You conflicts between Israel and Palestine they date back to the first half of the 20th century and were initiated by the dispute over Palestinian territory. This rivalry began with the growth of the Jewish population in Palestine and resulted in a series of conflicts from 1948 onwards. Israel claims its actions are in defense of its own population, and the Palestinians accuse Israel of sustaining a regime of persecution.
Accessalso: Jerusalem — the story of one of the most important cities in the world
Causes of conflict
The confrontation between Israel and Palestine is a of the conflicts of more long duration of history of humanity. It officially extends since the 1940s, although the 1930s saw increasing tension and violence between Jews and Arabs. After all this period, from time to time, hostilities break out between the two sides, increasing the tension.
Historically speaking, the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is explained by the
control of palestine. While there is the issue of religion, which matters much more when it comes to Jerusalem, the rivalry between Israelis and Palestinians has political reasons, mainly, and that involve the control of that territory.More recently, many analysts point out that the confrontation currently involves new aspects, which are around the way violence by which Israel treats the Palestinian population residing either in Israel or in the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and the Strip. Gaza.
So, the Palestinian population struggles to achieve self-determination — since the State of Palestine does not exist, officially speaking — but also to achieve better living conditions, as they claim that Israel keeps them in conditions. degrading, limiting the population's access to basic resources such as water, and suffocating the population of Gaza with an economic blockade that has extended since 2007, among others factors.
Israel, in turn, defends its actions stating that they are justified in the context of combating Hamas, an organization considered a terrorist by the Israelis and that has commanded the Gaza Strip since 2006. As such, Israel claims that its attacks and all other actions that are taken are aimed solely at harming Hamas. Israel still accuses Hamas of using the civilian population of Palestine as a human shield.
Do not stop now... There's more after the advertising ;)
historical roots
The conflict between Israel and Palestine has how starting point late 19th century, at the time the Zionist movement. In the 1890s, the Zionism it emerged from a book written by Theodor Herzl, a Hungarian Jewish journalist who went on to advocate the creation of a state for Jews in Palestine.
The choice of location was due to the fact that Palestine was the place where Jews resided in Antiquity, before the diaspora. The migration of Jews there began in the 1880s, but began to happen in an organized way from 1897, right after the First Zionist Congress.
After that, the World Zionist Organization started to organize the land purchase in Palestine so that they could be inhabited by Jews. The reason for this desire of Jews to migrate to Palestine is directly linked to the growth of anti-Semitismacross the continent of Europe during the same period.
Accessalso: Holocaust, the Jewish Genocide during World War II
Tension in Palestine
You Zionists began to defend their cause politically. at the international level, and the first big step towards this happened in 1917, when the Jews received an assurance from the British that the United Kingdom would support them in the creation of a Jewish state in the Palestine. The leak of that promise spread tension across Palestine.
In the 1930s, the tension gave rise to a Palestinian nationalist movement against the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. One of the great leaders of this Palestinian nationalism was Hajj Amin al-Husaini, the mufti of Jerusalem. Historian Karen Armstrong defines Husaini as a “radical nationalist”|1|.
Tensions rose considerably in the 1930s and increasingly as the Jewish population in Palestine increased. This population increase has been documented by historians, and Karen Armstrong, for example, points out that the Jewish population in Palestine increased from 18.9% in 1933 to 27.7% in 1936|2|. Then the violence began to manifest itself on both sides.
Palestinian guerrillas began to form and attacks and attacks began to be organized. Muslim dissatisfaction with the growing presence of Jews in Palestine also came through strikes and acts of civil disobedience. On the Jewish side, militias such as the Irgun started to carry out attacks against the Arab population.
Creation of Israel
Increased tension and escalating violence on both sides led to the British, who had ruled the region since the end of the first war World, a propose the division of Palestine to create a state for the Jews and another for the Arabs. This plan did not advance, but the violence on both sides continued to grow and England decided to withdraw from the region.
After Second war World, O UK handed over control of Palestine and the resolution of the problem between Jews and Arabs in the hands of the United Nations Organization (UN). At the beginning of 1947, the UN created a plan to carry out the division of the land, along the lines of what was proposed by the British.
