What is the reason for the conflict in Palestine?

Question

please explain about the creation of Israel.Was Palestine experienced same like India,as India was also partitioned?

Answer 1

In the late 19th century, a group of European Jews known as Zionists decided to form a Jewish state in Palestine. Palestine at the time was 97% Muslim and Christian.

Before WWI Palestine was part of the Ottoman empire, which had been going through a process of democratization in fits and starts. Palestinians had had representation in the Ottoman parliament in 1877, 1908, 1912 and 1914.

To create the Jewish state, at first the European Zionists approached the Ottoman empire, but when Palestine came under the "British Mandate" after WWI they successfully petitioned the Britain and the other members of the League of Nations, victors of WWI, to favor the setting up of a "Jewish national home" in Palestine. The inhabitants of Palestine including native Jews were virtually all against the Zionist plan to take over their land.

In the decades after WWI Zionists tried buying up land and various economic measures such as only hiring Jews in businesses they set up or agricultural lands they purchased, and in the early 20th century some Zionists contemplated expelling the indigenous Arabs (as they were usually called then, today known as Palestinians).

Of course the British favored the Jewish settlements in many ways. They recognized Jewish political institutions but not Palestinian ones. Within British civil institutions (e.g. transportation) Jews were paid more for their labor, than Palestinians. A ceiling on promotion was imposed on native Palestinians working for the British government that was not imposed on Jews. The first British High Commissioner of the mandate government was a Zionist Jew, Sir Herbert Samuel.

Native Palestinians had no such influence. For example, in 1930 a delegation of Palestinians met with British colonial secretary Lord Passfield and demanded that the mandate set up a parliament "elected by the people in proportion to their numbers, irrespective of race or creed". Passfield turned down the request because it conflicted with the terms of the British Mandate (to set up a Jewish national home). Jews were the minority, so democracy and equal rights for all was out of the question!

The consequence was that the national civil institutions (for example education, labor, health) were either British or Zionist, making it so much easier for the Zionists to form a state when the British left.

Starting with strikes in 1936, the Palestinian public rebelled against the British but this was ruthlessly crushed with the help of the Jewish settlers - who were able to develop a well trained and well-armed military force with the help of the British.

In 1939 the British issued a "White Paper" promising limits on Jewish immigration and a Palestinians state. So the Palestinians (most of their leadership in prison or in exile) ended the rebellion, and mostly were quiescent or supported the British in WWII against the Nazis.

Following the "White Paper," some Zionists took to terrorism against the British and Palestinian civilians. By 1948, swelled by refugees from Europe, Jews were about 1/3 the population of Palestine and had managed to purchase between 6% and 7% of the land.

Following WWII and with Zionists attacking the British, the British decided to turn the matter over to the newly formed United Nations. Probably influenced guilt over the recent genocide committed with the help of Europeans of many nations against the Jews, in November 1947 the UN recommended a partition of Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state - giving the lion's share of the territory to the Jewish state although they were the minority. The "Jewish" part was about 60% Jewish, the "Arab" part had only a small minority of Jews. Most Palestinian Arabs were against the partition.

The terrorism against the Palestinians picked up in 1947 when it became apparent that the British were leaving. Until they left in 1948, the British did very little to prevent the massive campaign of ethnic cleansing the Zionists started against the Palestinians. Palestinians, their leadership destroyed and with little native military, were left largely defenseless against attacks on their villages and towns by the Zionist armed forces. The Zionists had already destroyed dozens of villages by the time the Arab armies entered the war, immediately after Israel declared itself a state in May 1948.

As the war progressed, the Zionists consolidated their plans to "clean up" Arab villages, and began systematically to expel the Palestinians with massacres, threats of massacres, and ordering people out of their homes at gunpoint (Zionists committed by far the majority of the massacres of that war). As a result, about 750,000 Palestinian Arabs became refugees. The Zionists (now Israelis) confiscated land, property and funds left behind by the refugees and used it for Jewish-only development, and demolished well over 400 villages to prevent the return of the inhabitants.

With the majority who probably would have voted against the creation of a Jewish state driven out (there were about 650,000 Jews in Palestine in 1948), Israel declared itself a democracy. The refugees lost most of their possessions and many have lived in camps ever since.

