Imagine being revoked of natural rights, not receiving medical care, being abused, and denied citizenship. This is exactly what is happening to Palestinians. Palestinian borders are guarded by Israeli forces, food is often not allowed within the border, and Israel often invades Palestinian civilians hurting and even killing them. The conflict between Palestinians and Israeli forces is based on land and religion (Weir and Findley). It isn’t a struggle of intolerance between the contrasting religions, but one due to each group feeling entitled to the Holy Land due to their religion. Middle East Research and Information Project. )
Ever since the 19th century, this has been a contemporary occurrence. (Weir and Findley. 2008). The solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a two-state solution with the creation of an international constitution because it allows each state to be recognized as equal, is a compromise of both state wishes, and allows each state to have security. Two of the leading causes of the conflict is Arab nationalism and Zionism. Arab Nationalism was where old traditions and loyalties. (Middle East Research Information Project).
The Glories of the Islamic Civilization were renamed The Glories of the Arab Civilization. As the idea Arab nationalism spread throughout the Arab world they attempted to define their political identity (Stilley. 2). Zionism was the migration of Jews returning to their homeland, Israel, that began in the 1800s (Stilley. 3). The movement began in Europe and was made for a place to be founded where Jews could come together (Middle East Research Information Project). During World War I, the Arab Peninsula was controlled by the Ottoman Turks, and the war allowed an opportunity for the Arabs to be freed from Turkish control (Stilley).
They hoped to gain freedom but after the war Britain gained control over Palestine, beginning the British mandate (Stilley. 6). During this time Arab and Jewish tension began to grow. The tensions grew due to an increase in Jewish immigration, no free Jewish or Palestinian States and The Balfour Declaration’s (Stilley. 7). The Balfour Declaration’s were placed by Britain in November 1917, which called for the creation and establishment of Jewish homeland in Palestine. The declarations angered the arab community because they thought Palestine would’ve been free after WWI.
These declarations were made in order to get US businessmen to support war, influence British Zionist, and to have the continuum of Russian involvement (Stilly. 5). Immigration of European Jews greatly increased in result of Hitler’s rise to power in 1933 (Middle East Research Project). In 1940 30% of Palestine’s population were Jews (Stilley. 8) After WWII Britain gave Palestine to the United Nations because they weren’t able to control it (Stilley. 9). Another reason the British couldn’t control Palestine was the attack on King David Hotel on July 22, 1946. The hotel was the headquarter for British actions which were against Zionists.
The reason the attack happened was because a Bomb was placed that killed a Jewish group causing Zionists to want and acquire revenge (Stilley. 10). After Britain gave up their mandate on Palestine they had the United Nations decide Palestine’s fate. The British wanted the United Nations to see Palestine as a problem without a solution and to turn it into a UN trusteeship (Stilley. 11). However, the UN assembly voted for Palestine to be divided into two states, one for Arabs and the other for Jews while having the area of Bethlehem and Jerusalem as an international area (Middle East Research Information Project).
After the partition was placed tensions grew between Arabs and Jews causing them to begin fighting. War was expected causing the state of Israel to be established on May 14, 1948 (Stilley. 13). The creation of the new Israeli state lead to the first Arab Israeli war, causing Lebanon, Syrian, Iraqi, and Jordanian trooped to invade in hopes of crushing the newly formed state of Israel (Stilley. 14).
As a result of the first war the United Nations created resolution 194, which stated “refugees wishing to return to their homes and live in peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so” (Stilley. 0). This had the UN monitor the ceasefire over the greenline and argued to have palestinian refugees put back into their homeland (Stilley. 20). Eighy-five percent of the Arab Palestinians left their home in 1948, and citizenship was denied in host states. Refugee camps had to be sit up after major wars (Stilley. 23) In 1952, Gamal Abdul Nasser came to power, he was an Arab nationalist who wanted to eliminate influences from Europe in the Arab world (Stilley. 25) During his reign the Suez Canal War/Second War occurred.
