Israel vs. Palestine:The Conflict

Introduction• Two conflicting sides over land, resources,

sovereignty, religion, and culture.– Jerusalem/Temple Mount– Jordan River

• Israelis – Judaism, claim rights to ‘Israel’ a recognized state of the UN

• Palestinians – Islam, claim the same land as ‘Palestine’, are not recognized by the UN, but have a central ‘PNA’

• Both sides have contributed considerably to violence.

The Issues• Palestinian Refugees and the Right of

Return• Status of Jerusalem• Borders and the Occupied Territories• Israeli Security Concerns in relation to

sovereignty• Settlements in the West Bank

Ancient History• Cultural Conflict goes back several

thousand years – mainly religious– Old Canaan conquered by Israeli tribes out of

Egypt (according to Torah) [1200 BCE]– Hebrew settlements/conquests of present-day

Jerusalem under Solomon • First Temple Built in Jerusalem on “Temple Mount”• Later split into two kingdoms: Israel and Judea (both

later fall to Assyrians) after Solomon’s death

– Land referred to as ‘Palestine’ by ancient Egyptians and ‘Israel’ by the Jewish tribes

• Same place, different language

Ancient History cont…

– Control continuously changes from app. 530 BCE – 61 BCE ending with control from Roman Empire

• Christianity is founded around 4 BCE – 35 CE, followed by Islam in 622 CE– Non Jewish inhabitants of Israel/Palestine convert

begin to practice Islam/Christianity– Roman Empire Collapses after schism,

Israel/Palestine is conquered by Persians in 614 CE– Then, conquered by Arab Islamic armies – Al-Aqsa

Mosque is built in 715 CE on Temple Mount (considered Third Holiest site in Islam)

Ancient History cont…

• European Christian crusaders begin their attacks on ‘The Holy Land’ occupied by Saladin and his Kurds– Crusaders briefly occupy Jerusalem in 1229

CE, retaken by Mameluke Muslims, later defeated at acre and evicted from ‘Palestine’

– Ottoman/Turk conquest of area in 1517, part of official Ottoman Empire until 1917

• Demographics in Jerusalem under Ottoman Rule: 7120 Jews, 5760 Muslims, 3390 Christians

Modern History

• World War I breaks out; Turkey (Ottoman Empire) fights against Allies– Balfour Declaration by the UK in Nov 1917

• “His Majesty's government view with favour 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…” - British Foreign Policy during wartime

– British control of Egypt extends itself to the Israel/Palestine area under pressure from the ‘Zionist Movement’ Dec 1917

Modern History cont…

• Faisal-Weizmann Agreement – Jan 3, 1919; part of the Paris Peace Conference– Leader of the Zionist Commission (Chaim Weizmann)

met with Emir Faisal (Kingdom of Hedjaz)– Encourage mass Zionist/Jewish settlements in

Palestine, in exchange for an Arab nation encompassing present-day Iraq, Syria, and the Fertile Crescent

– Became irrelevant – Kingdom of Hedjaz was conquered in 1923 and incorporated under the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Modern History cont…

• European Zionists continue to settle in Palestine – Britain begins to decolonize – grants independence to nearby Egypt and Transjordan

• League of Nations – France and Britain divide the Middle East into ‘Mandates’ – Churchill White Paper (June 3, 1922) – clarifies

Balfour Declaration in response to anti-semetic riots in Palestine

– Main Point: Europe dividing new nations for ‘self-determination’ – deconstruction of imperialism

Modern History cont…

• Britain caught in the middle of appealing to Palestine and Israel – violence escalates– Racial profiling, religious desecration, segregation,

power struggle within Palestine – Zionist immigration continues– British policy continually changes with pressure from

both sides

• Progress in Middle East halts somewhat as WWII begins in Europe – Britain is distracted, situation becomes even more

unclear, violence continues to escalate

Modern History cont…

• WWII – large portion of Jewish population flees Nazism for Palestine, many join Zionist movement, seek new life– Wounded Britain pulls out of Palestine completely by

1948– Organized fighting with armies and weapons begins,

bombings, massacres, spontaneous fighting from both sides

– State of Israel declares independence May 14, 1948• Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia all

declare war on Israel• United States immediately recognizes new state, followed by

USSR

• Israeli War of Independence 1948 - 1949

Modern History cont…– Result: app. 800,000 Palestinians are displaced

(PALESTINIAN REFUGEES)– Yasser Arafat founds the Palestinian Liberation

Organization (PLO) 1964• Six-Day War (Jun 5–11, 1967)

