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8 QUESTIONS to understand why Israelis and Palestinians fight

2023-10-09 11:40:25Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
8 QUESTIONS to understand why Israelis and Palestinians fight
The conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis is one of the longest and bloodiest in the Middle East.

The conflict between Palestinians and Israelis is one of the longest and bloodiest in the Middle East, and tensions have risen unprecedentedly in recent years. The Israeli military launched an intense wave of attacks on Gaza this Saturday, October 7, after Hamas, the Islamist militant group that controls the territory, launched a surprise and coordinated attack, firing hundreds of rockets and penetrating southern Israel. There are hundreds of deaths between both sides in the fighting that analysts consider unprecedented. This is the latest escalation in a long and bloody conflict with no imminent resolution that has marked the Middle East for decades.

These 8 questions help you understand.

1. How did the conflict begin?

Encouraged by the anti-Semitism suffered by Jews in Europe, in the early 20th century, the Zionist movement gained strength, seeking to create a state for Jews. The region of Palestine, between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, considered sacred to Muslims, Jews and Catholics, belonged to the Ottoman Empire in those years and was occupied mainly by Arabs and other Muslim communities. But heavy Jewish immigration, encouraged by Zionist aspirations, was beginning to create resistance among the communities.

After the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, the United Kingdom received a mandate from the League of Nations to administer the territory of Palestine. But, before and during the war, the British had made various promises to the Arabs and Jews, which they later did not keep, also because they had already divided the Middle East with France. This caused a climate of tension between Arab nationalists and Zionists that led to clashes between Jewish paramilitary groups and Arab gangs.

After World War II and the Holocaust, the pressure to create a Jewish state increased even more. The original plan envisaged dividing the territory controlled by the European power between the Jews and the Palestinians.

After the establishment of Israel on May 14, 1948, the tension shifted from a local to a regional issue.

The next day Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Iraq occupied this territory. It was the first Arab-Israeli war, also known by Jews as the war of independence or liberation. After the conflict, the territory originally planned by the United Nations for an Arab state was reduced by half.

For the Palestinians, the Nakba, the so-called "destruction" or "catastrophe": the beginning of the national tragedy began. 750,000 Palestinians fled to neighboring countries or were expelled by Jewish troops.

In 1956, a crisis over the Suez Canal would pit the State of Israel against Egypt, which would not be determined on the battlefield, but by international pressure on Israel, France and England.

The fighting would have the last word in 1967 in the Six Day War. What happened between June 5 and 10 had profound and lasting consequences on various levels. It was a landslide victory for Israel against an Arab coalition. Israel captured the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. Half a million Palestinians fled.

The last Arab-Israeli conflict would be the Yom Kippur War in 1973, which pitted Egypt and Syria against Israel and allowed Cairo to retake the Sinai (fully surrendered by Israel in 1982) but not Gaza.

Six years later, Egypt becomes the first Arab country to sign peace with Israel, an example followed only by Jordan.

2. Why was Israel founded in the Middle East?

Jewish tradition shows that the area in which Israel is located is the Land Promised by God to the first patriarch, Abraham, and his descendants.

The area was occupied in antiquity by the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Macedonians and Romans. Rome was the empire that named the region Palestine and that, seven decades after Christ, expelled the Jews after fighting nationalist movements seeking independence.

With the rise of Islam, in the 7th century AD, Palestine was conquered by the Arabs and then conquered by the European Crusaders. In 1516, Turkish rule was established that would last until World War I, when the British mandate was established.

The United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) stated in its report to the General Assembly on September 3, 1947, that the reasons for establishing a Jewish state in the Middle East centered on "arguments based on biblical and historical sources".

There, the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and the foundations for the reconstruction of the "Jewish National Home" in this region were recognized.

After the Nazi Holocaust against millions of Jews in Europe before and during World War II, international pressure increased for the recognition of a Jewish state.

Unable to resolve the polarization between Arab nationalism and Zionism, the British government took the matter to the UN.

