Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

The fight with no end

Throughout history mankind has been at war. With or without a reason, these wars have driven societies, religions, languages, and humans in general to become what they are today. For as long as history has been written, the battles and wars fought between humans were documented. When speaking of war, it seems as if it is an easy thing to write about, all the facts can come out clear, and they're publicly known by many. However, when it comes to the Israeli / Palestinian conflict, it seems as though everything is a blur. I say this because, more details have been recorded in history about wars and battles from over a century ago, than the there has been details listed on the Middle East crisis. Some believe that the battle for the holy land goes back to the days of Christ, but contrary to these popular misconceptions, the conflicts had only begun in the 1880's when the Zionist movement began, calling for a Jewish homeland, in "Eretz Yisrael", the state of Israel. This movement, perhaps not such a bad idea, only caused such a big reaction due to bad timing. The Zionist movement went through World War I, World War II, The Cold War, and Hitler's mostly successful attempts of ethnic cleansing against the Jewish society in Europe, also many local conflicts that were occurring within other countries that were indirectly involved in the fight for the "Holy Land". It is nearly impossible to find an article addressing this topic that is not biased; however, none of the information given about either side of the conflict is necessarily a lie. Consequently, giving some information and leaving some information out, proves to be irrational when the topic is as heated as this one. In this article, I will be providing facts from both sides, addressing the actions taken by both sides and the reasoning behind their actions. From racial and religious discrimination, to corrupt politicians and crooked government policies, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict has seen it all, and from the looks of it, will continue to see more for a long time.

Zionism. Not many have heard of it, yet Zionists play a huge role in the war in the Middle East. The names of almost all the Palestinian groups are heard of on CNN and Al-Jazeera, however the Zionist groups are not mentioned as often. The word "Zionist" is derived from the word "Zion" (Hebrew), being one of the names of Jerusalem, as mentioned in the Bible. Familiarizing with Zionism is key to understanding the Arab-Israeli conflicts, because the Zionist movement is what began the whole ordeal. The Jews' desire to return to the homeland and the spark for Zionism began after the Roman Empire Defeated the Great Jewish Revolt which led to the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70 A.D, also because of the defeat of Bar Kochba's revolt in 135 A.D, which led to the dispersing of Jews throughout the Roman Empire, later to be known simply as Europe. However, Zionism was not labeled publicly as Zionism until 1890, when Austrian Jewish Publicist Nathan Birnbaum wrote about it in his Journal Self Emancipation. Up until a chain of events beginning in 1881, and ending in 1947, the Jew's had a more subtle approach to returning to the homeland. During that time, the Jews suffered a life of Anti-Semitic treatment or Pogrom (A massive violent attack on people while taking out their environment, Schools, Businesses, and religious centers), that began in Russia, and Poland (which was controlled by Russia at the time); and ending in the Holocaust which was caused by one of the most tyrannical leaders of all time, Adolph Hitler. This led the Jews to feel the urgent need for a homeland.

In the late 1880's, a Zionist movement began settling European Jews in the district of Palestine, which was then controlled by the Ottoman Empire. Violence broke out between the Jews and the overlooked Arab community that was living in Palestine. Some may ask, why Palestine? Jewish slogans from the past, such as Israel Zangwill's famous slogan "A land without people, for a people without a land.", would build the assumption that the Jews would have searched for a land other than Palestine to immigrate to, considering the existent Arab inhabitants. The desire for different land is also present in old Jewish literature, such as Ahad Ha'am's essay "Truth from Eretz Israel" in 1891, that warned "It is hard to find tillable land that is not already tilled" in Palestine , and also

From abroad we are accustomed to believing that the Arabs are all desert savages, like donkeys, who neither see nor understand what goes on around them. But this is a big mistake... The Arabs, and especially those in the cities, understand our deeds and our desires in Eretz Israel, but they keep quiet and pretend not to understand, since they do not see our present activities as a threat to their future... However, if the time comes when the life of our people in Eretz Israel develops to the point of encroaching upon the native population, they will not easily yield their place.

Nonetheless, Jewish immigration persisted, and the Palestinians were frustrated over the sale of land to European Zionist Jewish settlers because they had no control over the land; they simply worked there and lived there. Following the Balfour Declaration in 1917, Palestine was given to the British as a League of Nations Mandate, after the British defeated the Ottoman Empire. The Arabs, resenting the presence of the Zionist Jews, revolted with leadership from Grand Mufti Haj Amin El-Husseini, which ended in nothing but violence and constant rioting. The British than stopped the Jewish immigration to Palestine, until Hitler came along in World War II and killed off six million Jews in Europe. More pressure was put on Britain, and Jews, by Zionist groups, to finalize the migration of Jews to the home land, "Eretz Yisrael". Despite all that was occurring, Palestinian nationalism did not begin until 1936-39, when World War II was on the verge of eruption. In 1937, David Ben-Gurion (a Zionist Socialist and politcal Leader, who was later to become the first Prime Minister of Israel) and almost all of his political party supported a British proposal to create a small Jewish state from which the Arabs had been removed by force. The British plan was soon put aside, but the idea of a Jewish state with a minimal population of Arabs remained an important factor in Zionist thought throughout the remaining period, until the creation of Israel. The British-ruled Palestine was shook by a major Arab revolt at the time, and ended up in a civil war involving Jews, Arabs, and the British. One false misconception commonly made in the west, is referring to the war as a Jewish and Muslim war. However,