The conflict between Israel and Palestine has tight roots in history, stretching thousands of years back to when the Israelites first forged their way into the land, then known as Canaan. It came to its peak in 1948, the year Israel declared its independence (Beinin). Ever since then, the volatile area of Palestine has become a battle ground for war, terrorism, and politics. The two nations have attempted to make agreements, but so far, none of them have succeeded in creating long-lasting peace. Since it is unlikely that neither Israel nor Palestine would completely give up their land to the other nation, a compromise needs to be forged between the two. The conflict between Israel and Palestine cannot stop unless Israel lifts the trading restrictions in the Gaza Strip, ends the occupation and settlement of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and— along with Palestine— recognizes the other nation’s sovereignty.
The first step in ending this centuries-long conflict is for Israel to lift unnecessary restrictions in the Gaza Strip. Even though Israel officially lifted their occupation on the Gaza Strip in 2005, they still control the borders, and living conditions continue to be low. This Arab territory is only 25 miles long and 10 miles wide, yet is home to almost 1.6 million people. (Life) Comparatively, it is only twice the size of Washington D.C. (Middle). The unemployment rate is high, ranging from 30 to 58 percent depending on one’s age group. There is also a high dependency rate in Gaza, since over half of the population is under eighteen years old. Most Palestinians living in Gaza aren’t able to earn enough money to buy food for their family, and rely on aid from the UN that supplies them with rice and flour. (Life) ...
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...f their countries finding a two-state solution. (Gravé-Lazi) While this is in no way a guarantee of Israel and Palestine declaring the other nation’s sovereignty, it is a step.
If Israel and Palestine recognize each other’s ability to operate as separate nation-states, and come to an agreement on lifting the Israeli occupation and trading restrictions, peace may finally fall in the region. Even though both nations have gone through economic hardships, occupations, and war, recent events have shown that peace is possible. Right now, a new generation is growing up, preparing to take their place in the world. If peace in Palestine and Israel is to happen, it will lie in their hands. And one day far in the future, perhaps their descendants will teach their children about the centuries long conflict, and how it was resolved with a handshake and a fair resolution.
On November 29th, 2012, Palestine gained observer status to the United Nations with the General Assembly voting 138-9-41. With this accomplishment, the Palestinian people are one step closer to having their own state. However, Israel continues to build illegal settlements on Palestinian territory in the West Bank, which makes the creation of a separate Palestinian state more difficult. There have been many attempts in the past to try and create a peace solution between these two sides, as well as try to create a separate state for the Palestinian people. However, most, if not all these attempts have been unsuccessful. The question still remains; will there ever be a Palestinian state? The Palestinians want their state to consist of the Gaza Strip as well as the West Bank, which Israel gained after the 6-Day War in 1967. This would mean that the Palestinian state would coincide with Israel. Most countries in the world support this idea, including Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama. Some in Israel, however, have objected to this idea due the threat of terrorism that has come from the Palestinian side, mostly in the Gaza Strip, as well as the idea that all of the region is Israel’s God given land.
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 who have lived in the area for hundreds of years from their land. This conflict is at the height of its importance and a solution is of dire need as nuclear issues arise in the Middle East due to the tension between Israel and it’s surrounding neighbors, and the...
In 1916, The Sykes-Picot Agreement was signed between Britain and France aiming to control and influence the Middle East after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, who was the sole controller of the region. Followed by The Treaty of Sevres in 1920, new borders were drawn by the 2 European countries for Iraq, Jordan, Turkey and Syria among other Levantine countries. However, the Kurdish population who resided among these geographical borders were not given any land for them, but divided within the new borders giving them harder time than before. As for the Palestinian case, both Zionist and Palestinian nationalism movements arose during the late 19th – early 20th century. What raised the Zionist nationalism movements further was the Balfour Declaration in 1917 which supported the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine while protecting the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities. Ever since then the two populations are, with unfortunate luck, trying to be independent nation states.
This marked the beginning of the Palestine armed conflict, one of its kinds to be witnessed in centuries since the fall of the Ottoman Empire and World War 1. Characterized by a chronology of endless confrontations, this conflict has since affected not only the Middle East relations, but also the gl...
Since the inception of an Israeli nation-state in 1948, violence and conflict has played a major role in Israel’s brief history. In the Sixty-One year’s Israel has been a recognized nation-state, they have fought in 6 interstate wars, 2 civil wars, and over 144 dyadic militarized interstate disputes (MIDs) with some display of military force against other states (Maoz 5). Israel has been involved in constant conflict throughout the past half century. Israel’s tension against other states within the Middle East has spurred vast economic, social, and political unity that has fostered a sense of nationalism and unity in Israel not seen in most other states. Over the next several pages I will try and dissect the reasons for why the nation state of Israel has been emerged in constant conflict and how this conflict has helped foster national unity and identity among the people of Israel.