The partition was not like India's, in that both Pakistan and India agreed to that partition and were willing to absorb the populations that were moved. You could say that it was like India's, in that it caused massive suffering for those who were expelled from their homes and also that the mere proposal to partition seems to have exacerbated religious tensions to the degree that there were massacres on both sides, by people who had lived together fairly peacefully until then. However, in the Palestine case it was almost all Palestinians who were expelled. Some Jews were expelled from Arab countries much later, many were bribed or enticed by Zionists to swell the Jewish population of Israel, and also supply labor no longer provided by Arabs - for a long time the sephardic Jews (Jews from Arab countries) were second-class citizens, non-Jews were third-class, under harsh military rule until 1966, forbidden to even criticize the Jewish state (Israeli Palestinian minority rights leader Azmi Bishara was recently prosecuted for saying that Israel should be a state for all its citizens, regarded as obliquely saying it shouldn't be a Jewish state) and confiscation of Israeli Arab land to make way for Jewish development continues to this day. As far as I know, since the immediate aftermath of the partition neither Pakistan nor India make a practice of confiscating land or property from citizens to give to members of the dominant religion.

Answer 2

wikipedia can explain it better than i can...i'll just get u lost.
here it is:

The conflict began to form around the beginning of the 20th century. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1917, at the end of World War I, the region known as Palestine was controlled by British colonial forces. Jewish immigration increased during this period. The influx of Jews alarmed Arab inhabitants in the region, and Muslim religious leaders helped to foment hatred for the Jewish inhabitants which led to periodic violence.[4] At the end of World War II the conflict became a major international issue. Great Britain, the United Nations along with the United States, and the USSR determined to initiate a two-state solution. The UN mandated partition was put into effect in 1948, but was rejected by the Arab states and was the beginning of the first major Arab-Israeli War. Israel was able to achieve a decisive victory. Today many parts play major roles in the conflict among those are the Quartet on the Middle East. The conflict included a great number of major wars including the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, 1956 Suez War, 1967 Six Day War, 1970 War of Attrition, 1973 Yom Kippur War, 1982 Lebanon War, as well as a number of lesser conflicts. In the course of these conflicts, many Arabs were displaced from what is now Israel, and many Jews were displaced from what is now Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, the Palestinian Territories, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen.

The conflict has also been the source of two major Palestinian intifadas (uprisings). Al-Qaeda, a Muslim (and largely Arab) terrorist organization, has cited the conflict among its justifications for attacks on targets in the West.

edit:
oh and it kinda sorta IS like the india partition but not as "bad" because the only thing india and pakistan are arguing over is Kashmir...but i dont really know MUCH about that so...i might be wrong..

Answer 3

The Palestinian issue is both complex hard in it's causes and solutions. Israel is a product of the last burst of colonization that followed the turn of the 19th to the 20th centuries. Where as India and Pakistan are produces of the nationalist moves that followed that drive.

The last burst of colonization was centered in West Africa and the Middle East. In the Middle East The Ottoman Empire had agreed to allow the Zionist movement in Europe to have it's followers emigrate to the Provence of Palestine, for the Zionist's it was the return of the Jews to Israel their homeland, and for the Ottomans it was a influx of farmers and business people to pay taxes. For many years the Zionists and the Palestinians lived in peace until 1918 when the British were given control of what is today Israel, Palestine , Jordan and Iraq.

The British passed the "Balfour Declaration" that allowed for the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine in return the British got the support of the Jewish Settlers for their policies the 1936 Arab Revolted and tried to remove British colonial power from the area. The Jew's also helped the British in WWII with the understanding the they would get Israel after the War was over. The Arabs in Jordon aided the British with the understanding that the British would leave and they would get their Independence and an independant Palestine.

After the war the displaced Jews from Europe flooded into Israel and these people began to displace the Arabs from their land and each began to push back. At the Period of the Partitioning of Israel by the UN the plan was unacceptable to either side and so by 1948 they were locked into the war that we still see fought today. After the 1948 war the Israelis siezed most of the land that had been promicsed to the Arabs and moved the Palestinans off their land they formed the land that is known as Israel today. The Palestinian Arabs got the Gaza Strip and the West Bank of the jordan River held in trust by Eygpt and Jordan .

