A conflict between Palestine and Israel began when a promise was made by Britain in 1917 to make Palestine Israel’s homeland, and their belief that the land was meant for them since biblical times. Despite their beliefs and Britain’s promise, it still does not give them the right to drive Palestinians out of their homes. They should negotiate and come up with a peaceful agreement instead of causing conflict and violence. The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians still exists today, they have yet to find a way to resolve their conflict and live together in peace once again.
There was a time where many Jewish people lived in Palestine peacefully with the Arabs. It was during the 19th century when the Turkish Ottoman Empire had control over Palestine between the periods of 1517-to 1917. During World War one the control of the Ottoman Empire was coming to an end. Britain and the Arabs united together to get rid of the Ottoman Empire once and for all, and they succeeded.1
The conflict began to surface after the Ottoman was finally defeated. Britain gained control and promised the Arabs independence as soon as Palestine was able to get back on their feet and rule again. “ The British promised the Palestinian Arabs independence” 2Their reason for that was to thank them for helping Britain defeat the Turks. Even though Britain Promised the Palestinian’s their independence, they were unaware of their hidden agenda. They had already made the same promise to the Jews. Britain’s foreign secretary Balfour drafted the Balfaur Declaration. In 1917 “ He promised the Jewish people their homeland” 3 Now there were two sets of promises made to different groups to conquer the same country.
“soon it became clear that there was no plan f...
... middle of paper ...
...ian conflict. (Edina, Minn.: Abdo Pub., 2004.), 14
14. Ibid., 14
15. Ibid., 15
16. Ibid.
17. Ibid., 15-16
18. Cath Senker, The Arab-Israeli conflict. (North Mankato, MN: Arcturus Pub., 2008), 10
19. Cory Gideon Gunderson, The Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (Edina, Minn.: Abdo Pub., 2004.), 16
20. Ibid.
21. Ibid.
22. Cath Senker, The Arab-Israeli conflict. (North Mankato, Minn.: Smart Apple Media, 2004), 26
23. Cath Senker, The Arab-Israeli conflict. (North Mankato, MN: Arcturus Pub., 2008), 11
24. Ibid.
25. Ibid.
26. Ibid., 12-13
27. Ibid., 13
Bibliography
Gunderson, Cory Gideon. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Edina, Minn.: Abdo Pub., 2004.
Senker, Cath. The Arab-Israeli conflict. North Mankato, MN: Arcturus Pub., 2008.
Senker, Cath. The Arab-Israeli conflict. North Mankato, Minn.: Smart Apple Media, 2004.
Imperialism, Colonialism, and war had a huge impact on the Middle East, and it can also be thought of as the source of conflict. According to the map in Document A, it shows that the size of the Ottoman Empire grew smaller after the first world war, along with this change came new boundaries. These borders were created by the victorious European countries that won World War I, and made different ethnic and religious groups separated and grouped together with others. Great Britain's took over Palestine mandate and developed the Balfour Declaration that promised Jews support in making a home in Palestine. Most of the Palestine land was populated with Arabs.
According to Shlaim, the conflict begins during World War 1 when the British made various promises to both Jews and Arabs while simultaneously plotting with the French to divide all the territory into spheres of influence . The British assumed that Palestinians and Jews could leave peaceably in a single state, but Britain's obligation to the Jews could only be met at the expense of the Arab majority. The British carved up the territories under their mandate without regard for religious, ethnic, or linguistic composition of their inhabitants.
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 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.
Prior to and after WWI the world saw a rise in nationalistic sentiments. The Middle East was not immune to this new ideology. Although Arab Nationalism had a start in the Ottoman Empire, its rise among the masses did not begin until after WWI. While a total rise in Arab Nationalism became apparent on the Arabian Peninsula, a separate nationalist movement began in Palestine as a way to combat a unique and repressive situation. In Palestine the British mandate, along with British support, and the world's support for Zionist immigration into Palestine, caused a number of European Zionists to move into the country. These factors created an agitated atmosphere among Palestinians. Although there was more than one factor in creating a Palestinian-centered Arab Nationalism, the mounting Zionist immigration was among the most prevalent of forces.
