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Palestine Israel Conflict - How did we get here? by
Catherine Money
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The word
Jew is derived from a Hebrew word, "yehudi", and
a Greek word, "ioudaios" and appeared during the
5th century to identify the inhabitants of Judea.
Judea
was located in Palestine; the Jews are one of the oldest of
peoples dating back more than 3000 years.
Information
concerning the ancient Israelites is minimal; they remain
now, as they did then, a mystery.
The Jewish
religion, called Judaism, is monotheistic in nature, which
means that the Jews honor only one god. Their contemporaries
have worshipped many different idols. Jews have lived apart
from other people who practiced polytheism and maintained
a strict covenant with Yahweh (God). They believed that He
handed down the laws by which one lives a pious life. They
believed that He gifted the land of Israel to his chosen people
to dwell in for all time.
Many battles
were fought with various tribes over this land. It was the
Roman conquerors who were successful against the Israelites.
In time they forced the Israelites out and into exile. Judea
was renamed Syria Palaistina and a long time would pass before
the Jewish people would resettle in Israel.
Jewish
culture is known throughout the world for it’s many contributions
to other civilizations through the ages.
Christianity
is an offspring of Judaism and many believe King David brought
the Ark of the Covenant to the holy city of Jerusalem for
safekeeping. Priceless holy artifacts of Jewish, Arab and
Christian origin are all found within its borders.
The Philistines,
Agaens invaders from the sea of Indo-European stock settled
along the coast of Palestine and built a central power base
in the ancient city of Gaza.
Conquered
by the Arabs, a 1300-year occupation began in the city of
Filastin, today known as Palestine. Religious tolerance was
quite unusual for the times but Christians and Jews alike
were allowed autonomy in community and religious affairs within
their respective groups.
After
a century of rule, the majority of Palestinians adopted Islam
and Arab traditions of their own accord. According to Muslim
doctrine, Jerusalem was designated as the first qibla (the
direction to face when praying). They believe the prophet
Mohammed rose to heaven near Solomon’s temple so Jerusalem
became the third holiest city of Islam.
Palestine
was able to witness the wondrous era of the Muslim golden
age, but continuous domination subsequently left them in a
decline from which they have never completely recovered.
Palestinians
and Jews have been in bloody conflict for many centuries.
Each party believes that they are the rightful heirs to this
land. Both groups have suffered terrible losses of life yet
still are unwilling to make a lasting peace. Jerusalem is
one of the central areas of contention and strife.
What
follows is a brief summary of the Israeli-Arab conflict:
During
the 19th century a political movement known as Zionism was
started to represent the Jews of the Diaspora, (people in
exile). Zionism dates back to the sixth century when the prophets
declared to the exiled people that one day they would return,
according to Yahweh, to the land of Israel. The goal was to
return the people to Israel; their home.
Throughout
history, Palestine has been important because it is a land
corridor to other countries. The location also represented
numerous strategic opportunities. Sadly, Palestine was only
significant for its ability to expand others' fortunes and
on a large scale was neglected. The Arabs living there suffered
from disease, poverty, and severe malnutrition.
The Jewish
people started to return from Europe to settle in the cities.
The Zionist movement continued to expand in Palestine with
noticeable success. They began purchasing land in the rural
areas from the Arabs determined to be self-supporting by farming.
Arab peasants were left with no place to live. The Ottoman
government was unable to impede the process. A growing resentment
among the Arab people continued to simmer. This Zionist endeavor
amassed many large areas of land and their population grew
quickly.
British
Mandate
After
the fall of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, the British
gained control of Palestine and promised self-rule to Arabs
and Zionists for their help. The Husein-McMahon Correspondence
was the vehicle (many letters) used to grant the right to
Arabs to build a new nation in the defeated Ottoman lands.
The Zionists'
promise was contained in the Balfour declaration in 1917.
“His Majesty’s Government view with favor the
establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish
people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the
achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that
nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious
rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or
the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other
country.” (Balfour Declaration, Encarta Microsoft
Corporation 1993-2002)
The British
did not consider the possible and probable contradictions
that would arise if either party decided they want the same
lands; in actuality the Brits did not promise all the land
to either, only parts. At the behest of Britain, the League
of Nations allowed them to realign Palestine and gave them
complete control.
