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
With Israel’s border needs in mind, Allon proposed a multifaceted solution for Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. He suggested Israel would incorporate the Jordan Valley, the Judean desert along the west coast of the Dead Sea, the area surrounding the Jerusalem metropolitan area, and a small tract of land south west of the Palestinian city of Hebron6. This configuration of newly incorporated land was designed to “provide Israel with the minimal defensible borders that are indispensable without impairing, to any meaningful extent, the basic interests of the other side, including those of the Palestinian community”7. It is important to note that Allon envisioned that the non-incorporated “Palestinian” parts of the West Bank would remain free of Israeli settlers and would eventually be handed back to the Kingdom of Jordan in order to form a future Jordanian-Palestinian state. The second important part of Allon’s plan is the use of a “selective settlement policy” within the incorporated areas of the West Bank as part of Israel’s defense strategy8. The selective settlement policy allowed for Israelis to settle in the West Bank, but only in areas lacking large Palestinian cities and villages. Unfortunately, the Allon Plan failed to account for the religious fundamentalism that would motivate much of the settlement building in the West Bank.
The Arab-Israeli conflict is a hotly contested issue both in the Middle East and the broader global community.1 The modern conflict is essentially a dispute over the area known up until 1948 as Palestine, which is considered holy to all three major monotheistic religions.2 The primary parties in the conflict are Israeli (formerly Zionist) Jews and Palestinian Arabs (who are predominately Muslim).3 It is one of the unresolved problems bequeathed to the region by the British and French imperialist powers following the division of the Ottoman Empire between them at the end of World War 1.4 There are many features of the Middle East, specifically Palestine, that account for the interest and rivalry it
The Israel-Palestine Conflict The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a part of the greater Arab-Israeli long-running conflict in the Middle East. The main point of this conflict is the existence of the state of Israel and its relations with Arab states and with the Palestinian population in the area. The idea and concept of Israel was born in the mid 19th century. Jews of Europe and America wanted a place for their homeland, where they could go and be with others of the same race and religion. Palestine was chosen because of its religious routs from The Bible as the “promised land” from God, and the motherland of Jews fled, known as the Diaspora.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict was started when the United Nations proposed the partition plan for Jewish homeland in 1947. The Jewish agrees with the plan but the Palestinians disagree because they think it is unfair for their land being taken. Since then, many wars have been fought between Israel and Palestinians such as:
Since the creation of Israel in 1948, a long and difficult conflict has existed between the Israelis and Palestinian. Despite several attempts at negotiating a final peace agreement, all efforts have been idle . One specific issue remains at the core of whether Palestine should be granted statehood or not. The region known as Palestine was home to an Arab-Muslim majority, around 80 percent of the population was Muslim. Around the time when World War II was drawing near the end, The Jewish people began flooding back into Palestine. However the area in which the Jewish people wished to occupy, was already inhabited. In current day, Jerusalem is a holy place where both the Arab and Jews feel they have the right of ownership to the sacred land.
The Israeli- Palestinian conflict, which arguably began following the creation of Israel in the mid-twentieth century after the Second World War, traces its roots back down to concepts such as zionism and arab nationalism that developed throughout the century, and through injustices dealt by both sides, manages to reap on the lives of countless individuals, regardless of religious and racial affiliation. Although one can argue for the case of one side over the other, not one position seems to be more justified in their actions, as both angles depict strong rationale and, on the other hand, illustrate tenuous inequity expanded or eliminated through emotionally driven biases and framing, In spite of both sides being both warranted and unreasonable,
Lets begin as most historians do, in the late 19th century. The Ottoman empire ruled over what is now called Palestine. The population there, according to Ottoman records from 1878 was 87% muslim, 10% christian and 3% jewish. Everyone spoke arabic as the daily language and in Jerusalem the religious population was about equal. To give you a sense of life in the Ottoman Empire, an arab orthodox christian musician named Wasif Jawhariyyeh grew up in Jerusalem in the first decade of the 20th century learning the Quran in school and celebrating both passover and eve with his jewish and muslim neighbours. The Ottoman Palestine was ensured a place of which people of religious faiths lived peacefully together.