On November 29, 1947, the General Assembly approved a plan for the partition of Palestine, which recommended the creation of an independent Arab state and a Jewish state and a separate regime for the city of Jerusalem.

The plan was accepted by the Israelis, but not by the Arabs, who saw it as a loss of territory. That is why it was never implemented.

The day before the expiration of the British Mandate of Palestine, on May 14, 1948, the Jewish Agency for Israel, the representative of Jews during the mandate, declared the independence of the State of Israel.

The next day Israel applied for membership in the United Nations, a status it finally achieved a year later.

3. Why are there two Palestinian territories?

The United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP), in its report to the General Assembly in 1947, recommended that the Arab State include "Western Galilee, the mountainous region of Samaria and Judea, excluding the city of Jerusalem, and the coastal plain of Ishdud to the Egyptian border.But the division of the territory was determined by the Armistice Line of 1949, established after the creation of Israel and the first Arab-Israeli war.

The two Palestinian territories are the West Bank (which includes East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip, which are located about 45 km apart. They have an area of ​​5,970 km2 and 365 km2, respectively.

The West Bank (West Bank) lies between Jerusalem, which is claimed as the capital by both the Palestinians and the Israelis, and Jordan to the east, while Gaza is a strip 41 km long and between 6 and 12 km wide.

Gaza has a 51 km border with Israel, 7 km with Egypt and 40 km of coastline on the Mediterranean Sea.

Originally occupied by the Israelis who still maintain control of its southern border, the Gaza Strip was occupied by Israel in the 1967 war and was only liberated in 2005, although it maintains an air, sea and land blockade that restricts the movement of goods, services and people.

The Strip is currently controlled by Hamas, the main Palestinian Islamist group that has never recognized agreements signed between other Palestinian factions and Israel.

The West Bank, on the other hand, is governed by the Palestinian National Authority, the internationally recognized Palestinian government whose main faction, Fatah, is not Islamist but secular.

4. Have the Palestinians and Israelis never submitted to peace?

After the creation of the state of Israel and the displacement of thousands of people who lost their homes, the Palestinian nationalist movement began to regroup in the West Bank and Gaza, controlled by Jordan and Egypt respectively, and in refugee camps established in other Arab states.

Shortly before the 1967 war, Palestinian organizations such as Fatah, led by Yasser Arafat, formed the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and launched operations against Israel first from Jordan and then from Lebanon. But these attacks also included attacks against Israeli targets on European soil that did not distinguish between planes, embassies or athletes.

After years of Palestinian attacks and selective killings by Israeli security forces, the PLO and Israel would sign the Oslo peace accords in 1993, in which the Palestinian organization renounced "violence and terrorism" and recognized Israel's "law" to exist. in peace' and security', a recognition that the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas never accepted.

Following the agreements signed in the Norwegian capital, the Palestinian National Authority was established, which represents the Palestinians in international forums. Its president is elected by direct vote and he in turn chooses a prime minister and members of his cabinet. Its civilian and security authorities control urban areas (Zone A according to Oslo), while only its civilian and non-security representatives control rural areas (Zone B).

East Jerusalem, considered the historic capital by the Palestinians, is not included in this agreement.

Jerusalem is one of the most conflicting points between the two sides.

5. What are the main points of conflict between Palestinians and Israelis?

The delay in establishing an independent Palestinian state, the construction of Jewish settler settlements in the West Bank and the security barrier around that territory – condemned by the International Court of Justice in The Hague – have complicated the progress of a peace process.

But these are not the only obstacles, as was made clear by the failure of the last serious peace talks between the two groups that took place at Camp David, United States, in 2000, when the outgoing Bill Clinton failed to reach an agreement between Arafat and the Israeli prime minister at the time, Ehud Barak.

The seemingly irreconcilable differences are as follows:

Jerusalem: Israel claims sovereignty over the city (holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians) and claims it as its capital after taking East Jerusalem in 1967. This is not recognized internationally. The Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be their capital.

