Palestine and Israel Conflict - Term Paper Example

Full [March 07, Palestine/Israel conflict History mapping:             The 10,000 square miles that is Palestine and Israel is located at the eastern end of the Mediterranean. It is the place where the most important historical events took place and changed the very face of humanity. Israel occupies all the land from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, with Egypt in the South, Lebanon in the North and Jordan in the East. The legal land area of Israel is only 78% of the territory currently occupied by Israel, which it did during the 6 days Arab/Israeli war in 1967. The Gaza strip is another 141 square miles in the south of Israel and us controlled by the Palestinian authority. The Israeli-Palestinian is the continuous state of hostilities between the two entities that began in the early 20th century and to date shows no signs of being resolved. The major issues are mutual recognition, demarcation of borders, water rights, security, Israeli settlements, freedom of movement for Palestinians, issues concerning refugees and the control of Jerusalem. The conflict has restricted tourism in the region, which is full of historic and religious sites that are of interest revered by the Christians, Jews and the Muslims. International attempts to create an Independent Palestinian state alongside an independent Jewish state have so far met with limited success (Osler, 2007). The majority of Israelis and Palestinians both favor the two nation theory as the best means of ending a decade’s long armed conflict which is damaging to both nationalities. This purpose of this paper is to show the history of Palestine to show how the area reached this state of affairs.  It also attempts to suggest   moral solution to the region’s problems. Most of the Jewish populace consider the Palestinian demand for an independent state justified, and feel that Israel should agree to the establishment of such a state. Most Palestinians and Israelis agree that the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are acceptable locations in the supposed two state solution, However, each side is satisfied with the credibility of the other side and that both are skeptical of that the other side will abide by its commitments (Pamela, 2007).  The Zionists who came to Palestine in the late 19th century said that they had come to reclaim their ancestral homeland where they had settled after the Exodus from Egypt.  Jews purchased property and initiated building up their presence there. This settling of Jews was immensely disliked by the Arabs, and was met with increasingly violent opposition from the Palestinian Arabs, because of the Arabs’ inherent anti-Semitism(Crocker, 2007). The Zionists were then forced to defend their lives and their properties which they had acquired by paying exorbitant prices to the Pashas or Arab Palestinians who owned the land The real fact was that the Zionist movement, from the beginning, was geared to a complete removal of the original Arab population so that Israel could become a wholly Jewish state, or as much as was possible. Land bought by the Jewish National Fund was held in the name of the Jewish people and any Arab could not acquire the land either through outright purchase or even on lease (Afzal & Afshain 2010). Analysis: The ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is both simple to understand, yet deeply intricate.  The historical aspect of the conflict is much more complex than t simple explanations, and centers around religious and historical. Alternatively, the reasons for the continuous ongoing hostilities are easily comprehended, They conflict has been going on for the last 60 years, and each armed conflict, every  death and each new settlement that the Israelis construct on land that the Palestinians claim belongs to them only deepens the hatred and the reluctance to give in to the other side (Pilger). At the heart of this conflict is a basic idea that the Israelis believe that they are entitled to the land called Israel, while the Palestinians believe that the land is rightfully their which they call Palestine (Crocker, 2997). Regrettably, both the countries claim the same land but call it by different names. Both Jewish Israelis and religiously faithful Muslim Palestinians, this is one belief that is very well found, for both of the parties are of the belief that God (which is referred to by the Jews as Jehovah and as Allah by Muslims), provided them the terrestrial, and that giving it away to someone else is an sort of an insult to God and would be considered a sin. This led to start of hostilities between the Jews desired to be known as “Israelis” which how they called since ancient times when this particular land was their homeland, whereas the Arabs living in that area who were known as "Palestinians," after the old Roman and Greek name for the area. All this happened when the Romans ruled this land, and they began massacring the Jewish population. Those that survived were forced to flee this land (Pamela, 2007). Thereafter the victory of Salaudin Ayubi over the crusaders Arabic-speaking Muslims became the prevailing racial and cultural group. According to historical records in 1900 the population of this area stood at 600,000 inhabitants out of which around 94% were Arabs. While most of these Arabs willingly sold their lands to the Zionists at very exorbitant prices, many astute Arabs perceived that in future they would become a minority in the land that they had settled in for many hundreds of years. The Arabs, as they became more and more conscious of the Zionists’ real aims and objectives, persistently tried to stop further Jewish immigration and land buying since it constituted a real threat to the very existence of Arabs in Palestine. . The vast majority of the population of Palestine had been Arabic since the seventh century A.D for over 1200 years. Because of these very strong oppositions which were even quite violent, the entire Zionist development never could have taken place without the armed support of the British (Khalidi). The Six Day Arab/Israeli War.             The Israeli victory in the 1967 6 day war changed the balance forever in favor of the Israelis. The Israeli had conquered and acquired extensive territories from the Arabs, which included the Golan Heights, The Sinai desert and the West Bank. This territory was many times larger than the 1948 borders of Israel. While Israel had a military victory it also new acquired territories, and   defeat brought about a million Palestinian Arabs under Israeli rule, and it also brought about changes in Palestinian ambitions. (Osler, 2007), Two very important parts of the old Palestine were not conquered by Israel and did not become part of the expanded Israel; that was the small, crowded coastal area around the city of Gaza, which is known as the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank. The West Bank is part of the old Palestine on the west bank of the Jordan River.  