“There is no such thing as a Palestinian.” Stated former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir after three fourths of one million Palestinians had been made refugees, over five hundred towns and cities had been obliterated, and a new regional map was drawn. Every vestige of the Palestinian culture was to be erased. Resolution 181, adopted in 1947 by the United Nations declared the end of British rule over Palestine (the region between the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River) and it divided the area into two parts; a state for the Jewish and one for the Arab people, Palestine. While Israel was given statehood, Palestine was not. Since 1947, one of the most controversial issues in the Middle East, and of course the world, is the question of a Palestinian state. Because of what seems a simple question, there have been regional wars among Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq, terrorist attacks that happen, sometimes daily, displacement of families from their homes, and growing numbers of people living in poverty. Granting Palestinian statehood would significantly reduce, or alleviate, tensions in the Middle East by defining, once and for all, the area that should be Palestine and eliminating the bloodshed and battles that has been going on for many years over this land.
Palestine (and Israel) is a small area in the Middle East that is on the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea and borders the nations of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. On May 14, 1948, the state of Israel was declared by the Jewish Peoples council. Following this act, the Arab people of the surrounding countries attacked the new Israeli state. However Israel prevailed, and took almost all of the land previously designated to be ...
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...ainst with forty one abstentions – the General Assembly accorded Palestine non-member Observer State status in the United Nations (General Assembly GA/11317). This is a great thing to happen to the Palestine case because it will help them achieve what they need. In order to pass the vote two thirds of the countries have to vote towards statehood and the vote was just barely over the amount needed. It is great that all those years of being so persistent and pushing is finally paying off and that they will get their state. However the Israeli ambassador wants to solve the conflicts with the Palestinians without help from the United Nations, which may push back the chances of having a resolution reached.
Overall, the ongoing dilemma between Israel and Palestine is slowly coming to a conclusion, where it looks like Palestine is finally going to be declared a state.
Since the Arabs were living in Palestine when the Ottoman Empire control it. Since the Arabs defeated the Ottoman Empire with the help of from Germany, “Just short of 6 months the Palestinians were crushed, militarily and psychologically” (document 8) On the other hand, Israel grew beyond the partition lines, gained more defensible borders and they destroyed Arab homes reducing their population. The Palestinians rightly felt that the Israelis were taking over the area and were pushing out of lands promised to them in both the Balfour Declaration and the UN 1947 Partition.
The fight between Israel and Palestine has been seen as an unfair battle, due to the high-tech supplies given to Israel by the US. Israel’s military is extremely strong and constantly growing, with people joining from all over the world, while Palestine’s main defense is a terrorist group called Hamas. Israel has been forced into building a wall surrounding the Gaza strip to stop these terror attacks from harming the citizens of Israel. Palestine believes that Israel’s fighting is too severe compared to Palestine’s attempts at attacking Israel. Gideon Levy wrote, “Once again, Israel’s violent responses, even if there is justification to them, exceed all proportion and cross every red line of humaneness, morality, international law, and wisdom (Document 5, Palestinian View)”. The Palestinians believe that the Israeli military is fighting too much and unfairly, and should not be allowed to take these measures against them.
On November 29, 1947, the United Nations voted for a partition resolution that led to the establishment of the nation of Israel in May, 1948. This was great news for Jews in Palestine and the diaspora as it meant the fulfillment of the quest for the rebirth of their nation in their previous homeland after many years of wandering (Pappe, 2006, p. 12). However, their Palestinian Arab counterparts opposed to the establishment from the start felt cheated by the international community and remained categorical that the final answer to the Jewish problem would only be solved in blood and fire (Karsh, 2002, p. 8).
After World War II, the United Nations handed the Jewish people a piece a land so they could live together. This land known as Israel has holy places for the Jewish religion and is surrounded by Muslim countries. Before the United Nations relinquished the land to the Jewish people it belonged to the Palestinian Muslims. This land is important to the Muslims as they consider it holy. There is a religious belief among Palestinians to regain control of East Jerusalem as part of lasting peace region. Also Palestinians are in an occupied nation with Israelis have military rule. The Palestinians have retaliated with a terrorist network to attack innocent Israeli civilians. Israelis believe they must control the Palestinians with military force to protect against terrorism.
First starting with the mutual recognition as political entities and through the interim period build trust and inter reliance needed for administrative and security arrangements. The hope was that through this process Israel and Palestine could build the momentum to tackle the more sensitive issues, referred to as “final status issues.” Among these difficult and complex issues were the borders and status of a Palestinian State, the claims and repatriation of Palestinian refugees, the fate of the Jewish settlements, and the disposition of East Jerusalem. While it may seem counter intuitive the Oslo Peace Accords did not actually address any of these issues. This was due to its purpose as a way to build the political framework that would allow for later negotiations and not as a permeant peace solution for the region.
Joe Sacco’s graphic novel, Palestine, deals with the repercussions of the first intifada in Israel/Palestine/the Holy Land. The story follows the author through the many refugee camps and towns around Palestine as he tries to gather information, stories, and pictures to construct his graphic novel. While the book is enjoyable at a face level, there are many underlying themes conveyed throughout its illustrated pages and written text.
