The Pros And Cons Of Israel's Occupation Of Gaza And West Bank

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the one of the world’s oldest conflicts, and it is still an ongoing problem in the world. Zionists and Arabs: two groups with conflicting beliefs who both claim Israel as their own. In wake of the Holocaust the U.N decided to gift the Jews a homeland for the lives lost in the genocide. In 1947, the U.N Partition divided the land of Israel (Historic Palestine) into two separate states: Arab and Jewish. Since then, the state of Israel has been the center of conflict between the Arabs and the Zionists. As time passed the Zionists gained more land from winning the Six-Day War, and consequently the Palestinians had to live as refugees in other Arab countries. Additionally, more than 75% of the land belonged to

-Israelis—most political group in Israel also wants peace with Palestinians and come up with plans like the disengagement plan in 2005. But Zionism extremist suggests that they should takeover the occupied

Many Palestinians are religious, and when the Israelis seized their homeland, they took away many of their sacred sites. Palestine is home to a multitude of sacred sites such as Jerusalem. As you can see by the changes from Document 1 to Document 2, in the span of about sixty years, Palestine has endeavored many changes. Palestine originally was composed of predominately Israeli occupied territories, but that fact is not correct today. Both, Jews and Muslims find Jerusalem sacred, which could lead to future problems. When attempting to establish a peace settlement, there will be vast conflict about it; neither group of people would be willing to give up such a holy city where so many vital biblical events have occurred. Religion is extremely powerful and important in places such as these, so it would be difficult and highly unlikely for one group to compromise. If anything, this may result in further violence. Thus, people’s religion contributes a large factor to the reason why there is a small chance for a peaceful settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Since 1967 the borders between Palestine and Israel have been unfair. The Israeli people have taken a majority of the Palestinians land. This had caused conflict between these two territories for years. The Israel and Palestine conflict has been going on for many decades and nothing seems to be able to solve this issue. All because the Israeli government is very stubborn. They are not willing to make a compromise in this situation. The main issues between the Palestinians and the Israelites are; Israel has been unfair to the Palestinians and have taken the land which used to be their own. Not only has Israel created unfair boundaries but, they are also reluctant to let outsiders into Jerusalem. A place that is not only religiously important to the Jews but also to the Arabs. And above all of that Palestinian people feel as if they have to live in fear from the Israeli people. Israel militia has shot at mothers and children. These problems are still prevalent today; if we can solve the unfair borders, Jerusalem, and security we could have a safer Middle East.

Due to the 80% of citizens reporting a Jewish faith, it is clear to say that Judaism has had a large role in handling conflicts. In the Torah, it is repeatedly shown through figures like Moses, that the most effective means of conflict resolution is through peace and mutual gain(Sacks). However, Israel shouldn’t back down on its morals. The steadfast attitude shown in both Israel and Palestine has clearly made mutualism harder to achieve, delaying the problem(Countries and Their Cultures). Finally, I was curious to know “ How have Israelis viewed the seemingly eternal conflict?”. Though most people have conflicting views on the complex issue, the general agreement between both Palestinians and Israelis is that the conflict is degrative towards both parties. Itamar Rabinovich - president of the Israeli Institute, former Ambassador to the United States, and former chief negotiator. - was quoted by the New York Times saying “Both Israelis and Palestinians pay dearly for the impasse. Keeping the settlement project in the West Bank saps Israel’s resources, compromises its international legitimacy and injects negative norms into Israel proper”. This is clear to many people, with the most pragmatic solution proposed being a two-state system. This would entail Jerusalem serving as a dual capital and Paste revoicing much of the west back as

Israel faces a unique problem over land. After the Holocaust (A mass genocide of those of

Furthermore Israel’s extreme control will not allow the two sate solution happen henceforth not letting peace happen because of their selfishness. On the other hand Israel has extreme control because they deserve that land. In today’s world Palestine and Israel have a constant battle because of the fact that Israel controls almost every decision when it comes to the change in the government. In fact “Israel controls more than half of the west bank and all of east Jerusalem” (Abu) confirming that Israel is not ready to give up the land that belongs to Palestine. However the majority of those who live in east Jerusalem are Jewish. For that reason “Sources such as Water are to be kept under Israeli authority” (Abu), not only controlling the life style of the Palestinians but also controlling the agricultural in

