Israeli Zionism vs Palestinian National Movement - Essay Example

How is the present day situation related to this piece of information is a question many critics attempt to address with great difficulty because the matter has reached complexity. After the war of 1948, Israelis outnumbered the Palestinians in Jerusalem and from here the Zionists’ intrusion into Palestinian politics started taking place. Zionism itself is a cause for which the Israelis are willing to fight for the rest of their lives (McDowall 1989, p. 146). It has been quite some time but the conflict has still not ended.

There could be only one reason why this is the case. Either the Israeli Zionism has incrementally taken an extremist direction, or is it because the Palestinian nationalist movement has proved to be ineffective. After the exile Israelis settled in Babylon and Egypt; places which were rich resources and provided a better living to them as compared to the limited resources that they had in Palestine. They were however exposed to the idol worshipping nations which went against their religious tenets and it reminded them of the freedom to practice their religion back in the pre-exile era.

They attempted to return to their lands only to receive hostility from the Arab world mainly the Muslims and Christians who were aware that Israel could no longer possess a land. The concept of a homeland has become a myth for the new arrivals in Palestine and totally depends upon who is representing the image of the land to the next generation. The Jews have taken over many lands and want the rest of the Palestinian population to move out of the land to seek opportunities elsewhere because they cannot and do not want any non-Israeli to work under them.

Hence, removing the Arabs from their lands which they have owned ever since the Israelis were exiled has not been an easy job for the Zionists. Reconciliation has been attempted ever since the Israeli-Palestinian conflict erupted in the late nineteenth century (Pappe 2005, p. 224). When it comes to the conceptualization of the future solution of the conflict between the two nations, there is always one side of the story narrated, subject to the British, American, Israeli and UN opinions. Less is heard about the Palestinians who are the subaltern.

Before 1930, the British made an attempt to create a small community for Jewish people in the land of Palestine with the intention of establishing a “joint homeland”. Surprisingly, this proposal shifted to partition of the two communities in the mid-1920s. Hence, it was when the Palestinian leadership agreed to consider the joint federative structure in 1928 that the real conflict began. This offer was refused by the Zionist leader in the first attempt but tactfully accepted in 1947 with the intention of establishing itself next to an Arab state.

The reason that compelled the Zionists to demand for a partition was the rejection from the Arabs and the refusal from the Palestinian force (Pappe 2005, p. 225). After the war of 1948 erupted, a new mediator was appointed by the United Nations to propose a solution to end the conflict. Count Folke Bernadotte suggested that there should be a partition of the land into two states and Arab Palestine should be annexed to Transjordan. This seemed to be suggesting a free Arab state with Jerusalem as the