This proposal was taken to the UN General Assembly on November 29, 1947, and was approved. The Zionist Jews automatically agreed with the proposal, even accepting the fact that Jerusalem would be under international control. You Arabs, in turn, rejected the plan to partition Palestine.
The British announced that their troops would be withdrawn from Palestine in October 1948, but this departure was brought forward to April of the same year. Shortly after the departure of British troops, the Zionist authorities in Palestine proclaimed the foundation of the State of Israel, on May 14, 1948. The Jewish state enjoyed international recognition, with the exception of the Arab countries.
Summary of main conflicts
The founding of Israel resulted in the first major conflict in Palestine. This was the First Arab War-Israeli, which lasted from 1948 to 1949 and had episodes of great violence. This war started when different Arab countries declared war on Israel and this happened soon after the foundation of the Jewish State.
During this conflict, Israel was attacked by troops from Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Transjordan (current Jordan), but the prepared Israeli armed forces managed to impose themselves in the conflict, facing great difficulties only in the fight against Transjordan. Violence raged on both sides, and Israeli expansion and attacks on Palestinian civilians forced thousands to flee.
Even before the war started, hostilities were already taking place, and one case became well known, highlighted by Karen Armstrong. On April 10, the Irgun, a terrorist group, attacked the Arab village of Deir Yassin, killing 250 people, including men, women and children, and mutilating their bodies.|3|.
The Israeli army managed to considerably enlarge the territories of Israel, forcing about 700 thousand Palestinians to take refuge. Most of these people went to Transjordan, and Israel never allowed the return of these people and their descendants. To this day this conflict is known as nakba (tragedy) by the Arabs, and the return of the descendants of refugees is one of the great demands of Palestinian groups such as Hamas.
Throughout the 20th century, a series of other conflicts occurred, highlighting the following:
Suez Crisis;
Six Day War;
Yom Kippur War;
First Intifada;
Second Intifada.
THE Crisisdandsuez, or Warinsuez, dates back to 1956, when France and the United Kingdom had a diplomatic crisis with Egypt over control of the Suez Canal. This crisis resulted in a military action against Egypt in which Israel took part. Israel took advantage of the circumstance to invade and occupy the Sinai Peninsula, but was forced to leave that region later on.
In 1967, it was time to start the Six Day War, as a consequence of Israeli attacks on Syria. These attacks took place under the allegation that Syria harbored Palestinian guerrillas who were part of Fatah, a group linked to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
In this conflict, Israel's forces proved to be far superior to those of Arab nations and, in six days of conflict, Israel conquered a number of new territories: Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula, East Jerusalem, West Bank, and Hills of Collar. A UN resolution issued after the conflict ordered Israel to abandon these territories, which only partially happened later.
Years later, in 1973, a new conflict broke out. Known as Yom Kippur War, began when Arab nations launched a surprise attack on Israel, aimed at recovering territories taken by the Israelis in the 1967 conflict. This war ended indefinitely, as neither of the forces managed to overcome the other.
Finally, the Intifadaswere popular rebellions carried out by the Palestinians. The First Intifada took place in 1987, and the second in 2000. In these uprisings, the population armed themselves with sticks and stones and went to confront Israeli troops. It is estimated that around 1200 Palestinians died in the First Intifada, and around 3300 in the second|4|.
Peace agreements were negotiated between the two parties, with emphasis on the Oslo Accords, in which Yitzhak Rabin, Israeli Prime Minister, and Yasser Arafat, leader of the PLO, met with Bill Clinton, US president at the time, to wake up the peace. This agreement failed because, in the late 1990s, the new Israeli government (of the far right) refused to fulfill what had been agreed.
Read too: Syrian Civil War — conflict responsible for the deaths of 600,000 people in the Middle East
Hamas
Conflicts between Israel and Palestine continued throughout the 21st century and, whenever there is friction, Israel promotes attacks in the Gaza Strip or West Bank, and a Palestinian resistance group responds with missiles or summoning the population to resist. That group is Hamas, which is a major player in this conflict.