– Israel aquires West Bank, Gaza Strip, and the Golan Heights – OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

• Fighting causes many Palestinians to flee into neighboring Arab countries, especially from the Golan Heights

• OC’s under martial law – not represented by MP’s

• First Intifada – 1987-1993 : Violence moves from organized to massive civil warfare– Triggered by Palestinian students : boycotting Israeli

goods, strikes, graffiti, barricades, planned terrorism, resistance of authorities

Modern History cont…

• Oslo Accords (Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements)– GOI and PLO meet, sign accords on September 13, 1993)– Sets up the Palestinian National Authority

• Mutual recognition between PNA/State of Israel• Government over the ‘Occupied Territories’ gradually phased over

in a period of 5 years to PNA

– IDF (Israeli Defense Force) to withdraw from the areas, eventual sovereignty given to PNA

– Failed• Only addressed borders – no status of Jerusalem, refugees• No provisions for a permanent Palestinian state• OCT still under Israeli military control• Cultural violence continues (Israeli anger at Palestinians/vice versa)

Yitzhak Rabin

Yasser Arafat

Modern History cont…• Second Intifada (Al-aqsa Intifada) – response to failed

Oslo Accords : suspended all-out civil war returns– Triggered by a MP visiting temple mount with over a thousand

police guards, leading to violence– Response: International inquiry

• Mitchell Report of 2001 by UN, EU, US, Egypt, and Jordan

– Camp David Negotiations – US President Clinton facilitates talks with Israeli PM Ehud Barak and PA Chairman Yasser Arafat

• Tried to negotiate final status of Israel and Palestine• Israel agreed to a partial two-state solution, rejected by Palestinians• Ultimately failed – neither side reached an agreement• Israel uses the complete Palestinian rejection of this plan as an

example of unwillingness to seek peace on the part of the Palestinians

• Palestine uses the unfair ‘compromises’ presented by Israel as an example of Israeli greed; especially disliked the ‘Israeli Security provision’

Modern History cont… (final I promise!)

– League of Arab States conference in Beruit – Saudi Arabia pushes movement to normalize Arab-Israeli relations

• Arab Peace Initiative – March 28, 2002 • Israel would withdraw from the Golan Heights,

Gaza Strip, and West Bank completely• Israel would finance the return of the Palestinian

refugees to Palestine, or give them compensation

– Israel basically ignores the Initiative’s existence, no formal mention of it or response.

Right Now

• Palestinians live in OCT’s under Israeli military occupation– Human Rights Violations– Access to education, healthcare, even basic

necessities is sporadic– Some representation under PNA - Parliament

• App. 4.5 million Palestinian refugees today– Original number: 800,000 in 1947

UN Involvement

Israel and the UN• Israel is a nation with ‘special status’ in the UN

– They are active members in the Western European and Others Group (WEOG) in NY

– Are not part of UN operations in Geneva – barred from standing in elections, participating in Geneva committee debates, etc.

• Many accusations of Anti-Semitism in the UN by Israel and US– Israel tends not to trust the UN resolutions, does not

always comply with peacekeeping forces based in Israel/Palestine Territories

• Government of Israel says that it must have equal rights to equally honor the wishes of the General Assembly

Palestine and the UN

• ‘Palestine’ is not a recognized state of the UN, but representatives from the PNA speak as guests– ‘Observer’ status in the UN – Palestinian

National Authority is responsible for providing representation for the ‘Palestinian’ peoples

– Given because there is no legitimate national government for Palestine

Previous UN Action• Britain refers issue to the UN May,

1947– UNSCOP (UN Special Committee on

Palestine) : Resolution GA 181• Two State: Arab and Israeli

• Establishes ’47 Borders

• Jerusalem would be internationally administered – part of neither state, temporarily run by UN

– Never fully implemented • Geographic puzzle made navigation difficult

for the still-fighting populations

• Neither side would accept compromise, Israelis wanted all of it, Palestinians wanted all of it

• Furious at Jerusalem plan

Previous UN Action cont…

• General Assembly Resolutions – calls for violence to end, continued relief to aid Palestinian refugees– 1949 - UNRWA: provides food, education, aid, and

temporary shelter – continues

• Security Council Resolutions– 1967 – UNSC242 - Israeli withdrawal from OC’s,

peace– 1973 – UNSC338 – Demand for peace, continuted

conflict negotiation– All bark, no bite.