The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has proven to be one of the most complex and “intractable” conflicts of modern history – or as some may even add – of all time. And after many decades of failed attempts at peacemaking in this region, there still seems to be no conceivable end to the conflict. During those same decades, most of the parties involved as well as the international community have embraced the idea of a two-state solution, but the question we pose today asks whether this solution is still a viable option considering the present context, and if not, is it finally time to consider a one-state solution? This essay will argue that although a two-state solution remains the more
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
-Quartet of Middle east— recognizes Israel but also wants Palestinian to have their own state. They struggle to find a way for peace. There are different resolutions that have been suggested such as the Oslo Peace Accords in 1993, Road map for peace, Camp David Summit 2000, etc. but it all failed.
The country of Palestine has a unique history that distinguishes it from other nations. In 1948, Israel became an independent nation, covering a large portion of another country called Palestine. Eventually, as time continued, Israel seized the rest of Palestine by 1967. This dominance resulted in the Palestinians lack of a homeland. Due to this, various altercations between both groups of people, the Israelis and the Palestinians, arose. The prospects for a peaceful settlement between both, Israelis and Palestinians, are minimal.
The big question we ask ourselves today is, will Israel and Palestine ever agree to stop fighting? The conflict between Israel and Palestine has been traced all the way back to 1948 through 2005 in The Israel Palestine Land Settlement Problem, written by Charles Rowley and Jennis Taylor. However, this conflict did not end in 2005. This article was written in 2006, so anything within the last 10 years is not included. The conflict between the two counties still continues to this day and still remains a major problem. Israelis and Arabs have been fighting over Gaza on and off for decades now. The three issues laid out in this article are the four major wars that took place, the refugee problem, and the conflict between religions. It concludes with the road map to peace. Throughout his whole book, The Israel-Palestine Conflict, Gelvin speaks of the same historical events that occurred between Israel and Palestine, while the article reveals there are still other conflicts, the land settlement problem has been the major conflict between Israel and Palestine since 1948.
This essay will focus on how theorists of peace and conflict have analysed the conflict in recent history. Especially, the peace process after the first Palestinian intifada and the 1993 Oslo-agreements will be analysed. In addition, this essay will shed light on the involvement of the United States in the
Conflict in the Middle East has been prevalent for many years. The dispute between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is one that has yet to be resolved by the United Nations. Security Council Resolution 242 and 338 were presented in hopes of alleviating the situation. Security Council Resolution 242 established the principles that were to guide the negotiations for an Arab-Israeli peace settlement and "inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war”. Security Council Resolution 338, adopted on October 22, 1973, called for a ceasefire in the Yom Kippur War, proposed jointly by the United States and the Soviet Union. The resolution demanded a ceasefire to take effect within twelve hours of the adoption of the resolution.
From August 2, 1990- February 28, 1991, the Gulf War was fought between the US-coalition forces and Iraq. The Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein, decided to travel into the neighboring state of Kuwait because of a dispute over debt. The Iraqi Army’s occupation of Kuwait began on August 2, 1990. They were immediately condemned by the UN Security Council. George H. W. Bush then deployed troops into Saudi Arabia and urged allies to do the same. It became the largest military alliance since World War II.