While Jordan lies on the east bank of the river. After the Second World War ended in 1949, Egypt occupied the Gaza Strip, while Jordan took control of the West Bank. Palestine was a majority Arab and Islamic country by the end of the seventh century, and its name in Arabic, Filastin was acknowledged in the entire Islamic world, for its religious significance. In 1516, Palestine became a province of the Ottoman Empire, but retained its Arab and Islamic character. These people assumed that they were originally from the land called Palestine, even though they had Arab ancestors and were clearly of Arab origins. Although there was a steady trickle of Jews into this land, it is important to realize that there was a large Arab majority in the days before the establishment of Israel as a separate country (Aall, 2007).   Palestinian Freedom Movements: The humiliation suffered by the Arabs at the hands of Israelis after being defeated in war effectively finished off the Pan Arab stance which was mainly encouraged and supported by the Egyptian President, Gamal Abdul Nasser. This then gave birth to several Islamic fundamental groups. After the war, the fate of the Palestinians assumed the major role in the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Fatah organization which was an organization for liberating Palestinians lands from the Israelis came into existence in 1957 and the PLO (Palestine Liberation (Organization)  was founded in 1964 with the proclaimed objective of destroying Israel. (Hampson, 2007). The PLO now could act and take decisions without the limitations of the discredited Arab regimes. Since most of Palestine was now under Israeli control, Fatah operations was no threat to Arab governments. Eventually the Palestine Liberation Organization gained formal recognition by all the Arab states and even by the United Nations. Israel strongly opposed the PLO because of its terrorist acts against Jews and because of its avowed objective of destroying the state of Israel and expelling Jews. In the 1950s and 1960s, Palestinians carried out cross-border armed excursions into Israel, frequently with help provided Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. These attacks prompted Israeli military retaliations, and the entire border area, especially around Gaza and the West Bank, was often the scene of violent warfare. (Aall, 2007). The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians escalated to heights and complications when on December 31, 1964, with the first al-Fatah raid into Israel from Lebanon. Al-Fatah was led by Yasser Arafat; and the group joined the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in June of 1964. Yasser Arafat who headed a vast assortment of guerilla commandos and fighters initiated many aggressive and brutal acts of terror and violence upon Israel and Israeli assets and personnel all over the world. Israel retaliated in several different ways, which included commando operation of their own against the PLO, the murders of leading PLO figures and agents all over the world, and frequently armed aggression against neighboring countries such as Lebanon which provided safe havens and also helped the Palestinians in every way possible.  New settlements became one of the top Israeli policies after the Likud party came to power in 1977, and continued during 2003, during which period about 220,000 Israelis settled in areas of the West Bank and Gaza, and an additional 200,000 were settled in areas of Jerusalem and the surrounding areas conquered in 1967. Around 15,000 Jews constructed houses and began living in the Golan Heights, the land conquered from Syria during the war (Osler, 2007). The Israeli government was not certain about the fate of the territories. The United States was pressurizing Israel to withdraw from the conquered territories in return for peace. On June 19, 1967, the government of Israel offered Egypt and Syria return of the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights for a peace settlement. . The offer did not extend to the Gaza strip, and called for demilitarization of Sinai. In the Golan, Israel offered to withdraw to the international border rather than the 1949 armistice lines, not including the territory conquered by Syria in 1948. Jordan and the West Bank were neglected and the offer was delivered secretly through the United States, but was turned down. Egypt and Syria subsequently refused to settle issues with Israel (Isserof). Oil Embargo:             In 1973, when the Arabs and Israeli again went to war, Saudi Arabia embargoed the export of oil to the United States and the Netherlands for their support of Israel. Oil prices escalated from $3 to $ 11 per barrel due to hoarding and even actual shortages. The embargo continued up to March 1974, and made the world realize that the Arab countries had an invaluable bargaining chip, that could be used for political influence by controlling the supply of oil. That helped stimulate diplomatic moves that appeasing to the Arab nations, which resulted in the UN General Assembly grant observer status to the PLO and Yaseer Arafat addressing the UN General Assembly, The United Nations also passed a resolution condemning Zionism as being racist (Afzal & Afshain 2010). Conclusion:             It is obvious that, Zionism was based on a faulty world view that the rights of the indigenous Arabs were not relevant. The Arabs did not oppose Zionism because of anti-Semitism feelings, but rather for because they feared the removal of the Palestinians from the lands of their ancestors. For there to be peace in the Middle East, a fair solution must be arrived at which gives the Palestinians ownership of their lands, and a country for themselves. Jews could co-exist in peace and prosperity. The Palestinians have genuine grievances because their homeland for over a thousand years was usurped, by force, during the creation of the state of Israel. And all subsequent atrocities on both sides inexorably are a result of this original justice (Crocker, 2007).                Works Cited   Afzal, Afshain. Palestine problem is not only the problem for the people of Palestinian origin but the Muslims of the whole world (March 20, 2010) < http://thepeopleofpakistan.wordpress.com/2010/03/22/palestine-problem-is-not-only-the-problem-for-the-people-of-palestinian-origin-but-the-muslims-of-the-whole-world/ Chester, Crocker A, Hampson, Fen Osler and Aall, Pamela R. Leashing the Dogs of War: Conflict management in a divided world: United States of Peace Press; (2007). Isserof, Ami. A Breif Hisotry of Israel and Palestine and the Conflict: The Project for Metaphyical, Spiritual and Religious Study;   Jews for Justice in the Middle East. The Origin of the Palestine/Israel Conflict. If Americans knew: < http://ifamericansknew.org/history/origin.html>  Khalidi, Walid. The Palestinian Problem: An Overview. < http://www.palestine-studies.org/enakba/history/Khalidi,%20Walid_The%20Palestine%20Problem.pdf>   Pilger, John. 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