The Arab-Israeli Conflict - An Overview

[Dr.K]

Seeing that many prominent Al-Qaida ringleaders site the issue of 'Israel' in general as a main reason for conducting their campaigns, I decided a few weeks back to read up on the whole affair of the Palestine-Israel situation. Due to ambiguity in some of the sources, I just want to see if I've generally got the gist of what is causing the unrest in that region of the Middle-East. As there are numerous people on this forum who are intelligent and informed on world affairs (hence the name), I humbly request that if I include any errors, or leave crucial information out, please don't hesitate to point me in the right direction - this thread is mainly to 'educate' me I guess, and I'd be very grateful to anyone who could help - I am essentially without knowledge on this issue. Many thanks for any help.

Right.

Before WWI, there existed a large region in the Middle East known as the 'Ottoman Empire' governed by Muslim Turks. In 1913, this empire fell, and was years later split into different 'states' - Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine. The region of Palestine consisted of mostly Arabs, with a relitively small number of Jews.

Persecution of the Jewish people in Europe during the early (and mid) 1900's lead to significant numbers of Jews emigrating to Jerusalem (in Palestine) as this was seen as their 'native home' as their people had lived there around 1,800 years ago before being ousted. British interest in Zionism was also growing, and had been since the 19th century, and Britain was secretly trying to pinpoint an area of land that they were to make a Jewish 'home' out of, for economical reasons thus far. Arabs started to become agitated by the Zionist call for a Jewish homeland in their region.

Riots and conflicts broke out between Arabs and Jews in the 1920's, and violence escalated. Years later, in 1937, to resolve this, the Peel Commision was proposed to create separate Arab and Jewish areas, but this was rejected by both sides. Increased Jewish immigration around this time from Europe sparked a large Arab revolt, leaving hundreds of Jews dead. The revolt was eventually suppressed by British forces via brutal measures.

The United Nations decided to try and stop the troubles once and for all. They planned to partition (after voting etc.) the territory into Jewish and Arab states, with Jerusalem coming under international control. It was rejected by the Arab states, who were displeased with the amount and quality of land given to Israeli states, and saw it as a violation of the non-Jewish majority (66%) in the region. Arab's also feared that it would lead to further Jewish domination. The failure of the plan led to the 1948 war of Israeli independence, which eventually resulted in the declaration of a Jewish state, and the beginning of the major troubles.

I'll wrap it up there.

[Primus Inter Pares]

The Balfour Declaration/Treaty is very significant to the original creation of Israel, read up on that it's too late right now for me to get anything on it .

[theundeadhero]

I thought Isreal was made into an actual nation as an agreement after world war II. It was somethign America wanted done. Because of that action the Arab nations have been very unfriendly towards the US since that time. They didn't like it that their land was taken to form the nation of Isreal and that it was given to the Isrealite people. I could be way off on that though.

[Cloud No.9]

nah monkey there was a whole war before that. jews bombing british soldiers. arabs bombing jews. british bombing whoever they saw. and eventually britain just did the "screw you guys i'm going home" thing and walked.

[bipper]

nah monkey there was a whole war before that. jews bombing british soldiers. arabs bombing jews. british bombing whoever they saw. and eventually britain just did the "screw you guys i'm going home" thing and walked.

LOL! I like that analogy. Now you have sparked my interest, since I was specifically told the same as theundeadmonkey.

[lordblazer]

nah monkey there was a whole war before that. jews bombing british soldiers. arabs bombing jews. british bombing whoever they saw. and eventually britain just did the "screw you guys i'm going home" thing and walked.

lol Man that was a funny phrase and way to put it. You took the words right out my mouth.

[DarkLadyNyara]

nah monkey there was a whole war before that. jews bombing british soldiers. arabs bombing jews. british bombing whoever they saw. and eventually britain just did the "screw you guys i'm going home" thing and walked.

meh, sounds about right.

[Psychotic]

There's one thing that I always like to mention whenever the Arab-Israeli conflict is brought up, because it sounds incredible, or it does to me at least. Right after Israel was officially created, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan and Saudi Arabia all declared war on it, and then tried to invade, only Israel knocked them all back and ended up with 50% more territory than they were originally given by the UN. That really impresses me.

[udsuna]

And that extra territory is Palestine and the occupied territories.

[War Angel]

I'll wrap it up there.

And fairly well-wrapped it is.

I was going to say a lot of stuff here... I had it all written down and everything, and then the freaking window close down. So, ask bipper to show you the insight I've given him (bipper, you still haven't responded to it, by the way). I'll also add another anacdote... about the origin of the word 'Palestine', and a few other things, if I can be arsed.