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict is an endless battle about land that has caused political tragedy, greatly impacted the residents, as well as has caused worldwide attention in international disputes to find a solution for both states. How did the conflict between Israel and Palestine begin and how does the world contribute to this conflict? Due to previously chronicled occasions, there is a great deal of disarray about whose land it truly is. There have been many great lives of both troopers and regular citizens lost in the constant battling about this land. The Israelis and Palestinians have been battling since 1880 for the land which was in the past known as Palestine (Jewish). After the Balfour Declaration, the Jewish individuals began relocating into Palestine and the Arabs who were presently living in Palestine were greatly against the Jewish movement. The Israelis and Palestinians have been battling about this land since it turned into a state in 1948 and there have been various setbacks for both officers and regular citizens that could have been forestalled if this battling was not all that horrifying. Today, we still see the aftermath and the continuation of this war for land which qualifies it as contemporary. Also, it is important because a lot of innocent people are dying for no reason.
Before getting all sophisticated and going into depth about this issue, I would like to break down each subject that would be discussed. Conflict is defined as incompatibility or interference, as of one idea, desire, event, or activity with another. Palestine (also called the Holy Land) is an ancient country in South-West Asia, on the East coast of the Mediterranean. Palestine is also a country divided between Israel, Jordan, and Egypt. Lastly, Israel is a republic in South-West Asia on the Mediterranean, formed as a Jewish state in May of 1948. These two, the Israelis and Palestinians, have been fighting for decades. The main reasons include international agreement, borders, economic security, water resources, sovereignty of Jerusalem, Israeli settlements, Palestinian freedom of movement due to barriers, and resolving Palestinian claims of a right of return for their refugees.
According to an apocryphal story, Pope John Paul once said that he believes there are two possible solutions to the Arab-Israeli conflict, the realistic and the miraculous. The realistic being divine intervention, and the miraculous being a voluntary agreement by both parties. On September 13th, 1993, it looked like the miraculous had happened when the Oslo Accords were signed by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Chairman Yasser Arafat on the White House South Lawn. However, the objectives of the historic accords were never fully implemented and the Palestinians remain a stateless nation. Further steps toward Israeli-Arab peace, including the Cairo Agreement, Oslo II and the Camp David Summit, have fallen short of the goals of both parties.
An issue as complicated, sensitive, and controversial as the Palestinian – Israeli conflict is not one that can be resolved with a simple solution. It did not begin with the creation of the Current State of Israel in 1948, but something that has roots going back to the ancient times. The history of the persecution of the Hebrew people started with the start of Judaism in ancient Egypt. The Pharaoh of Egypt who prophesized in his dreams that a child born to the Israelites would one day grow up and conquer him and his kingdom. The Pharaoh therefore killed every single newborn male child born to the Israelites. Jumping through time passing the Roman persecution of the Hebrew people and the death of Jesus to land at Nazi Germany in World War
The Arab Israeli conflict is one of the major dilemmas in the world in the modern history. Many political leaders assume that this is the most complicated conflict around the world, even bigger than Cold War. During the 1960’s and the 1970’s, the Arab world decided to go with confrontation and fight fire with fire. The Middle East became a war zone where all the Arab countries lined up to win back Palestine. However, the Israeli cabinet was smart enough to maintain their presence in the Palestinian Land. Nevertheless, many Arabic Leaders did not manage the war against Israel vigorously.
The political status between the nations of Israel and Palestine is a continuing crisis that began upon Israel's formation shortly after the conclusion of World War II. Many small scale wars and battles have been fought over the years killing many and intensifying the region. The political situation sees many Western forces providing economic and military support for Israel. The conflict lies in two general areas: religious idolatry and the formation of an officially recognized Palestinian state.
Since the early 20th century, there has been an ongoing struggle between the Israelis and the Palestinians over ownership of land in the Middle East. Both sides believe Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank to be a Holy Land, gifted to them through their personal religions. The conflict intensified after World War II when more Jews fled to the Middle East, hoping to escape Anti-Semitism. In 1947, the United Nations attempted to settle disputes over territory and brokered a two-state solution. This created an independent Palestinian state and an independent Jewish state. The Jewish state would later become the State of Israel in 1948. The United Nations hoped to create two separate sovereign states, based on the nationalities of Arabs and Jews. Despite this, the conflict between the two separate entities is ongoing and there is rarely a time of peace. The Israel-Palestinian conflict can be most effectively be analyzed using the realism and liberalism international relations theories.
These two cultures have been through a conflict that has lasted for thousands and thousands of years, and yet in those thousands of years the conflict has not really got any better, but now there is a sense of urgency to solve the problem now. If the conflict is solved in Israel the world will be one step closer to peace.