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pardillaseth · 1 year ago

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The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict which started in the beginning of the mid-20th century. It is one of the world's longest continuing conflicts that has never settled up to the present time. There were various attempts that have been made to resolve the conflict as part of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, alongside other efforts to resolve the broader Arab–Israeli conflict. Even public declarations of claims to a Jewish homeland in Palestine has never been settled , which includes the First Zionist Congress of 1897 and the Balfour Declaration of 1917. This only created an early tensions in the region after waves of Jewish immigration from different part of the region and country sides. Following World War I, the Mandate for Palestine included a binding obligation for the "establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people". Tensions grew into open sectarian conflict between Jews and Arabs.

The starting point was in 1947 United Nations Land Partition Plan by the British mandate to divide it into two states , one Jewish and , one of Arab , which destroys much of the European Jewry during the Holocaust period. Palestine was never implemented and this provoked the 1947–1949 Palestine War.

Palestinians living there were expelled or fled to neighboring countries. According to the data, about 85% of the Arab population territory was captured by Israel and they were never allowed to return to their homeland. They were deprived of their civil rights , to be precise. Arab Israelis were kept poor and underfunded, Its citizens were subjected to official discrimination and were placed under military rules.

The current Israeli-Palestinian status quo began following Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 Six-Day War, known as the Palestinian territories. It was the period where Israel launched a pre-emptive defensive ward against Jordan, Egypt and Syria where they started to prepare for the invasion. The Arabs government were caught by surprise and saw Israel achieved rapid victories which includes the seizing of Sinai peninsula, Gaza strip from Egypt, Golan Heights of Syria, and the West Bank and East of Jerusalem from Jordan. This is the reason where the central conflicts began when Judea and Samaria as part of the biblical lands were acquired and controlled and opened its way to the construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Israel, then placed the Arab population in the West Bank under its military rule and is still enforced as of this present period.

Hamas , a Palestinian militant group which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007. The founder was Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who help found several Islamist orgarnisations in Gaza including Mujama-al-Islamiya, which won support and has established network of social services like schools, clinics and library. Hamas main goal is Israel's destruction and wants to replace it with an Islamic state. Hamas has fought several wars with Israel since it took power up to the present time, and because of this it became the breeding ground of support for the Hamas. Its first Intifada, which is largely recognized as a success for Palestinians , helps them solidify their identity and independently through the neighboring Arab states that makes Israel falls into negotiation. It also, strengthened Yassir Arafat’s hand to make a compromise with Israel, which includes the adaptation of the principle of a two-state solution.

The peace process negotiations was sputtered when President Bill Clinton tried to attemps and become a broker at the final deal at Camp David in 2000 which led to the outbreak of the 2nd Intifada. The rising of and widespread of suicide bombings against Israeli civilians launched by Hamas and other groups, then heightened the scale of Israeli military retaliation. Many Palestinians and Israeli’s died during the uprising in 2005. The political ramifications led to the hardening of decisions, attitudes and the construction of the West Bank barrier. Ariel Sharon , who was then the prime Minister at that time decided to disengage which remained undisputed. The Gaza Strip is a small enclave — bounded by Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea — where 2 million Palestinians live in crowded and impoverished conditions, most of them refugees then and up to present was controlled. Its airspace, and even territorial waters , access to their territory was blockaded since the Hamas came to power in 2006. It’s leader Ismail Haniya who was then appointed as its Prime Minister. This started Israel to arrest Hamas members of the Palestinian parliaments and imposed sactions against Gaza. The Hamas and Fatah relationship deteriorates which resulted into a violence. No agreement was settled to unify , the reason why Hamas group led an armed takeover of Gaza while Fatah continued to control the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. Hamas , on the other hand continued to attack Israel from Gaza, using rockets and ground incursion. Israel then continues to blockade its territory that led to deteriotation of Palestine , their living conditions and deepens its poverty.

Up to the present time, there has been no progress at all towards the agreement . Even the longest serving Prime Minister Netanyahu, said he will never ever accept a Palestinian state.

The United States bears a considerable responsibility for the one-state reality. U.S. attitudes have shifted notably: support for a two-state solution has declined, and support for a single state that ensures equal citizenship that has risen over the past few years. Polls show that most American voters would support a democratic Israel over a Jewish one, if forced to choose.

After the Hamas attacks, the US moved additional warships and aircraft into the region to show support for its ally and promised to ensure Israel had the weapons and munitions it needed as the conflict unfolded. Since World War II, Israel has received more US aid than any other country — some $158 billion in assistance and missile defense funding. It also said it was sending an aircraft carrier, other ships and jets to the eastern Mediterranean.

A better U.S. policy would advocate for equality, citizenship, and human rights for all Jews and Palestinians living within the single state dominated by Israel. Such a policy would not prevent a two-state solution from being resurrected in the unlikely event that the parties moved in that direction in the distant future. A one-state reality that is morally reprehensible and strategically costly would demand an immediate focus on equal human and civil rights. Even if one ignores the one-state reality, the same norms and values would surely be at stake in Israel and Palestine, as it is widely understood across the global South. Washington on the other hand needs to stop shielding Israel in international organizations when it faces valid allegations of transgressions against international law.

And it needs to refrain from vetoing UN Security Council resolutions that aim to hold Israel accountable, stop resisting Palestinian efforts to seek redress in international courts, and rally other countries to demand an end to the siege of Gaza—another supposedly temporary measure that has become a cruel and an institutionalized reality. By finally confronting the one-state reality and taking a principled stand, the United States would stop being part of the problem and start being part of the solution.

REFERENCES:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli Palestinian_conflict Nations Partition,Palestinian territories.

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/middle-east/israel-palestine-one-state-solution

MICHAEL BARNETT is University Professor of International Affairs and Political Science at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-13/israeli-palestinian-conflict-history-the-roots-of-the-israel-hamas-war#

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