Since the creation of Israel in 1948, a long and arduous conflict has existed between the Israelis and Palestinians. Despite several attempts at negotiating a final peace agreement, all efforts have been fruitless. Two specific issues remain at the core of the inability to obtain a final peace agreement-the issues of Jerusalem and the question of Palestinian refugees. Both matters are highly contentious, emotional and political, and as a result have necessitated a substantial amount of deliberation over years. In the following, I will argue that in order to reach a final peace agreement, the issue of Palestinian refugees and the ‘right of return’ will be harder to solve than the issue of Jerusalem. To further my position, I will draw from …show more content…
In the case of Israel, it would experience demographic concerns. For instance, demographic concerns have been constantly portrayed as an existentialist threat for the state of Israel. If the ‘right of return’ is observed in accordance with international law and human rights, specifically UN Resolution 194, which grants refugees the autonomy to return to their homeland or be compensated, would vastly affect the demographics of Israel. It is often argued that a massive return of Palestinian refugees to locations within the State of Israel would be contrary to the interests of Israeli nationals. Some opponents of the ‘right of return’ argue that if all or a large majority of Palestinian refugees and their descendants would return it would make Arabs the majority within Israel and the Jewish populace an ethnic minority, thus endangering their physical existence. Israeli novelist Amos Oz is among those who have argued that the enactment of the Palestinian ‘right of return’ would make Arabs the majority in Israel. In Oz's view, such a step would amount to abolishing the Jewish people right to self-determination. Oz further claims that Palestinian leaders assert a right of return while cynically ignoring "the fate of hundreds of thousands of Israeli Jews who fled and were driven out of their homes in Arab countries, during the same war. Consequently, within a short period of time Israel would exist, but no longer as a Jewish State. To a certain extent, it cannot be denied that a massive return would significantly change the demographic composition of the Jewish population. Therefore the likelihood of Israel willing to accept the ‘right of return’ is
...r remains faithful to the memory of his peaceful childhood when Jews and Palestinians lived together in peace, and the prospect of a better future. Despite the political wrongs his people have suffered, he is proud of his heritage and intends to “restore race relations between Jews and Palestinians, (by restoring) human dignity” (146). To do this, Chocour implements innovative techniques: he has Palestinians visit the Kibbutzim, and has Jews spend time with Palestinian families. Chocour’s message is quite honorable, “to change hearts not institutions” (222). Chocour remembers that “Jews and Palestinians are brothers, the(y) have the same father, Abraham, and believe in the same God” (34). It is sad that peoples in this region need to be remnded that they are brothers, but it is comforting that there are men like Chocour, who valiantly assume this task as their own.
Netanyahu, B. (2002). A Durable Peace: Israel and its Place Among the Nations. New York, NY: Grand Central Publishing.
Many disagreements would arise in the negotiation process of the Camp David 2000 Summit that would eventually lead it to be unsuccessful. Disagreements such as the division of territory, the dispute over Jerusalem, Security and Refugee arrangements arose in the negotiation. Unfortunately this paper cannot explain all of the disagreement, it will mention some.
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.
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...
To begin his argument of the Syrian refugee struggles, Salopek fills the beginning of his article with rhetorical questions. In the article, “Fleeing Terror, Finding Refuge,” Paul Salopek begins with the question: “What happens when you become a war refugee?” he then answers with the simple statement: “You walk.” He intrigues his
It is hard to overlook the oppression that faces Palestinians living in Israeli-occupied territories. Every street is littered with garbage, and walls are covered in grafitti. For citizens there, every day is a struggle to survive and violence is a constant threat. In contrast to the modernized and prosperous cities in Israel, the occupied territories are rural and tyrannized. The helplessness that Palestinians feel as a result of this situation often serves as a justification for bombings.
The dispute over the territory called Palestine began relatively recently. Palestinian Arabs had lived as impoverished peasants under corrupt, continuous Ottoman rule for centuries ; political identification as a Palestinian within the broad current of Arab nationalism only...
Bourke, Dale Hanson. The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Tough Questions, Direct Answers. Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity, 2013. N. pag. Print.
Has there ever been a day where your home has just been taken from you? Life as a Jewish refugee in the Middle East was definitely a difficult thing during and after WWII because there was so much fighting between nations. The Jewish people just wanted a homeland so they could be free from persecution. The Arab people that were already living in the existing state of Palestine were extremely upset with the attempt to form the Jewish state of Israel; other countries that weren’t interested with the countries assisting the Jewish people used the Arab’s anger and resentment to their advantage. The Jews needed a homeland free from persecution because after the Holocaust, none of the countries surround Germany wanted to take the Jewish people in; this left them with nowhere to go. The creation of the state of Israel was a bad decision because it angered the Arab inhabitants already living in the state of Palestine; the Jewish people should have been able to immigrate to other countries instead.
In 1095, Jerusalem was a flourishing city that was the main powerhouse for three religions; all three religions wanted complete control over the holy land. These three religions were Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, and all three religions were known to use Jerusalem as a place of religious reasons. But in turn, the best part about Jerusalem was the political power it held. Pope Urban’s demand for power and Jewish Israel’s desire to control Palestinians are the factors in the political conflict over the holy land.
Before we move on to discussing the cause of peace talks’ failures, it is crucial that we understand the peace initiatives that had occurred between Israel and Palestine. The starting point for the peace talks was UN’s Security Council Resolution 1967 which occurred after the 1967 war (Reynolds). This resolution stressed on “withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict” and “. . . respect for and acknowledgment . . . of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and re...
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...
The issue of Palestine and Israel is one that has been hotly contested for over a thousand years. The last fifty years have been especially important in the history of the Jewish people and Palestinians. Since the death of Yasser Arafat on the 11th of November 2004 , and the election of Mahmoud Abbas as his successor as leader of the Palestinian Authority, significant steps have been taken towards a lasting peace. This will hopefully lead to a conclusion of the second Palestinian intifada, which began in late September 2000, and to an end of the oppression of the Palestinian people by the Israeli Defense Forces. Both Jews and Arabs have suffered heavily from the conflict, thousands of innocent civilians have died on both sides, and peace is in the interests of all.
“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.