ABSTRACT-
This article entails the history the Holy Land can also call Israel, Canaan, Al Sham, Levant, Palestine or The Promised Land. Scholars believe the name “Palestine” originally comes from the word “Philistia,” which refers to the Philistines who occupied a part of the region within the twelfth century B.C. Throughout history, Palestine has been dominated by various groups, together with the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Fatimid’s, Seljuk, Turks, Crusaders, Egyptians and Mamelukes. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the world’s longest-running and most controversial conflicts. It claims to have its roots in 957 BC when King Solomon built the first Jewish temple in the Israelite kingdom. The temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylonia in 587/586 BC. In Jerusalem the revered plateau site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and iconic golden Dome of the Rock Mount are the holiest site for Muslims, Judaism and Christianity. And because of this historical and unending conflict only 164 of other 193 UN member states have recognized Israel as a State. So let’s see what sparked the fire that has led to so much destruction, deaths and sacrifices. What mainly happened and what is the reason, where it is heading now. we will discuss history, their conflicts and how the present scenario could be different.
Keywords: Palestine, Israel, Muslims, Palestinians, Jerusalem, Judaism
INTRODUCTION
ORIGIN OF CONFLICT
From 1517 to 1917, the Ottoman Empire ruled most of Middle East. But it weakened with time around 19th century. After that Nationalism in Europe began where they started Unification process to include Italy, Germany and other states to make it into 1 country.
Theodor Herzl was a writer who initiated the Zionist movement, which sought to re-establish Israel the Jewish nation. In 1890 Jew started migrating to Israel in small numbers and during World War I in 1917 Sir Arthur Balfour came up with “BALFOUR DECLARATION” promising establishment of national homes for Jewish people after war in Palestine.
And at the same time Britishers signed up SYKES-PICOT agreement (privately) with France and Russia, declaring Palestine as their territory after war, Syria and Jordan under France, some of Turkey under Russia and Palestine was promised to Arabs because they were also against Ottoman Empire.
When World War I ended in 1918, British people took management of Palestine. The League of Nations issued a British mandate for Palestine—a national country of Palestine which went into impact in 1923. Migrations started in huge number and Jewish population rose from 3% to 30% in 30 years. Britishers started divide and rule policy and made different rules for different religions. Jew started buying land and evicting local Palestine Arabs.
But in 1936 Arabs revolted against British to which Jewish Militias were formed to suppress them but British realized that it is of no use and restricted migrations of Jew to which Jewish people revolted against British.
WORLD WAR-II
In 1939, when Hitler initiated holocaust in Europe ( Jewish genocide) . 4.2 million Jew killed in gas chambers and Jew started running towards Israel.
The Partition of Palestine
The United Nations in 1947 proposed to partition Palestine into independent Jewish and Arab states with Jerusalem being a global territory with a special status. Jewish leaders accepted the proposal, however several Palestinian Arabs—some of whom had actually been fighting British and Jewish interests within the area, However, Arab teams argued that this would be unfair to the majority of the population in certain regions and that they should be granted more territory.
Almost immediately, the Arab armies of neighbouring countries mobilized and thwarted the establishment of the State of Israel. The subsequent 1948 Arab-Israeli War included Israel and five Arab countries: Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and Lebanon. Israel controlled more than two-thirds of the previous British missions, while Jordan controlled the West Bank, Egypt and the Gaza Strip. The conflict of 1948 opened a new chapter in the struggle between Palestinian Jew and Arabs, which has now become a regional confrontation between nation-states and involves diplomatic, political, and economic interests.
The PLO Is Born
In 1964, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was established with the purpose of establishing a Palestinian Arab state on land previously authorized by the British and deemed illegally occupied by the State of Israel by the PLO. The PLO was initially committed to destroying the State of Israel in order to achieve its goal of Palestinian statehood, but it recognized Israel’s rights in the 1993 Oslo Agreement in exchange for Israel’s official recognition of the PLO, which is Israel-Palestine. In 1969, the famous Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat became the chairman of the PLO and maintained this title until his death in 2004.
The Six-Day War
During the unstable period of diplomatic friction and skirmishes between Israel and its neighbours, the Six-Day War broke out. In April 1967, Israel and Syria engaged in a fierce air and artillery battle, destroying six Syrian warplanes and escalating hostilities. After the air battle in April, the Soviet
Union announced to Egypt that Israel was moving its troops to the northern border of Syria in preparation for a full-scale invasion. The news was inaccurate, but it prompted Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser to move his troops to the Sinai Peninsula, where they drove the UN peacekeeping force, and the peacekeeping force not only defended the border with Israel alone. Israeli forces launched a preventive air strike against Egypt on June 5, 1967. In the subsequent conflict that ended on June 10, they took self-defence actions and attracted Jordan and Syria, and they sided with Egypt.
This war is said to have led to Israel’s major conquest of the land because by the end of war, Israel controlled the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, the Sinai Peninsula (the desert area between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea) and the Golan Heights (the rocky plateau between Syria and modern Israel).
1973 YOM KIPPUR WAR
Yom Kippur is a festival of Jew. In order to regain( Sinai and Golan) – Egypt and Syria attacked Israel due to which they suffered lot of loss but they repulsed the attack. This led to talks between both the nations resulting in CAMP DAVID ACCORDS, 1978 under which Sinai was returned to Egypt and in return Egypt started recognizing state of Israel which led to assassination of President Anwar Sadat. But eventually after this most of the Arab countries started making peace with Israel.