A quick note here about Judaism, The Jews believe that all Jews no matter what their national identity are Citizens of Israel but that not all people living in Israel are Israeli, the Arabs Christian or Muslim are not concidered Israeli so they have no land rights. Now in Israel there is a group that believe that Israel should be the size that it was at it's hight in the Bible from The Sinai north to Beruit in Lebanon, and from the sea into Syria to the Jordan River. This is almost what the Israelis got in the Six Day War in 1967. This is called Greater Israel. After that war Israel and it's ally ,the US , wanted peace talks with the Arabs didn't without one major concetion by Israel a Palestianian State along side Israel if not where Israel was at that time. the Israelis said no so no talks. This is the start of the belief in Israel's right to exist. So the stage is set for the world we see today the Arab world verses the Crusader Kingdom of Israel. A Crusader Kingdom refering to the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem created in 1098 with almost the same boarders as today country of Israel.

In India the partition was done with the okay of the people the Muslim provences of Bulachistan, Sind, Waziristan (SIC), Punjab, and East Bengal seperated form the Hindu majority of India to form East and West Pakistan in 1956 The Indians and the Pakastani though hostil to each other are able to talk and negotiate with each other. Even with the seperation of East Pakistan to become Bangladesh in 1971-72 has not upset the balance in the Sub contenent region.

While Idia and Pakistan have made a clean break the Israeli and Arabs are caught for all intens and purposes in a race war of Jew against Arab. The Israelis fear that if the Moderate Arabs unite with Palestinians then there will be no way that Israel can survive as it is today. What has kept is safe for 75 years is it's alliance with the United States but with the US losing influence in the region as it seemes to be post Iraq Israel is soon going to face a worst case senario.


For a clear over view of all parties and the like read Carter's Palestine Peace not Apartied.

Answer 4

I think the history of palestine is nicely summed up with various perspectives by the other answers. But to answer your comparison between India and Israel..

No. India and Pakistan were partitioned, and both were legally recognised by the international community whereas Palestine was not recognised by the international community, and Isreal, not by the Arab World, until recently.

If you are looking at specific conflicts, maybe you might want to look at UN efforts, through UN works in UNEF, UNOGIL, UNEF II, and compare it to its efforts in Kashmir at UNMOGIP. You can read more on these conflicts from wikipedia or the web.

Answer 5

There are many excellent books on the history, and you might want to start with one of those. Basically, the Palestine State was created after the collapse of the Ottoman State after WW1, and no one wanted to solve their problems. The Jews moved in with huge numbers after the Holocaust and created their own state from British control. After being attacked from the other Muslim countries, Israel has manged to win those wars and create a powerful state despite 50 years of terrorism from the Palestinians. Both sides demand the city of Jerusalem or say there will be no peace without it.

Answer 6

The reason for the conflict in Palestine, is there is no country of Palestine. Israel absorbed Palestine. The Palestine people want to have their country back, that is the reason for the conflict. WATCH, the next country to be absorbed by Israel will be Lebanon. On and On, no one knows when it will stop.
There will always be some country that wants what the other country has. Look at a world map from 1990 and a world map now, see the difference?

Answer 7

Fundamentally, racism, European colonialism and a belief that indigenous people are not capable of sorting out their own affairs has led to many of today's conflicts.

The British Mandate (wikipedia reference here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_mandate) was a League of Nations directive to the British to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine in recognition of the historical connection of the Jewish people to the area.

...which overrode the historical connection of the indigenous Arab people to the area how? No real logic in that decision. The nation of Israel had not existed as such since the Romans conquered the area about two thousand years before.

The horror of the Holocaust may have had two historical affects; a desire among survivors to never be subject to the authority of another racist government, and a desire of non-Jewish leaders to not have to worry about taking care of their own Jewish populations. Anti-semitism was pretty bad outside of Germany, too. Check out the movie "Gentlemen's Agreement" to get a fictionalized taste of anti-semitism in the US.

So the modern state of Israel was created and the European and American powers didn't care what the Arabs in the area wanted. When you get driven from your home, you tend to be bitter. When family members are killed as you are driven from your home, you tend to hold a grudge.

The unwavering support for Israel from the US and Europe smacks of racism. The fact that Arab claims to the land were and continue to be rejected is offensive to Arab states. The apartheid under which Arabs live in Israel is offensive. The Palestinians are fighting as (what they consider) a justifiable resistance against an occupying power. Christian governments who support Israel can logically be seen as hostile to Palestinian and Arab interests.

Why the fight? Because we took their land away from them. You would fight if someone did it to you.