Borders and territory: The Palestinians demand that their future state conform to the pre-June 4, 1967 borders, before the start of the Six Day War, something Israel rejects.

Settlements: Settlements are houses, illegal under international law, built by the Israeli government in territories occupied by Israel after the 1967 war. There are more than half a million Jewish settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Palestinian refugees: How many refugees there are depends on who is counting them. The PLO says there are 10.6 million, of which almost half are registered with the UN. Palestinians maintain that refugees have a right of return to what is now Israel, but for Israel to open the door would destroy its identity as a Jewish state.

6. Is Palestine a state?

The UN recognized Palestine as a "non-member observer state" in late 2012 and ceased to be an "observer entity". The change allowed Palestinians to participate in General Assembly debates and improve their chances for membership in UN agencies and other bodies. But the vote did not create the Palestinian state. A year ago, the Palestinians tried but did not get enough support in the Security Council. More than 70% of the members of the UN General Assembly (138 out of 193) recognize Palestine as a state.

7. Why is the US the main ally of Israel? Who supports the Palestinians?

First, we must consider the existence of a significant and powerful pro-Israel lobby in the United States and the fact that public opinion is usually favorable to the Israeli position, so that an American president withdrawing support for Israel is virtually impossible. impossible.

In addition, the two nations are military allies: Israel is one of the largest recipients of US aid, and most of it comes in the form of arms subsidies.

However, in December 2016, under President Barack Obama, an unusual step was taken in US policy towards Israel: not to veto a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israel's settlement policy.

But the arrival of Donald Trump in the White House gave a new impetus to relations between the United States and Israel, which was reflected in the transfer of the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, making the United States the first country in the world to recognize that city as the capital of Israel.

In the final months of his presidency, Trump managed to get four wealthy Arab countries to normalize their relations with Israel.

For his part, Trump's successor, Democrat Joe Biden, came to power with the intention of avoiding the dangerous Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in addition to seeing it as a problem requiring huge political capital with a very modest return.

The Biden administration continues to support Israel's recognition, but has adopted more cautious diplomacy.

For their part, the Palestinians do not have the open support of a power.

In the region, Egypt stopped supporting Hamas after the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood - historically linked to the Palestinian group - while Syria and Iran and the Lebanese group Hezbollah are its main backers.

8. What must happen for there to be a chance for lasting peace?

Israelis would have to support a sovereign state for the Palestinians that includes Hamas, lifting the blockade of Gaza and restrictions on movement in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Palestinian groups must renounce violence and recognize the state of Israel.

And reasonable agreements would have to be reached regarding borders, Jewish settlements, and the return of refugees.

Megjithatë, që nga viti 1948, viti i krijimit të shtetit të Izraelit, shumë gjëra kanë ndryshuar, veçanërisht konfigurimi i territoreve të diskutueshme pas luftërave midis arabëve dhe izraelitëve.

Për Izraelin këto janë një fakt i kryer. Jo për palestinezët, pasi ata këmbëngulin që kufijtë për t'u negociuar duhet të jenë ata që ekzistonin para luftës së 1967.

Për më tepër, ndërkohë që në fushën e betejës gjërat janë gjithnjë e më të pakontrollueshme në Rripin e Gazës, në Bregun Perëndimor ka një lloj lufte të heshtur me ndërtimin e vazhdueshëm të vendbanimeve hebraike, që në fakt pakëson territorin palestinez në ato zona autonome.

Por ndoshta çështja më e ndërlikuar për shkak të simbolikës së saj është Jeruzalemi, kryeqyteti i palestinezëve dhe izraelitëve.

Both the Palestinian National Authority, which governs the West Bank, and the Hamas group in Gaza claim the eastern part as their capital despite the fact that Israel occupied it in 1967. The so-called March of the Flag, which commemorates that capture The eastern part of the city is also a trigger for confrontations.

A final agreement will never be possible without resolving this point. /VoxNews


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