Israel - Palestine Conflict

Luisa Valencia
Cheek - Contemporary World
Research Paper Extra Credit

Israel - Palestine Conflict

On November 2nd 1917 the British issues the Balfour declaration. After the first world war, the British over time became dedicated to finding a “permanent Jewish homeland”. After talking with Zionist leaders in London they decided on Palestine. Though no one really paid anyattention to the fact that there were people there for thousands of years, already. The Balfour Declaration was added into the mandate for palestine. Today in Israel the document is celebrated every year as Balfour Day, while in many Arabic countries it is a day of mourning and protest. The Mandate for Palestine which was decided by the United States and Britain, came into force on September26th, 1922. The League of Nations recognized “ the Jewish connection to Palestine and the grounds for reconstituting their national homeland in that particular country”. When it comes to the conflict between the two, can there be a resolution or does violence just breed more violence?
From 1936 to about 1939, Hajamin al Husseini led a Arabic Revolt. Approximately five thousand Arabs were killed(mainly by the British) and several hundred Jews were killed by Arabs , ending with Husseini fleeing to Nazi Germany. Nazi Germany also played a role later on with thousands of Jews fleeing due to the regime. After much more violence the United Nations proposed a two state plan which in theory would end the conflict. The Israelis approved, while the Palestinians disagreed for obvious reasons. Whatwould proceed is what would be later known as the Nakba, meaning “day of catastrophe” More then 418 villages had been forcibly abandoned and for the most part destroyed, leading to much displacement and people who thought it would only be temporary.
Also in 1948 Israel declared war, stating that they were a state and the British left Palestine. Resulting in many Arab countries declaringwar on Israel in retaliation at the same time. Hundreds of thousands had been made refugees, not including those who stayed and tons of causalities. Later the Unite Nations decided to
Israel as country, while still today many refer to it as “occupied Palestine”. As the years have gone by with seemingly endless fighting and issues between the two groups, you have to wonder if there is every goingto be peace.
Who has control of the boarder and of Jerusalem adds tension to an already uneasy situation. Both groups have strong religious ties to the area and significant religious sites/events. Since it is such an important part of the three major religions of Judaism, Islam and Christianity people wonder if they can actually manage some kind of peace since everyones claiming they werethere first. The majority of the Jews live on one side while the Arabs live on the other throughout Jerusalem. There have been many disputes over the sites and who has control over them when it comes down to it, neither side wants the other in charge.
Religious nationalism as well as over all nationalism of their perspective countries adds to the conflict that much more. From protests to notallowing people to worship it has come to be one of the most difficult areas to maintain any semblance of peace. Whether it is a temple, church, mosque, or historical and archaeological site it just adds fuel to the fire. Regardless people are going to at some point have to choke up past events and issues and declare it a neutral ground, in order for people to be allowed to worship their religionspeacefully.
Then there is the issue of who controls the water resources, that allow for trade access, water for farms and over all for the people. If one group has the majority of the population and control it becomes extremely difficult to propose a two state deal. Since automatically one state will have the clear water advantage over the other. For the most part the water issue is a ongoing...