The First Intifada
In 1987, when the first uprising broke out, the Palestinians became angry with Israel’s continued occupation of Gaza and the West Bank. The Palestinian militia was rebelled and hundreds of people died.
During this HAMAS came into existence, a more nationalistic and extremists party. Their agenda was “No Jew on Earth”.
OSLO ACCORDS, 1993
This came up as the first settlement between Israel and Palestine as a multilateral effort to end the ongoing violence. The first “Oslo Agreement” (“Oslo I”) set the timetable for the Middle East peace process and laid out plans for the Palestinian interim government in Gaza and parts of the West Bank. The agreement was signed in 1993 and confirmed by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. After 27 years in exile, Arafat returned to Gaza in 1994. In 1995, Oslo II laid the foundation for the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from parts of the West Bank and other areas. And developed an election calendar for the Palestinian Legislative Council.
After a complete peace of 5 years during signing of CAMP DAVID-2000 it broke down on no common grounds between both the parties.
The Second Intifada: Violence Continues
In September 2000, the second Palestinian Intifada came. One of the reasons for the violence was that Ariel Sharon, a right-wing Israeli Jew who later became the prime minister of Israel, visited a Muslim shrine in the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Many Palestinians think this is offense and protest. As a result, riots, suicide bombings and other attacks broke out and ended the once hopeful peace process. This period of violence between Palestinians and Israelis lasted for nearly five years. Arafat died in November 2004, and the Israeli army left Gaza in August 2005.
After this breakdown Government seemed to manage the war in which they changed the policies, gave rightward shift to politics .
HAMAS became more influential and won elections of 2006. To which a PLO affiliated party FATAH refused to consider HAMAS. In 2007 HAMAS also captured Gaza defeating FATAH .
Many countries consider Hamas as a terrorist organization. The group has carried out suicide bombings and repeatedly called for the destruction of Israel. Hamas and Israel fought each other in several bloody wars, including Operation Cast Lead in December 2008 and Operation Pillar of Defence in November 2012 and Operation Protective Edge in July 2014 resulting in thousands of deaths. In April 2014, Hamas and Fatah reached an agreement to form a unified Palestinian national government.
CURRENT SCENARIO
In October 2020, an Israeli court ruled that several Palestinian families living in Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem should be expelled and their land should be handed over to Jewish families by May 2021. In February 2021, several Palestinian families from Sheikh Jar rah filed applications. Appeals related to the appeal hearing and the ongoing legal battle over property rights triggered protests and called for an end to the forced eviction of Palestinians from their homes in Jerusalem. In late April 2021, Palestinians began demonstrating on the streets of Jerusalem to protest the impending deportation. Residents of Sheikh Jar rah and other militants began a night sit-in.
In early May, after the court ruled on the expulsion, the Israeli police sent troops to the demonstrators and the protests escalated. On May 7, during the holy month of Ramadan, several weeks of daily demonstrations between protesters, Israeli settlers, and police have increased tensions. Subsequently, the Israeli police fired stun grenades, rubber bullets and water guns in Jerusalem. Violence broke out in the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in. Clashes with protesters, hundreds of Palestinians were injured. Jerusalem Day celebrations intensified Jerusalem.
On May 10, after several days of violent clashes in Jerusalem, the Israeli police used deadly and non-lethal force, and Hamas, militant groups that rule Gaza and other Palestinian militant groups launched hundreds of strikes. Israel responded with air strikes and air strikes. The subsequent shelling of Gaza, including several air strikes, killed more than 20 Palestinians. Israel claimed to target Hamas, other militants and its infrastructure (including tunnels and rocket launchers), expanded its air campaign, and hit residential buildings, militias and other targets.
So far, 10 Israelis have died and hundreds have been injured .The violence of the Mafia and the reprisals in cities across Israel have raised concerns about the escalation of violence elsewhere. Despite the international community’s support for the ceasefire, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his intention to continue military operations in Gaza.
CONCLUSION
Palestinians are still fighting for an official nation to get recognize by all countries. Although Palestinians occupy key regions of land, inclusive of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, a few Israelis, with their governments blessing, retain to settle in regions which can be usually agreed to be in Palestinian control. Many global rights corporations recall such settlements illegal, the borders aren’t truly defined, and continual warfare remains the norm. A big proportion of Israelis additionally opposes the settlements and might choose to locate non violent approaches to solve their land disputes with the Palestinians.
Some say the possible solution could be two state solutions or one state solution or many theories. Even US Vice President Joe Biden committed to assist in the organisation of efforts to restore Gaza, saying that forming a Palestinian state alongside Israel is the “only solution” to the conflict.
Even India, a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, performed a careful balancing act on Sunday by expressing its longstanding support for the Palestinian cause but not forsaking its good pal Israel. India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, T.S. Tirumurti, voiced concern about the violence in Jerusalem and the “potential eviction process” of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah, and warned against “attempts to unilaterally change the status quo” in Jerusalem. He also reaffirmed India’s “unwavering commitment to the two-state solution” and “strong support for the righteous Palestinian cause.”
To resolve this conflict both Israelis and Palestinians must come up with peace and start recognizing each other, come up with a two-state solution or with a convention to end this horrific bloody war which has taken so many innocent lives till now. Otherwise a third intifada would erupt, escalating rising tensions into large-scale violence.
