This article covers the Arab League's role in the Arab-Israeli conflict, including its coordinated 1948 invasion after the British Mandate ended. In 2005 the opening quoted Arab League Secretary General Abdul Razek Azzam Pasha announcing, on the eve of the 1948 war, the intention to wage 'a war of extermination and a momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres and the Crusades.' Today the opening traces the League's formation, its Palestine boycott, its 1964 creation of the PLO, and the Six-Day War oil embargo, with the Azzam Pasha extermination and massacre quote gone, though massacre survives 3 times elsewhere in the article. A reader today learns the League imposed a boycott and created the PLO, not that its own Secretary General publicly announced an intention to wage a war of extermination and momentous massacre before the 1948 war began.
Read line by line and written up by hand.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-01. “occupation” appeared 3 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today the opening has none; the body has 6.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2005 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2005
Arab League in the Arab-Israeli conflict .1Israel and the Arab League states The League was established on March 22 , 1945 . When the League founding pact was signed in Cairo , Egypt , "[t]he Arab League states collectively put their weight behind the basic demands of Palestine's Arabs but arrogated to themselves the right to select who would represent the Palestinians in their councils, so long as their country was not independent." By the end of World War II , the Palestinian Arabs were left leaderless.2The mufti of Jerusalem Hajj Amin al-Husayni had been in exile since 1937 and spent the war years in Nazi -occupied Europe , actively collaborating with German National Socialist leadership. As the war ended, he managed to escape to Egypt and stayed there until his death in 1974 . His brother Jamal al-Husayni was interned in Southern Rhodesia during the war.3In November 1945, the Arab League reestablished the Arab Higher Committee as a supreme executive body of Palestinian Arabs in the territory of the British Mandate of Palestine , but it fell apart due to infighting. In June 1946 , the Arab League imposed upon the Palestinians the Arab Higher Executive , renamed into "Arab Higher Committee" in 1947 , with Amin al-Husayni as its chairman and Jamal al-Husayni as vice-chairman.4Since 1945 King Abdullah of Jordan had been negotiating in secret with the Jewish Agency on plans for partition of Palestine between the Jews and Transjordan. At a clandestine meeting on 17 November , 1947 between Golda Meir and Abdullah she confirmed that Transjordan's takeover of the Arab part of Palestine would be viewed favourably. At a second meeting on 10 May , 1948 Abdullah declined to confirm his commitment to the existing agreement, but left Meir with the impression that he would make peace with a Jewish state after the impending war The day after the state of Israel was proclaimed , six League members, Iraq , Syria , Lebanon , Transjordan , Egypt , and Saudi Arabia , supported by other members (notably Yemen ), coordinated the attack on the State of Israel in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and explicitly stated the destruction of the newly-formed Jewish state as their goal. On May 15 , 1948, the Arab League Secretary General Abdul Razek Azzam Pasha announced the intention to wage "a war of extermination and a momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres and the Crusades ." However, despite the rhetoric Arab leaders were disunited. The Egyptians knew of Abdullah's agreement with Meir and were determined to thwart Transjordan's territorial ambitions, "thus the Arab war plan changed in conception and essence from a united effort to conquer parts of the nascent Jewish state and perhaps destroy it, into a multilateral land grab focussing on the Arab areas of the country" . This aptly reflected the political reality: The military defeats of April-May had rendered them insignificant. The Arab League through the first half of 1948 had consistently rejected Husseini's appeals to establish a government-in-exile... Under strong pressure from Egypt, which feared complete Hashemite control over the Palestinians, the League Political Committee in mid-September authorized the establishment of a Palestinian 'government.'" On September 22, 1948, the All-Palestine Government was established in Gaza , and on September 30, the rival First Palestinian Congress , which promptly denounced the Gaza "government", was convened in Amman . In 1951 , the Arab League established the Office of the Arab Boycott of Israel (OABI) based in Damascus in order to boycott companies that do business with Israel from operating in the Arab world . In its heyday, the Arab boycott office blacklisted more than 8,500 companies, including The Coca-Cola Company and Ford Motor Company . [1] For the period between 1948 and 1967, see Occupation of the Gaza Strip by Egypt , Occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem by Jordan . Inventing the PLO was a prelude to war, not a result of it; the goal was to destroy Israel, not to rectify the misfortune of the Palestinians, which still could have been done by the Arab states irrespective of Israel." On September 1 , 1967 , in the wake of the Six-Day War , the Khartoum Resolution was issued at the meeting between the leaders of eight Arab countries. The paragraph 3 of the resolution became known as the Three No' s: No peace with Israel No recognition of Israel No negotiations with Israel During the years 1979 - 1989 , Egypt was suspended from the Arab League in the wake of President Anwar Sadat 's visit to Jerusalem and 1978 Camp David Peace Accords between Egypt and Israel . The Arab League immediately recognized the State of Palestine unilaterally proclaimed on November 15 , 1988 by the Palestinian National Council . At the time, the PLO was based in Tunis and did not have control over any part of Palestine (region) , however, the declaration laid claim to the entire area of the former British Mandate, theoretically replacing Israel.5
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 17087297.