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I must respond to the comment that Muslims and Jews have been at each others' throats for 5000 years. Muhammed received his first revelation in the year 610. Worst case would be 1400 years of conflict.

It is a tenet of Islam to respect the people of the book, the people of the earlier revelation. That means Jews and Christians. Islam is not, fundamentally, a religion that converts others. The respect for Judaism and Christianity is why. In fact, one of the only legitimate reasons for waging Jihad is to END religious persecution.

Look at the history of the Crusades and the abominable behavior of the "Christians" when they conquered Jerusalem. Compare and contrast with what happened when Saladin recaptured the city.

In the modern world, Islamic states generally fail to respect the people of the earlier revelation. This is unfortunate. Religious tolerance is a fundamental component of Islam as it is of secular society.

Perhaps the tendency of Christians to try and convert people is one reason. Jews don't try to convert people and Muslims aren't supposed to.

Answer 8

It goes back way before 1917. Zionism was a huge movement beginning in the late 19th century with Jews from all over the world beginning to relocate to Palestine and or financing those who did. Some important things to remember about these early settlers:

1- Palestine was a name the Romans gave to the nation of Israel as a deliberate insult- it means "land of the Philistines"- following the Bar Kokhba Revolt in the 2nd century (thousands of Romans were killed during an uprising when Shimon bar Kokhba was hailed as the Messiah, a century after Jesus; Rome returned and in 3 years killed or enslaved 500,000 Jews and their allies, which was when Jews became a minority in the Holy Land
2- Muslims conquered Palestine in the 7th century and for the next 1200 years most of the people were Muslim, either from being converted or descendants of Muslims who settled there
3- By the 19th century Palestine was a province of the Ottoman Empire, an Islamic empire based in Istanbul (formerly Constantinople- great song if you don't know it) with most of the land owned by Turks (who are Muslims but not Arabs) and most of the people Arabs who rented or (what Americans would call) sharecropped for the Turkish owners

There had been a "back to the Holy Land" movement for centuries, but the pogroms in Russia and eastern Europe that began in the 19th century was what really accelerated the movement. A VERY IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER is that most of the land that the Jews who returned to Israel LEGALLY PURCHASED the land from the Turkish owners. It was unfair perhaps to the Arabs who lived on the land, but it was legal- kind of like being kicked out of your rented home when the landlord sells.
Also, as tens of thousands of Jews returned, the Arabs who lived near them actually in many cases became very friendly with them, and the quality of life of many of the Arabs increased dramatically due to the Jewish settlements because they tended to be better organized and didn't have to pay huge rents to the Turks and they were often very well educated and more modern people.
This began to change in the early 20th century as many extremist Arabs began to hate the Jews as much as they already hated the Turks. When the Ottoman Empire fell after World War I (it was very corrupt and rotten from within for centuries), that's when the Balfour Declaration et al happened.
After Hitler came to power in Germany, immigration by Jews to Israel escalated enormously, much of it illegal (in defiance of the British ordinances), and it continued of course after the concentration camps were liberated. The Jews who came after the war were the survivors of the Nazi regimes, so they were very tough customers willing to fight to the death for a safe homeland, and they were also some of the most educated people from Europe, unlike the Arabs who were mostly peasants.
The other answers take it from here.

Answer 9

Religion

Answer 10

The real root goes back into the bible. Islamic people, who follow Ishmael, (hence Ishmaelites) the illegitimate son of Abraham with his mistress, have been at odds with the Jewish for over 5,000 years. This is because Abraham's (father of the Jewish religion) wife, Sarah, forced Ishmael to flee the promised land (Israel) because he was not her child. Obviously, Ishmael was not content with this decision, and since then, the groups have been at odds with each other.

Israel was created in the 1950s after WWII as a refuge for Jews who were saved from Nazi persecution. As the Arab world rejected them throughout history, but were powerless to keep the newly formed United Nations from creating this country, they became infuriated. The Palestinian people, who have never had their own country due to oppression and European Imperialism, were forced to become part of the new Jewish nation, which defended itself against three major wars with the Arab nations. (esp. Syria, Jordan and Egypt.)

Answer 11

israel only created since 1948 by Balfour Declaration. the zionist has been occupying the sovereign country of Palestine until now.

With help of America, they also reject the democratic elected party Hamas while ironically and in a most SHAMEFUL manner they (Israel and US) always promote liberty and freedom. something rotten has been going on down there.... .... ...