On the 28th of September, of the year 2000, the second Palestinian Intifada took place. The main reason that sparked this Intifada was the provocative visit of Ariel Sharon, the current Israeli Prime Minister, to the Haram Al Sharif. Even though the visit was what set the ground on fire, these feeling of hatred and desire to rebel had been stirring inside the Palestinians ever since the declaration of the Israeli State, on the Palestinian land, back in 1948. This Palestinian frustration is due to their lack of trust and hope in a peace process that did not yield meaningful results. After seven years of peace talks and six agreements, Palestinians realized that Israel is not serious about peace. Since 1993, Israel has doubled settlements on confiscated Palestinian land, continued to imprison Palestinian prisoners and has implemented only 8 percent of what it agreed to implement in all the signed agreements.
In this paper, I will discuss why the Palestinians should be able to govern their own state alongside the state of Israel. I will also discuss why Palestine should not have their own state, as well as why the one-state solution would be the right way to solve the solution.
Since the inception of an Israeli nation-state in 1948, violence and conflict has played a major role in Israel’s brief history. In the Sixty-One year’s Israel has been a recognized nation-state, they have fought in 6 interstate wars, 2 civil wars, and over 144 dyadic militarized interstate disputes (MIDs) with some display of military force against other states (Maoz 5). Israel has been involved in constant conflict throughout the past half century. Israel’s tension against other states within the Middle East has spurred vast economic, social, and political unity that has fostered a sense of nationalism and unity in Israel not seen in most other states. Over the next several pages I will try and dissect the reasons for why the nation state of Israel has been emerged in constant conflict and how this conflict has helped foster national unity and identity among the people of Israel.
The War of 1948, also known as the War of Independence, was fought between Israel and its Arab neighbors. The war began May 15, 1948 when units from the armies of Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq invaded Israel launching a war that lasted until December 1948.# The war resulted in the defeat of the Arab forces and the success of Israel as a newly established state. It is evident that the Arab forces were not successful in the first Arab-Israeli war because the Arab army lacked motivation, education, and proper equipment.# Despite the support from Arab states outside of Palestine, the Arabs were unable to gain enough strength to overcome the Israeli forces. In contrast, the Israeli army was able to succeed because they had unconditional support from the Jewish community, efficient infrastructures, and modern equipment. Israel also used significant strategies that proved lethal against the competing Arab forces. With the Arab communities unorganized attempt to go to war in 1948, it was inevitable that Israel would come out of the war as the victor.
... I believe that Israel must abide by international law, and should be stopped when these laws are violated. I believe that the Palestinians must be given their rights. I fully understand that Israel is extremely concerned about it’s safety as it is mostly surround by enemy’s however I do not believe that the oppression and ultimate control of the Palestinians will bring this safety they long for, but do the very opposite instead.
Ariel Sharon, as a strong advocate for the right of Israel to exist, thrive and find equilibrium with its regional neighbors, worked tirelessly throughout his life to position Israel for official recognition by the United Nations and defense of the fledgling state thereafter. His views often put him in direct conflict with those who would have Israel erased, or at a minimum, dissolved into irrelevance.
Bunche was successful in negotiating an armistice agreement between Israel and Egypt in February 1949 (Waage, 2011). Bunche, however, faced many difficulties during the mediation process because he lacked leverage against the Israel (the stronger disputant), and Israel also received unparalleled support from those with the ability to affect the direction of the negotiations (Waage, 2011). Although the armistice designed by Bunche set the groundwork for further negotiations in the Arab-Israeli conflict, it did not lead to peace between Israel and her Arab neighbours (Waage, 2011). Israel had not only won the war against the Arabs but had strong and biased support from US president (Harry S. Truman) and the UN secretary-general (Trygve Lie). Truman at the time as he sought the votes of Jewish Americans and Israel sympathisers in order to win the next US presidential election while Lie had strong personal sympathy for Israel and wanted the negotiations to end in their favour (Waage, 2011).
In September 2015, Palestinian President Muhammad Abbas proclaimed that the state of Palestine was no longer under any obligation to follow the Oslo Accords crafted over two decades prior. Citing Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Abbas argued that Palestine had been the only side upholding the terms of the once-heralded agreement, and that they were tired of being exploited as a “state under occupation.” How could the state have gotten here from the wide-spread optimism following the Oslo Accords ? The answer lays in both what the accords did and didn’t state, as well as the general opposition amongst Israelis towards the agreement. Overall, the Oslo Accords were, in a sense, doomed from the start, and created more in hope of an easy fix
When Yasser Arafat addressed the United Nations General Assembly, he tried to articulate the actions the Palestinian Liberation Organization had taken and to justify those actions. Arafat points out that the struggles with Imperialism and Zionism began in 1881 when the first large wave of immigrants began arriving in Palestine. Prior to this date, the Muslims, Jews (20,000) and Christians all cohabitated peacefully (pop. 1/2 million). In 1917, the Belfour Declaration authorized increased immigration of European Jews to Palestine. 1 From 1917 to 1947, the Jewish population in Palestine increased to 600,000 and they rightfully owned only 6% of the Palestinian arable land. Palestine population at this time was now up to 1,250,000. 1