“There is no such thing as a Palestinian.” Stated former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir after three fourths of one million Palestinians had been made refugees, over five hundred towns and cities had been obliterated, and a new regional map was drawn. Every vestige of the Palestinian culture was to be erased. Resolution 181, adopted in 1947 by the United Nations declared the end of British rule over Palestine (the region between the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River) and it divided the area into two parts; a state for the Jewish and one for the Arab people, Palestine. While Israel was given statehood, Palestine was not. Since 1947, one of the most controversial issues in the Middle East, and of course the world, is the question of a Palestinian state. Because of what seems a simple question, there have been regional wars among Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq, terrorist attacks that happen, sometimes daily, displacement of families from their homes, and growing numbers of people living in poverty. Granting Palestinian statehood would significantly reduce, or alleviate, tensions in the Middle East by defining, once and for all, the area that should be Palestine and eliminating the bloodshed and battles that has been going on for many years over this land.
The Holocaust was the almost complete destruction of Jews and others by the Nazis during World War II, which lasted between1939 and 1945. We can learn much from this event and ways to prevent similar events from happening again. However, it can be compared to today’s Arab Israeli Conflict, which is the cause of a dispute over the land of Palestine.
The Israeli-Palestine conflict is an event that has been well documented throughout the course of Middle-Eastern history. The conflict dates back as far as the nineteenth century where Palestine and Zionist, will later be known as Israel, are two communities each with different ideologies had the same overwhelming desire to acquire land. However, what makes this clash what it is, is the fact that both of these up and coming communities are after the same piece of land. The lengths that both sides went to in order obtain they believed was theirs has shaped the current relationship between the two nations today.
The tension between Arabs and Israeli people has been caused by both sides wanting control and power while attempting to prove their superiority over the other. This conflict is a struggle between the Jewish state of Israel and the Arabs of the Middle East. This conflict has included several wars between Israel and certain Arab countries that are opposed to Israel 's existence. The Arab-Israeli tension began prior to the colonization of the British; however the tension grew when the United Kingdom attempted to assisted during World War I. After the war finished the UK left and war broke out between the Arabs and the Jews.
Bourke, Dale Hanson. The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Tough Questions, Direct Answers. Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity, 2013. N. pag. Print.
First starting with the mutual recognition as political entities and through the interim period build trust and inter reliance needed for administrative and security arrangements. The hope was that through this process Israel and Palestine could build the momentum to tackle the more sensitive issues, referred to as “final status issues.” Among these difficult and complex issues were the borders and status of a Palestinian State, the claims and repatriation of Palestinian refugees, the fate of the Jewish settlements, and the disposition of East Jerusalem. While it may seem counter intuitive the Oslo Peace Accords did not actually address any of these issues. This was due to its purpose as a way to build the political framework that would allow for later negotiations and not as a permeant peace solution for the region.
Continetti, Matthew. “Hamas’s Useful Idiots.” Commentary 138.2 (2014): 80-79. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 July 2016.
Since 1967, numerous illegal Israeli settlements have been built on Palestinian land and the occupied territory, “housing more then 400,000 Jewish settlers.” Even since 1967, there has been a lot of divergence, unrest, bereavement, war and obliteration on both sides. There was a war in 1973 and two intifadas Palestinian uprising one that began in 1987 and one that began in 2000 that brings us into the 21st century. There have been many attempts in resolving conflicts however; the conflict is a matter of whether the Palestinians should be permitted to form their own independent country and government in an area that was once theirs yet now occupied and currently the nation of Israel. The Arab- Israeli conflict is historically a fuse that ignites regional battle due to the occupation of Palestine.
Ben-Gurion, David. “Status-Quo Agreement.” In Israel in the Middle East: Second Edition, edited by Itamar Rabinovich and Jehude Reinharz, 58-59. Waltham: Brandeis University Press, 2008.
For many centuries, Judaic and Arabian societies have engaged in one of the most complicated and lengthy conflicts known to mankind, the makings of a highly difficult peace process. Unfortunately for all the world’s peacemakers the Arab-Israeli conflict, particularly the war between Israel and the Palestinian Territories, is rooted in far more then ethnic tensions. Instead of drawing attention towards high-ranking officials of the Israeli government and Hamas, focus needs to be diverted towards the more suspect and subtle international relations theory of realism which, has imposed more problems than solutions.