Every failed attempt to help the Israelis and Palestinians come to a resolution only further developed the fear and hatred between them. The first proposal for a Two State solution was in 1937; the proposal was accepted by the Jews but denied by the Muslims. One of their largest arguments is over the city of Jerusalem. In 1947 a three way split was suggested, with Palestine and Israel having separate states and Jerusalem under international control. This was immediately opposed by the Muslims but accepted by the Jews. This led to the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, which was resolved in the 1949 Armistice Agreements that stated an end to the fighting and created borders for Palestinian people and Israeli people. Still, it resulted in the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. Soon after the short war, the UN 242 resolution was passed, which stated that the Israelis withdraw from the areas they occupied during the war, but Palestinian still felt this did not help them in anyway as it reduced their people’s problems to a refugee problem. In 1988 Palestine declared independence, which was interpreted by other countries as an acceptance of the two state solution. Which in the end, we see it only furthered ill feelings and hostile acts from Israel and Palestine. When the 2000 Camp David Summit proposals failed, Bill Clinton proposed the following: A state for Palestine that included up to at least
Bob Hawke once said; “Unless and until something concrete is done about addressing the Israeli-Palestinian issue you won't get a real start on the war against terrorism.” Perhaps Hawke put into a few simple words one of the most complicated issues within our world today, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As Israel continues to strip the Palestinians of their land and fears it’s very existence because of the Palestinians terrorist acts, there seems to be no solution in sight. The world appears to be split and all over the place when it comes to this matter. According to The Middle East Institute for Understanding approximately 129 countries recognize Palestine as a state while many others do not. Over all the political matters within this issue not only affect Palestine and Israel but the world as a whole, as the Middle East and the West seem to disagree. This has had and will continue to have an enormous impact on many political affairs all over the world particularly in the current fight against terrorism. Personally I feel that the Israeli Palestinian conflict while being a very complicated matter has a simple solution. Within this issue I am a firm believer that the occupation of the West Bank by Israeli forces is extremely unjust and must come to an end. Once this is achieved a two state solution will be the most effective way to bring peace to the area. The occupation of the West Bank violates political and legal rights, human rights, and illegally forces Palestinians
known when he killed 21 of his cabinet members. He wanted to make his country whole once again. So in 1990 he invaded Kuwait and in less than
Frequently, issues such as human rights violations occur around the world that people are not aware of. It is therefore a great importance to seek knowledge ourselves beyond mass media outlets and our own governments. Previous research suggests, the history of the Palestinian conflict goes back generations. In 1918 when World War 1 had ended, the British gained control of the Palestinian territory. The UN had no intention of displacing or changing anything within the land, but they decided that the Jews needed a safe place to reside after the holocaust. Therefore, many Jews immigrated to Palestine after the Balfour Declaration was issued in 1917. It stated that Palestine welcomed Jews into their homeland (Said, 1999). The fall of the Ottoman empire encouraged the number of immigrants to that in 1947, the total number of Jews in the area was “650,000” (Avineri, 1981; Said, 1999). The Palestinians were surely grateful for the number of people immigrating to their land because they needed their
On October 2, 1979, Pope John Paul II made a pivotal address to the U.N. General assembly, pointing out that “while being prepared to recognize the value of any concrete step or attempt made to settle the conflict, I want to recall that I would have no value if it did not truly represent the first stone of general overall peace in the area, a peace that, being necessarily based on equitable recognition of the rights of all, cannot fail to include the consideration and just settlement of the Palestinian question.”8
Since the beginning of the Arab-Israeli conflict, a “two-state solution” has been implemented in order to appease the issue. However, after more than 50 years, the world has realized that the conflict has only increased, and become worse and harder to solve. On the one hand, there is the “two-state solution” which consists in splitting both nations in two different states. One for Palestine and one for Israel side by side. “The framework of the solution is set out in UN resolutions on the Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine, going back to 1974” (Abunimah 130) which is a document that stablishes the two-state solution as a way to solve the Arab-Israeli conflict. And on the other hand there is the one-state solution which is also known as the binational-state solution. “Proponents of a binational solution to the conflict advocate a single state in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with citizenship and equal rights in the combined entity for all inhabitants of all three territories, without regard to ethnicity or religion” (Tilley 250). This solution was presented on November 2007 and has been in discussion since then. However, after the outburst of the war in the Gaza Strip in 2014, more people is starting to believe it is the only viable solution for the issue.
This stated the demand of the withdrawal of Israel from the occupied territories, acknowledgement of independent states in the Middle East, a just settlement to the refugee problem and that all parties should start negotiations aimed at establishing a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. The declaration was an agenda for negotiations covering a five year interim period which would then aim to lead to a permanent agreement and address such issues as Jerusalem, settlements and the 1948 refugees. In 1993 the Oslo declaration was made after a series of negotiations. Yasser Arafat and Prime Minister Rabin made mutual concessions.