The British proposed a number of maps during their rule in Palestine, but none shaped the conflict quite so much as the partition plan ratified by the United Nations in 1947. When the British left in 1948, and Zionists declared the State of Israel, the UN's two-state map immediately became the line in the sand for the region.

The First Arab-Israeli War, and not the UN, determined the real map. The armistice lines declared between Israel and its Arab neighbors in 1949 became the region's effective frontiers until the Six-Day War in 1967.

After Israel conquered the Sinai Peninsula, West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Golan Heights in the Six-Day War, "land for peace" immediately became the key negotiation in the Arab-Israeli conflict. In 1978, events gave precedent to the land for peace formula, when Israel agreed to vacate its troops and settlements from the Sinai and return the land to Egypt in exchange for peace.

Between 1994 and 2000, Israeli withdrawals from parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip extended the land for peace precedent. Yet transfers to the Palestinian Authority proved far thornier than vacating the Sinai, as neither land nor peace was granted unambiguously.

No quick resolution for the West Bank and Gaza Strip seems likely, especially after recent events. Nor will the issue of the Golan Heights find resolution anytime soon; Israel has made it clear that it intends to keep that territory because of security concerns. The Mideast map remains a muddle.