After the great exile of Jews from Israel in 79AD by the Roman empiire, an emperor sought to eliminate the affinity and connection Jews had to their homeland, by changing its name. Seemed wise... through history, the land will be called by a different name, and the Jews will forget it was ever theirs. So, he called upon his advisors, and asked them who where the Israelis' historical empires. The advisors told him the Jewish holy texts (the Old Testament, or the Tanach) spoke of a people that lived in Gaza, called the Plishtim, or Philistines in Roman tongue, and that they have been extinct for centuries, so they wouldn't mind. So, he called on his men, and told them to the change the name of Israel on every map, to 'Palestine'. And so, the land of Israel has been known as Palestine. It didn't change much for the Jews, though.

Now, the Arabs that call themselves Palestinians have no connection to the extinct Biblical people of Gaza, just like the Arabs that now dwell in Egypt have no connection to the ancient Egpytians. They are all Arabs, descendants of the proud and war-like tribes of the Arabian Peninsula, that drove over the Midde East a while ago.

The Palestinians are a poor, misreable and angry people, and for good reasons, too. As Jews began to return to the almost-empty land (barely 35,000 residents) of Israel, neighbouring Arab nations began to get anxious - mostly Jordan. Jordan couldn't engage in war, as the Ottoman empire ruled supreme. Nothing stopped it from flooding the place with immigrants, though. So, Jordan sent its most problematic, poorest citizens into Israel, to fight off the Jewish population, demograhpically at first. They didn't want to be sent their - it wasn't their home, and it has no importance to their Islamic religion.

However, when things broke down in 1948, they served their part well. They fought the Israelis from within, and like all the rest, lost bitterly. Many were driven from their poor temporary villages, and sought to return to Jordan. Jordan wasn't going to welcome them back, though. Neither were Syria, Egypt, or any other Arab country. So, they were stuck in the middle. They formed huge refugee camps - that exist to this day, amazingly enough, almost 60 years after. Some want to go back to Jordan (where their old homes and families are), and some want to get back to the land they occupied in Israel. They can do neither.

Pitiful, really. I'd sympathise, if only they hadn't blown themselves in our streets.

Now, the Arabs and Israelis battle. One has been around for thousands of years and has one of the strongest and most trained armies in the world and packed with the strongest of convictions, and the other is just very very angry and very bitter, at the world and everyone else. No-one is going to give up, or win. The Israelis could drive the Arabs away or wipe them out, but that's hardly the righteous thing to do... and they want a peace the Arabs have no will to attain or keep. So, the two keep on fighting. As soon as the Arabs realise they are fighting a hopeless fight against the wrong enemy, and settle down to talk, nothing will change.

[Cloud No.9]

the gaza strip and the other bit (god damn i forgot it's name). where never part of israel until the 7 day war....... i think. was it the 7 day war or the one before that?

anyway.... being conquered and taken doesn't make many people very happy. the people of alsace lorraine before ww1 didn't like it. and the germans didn't like it after ww2. and the area occupied by russia in the cold war didn't like much of the idea either. neither did india and america. they are rightly angry.

[theundeadhero]

Now, the Arabs that call themselves Palestinians have no connection to the extinct Biblical people of Gaza, just like the Arabs that now dwell in Egypt have no connection to the ancient Egpytians.

I'm glad you cleared that up for me. I've wondered about that before, but never knew so I just assumed it was the same people.

[Dr.K]

Thanks for all of your insight everyone

Just to clear up one more thing with respect to the geography of the area. When comparing this map of Palestine with this map of Israel, it seems as though Israel, bar Gaza strip and West Bank, has almost been superimposed on top of what once was Palestine. So basically, I ask,

1.) During the numerous wars since the failed partition plan, has Israel virtually taken over Palestine? (NB - the phrase 'taken over' does not carry any connotations of Israel trying to dominate Palestine)
2.) Does Palestine essentially exist anymore? Or are all modern day Palestinians living in Israel?

[Cloud No.9]

yes. israel took them becaause they are strategically very important. and leaving strategically very important land in the hands of your aggressive neighbours is silly.

[War Angel]

1.) During the numerous wars since the failed partition plan, has Israel virtually taken over Palestine?

Up untill 1967, Israel did not hold what is now reffered to as the 'Palestinian Territories'. During the Six Day War in 1967, Israel magnified its size by 3.5, reclaiming back much of its old territory, along with new one, namely the Gaza Strip and Sinai, two areas that were never a lasting part of Israel throughout its several-millenia existence, laying under its hold for a mere few decades at a time (and where therefore discarded as time went by). However, one must remember - there is not Palestine and Israel, but the two words are simply two names for the same piece of Earth.

2.) Does Palestine essentially exist anymore? Or are all modern day Palestinians living in Israel?

Palestine is Israel, in essence. However, today, due to demographic and historic changes, most of the Palestinian Arabs live in Yehuda and Shomron and the Gaza Strip (that has recently been discarded by Israel), where Yehuda and Shomron (Judea and Samarathon, in 'English') are historically Jewish and Israel, and Gaza isn't. However, now these areas are heavilly populated by Arabs, and they are reffered to as the 'Palestinian Territories'. That is, areas taken over by Palestinian Arabs, which now live there.