Peace and Justice - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages However, the escaped Jews had to face even tougher situations in the burgeoning Europe. There were mass killings and tortures. Thus, by the 1880s, Jews from Russia and rest of Eastern Europe returned to Palestine and started settling there. Soon, the Jews started movements to establish a nation state for the Jewish people in Palestine. Jews claimed that the land was their historical homeland and Arabs were against it. It took very little time for violence to emerge. As Tessler points out, though Jews were allowed an independent nation thereafter, Arabs still opposed the Jewish nation, thus, Israel remains in constant conflict with Palestine and other Arab nations (67). A lot has been done to solve the conflict; though the steps were hardly successful. The first effective step came from the United Nations through the recommendation that Palestine should be split into three parts; the one with Jewish nation, the second with Arab state, and an International zone that would comprise equal numbers of Jews and Arabs. However, the problem with the plan was that the proposed Jewish land would contain a large number of Arabs, and the proposed Arab state would contain a small number of Jews. Moreover, Jerusalem and Bethlehem were to come under the control of the United Nations. Both of the sides were against the proposed division because Jews disliked the idea of losing Bethlehem and Arabs were against the idea of an independent Jewish nation-state. Moreover, Arabs were worried about the large numbers of Arabs who would get trapped in the proposed Israel state. Soon, the Partition Plan was put on vote in the UN General Assembly on November 29, 1947. While 33 nations supported the division, 13 nations were against the plan. Another 10 nations preferred not to vote. However, Palestine and other Arab nations in the near vicinity were strongly against the plan. So, they approached the International Court of Justice with the claim that the United Nations’ decision to proceed with partition was against the wishes of the majority of the inhabitants of the troubled area. However, International Court of Justice made a decision against the appeal. Soon, violence erupted and grew uncontrollable; and no other nation resorted to intervene. Regardless all this violence, on May 14, 1948, the independent State of Israel was declared. Since then, violence goes on disturbing the peace of the land. However, this does not mean that efforts were not made to ensure peace in the area. Another set of serious talks began in the beginning of 1990s when Israel and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) started negotiations in Oslo, Norway. As a result of the talks, Palestine officially recognized the existence of Israel. Also, it was decided that the Palestinian Authority (PA) would be the official governing institution for Palestinian communities. Also, Israel allowed PA to administer various regions of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In addition, Palestine was helped in developing its own social structure with a police force, legislature, and other governmental institutions. In return, Palestine Authority was supposed to develop tolerance for Israel within the Arab community. However, the mere fact is that there is terrorism that grows in Palestine, and a consequent rise in intolerance towards Palestine in Israeli population. As a result, attacks and deaths have become a common factor even now. According to ...Download file to see next pagesRead More