The opening as it stood in 2010 18 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
By the end of World War II , the Palestinian Arabs were leaderless. The mufti of Jerusalem Hajj Amin al-Husayni had been in exile since 1937 and spent the war years in occupied Europe , actively collaborating with Nazi leadership. As the war ended, he managed to escape to Egypt and stayed there until his death in 1974. His brother Jamal al-Husayni was interned in Southern Rhodesia during the war. In November 1945, the Arab League reestablished the Arab Higher Committee as a supreme executive body of Palestinian Arabs in the territory of the British Mandate of Palestine , but it fell apart due to infighting. In June 1946, the Arab League imposed upon the Palestinians the Arab Higher Executive , renamed as "Arab Higher Committee" in 1947, with Amin al-Husayni as its chairman and Jamal al-Husayni as vice-chairman.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 352844221.
The opening as it stood in 2015 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
The Arab League was formed in Cairo on March 22, 1945 with six members: Egypt , Iraq , Transjordan (renamed Jordan after independence in 1946), Lebanon , Saudi Arabia , and Syria .Yemen joined as a member on May 5, 1945. At the end of World War II , the Palestinian Arabs were leaderless. The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini had been in exile since 1937 and spent the war years in occupied Europe , actively collaborating with Nazi leadership. His relative Jamal al-Husayni was interned in Southern Rhodesia during the war. As the war ended, Amin al-Husayni managed to escape to Egypt and stayed there until 1959, when he moved to Lebanon .Al-Husayni died in Beirut , on 4 July 1974.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 604368333.
The opening as it stood in 2020 6 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt , Iraq , Transjordan (renamed Jordan after independence in 1946), Lebanon , Saudi Arabia , and Syria . Yemen joined on 5 May 1945.Since its formation the Arab League has promoted the Palestinian Arab cause in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict , including the imposition of the Arab League boycott of Israel .On 15 May 1948, the then seven Arab League members coordinated an invasion of what was by then the former British Mandate, marking the start of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War .In 1964, the Arab League created the Palestine Liberation Organization to operate within the territory of Israel.During the Six-Day War , the Arab League imposed an oil embargo , which lasted until the Khartoum Resolution in September 1967.The League members also agreed to continue the state of belligerency with Israel and not to negotiate a settlement to the conflict.The signing of the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty was condemned, and Egypt was suspended from the Arab League in 1979, which lasted until 1989.The Arab League on 15 November 1988 recognized the proclamation of the State of Palestine .The Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel signed the Oslo Accords in 1993 which led to the setting up of the Palestinian National Authority .The Arab League has not made any official statements either supporting the establishment of the Palestinian Authority or condemning it.In October 1994, Jordan signed the Israel–Jordan peace treaty with Israel, and it was not ostracized by the Arab League, as Egypt had been in 1979.In 2002, the Arab League endorsed a Saudi Arabian Arab Peace Initiative which called for full withdrawal by Israel "to the 1967 borders" in return for fully normalized relations.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 963252796.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Overview of the Arab League's role in the Arab–Israeli conflict The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt , Iraq , Transjordan (renamed Jordan after independence in 1946), Lebanon , Saudi Arabia , and Syria . Yemen joined on 5 May 1945. Since its formation the Arab League has promoted the Palestinian Arab cause in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict , including by imposing the Arab League boycott of Israel . On 15 May 1948, the then seven Arab League members coordinated an invasion of what was by then the former British Mandate, marking the start of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War . In 1964, the Arab League created the Palestine Liberation Organization to operate within the territory of Israel. During the Six-Day War , the Arab League was instrumental in the oil embargo , which lasted until the Khartoum Resolution in September 1967. The League members also agreed to continue the state of belligerency with Israel and not to negotiate a settlement to the conflict. The signing of the Egypt–Israel peace treaty was condemned, and Egypt was suspended from the Arab League in 1979, which lasted until 1989. The Arab League on 15 November 1988 recognized the proclamation of the State of Palestine . The Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel signed the Oslo Accords in 1993 which led to the setting up of the Palestinian National Authority . The Arab League has not made any official statements either supporting the establishment of the Palestinian Authority or condemning it. In October 1994, Jordan signed the Israel–Jordan peace treaty with Israel, and it was not ostracized by the Arab League, as Egypt had been in 1979. In 2002, the Arab League endorsed a Saudi Arabian Arab Peace Initiative which called for full withdrawal by Israel "to the 1967 borders" in return for fully normalized relations.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1174007550. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
“occupation” appeared 3 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today the opening has none; the body has 6. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
massacre
2
0
0
0
0
0
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined between 2015 and 2025.
Then
formed in cairo on march 22
Now
formed in cairo on 22 march 1945 with six members
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
