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The Israeli Palestinian Conflict : Israel Palestine Conflict Essay

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Some studies on the Israel-Palestinian conflict postulate that the nature of the conflict has always been about land, meaning the partition of the holy land (e.g., Newman, 2002; Klieman, 2000; Alpher, 1995). But a tectonic shift occurred with the swift Israeli victory in the 6 day war of 1967, when Israel occupied the territories. Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories bar Gaza strip ( territorially miniscule) has morphed into a sort of colonialism as Israel has buil a number of settlements on the territories it found in control of after 1967, which practically amounts to an annexation of the land. Therefore, the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict is essentially a conflict over Israeli colonization, the only remaining settler colonialism in the world. Early Israeli political thinkers were aware of the need to have overwhelming military superiority over the Arabs, the need for an Iron wall of Jewish Bayonets to drive the Palestinians into despair. The idea was to create a situation that in any subsequent negotiations, Israel would be able to negotiate from the position of strength.

The conflict can only end if Israeli decolonization happens in Palestinian territories and a Palestinian state, which many Israelis support comes into being in its place in the territories occupied in 1967. If the Palestinian state takes the form of numerous non-contiguous enclaves surrounded by Israel, the likelihood of the conflict is high. Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon

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