Since the Arabs were living in Palestine when the Ottoman Empire control it. Since the Arabs defeated the Ottoman Empire with the help of from Germany, “Just short of 6 months the Palestinians were crushed, militarily and psychologically” (document 8) On the other hand, Israel grew beyond the partition lines, gained more defensible borders and they destroyed Arab homes reducing their population. The Palestinians rightly felt that the Israelis were taking over the area and were pushing out of lands promised to them in both the Balfour Declaration and the UN 1947 Partition.
The Israel-Palestine conflict is a religious and political war that first originated in 1948 when the United Nations, after British rule, created a separate Arab and Jewish state, due to the displacement of the Jews after World War 2. The Jews sought a new homeland and settled on a part of Palestine, as it traditionally belonged to the Jews, however the Arabs felt this was unfair and refused to give them land. The Jews originally inhabited the Palestine area prior to the conquest of the Ottoman Empire, who were fundamentally Arab-Muslims who caused the Jews to seek other lands such as Germany and Poland, where World War 2 largely took place. After World war 1, the Ottoman Empire collapsed from the conquest of Britain, which is when tensions between Arabs and Jews formed, as the British colonized both Arab and Jewish holy land and split territories instead of unifying them. The Arabs and Jews lived in harmony for a long period of time, as the Jews were situated across all of Europe, however the Holocaust cause the deaths of millions of Jews and in turn caused the Jews to relocate. Jewish nationalists called for a return to Zion, which is known as “Zionism”, which is the movement of the Jewish people to return to the “promised land”, which includes parts of Palestine. Yitzhak Rabin was born when tensions between the Arabs and Jews were forming and
the Jews believe the land was promised to them 4000 years ago by God, from evidence in the Bible, and that they were unjustly taken away from them by the Roman invaders, and now they have come back to claim their homeland where they formed - their "cultural identity". The Arab claim to Palestine is centred on the fact that they were descended from the earliest tribes who were indigenous to this area, and have lived here regardless through the years of foreign rule. Both sides believe in the idea of owning 100% of Palestine to create into their ideal homeland. At the moment due to gains in... ... middle of paper ... ...
Conflicts today have arisen in that area with the Jews arguing that ancient Palestine belonged to the Hebrews and therefore should belong to them. After World War 1, Palestine was ruled as a British mandate by Great Britain. That ended in 1947. Palestine was then divided into halves, with half going to the Arab Palestinians, and the other half was given to the Jews, who believe that they should have control over all of it. In 1948, Palestine was declared the Jewish State of Israel by the U.N. There are conflicts in other areas of the Middle East, though.
Because the Palestinians were furious about owning less land than the Israelis but, they began attacking Israel with bombs and rockets; the angered Palestinians were terrorizing the Israelis with terrorist attacks because they owned more land than they do (Issitt and Montanez - Muhinda). Will this conflict ever be solved? Should the United States get more involved with any of this? Yes, the United States should continue to help the state of Israel because the ambassadors of each country, Israel and Palestine, do not get along very well, the United States’ relationship with Israel will continue to grow and become stronger, and fewer deaths and terrorist attacks will occur in both Israel and Palestine.
...on by revolting against British authority and Jewish immigrants. The subsequent White Papers of 1937 and 1939 that the British released were to pacify both sides but sufficiently proved to both the Arabs and the Zionists that the British were unwilling to support just one side and their policies, including the Balfour Declaration, proved to be conflicting ideas. Furthermore the British could not balance the two opposing national movements forever as both were growing with the increase of Jewish immigration and land sales. Eventually the Arabs and Zionists rebelled against the British who in never supporting one side wholeheartedly lost its hold over the entire of Palestine. In the years to come many British leaders “soon reached the conclusion that the Balfour Declaration had been a colossal blunder, unfair to the Arabs and detrimental to the empire’s interests”
When Yasser Arafat addressed the United Nations General Assembly, he tried to articulate the actions the Palestinian Liberation Organization had taken and to justify those actions. Arafat points out that the struggles with Imperialism and Zionism began in 1881 when the first large wave of immigrants began arriving in Palestine. Prior to this date, the Muslims, Jews (20,000) and Christians all cohabitated peacefully (pop. 1/2 million). In 1917, the Belfour Declaration authorized increased immigration of European Jews to Palestine. 1 From 1917 to 1947, the Jewish population in Palestine increased to 600,000 and they rightfully owned only 6% of the Palestinian arable land. Palestine population at this time was now up to 1,250,000. 1