![Hamas is a fundamentalist organization that stands as a resistance to Israel. The Israeli government considers Hamas a terrorist organization.[1]](/f/35b56725f4c92349acef1d3cb27251e8.jpg)
Hamas is an organization that is classified as fundamentalist because of its religious bias. It appeared in 1987 and became one of the main names of the Palestinian resistance, alongside Fatah (secular and moderate tendencies). Hamas has different areas of activity, having a military arm, a political arm and a social action one.
O Hamas' military arm is considered a terrorist group by Israel and other countries, like the U.S and the nations of European Union. When Hamas emerged, the statute of that group advocated the complete eradication of Israel, but international analysts say the organization's position has become a little more moderate in the last years.
Currently, it is understood that Hamas accepts that the State of Palestine be created in the territories of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Since 2006, Hamas has entered politics and taken over the Gaza Strip, increasing rivalry with Fatah. THE Hamas' political rise caused Israel to impose an economic blockade à Gaza Strip.
In this blockade, Israel banned the entry into Gaza of everything that could be used in the production of weapons, allowing the entry of only basic items. However, frequent allegations happen that normal goods, such as cleaning items and food, are barred by Israeli authorities. International observers point out that the blockade contributes to increasing food insecurity for the Palestinian population.
Every time the fragile peace of the region is broken, the Hamas responds by releasing hundreds, at times thousands of missiles against Israel. However, most of these missiles are intercepted by the anti-missile system developed by Israel and known as Iron Dome.
Journalist Mohammed Omer points out that part of the Palestinian population does not approve of Hamas' methods, but he says that with every Israeli attack against Hamas. Gaza Strip, support for Hamas increases as Israeli attacks result in the death of hundreds, sometimes thousands, of civilians, many of them kids|5|.
Finally, the Hamas comes under international criticism by the way it governs the Gaza Strip. This group is conservative and authoritarian, and denunciations from groups of Human rights point out that Hamas pursues critics and political opponents, arbitrarily arresting them and using torture practices.
Palestine question
Currently, the State of Israel is a consolidated nation, with good infrastructure and one of the best quality of life indices in the Middle East. The Palestinians, on the other hand, do not have a national state and the living conditions of its population, whether in the Gaza Strip or in the West Bank, have been getting worse every day.
![Fire in Gaza City after Israeli bombing.[2]](/f/c908e840781a6a11503863bffd9cb3fa.jpg)
One of the big problems facing the Palestinian population is the Israeli settlements that have been built on Palestinian territory. Those settlements are seen as a strategy of gradual occupation of the territory, as their number has increased over the years.
Other groups have denounced some practices imposed on the Palestinian population. Humans Rights Watch, an organization that observes the defense of Human Rights in the world, points out, in a 2021 report, that Israel benefits the Israeli population, while discriminates openly the Palestinian population.
The report also points out that the Israeli government is systematically acting to perpetuate demographic, political and territorial control in the region through laws and police power. Finally, the report points out that the degrading living conditions that are imposed on Palestinians in some regions of Israel are so severe that they constitute crimes against humanity by imposition of an apartheid regime, that is, a segregation regime|6|.
Mohammed Omer claims that one of the places that suffers the mostm is the Gaza Strip, a narrow piece of land in southern Palestine inhabited by about two million people, making it one of the most densely inhabited in the world. He points out that the situation in the Gaza Strip is so degrading that in 2015|7|:
55% of the population of Gaza suffered from depression;
43% were unemployed;
40% lived below the poverty line;
60% were in food insecure conditions.
After more than seven decades of conflict, many still argue that the way out of this war between Israelis and Palestinians is the creation of two states, one Israeli and the other Palestinian, in the region.
Grades
|1| ARMSTRONG, Karen. Jerusalem: one city, three religions. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2000, p. 431.
|2| Idem, p. 438.
|3| Idem, p. 442.
|4| What are the intifadas? To access, click on here.
|5| OMER, Mohammed. In a state of shock: surviving in Gaza under Israeli attack. São Paulo: Literary Autonomy, 2017, p. 49.
|6| A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution. To access, click on here [in English].
|7| OMER, Mohammed. In a state of shock: surviving in Gaza under Israeli attack. São Paulo: Literary Autonomy, 2017, p. 19.
Image credit
[1] Abed Rahim Khatib and Shutterstock
[2] Nick_John_07 and Shutterstock
By Daniel Neves Silva
History teacher
