Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Israel and Palestine has been engaged in conflict since Israelis were able to reclaim the land promised to them by God. The Jews who were enslaved, persecuted, tortured, murdered and exiled from their homeland at different times throughout history by the Assyrians, Babylonians, Romans and Nazis, but despite these hardships they still dreamed of one day returning to their homeland and were willing to accept the partition. The Palestinians refuse to acknowledge the Israeli people as a race and so fighting broke out between these two groups over sovereignty of their people in the Middle East. Rather than accept the proposal of two separate sates, one for Jews the other Arabs, the Palestine’s declared war on the Israeli people with the aim of eliminating “Zionism in Palestine”. In war, there’s always two sides, with each side believing that they are fighting for a cause, to right some wrong they perceived the other side committed against them, and Israel and Palestine is no different, each side has a different version of events leading up to the conflict and in their beliefs that they are being wrongly persecuted by the other.  Society teaches us to hate those whose views we oppose, but too often we forget the real victims in our conflicts are the innocent men, women and children who just want a chance for change.

The Palestinian and Israeli people have been engaged in conflict for many years. Both sides lay claim to the ancient “holy land of Israel” and are fighting over the rights to control this land. The city of Jerusalem, considered a “holy city” by both Jews and Palestine Arabs, has been a major source of the conflict as both sides wants control of this city.  Israel which is considered to be the “historic land of the Jewish people” has been considered sacred by both ancient and modern cultures. Although Jews were exiled from their land over the centuries, some Israeli’s remained in areas in the Middle East and they still dreamed of one day returning to their home. The Ottoman Empire, who had been ruling Israel for centuries, was defeated during the First World War and during the Second World War both the British and French started dividing up the areas along in the Middle East, as a way of creating allies within the region which they later colonized for oil. It wasn't until 1917, after 1,878 years of being exiled, that Jews living in Britain began lobbying politicians to help establish “a Jewish national state in the holy land” then called Palestine”.

 Many Jewish people began immigrating to Palestine and began living among the Arabs who has made the Holy land their home. Outraged and appalled by the abuse Jews suffered at the hands of the Nazis many people wanted to help create a state where Jews would be able to live peacefully, away from the dangers of anti-Semitism they were facing, so after World War two the U.S and the British aided the Jews in their fight of reclaiming their sacred land, the land they believed was promised to them by their God, thereby angering those Palestinians that had made the land their home during the centuries the Jews were exiled and as well as the surrounding Arabs. Today most of the conflict arises over Palestine’s refusal to acknowledge the Jewish people and their rights to the “holy land”, border disputes, security because "Israel controls checkpoints and trade in Palestinian territories", water rights, control over the city of Jerusalem, Israeli’s control over international aid into Gaza and Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories.

Israel has had to defend its people and their borders from attacks in the years since it reclaimed its land, they continually face threats against its people from the Arabs who oppose their existence.  Supporters argue that Israelis want peace and hat the “two state solution is a threat to Israel's security, since it will allow the Palestinians to encroach on their land, thus making it harder to defend Israel if any of its neighbors start another war”. They argue that the Jews just want to reclaim their home after centuries of exile and persecution, a place where they can live freely. Israel believes that it needs to maintain strict sanctions when it comes to Palestine, since many of their allies are Israeli enemies who can attempt a coup at any time. Israeli supporters also believe that Israel has a right to defend itself against Hamas attacks, since this group hates all Jews and would like nothing better than to eradicate them.

Palestinian supporters argue that the Palestinians have a right to live on the “holy land” since they have been occupying that land for over two thousand years. They argue that they no longer have a voice, their lands are being confiscated by the Israeli’s, their people forced to live in poverty and "continued military occupation and confiscation of privately owned land in the West Bank, and control over Gaza” has left Palestinians feeling oppressed and so has launched rockets and sent suicide bombers into Israel.  Supporters argue that Israel has continued to push its way into Palestinian territories, and has continued to build settlements on land promised the Palestinian people. They've “imposed sanctions on territories where supply is needed” thereby forcing many Arabs into poverty. They believe that the greed of the Jews has forced the Arabs to retaliate to these injustices through the only way they know how, and that’s through what the Jews refer to as terrorism and that the Israeli army which is far more superior to their own has killed far more innocent Palestinians than Israeli’s killed at the hands of the Arabs.

After the Jewish settlement in 1947, many Arabs fled for fear of Jewish rule; today Jews continue to acquire territories by taking lands promised to the Arab people forcing “millions of Palestinians into exile and poverty”. Israel has a state of the world army, compared to the Arabs who depend on terrorist groups such a Hamas to aid in their cause and help defend the Arab people. Terrorism can be a loaded word, used to instill fear in us by those in authority, to arouse our anger towards those we deem a threat and often triggers memories of pain and loss. Terrorists fight for and are loyal to their cause; they go to war with an enemy they perceived had wronged them.  So why are the actions of the Israelis who have a “very strong military retaliates with heavy-handed assaults, which kill many civilians including children” right and the Arabs, who have no army and is also fighting for their cause wrong? Just like the Israeli’s, the Arabs are also fighting for their freedom from persecution and their own perceived injustice against their people. Like the Jews, the Palestine’s fight to have their voices heard; they believe they’re fighting injustices committed against them and their people.

Instead of sharing the land that has so much value to both the Israeli and Palestinian cultures, they each want sole ownership of the land. The Palestinians refuse to “recognize Israel  to exist as a Jewish state” or their importance to the land while  the Jews are trying to push the Arabs out by taking over their lands, refusal of any Palestine state West of the Jordan and restricting their access to supplies.  This conflict will continue with innocent losses on each side, unless both sides can come to a compromise about the land and with each other’s culture.

Facts:

• Palestine’s declared war on the Israeli people with the aim of eliminating “Zionism in Palestine”
• The Palestinians refuse to “recognize Israel  to exist as a Jewish state”
• Israel has been known as the "historic land of the Jewish people”
• “a Jewish national state in the holy land” 
• "Israel controls checkpoints and trade in Palestinian territories"
• “two state solution is a threat to Israel's security, since it will allow the Palestinians to encroach on their land, thus making it harder to defend Israel if any of its neighbors start another war”
• Israel  has "imposed sanctions on territories where supply is needed”
• "continued military occupation and confiscation of privately owned land in the West Bank, and control over Gaza”
• “millions of Palestinians into exile and poverty”
• Israel has a“very strong military retaliates with heavy-handed assaults, which kill many civilians including children”