Therefore the Palestinians were angry, but since Israel had the help of the United States and the United Nation the Palestinians lost the wars that followed and their country ceased to exist. The Israeli believed that they needed a place where they could practice their beliefs, so they declared their independence in 1948 and received the land that already belonged to Palestine. Hamas said that any proposal for a long term truce with Israel would be brought to the attention of other Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip. Blair is acting as a broker to obstruct matters and we don’t know what his attentions are. At times – given the scope of the conflict – his projects seem quite small, an observation made at one point by Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who warned that Blair’s state-building efforts would amount to little without a more substantive change in Israeli policy. The Palestinians detested many of Blair’s plans because they were supposed to be helpful, according to the Palestine paper. A memo from late 2007 from the PA’s Negotiations Support Unit has a large number of issues: Agribusiness projects are a no more even the ones already proposed due to requirement of Palestinians to commute from one place to another and for them to send off goods but not requesting for Israel to use the 2005 Agreement on Movement and

Peace is a blessing that is often taken for granted. Unfortunately, The conflict between the Jews and Palestinians still has not reached this peace. this is due to many factors. Ever since the the 1948 war, acts of terrorism and destruction have happened on both sides. This war left the Palestinians with no homeland, creating the Palestinian Refugee problem. This and other factors (such as the Peel Commission), left the Palestinians distraught and Angry. Suicide bombing played a major role in these acts of revenge, the first being in 2001. Lastly the lack of separation between church and state in Israel hinders compromise greatly. Peace in the middle east will never be reached if these issues, and many more, cannot be resolved in a way that pleases both parties

This article draws on various historical events which frame the Israel-Palestine relations. Throughout this article, the Israelites are seen as wanting to engage in peace talks, however their priorities lye on building up a

“The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been a tragedy, a clash between one very powerful, very convincing, very painful claim over this land and another no less powerful, no less convincing claim,” (Oz, Amos). This conflict has been one that has lasted multiple decades and continues to be a hotbed for controversial opinions and arguments. One pressing issue in today’s time is whether or not the United States should continue to support what seems like a never-ending conflict. The United States Government should continue to pressure Israel into a two-state solution in order to reap the benefits, which include the creation of democratic nations in the Middle East, improved relations with bordering countries, and a decrease in violence.

The establishment of settlements by an occupying power in occupied territory violates international humanitarian law. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits an occupying power, Israel in this case, from moving any portion of its own civilian population into any territory it occupies, which is precisely what the country is doing. The Hague Convention also prohibits occupying powers from making any permanent changes in the territories they occupy that do not benefit the local population. Israel has constructed a wall that cuts directly through many Palestinian villages splitting them in half and effectively cutting them off from resources and even their own

Although Palestine declared independence as an Arab state, it still face obstacles in achieving its sovereignty. Former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat planned to officially announce the statehood of Palestine in 1996 (Quigley). This action received a strong response from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu said recognition of Palestinian statehood would nullify the Israeli-Palestinian agreement. From this notion, Netanyahu threatened to invade Palestinian territories like the West Bank of Jordan River. The settlements have been a prominent feature in hindering peaceful treaties. Israel claims that it should have territorial rights to its settlements while Palestine’s cannot negotiate on land that Israel continues to occupy. The tensions between the Jewish and Arab state continued to grow as Israel expanded Jewish settlements in the West Bank. According to the United Nations, these settlements are illegal under international law. This violates the Fourth Geneva Convention which prohibits states to occupy land in a war zone (League). Both sides of the government have been unable to communicate effectively to determine an agreement to resolve the territorial dispute. This conflict has expanded over three decades, resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths and the suffering of many innocent Jewish and Arab civilians. The support of Palestine statehood provides a solution that could bring long term peace to the area. Recognition of Palestinian statehood by

However, this is not the end to the struggle between the two states. Though some controversies, such as land, are fairly straightforward, others are not. Apprehensions about security and refugees are main concerns of Israel. Allowing refugees could result in a possible change of demographic to a Palestinian majority. As a people that have been persecuted throughout history, the Jewish have an extremely legitimate reason to have safety and security a top priority. They desire a homeland free of jeopardy. Palestinian organizations in the past (and present, involving rejectionist groups such as the Hamas) have wanted the destruction of Israel as a state (“Negotiations). Israel accuses Palestine of not taking action against these terrorist groups, and fears that in the future, a Palestinian state could be overtaken by one. Palestine believes that a two state solution is actually necessary for security. Though both sides have many concerns, to make decisions and statements based on general, wide assumptions is also incredibly dangerous for both sides, and prevents progress. All

Throughout the period of World War II, many Jewish people had fled to Israel seeking a place for sanctuary due to Hitler’s reign of terror, but who knew that one of the most largest movements in the history of Europe would cause one of the biggest renowned issues that still remains today. We can easily conclude that both Palestinian and Israeli people both believe that Israel is a land of sacred, where both religions had made history in this land. Although one of the biggest issues that still remains today is who really deserves the land the most. The Palestinian people currently live in the land of Israel before the Jews had made their movement, but after letting in countless Jewish refugees into their land, the Jewish people had realized