The Suez Canal was used heavily with trading by European nations (Stilley. 24). The war only lasted for a week (Stilley. 29). Israeli military was victorious causing Israel to capture Gaza and most of Sinai, but the land captured was returned after the ceasefire. Israel gained U. S support after the war (Stilley. 30). Following the Second War, the Six Day War occurred in 1967. This was was caused due to the USSR giving Arab false information, Nasser wanting UN forces out of Egypt. Israel was threatened and decided to attack the Arabs before they gained stronger forces.
The first attack was on June 5, 1967 and in one day Israeli forces were able to destroy the air forces of Jordan, Syria, Egypt, and Iraq. As a result Israel took Sinai, Jersusalem and the entire West Bank. After the war Arab leaders were humiliated, there was disunity in Pan Arab movement, even more Palestinians were displaced, and the US confirmed Israel as a major ally. Another war that occurred after the Second Arab-Israeli War was the Yom Kippur War, also known as the October and Ramadan War. The war happened in 1973 and the goal of it was to create a resolution over the land conflicts.
The Palestinians believed that war would impel the United Nations, United States, and The Union of Soviet Republics to create a solution. Succeeding this was two intifadas, Palestinians rising against the Israeli holding of the West Bank, and Gaza Strip. The infidatas were enforced by the Palestinian Liberation Organization which believed only Palestinians Arabs should have nations in Palestine. The two solutions favored by most people are the one-state solution and the two-state solution. The one-state solution is where both Arabs and Jews live under one-state, with all of the people with citizenship of that state.
In one state, the Arabs would over populate the Jews because of their high birth rates and immigration from abroad. The people can’t live in harmony as they are so they couldn’t leaving together. With the Arabs over populating the Jews and the hate and violence the Arabs have been expressing it could possible turn into the second holocaust (Facts and Logic About the Middle East). The two-state solution is favored by most of the United States, it implies that a Palestinian state would be on the land that Israel seized in 1967 (Jerusalem Media & Communication Centre).
However if this solution was chosen Jews would still be harmed, there would be daily assaults (Facts and Logic About the Middle East). This solution has been tried in the past with the UN Partition plan after Britain gave Palestine to the United Nations. The states saw a lot of tension growing between them making this solution a negative one. Although the two-state solution may not work due to the Arabs and Jews not agreeing with time and help from the UN the solution could work.
According the Matt Hills, “Only Political stubbornness, not popular support or irreconcilable differences prevents two-state solution from working” (Telegraph). My solution involves the ideas from the UN partition plan of the area being divided equally (Middle East Research Information). The area of Jerusalem would be an international zone shared by both the Jews and Arabs. Since that area is considered the holy land and both religions believe it is sacred it would be shared by both areas. One of the failures of the UN partition plan was that it was laid out without rule.
With my solution there will be a constitution made that oversees each state, it would be created by the United Nations laying down the rules of each state and the nation as a whole. The first step for the solution to succeed is to have the United Nations, Palestine and Israel come to terms with the fact that in order for both groups to be at peace they must agree to live at peace with one another. The United Nations will prove this by showing each nation all of the problems they have that could be solved by simply working at peace with each other.
After the United Nations proves to Israel and Palestine that they must be at peace the three groups will work on creating a constitution for each state to follow, each state will compromise and give their opinions on what should be put into their constitution. This process will take a few years and will take patience and the cooperation of each state as well as the United Nations. This solution is the best because it allows each state to have security, the most important thing to israelis and palestinians is the feeling of being protected and secure.
With the constitution it sets standards on tolerance and the protection and safety of each state. Along with feeling secure both states want to be recognized and free, the constitution will also allow this having each state being recognized and allowing each state to have their own set of rules as long as they are following the international rules. With Jerusalem being considered an international zone and shared with both states I know you may feel that this could cause conflict but with the constitution involving a tolerance policy each state will respect one another’s beliefs and religions.
Jerusalem, also known as the holy land is extremely important and significant for both religions so making it an international zone would be the best way to respect and protect both Arabs and Jews. Overall the conflict of the Arabs and Jews can be solved with a division of the two states with an international constitution and having Jerusalem as an international zone. Although this solution will take time to be enforced and stabilized it would be a great way to end the conflict that has been going on for centuries.