The Palestine Israel Conflict
The clash between Israel and Palestine is not a new conflict rather have been going on for decades. The constant bombardment of Palestinian territory by Israel and vice versa have left the land devastated and distraught. This “Promised Land” has not seen peace for centuries and is always under a state of siege or conflict either it be the time of the Great Saladin or today’s modern days. The value this piece of land holds for both the Muslims and Jews have been the cause for constant war and turmoil for this territory. This conflict is more about power than anything else, as both seek to resolve the issue yet are not willing to compromise. Israel is a developed country in western Asia located on the eastern shore of Mediterranean Sea. It borders with the countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt.
It is the only place where Jewish people live as one big community in one place and there population is about 7.5 million. The recognized border of Israel is 78% of the whole land and the remaining is divided between land occupied by Israel since the 6-day war of 1967 and the independent regions under the control of the Palestinian autonomy. The Gaza strip occupies an additional 141 square miles south of Israel, and is under the control of the Palestinian authority. The conflict ridden issue between Palestinians and Israelis is that initially Judea was the homeland of the Jews, later it was conquered by the Romans and was called Palestine. The Zionist movement which started centuries later began to take the Jews back to their homeland and largely ignoring the Arab population living there.
In 1917, following the Balfour Declaration Palestine was given to Britain and thus the Jewish people could return to their homeland. This was greatly opposed by the Arabs because they were forcefully being thrown out of their homeland. They started riots and later revolted against the whole system; this created hostility between the Palestinian Arabs and Jews. Because of this Britain stopped the immigration process and banned giving visas to the people of that Arab belt. During this time the Holocaust started and Britain was forced to start the immigration process again. In 1947, UN partitioned the Arab state into two. This was not accepted by the Arabs and open war broke out. Although Jews won the war and gained more territory but as a result thousands of Palestinian now became refugees. A lot of countries refused to recognize Israel as a state and several wars broke out in 1956, 1967, 1973, and 1982.
The Palestinian state was formed to regain the whole of Palestine for the Palestinian Arabs. PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) showed signs of accepting the two state solutions in 1988. During that time the Oslo accords were supposed to resolve this conflict but they didn’t work out as Israeli settlements continued and so did the Palestinian violence. Palestinians demand a state in the west bank and Gaza which was opposed by right wing Israelis. Whereas, the Oslo Accords and the Road Map are opposed by Palestinian extremist groups like Hamas and by Zionist extremists. The biggest threat to Israel is Hamas. Across the political spectrum of Israel there is a consensus that Hamas’ provocative rocket barrages could not go unanswered.
However, Israel’s response has been questionable as well. Perhaps the more threatening thing than rockets was the doubts they had over Hamas’ strength. The confidence and belief they had that they could keep the enemy away was badly destroyed when in 2006 Hezbollah was able to withstand the Israeli forces and later forced a cease fire and claimed victory. To counter that Israel occupied Gaza, crippled Palestine’s economy by cutting down supplies to basic necessities and killed thousands of Palestinians. Both the Arab Nations and Israel must realize is that they will have to compromise in order to bring peace to this territory and rid it of all conflict. As long as they do not do this there will be no economic stability and they will always be poised on the brink of war.
The Arab Countries should stop putting so much pressure on Palestine and should think about the sovereignty of the state and its people. Israel thoroughly backed by USA and NATO allies should also realize that Palestine is a force to be reckoned with and they cannot win the war against Palestine with Hamas and Hezbollah on its side. When thinking of resolving this issue some factors should be kept in mind. Firstly, both the countries should have sovereignty and there should be no compromise on that under any circumstances. Secondly, that there are two separate countries to be recognized here and for that borders should be formed; borders that both the parties should respect and not violate. Thirdly, the immigration law of Israel must be formed and followed. By this law all Jews automatically become citizens of the state of Israel. Apart from that Palestinians should also be give a right to return to their home which is now under Israel’s control. Fourthly, the resources should be divided evenly among the two countries.
Sources:
- McGrirk, Tim. ‘Can Israel Survive?’ Time Magazine. January 19, 2009
- ‘Israel: Background and Relations with the United States’. DC: Congressional Research Service. July 26, 2006
