Palestine and Isreal Conflict

Territorial disputes over which religion should have control over the holy lands have been ongoing for about two thousand years with little to no resolution in sight. Everyday, on the news, there is a story about how there was retaliation over the killing of a Palestinian or Israeli. As a result of these more are killed leading to the cyclical pattern of retribution. This conflict has diminutive weight in the eyes of the people of the world since it has been carried on for so long. The argument for both groups is a claim that Jerusalem is the rightful possession of their religion and the key to the survival of their cultures. Promises for peace are frequent but never upheld by either side. As the everyday struggle for peace continues little is accomplished to up hold that pledge for peace to end the violence and hate. The shouting voices of the Palestinian People in the streets cry out in anger, ”Down the olive branch, long live the gun.” There is more to the never ending holy war than that of which the media allows us to see, the fear and loathing for that of a better life. The trifling stories of the individual are frequently untold even though they are a transgression committed against personal liberties.

When the rest of the world gets involved it becomes a much more complicated affair than if people were to leave it alone for the two countries to work it out between themselves. The Palestinians and the Israelis could view intervention as siding with one side or the other leading to defensiveness and therefor slowing down or sometimes halting any progress that may have been made. Since the late 1940’s the Untied Nations has become increasingly more involved in order to put and end to the human suffering of the people in that region. By having the two groups send representatives to the Netherlands, which is seen as a non-partisan territory that would be less intrusive in negotiations. The United Nations and the Palestinian Liberation Organization have assembled and come to resolutions that were thought to be in the best interest of each of the countries in order to instill peace and bring order to the region. By this process there has been much animosity building within the population with civilians killing soldiers and vice versa as seen on the news reports.

In around the year 750 A.C.E the Arab-Islamic Umayyad Dynasty took control over the area that is now known as Palestine and Israel. They then proceeded

to colonize the area with Arabs and build a mosque in Jerusalem that signifies the land is the possession of the Islamic faith. In 1099 the crusades spread to that area and seized control of that land and created the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, which the Jewish people base their claims to owning the land. Then in 1187 Egypt defeats those in control of the region and begins to reinstate Islamic control of the province (www.palestinecenter.org). Then in 1517 the Ottoman Empire expanded throughout the entire Middle East. Until 1917 the Ottoman Empire controlled the area, but since Turkey supported German during the First World War the lands were divided among Europe. Palestine, Jordan and Israel fell unto British control and they saw the idea of a Jewish homeland ideal. Because there had not been an established homeland for a group in the area since the Jewish people had almost two thousand years prior. It was not until the 1880’s when the first Jewish immigrations took place in an effort of preparation to eradicate the spread of malaria and make the swamplands once again inhabitable for the rebirth of Israel. Following their success in the clean up process there were more opportunities for employment and a safer place to live it enticed the immigration of Arabs. During the time that the Jewish settlers revitalization of the area there was no conflict between them and the Arabs already present (www.masada2000.org). In 1923 the British government allowed for the Jews to settle the area west of the river Jordan and give the rest to the Arabs to form Trans-Jordan. The Jews received only twenty-five percent of the land that was proposed, but they were content with that decision. However the Arabs were not happy with their land and sought to reclaim the territory. The Nationalism of Arabs was so great that they were conducting many acts of murder in order to scare the Jewish people away from their land. In 1936-1939 there was the “Arab Revolt” in which the British attempted to subdue, but oil interests in the Middle East had them turn their attention to more profitable causes. The Jewish people organized and formed defenses called Hagana and the Israeli Defense Force. Jews saw Britain

as being against them and so the goal of the IDF was to drive out the British