Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Political, religious and social life in Palestine
Essay history of israel and palestine
Consequences of the Arab-Israeli war of 1948
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Political, religious and social life in Palestine
Part I: Palestinian/ Israeli Conflict History
Jews and Arabs had mutual tolerance for each other until Theodor Herzl started the modern Zionism movement ("History 10 Handout" page 1-5). Zionism is the belief that Jews should have their own homeland, and in 1917 the British decided to back Zionism with The Balfour Declaration (Mattar et al. 380-382). After the Balfour Declaration the Jewish people started massive immigration to Palestine and the Arabs living in Palestine strongly objected to this Jewish immigration. A big part of why the British decided to back the Jews were that all the Jewish people had to suffer through the years of terror that the Holocaust brought. They needed a place to go and their old Holy land seemed like the perfect place at the time ("History 10 Handout" page 1-5).
The British backed out of Palestine because they were getting complaints from both the Jews and the Arabs. The United Nations made a plan to partition Palestine in 1947, it passed the UN with a two-thirds vote (Brooks, “British Mandate for Palestine: Arab-Israeli Wars” Web). However the Arabs refused to accept the compromise and on May 14, 1948 Israel declared itself a state with the US and the Soviets approval. On May 15, 1948 Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan invaded Israel because of its statehood ("History 10 Handout" page 1-5). This started Israel’s War for Independence which was overall a victory for Israel. The soldiers fighting for the invading countries were not experienced in battle and fell to Israel, instead of a clear cut victory they in placed an armistice ("History 10 Handout" page 1-5).
The Israel War for Independence produced over 50,000 Arab refuges and forced most of them to live in rural farming villages kn...
... middle of paper ...
...ack). Therefore, the Palestinians need to form a democratic political system where Hamas is no longer in charge. They also need to form a legitimate fighting force run under a government so the terrorist’s attacks will stop because the government will be in control. The attacks will come to a halt when a democratic government is in place because a real government would not put up with this behavior. These steps are not that difficult in anyway and can be taken immediately if wanted to.
Overall the conflict in Israel will never be fixed if the two sides cannot cooperate with each other and see the other side. Although Israel may have the power in the relationship, Palestine can still take steps of their own to solving the conflict. Both sides are at fault for the problems they had and no side greater than the other, peace can be achieved if they want it.
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.
The fight between Israel and Palestine has been seen as an unfair battle, due to the high-tech supplies given to Israel by the US. Israel’s military is extremely strong and constantly growing, with people joining from all over the world, while Palestine’s main defense is a terrorist group called Hamas. Israel has been forced into building a wall surrounding the Gaza strip to stop these terror attacks from harming the citizens of Israel. Palestine believes that Israel’s fighting is too severe compared to Palestine’s attempts at attacking Israel. Gideon Levy wrote, “Once again, Israel’s violent responses, even if there is justification to them, exceed all proportion and cross every red line of humaneness, morality, international law, and wisdom (Document 5, Palestinian View)”. The Palestinians believe that the Israeli military is fighting too much and unfairly, and should not be allowed to take these measures against them.
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...
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.
Considering that the Palestinians and Israelis both had Jews in their populous it is hard to understand why they did not seek to coincide and pursue a more practical unified state. This would allow them to pool their resources together and resolve issues that neither community could do on their own. Nonetheless, this was not the case, as time goes on it appears that neither side is no longer seeking out peace as the resources required to attain it seemed too hard to acquire. After the negotiations seemed to be going nowhere, it became obvious that both sides just resorted to what they know best: violence. Most of the conflicts still rage on today. While both sides still make efforts in order to finally establish peace, they are constantly impeded by radicals inciting violence, destroying what little progress they made towards ever reaching an
Israeli-Druze’s feel integrated into Israeli society, while simultaneously also feel alienated due to “lack of full equity, and linguistic-cultural differentiation” (Nisan). Regardless, the Maghar Druze community living in Israel identify as Israeli over Palestinian and even over an Arab nationality. The separation of identity from Arab to Israeli is due to long and violent religious conflicts between the Druze and Muslims in Palestine (Nisan). These hate crimes have created an obvious transition for Maghar Druze to align with Israel over neighboring Arab states. Most importantly the recruitment into Israeli military has provided the Maghar community the sense of protection against a common enemy which has strengthened the Druze – Israeli identity. Overall, the state of Israel has provided the Maghar Druze the sense of belonging through citizenship and military service; thus giving them the desire for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to continue their integration into Israeli society.
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.
During the Israeli War of Independence in 1948 an Arab refugee crisis began, and there is still not a clear answer of what caused it. As inhabitants of Israel Arabs were greatly affected by the establishment of a Jewish State, because their home was governed by others. Nonetheless, the Palestinian Arabs contributed in the making of the refugee crisis. The Arabs were given the choice of becoming equal citizens of Israel and refused. The United Nations came up with Partition Plan for Palestine, but it was rejected. Therefore, instead of having their own country the Arabs fled to neighboring Arab countries to avoid the crossfire of impending war. Arabs were thrown out of their homes by the Haganah (pre-state army), and placed
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.
...ns between Muslims and Jews were of tolerance and peace. Muslims and Jews rarely had any challenges aside from the religious differences. Muslims and Jews shared a common interest which was trading.
Hamas will not let the middle east sleep easy until all demands have been met. Hamas is the reason there is no peace in the middle east. They will use all means necessary to stay in power.. That includes and I not nearly limited to murder, torture, bombings, and suppression of rights which we use every day. Also training youth to fight, kill, and sacrifice their own life in name for a unholy cause and teaching them to blindly hate another group of people because of their religious beliefs. Since its creation in 1978 they have suppressed opposing forces and once elected into power they have become stronger every day. Not only do they make the idea of peace completely impossible but they stop people from living their daily lives for fear of death around every corner.
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.
The Arab-Israeli conflict came about from the notion of Political Zionism. Zionism is the belief that Jews constitute a nation (or a people) and that they deserve the right to return to what they consider to be their ancestral home, land of Israel (or Palestine). Political Zionism, the belief that Jews should establish a state for themselves in Palestine, was a revolutionary idea for the 19th Century. During World War I, Jews supported countries that constituted the Central Powers because they detested the tyranny of czarist Russia. Both the Allies and Central Powers needed Jewish support, but Germany could not espouse Zionism due to its ties with the Ottoman Empire, which still controlled Palestine. British Prime Minister Lloyd George & Foreign Secretary Lord Balfour, favored Zionism and supported their cause in a letter that became known as the Balfour Declaration, ensuring that the British government would control Palestine after the war with a commitment to build the Jewish national home there, promising only to work for the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine and not harm the civil and religious rights of Palestine’s "existing non-Jewish communities". After the Great War, Britain’s Forces jointly occupied the area known as Palestine with Faysal’s (Iraq) Arab army. The British set up a provisional military government in Jerusalem that soon became a struggle between Jewish settlers and the Arab inhabitants. In April 1920, the Palestinian Arabs revolted, killing Jews and damaging property, opening the Arab nationalist revolution in Palestine. The League of Nations awarded the Palestine mandate in 1922, charging Britain with carrying out the Balfour Declaration, encouraging Jewish migration to ...