Palestine
was then divided, which resulted in terrorist attacks between
Zion and Arab; neither group trusted the British especially
when they both believed the other party to be favored by the
British.
The terror
of the holocaust induced more Jews to migrate back to Israel
to escape persecution in Europe. World opinion supported the
idea of an independent state for the Jews.
Resolution
181 was initiated by the United Nations in a move to partition
Palestine and was vehemently opposed by the Arab people. Ultimately
this resolution was terminated by the British and on May 14,
1948, Israel declared its independence. That action precipitated
the Arab Israeli war of 1948-1949, where Arabs of Egypt, Syria,
Lebanon, and Palestine joined together against the Israelis.
The victory went to Israel who confiscated most of the land
granted to Palestine in 1947. So began many more wars between
Arabs and Israelites with Egypt often playing a major role
throughout.
One of
the most significant results of these conflagrations is that
many Palestinians became refugees. They were forced to settle
in camps maintained by the UN. Only Jordan allowed them to
become citizens and to settle in places other than the camps.
No other Arab countries would grant citizenship to displaced
Palestinians.
At the
six-day war, Israelis once again defeated the Arabs, creating
another exodus of refugees while gaining more territories.
The Israelites completely routed their enemies building confidence
that they would accept peace on their own terms with the Arab
world.
The UN
has passed other resolutions hoping to establish a peace and
aid the refugees, which has been declined by both groups.
Meanwhile,
many in the Arab world will not rest until Israel is destroyed.
Terrorist groups dominated the low income Palestine landscape
and the Palestinian Liberation Organization and their leader
Yasir Arafat continue their attacks; yet Israel holds fast
while the peace process is dismantled by the violence.
Arab-Israeli
war of 1973
Egypt
along with Syria attacked the state of Israel on Yom Kippur
catching them completely unprepared. Once again the Israelis
rallied and pushed the Arabs back, soundly defeating the Egyptian
and Syrian forces. This was not an uplifting victory; the
damages and death toll during the first two days were of huge
proportion.
Shuttle
diplomacy was the effort of Henry Kissinger, U.S. secretary
of state, to affect a peace between the two countries. The
results was minor at best, fighting stopped in an uneasy,
apprehensive standoff.
In the
1979 Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt and opened
up normal diplomatic relations with it’s once most formidable
enemy. This negotiation was presided over by former President
Jimmy Carter and was named the "Camp David Accords".
The Arab world did not think it was a fair deal and barred
Egypt from the Arab League. The following year Anwar Sadat
was murdered by fundamentalists within his army, however relations
never faltered between these two countries after his death.
The Infintada
and the peace process of 1993 actually began in the 1980’s.
Palestinians were opposed to the occupation of the West bank
and Gaza strip by Israel. The world was urging Israel to adopt
a new policy for peace, after the Persian Gulf War in 1991
opened the door for a peace process to begin anew. No significant
headway was made at this time but ensured that future treaties
would be able to be drafted.
Of most
historic significance are the Oslo Accords; a program of negotiations
named the Declaration of Principles would allow a transfer
of rule and autonomy to Palestine in the Gaza and West Bank
regions over time. Over the years there have been numerous
Palestinian terrorist attacks against the Israeli’s;
retaliations have been deadly. Many Arabs and Jews are opposed
to the fighting on both sides and wish only for a long sought
peace. Al Aqsa was the second Infitada in the year 2000; the
fighting between Israeli and Palestinian escalated freezing
any more progress in peace and negotiations.
As I
write this article, U.S. President George Bush has been meeting
with both Prime minister Sharon of Israel and new Prime minister
Abbas of Palestine to formulate a roadmap for the peace plan.
At this time talks have once again stalled due to extremists
from both sides who oppose any peace plan.
Article
written by : Catherine Money - Staff Writer for VoicesNet
Visions Literary Journal and Poetry Moderator at VoicesNet
Poetry Forums
Copyright
2003
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