% Gaza Strip 48.5% West Bank 30.3%

Military

--Armed forces

Israel

Active 163,500 Reserves 425,000

Palestinian Authority

Paramilitary 35,000

SOURCES: WWW.US-ISRAEL.ORG, WWW.FMEP.ORG, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY CENSUS CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS, JAFI, UNRWA, ISRAEL'S CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS, EUROPA, WORLD BANK, CIA WORLD FACTBOOK, MILITARY BALANCE, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, EAST VIEW CARTOGRAPHIC, WWW.CARTOGRAPHIC.COM