The Arab-Israeli Conflict - Term Paper Example

The main reason that triggered them to take this step was their hope to escapediscrimination and outright massacres against Jews in much of Europe. They considered different locations for the establishment of their new state and finally chose the historic Palestine in the Middle East as the Jews hold a religious belief that Palestine is the Promised Land for them.But the problem with their envisioned Jewish state of Palestine that the area was already a home land for around half a million Muslim and ChristianPalestinians.

The modern Arab-Israeli conflict has originated since 1881. One has to have aproper understanding of present events in the Middle East and knowledge of the cultural, social, and economic, as well as political, background of these events (Andersen, Seibert, et. al).The most of the Palestinians at that time, almost 90% of the Arabs were Muslim while most of the rest were Christian (Tessler 43 and 124).  However, the religious differences are not the cause of the real conflict. It is basically a struggle over land (Beinin&Hajjar).

Theodor Herzl’s Zionist movement and the 1st International Zonist Congress of 1897 declared the establishment of Israel as a Jewish state in Palestine (Patai 2:581). After the defeat of Turkey in World War-I Palestine went under the control of Great Britain, which through the Balfour Declaration of 02 November, 1917 promised the Jews to create their National home in Palestine. During the World War II, the Jews suffered great atrocities in areas under the Nazi control and when the war came to an end and United Nations came into being, it was decided through resolution 181of 29 November, 1947 to partition Palestine into a Jewish and Muslim state.

The Jews (comprise 30% of the total population at that time, and previously owning 6% of the land)were to be given 55% of, while Muslim and Christian Palestinians (the majority of the population)got 45% of the total land. The Palestinians’ input was not even taken into this biased conception and development of the partition plan at the UN (Sowers of Hope Factsheet No.5). Later on, when Jews overthrew the British mandate and declared the establishment of Israel on 14 May, 1948; the neighboring Arab states, Syria, Iraq, Transjordan, Lebanon and Egypt attacked it.

The West bank came under the control of Jordan and the Gaza strip under the control of Egypt. On the other hand, the Jews snatched some more territory than being sanctioned to them in the UN partition plan of 1947. It was the beginning of the Arab-Israel conflict that caused over 700,000 Palestinians to flee to neighboring countries and become refugees. The UN resolution194 of December, 1948 called for a ceasefire which actually took place in the start of 1949 and the return of the refugees but Israel refused to allow the return of the refugees (Smith 1).

In 1964’s Arab League annual summit, it was decided to create a unified organization as the sole representative of the Palestinian people. It resulted in the origination of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). And Yasir Arafat, whose Fatah party was already merged with PLO was chosen as its president. In 1967, the efforts of Egypt, Syria and Jordan to settle scores with Israel resulted in a six days’ bloody war of 5 June, 1967. It resulted in the capturing of Gaza, Sinai Peninsula, Golan Heights, Jerusalem and the West Bank by Israel.

UN resolution