I got a email from someone regarding Israel and Palestine, Can you answer the question for this person?

Question

This was sent to me by email, instead of me replying with my own answer, I thought it would be good to hear from you kids better answers to send him.

Here is the question:

Israel/Palestine conflict for dummies?
Can you explain to me the conflict in unbiased, lemans terms? My understanding is that Jewish people were given Palestine (Israel) to resettle after the war and the Palestinian people were unceremoniously shifted to Lebanon. But I know I'm probably wrong. And I don't really understand what's been happening ever since. Also, I hear people making comments about the USA's involvement with Israel but I know nothing of that either.
You might think I'm a total dumbass (and you'd be right) but I've only started reading newspapers in the last year and can't get to grips with the context surrounding all these articles that I'm reading.

Answer 1

It already been posted, possibly by the person who sent you the email.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AsQslYcPz_Cq9WWeHYUJ0YDty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20071122011848AAfACub&show=7

Answer 2

It's very complex.

To really understand the nature of the conflict and why Jews settled in Palestine goes back over 3000 years to the time of Moses.

The Hebrews settled Israel and remained there until the first-second century AD. In 70 AD the Second Temple was destroyed by the romans following an unsuccessful rebellion. The Islamic Dome of the Rock was built 6 centuries later over the mound where was the Temple stood. Jerusalem was turned into a Roman city and Jews were forbidden to live there.

Another failed rebellion led to mass de-populations of Jewish people thru war, deportation, and mass fleeings. The Jews spread out thru-out the roman world as a result. israel was renamed Palestine.

Muslims took the area in the 7th century and the area was inhabited by remaining Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

The late 19th century saw a number of European Jews turning to the idea of returning to their homeland and so they began settling the western areas of Palestine. After WWI the region came under control of the British who promised the Jews and Palestinians their seperate states. During this time, tensions grew between both groups with outbreaks of violence.

Nothing was really done on this in concrete way and Israel proclaimed independence in 1948. America supported Israel's independence.

Israel went to war with its Arab neighbors and repulsed them. There was a massive exodus of Palestinians in the wake of Israel's independence. Jerusalem fell to Jordan until 1967 when Israel seized it. Since then Palestinians have lived under israeli control in the West Bank and Gaza.

Basically from the end of WWI to now there has been a lot of violence, massacres, bombings, deaths, etc... back and forth. Who's right? Who's wrong? It's too muddled and gray to say for certain. Keep digging for info though. You can't expect someone to give you the whole thing in a non-biased nutshell here.

Answer 3

Mimi, I'm pretty sure the asker asked for an unbiased view. That video is one of the worst I've ever seen.

--Before 1948, there was no such thing as "Jews and Palestinians" as mentioned in the video in the phrase "Up to this point, there was basically no conflict between the Jews and the Palestinians. For the most part, before 1948, Palestinians meant anyone living in the land of Palestine, which INCLUDED Jews.

--There was never a country of Palestine. The land named Palestine (which was named so by Emperor Hadrian to shame the Jews) was a colony of the powers that owned it, and NEVER a country.

--The Jews only got 22% percent of the land

--Most of the Palestinians left because the surrounding Arab nations told them to leave so they could wipe out the Jews, and then they could move back.

--War broke out? Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt attacked Israel.

--Israel withdrew completely from the Gaza Strip years ago


And that's only 11 minutes in.

Honestly, I don't think you can get an unbiased answer in the Israel forum. You kind of have to read books from both sides and get the picture for yourself.

This is me trying to be unbiased:

Originally, the Jews inhabited the land of Israel. As lands do, it also changed hands many times; however, there was never a time when Israel was devoid of Jews. There was ALWAYS a Jewish presence in Israel. Starting in 70 CE, the land was owned by Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Seljukes, (Turks) Crusaders, Ayyubids, Mamelukes, (Albanians) Ottomans, British, and the UN. The Romans changed the name of the land from Israel to Palistinae to mock the Jews and shame them, since the Philistines were the enemies of the Jews.

Anyways. Skip ahead to when Palestine was owned by the Ottoman Empire. Palestine was never a country. (I'm sorry, it wasn't.) The land called Palestine was a perpetual colony owned by all these different lands--even when the Ottomans owned it, there wasn't even a "Palestinian people." Anyone who lived in the land was called a Palestinian--Jews, Arabs, everyone. So, the Ottomans lost WWI and their territory came under British control--> Palestine belong to Britain then. Britain promised to give the land to the Arabs...and also to the Jews. (Basically, it made two promises and kept none of them.) So beginning in the early 19th century, Jews start immigrating to Palestine and the Zionist movement starts taking foot. (Zionist is not an evil word and not an evil idea. A Zionist is simply a person who believes that the Jews have a right to a homeland.) They start buying the land from the Lebanese and Arab Palestinians who owned it and started cultivating it--some Arab Palestinians didn't like that these other Arab Palestinians were selling land to the Jews, so tensions start to rise, and rise, until fighting breaks out. Most notably is the Hevron massacre in 1929--60 Jews were killed and 67 were wounded, Jewish homes were destroyed, shops looted, etc. "The summer of 1929 was one of unrest in Palestine. Jewish-Arab tensions were spurred on by the agitation of the mufti in Jerusalem. Just one day prior to the start of the Hebron massacre, three Jews and three Arabs were killed in Jerusalem when fighting broke out after a Muslim prayer service on the Temple Mount. Arabs spread false rumors throughout their communities, saying that Jews were carrying out "wholesale killings of Arabs." Meanwhile, Jewish immigrants were arriving in Palestine in increasing numbers, further exacerbating the Jewish-Arab conflict."

Anyways. Both sides were fighting, killing, wounding each other--so much that Britain no longer wants to deal with the bloodshed and problems, so it hands control of Palestine over to the U.N.

The UN wanted the Arabs and the Jews to share the land--they came up with the UN Partition Plan which was to give the Jews 22% of Palestine, 75% of which was desert. The Arabs got the rest, and most of the farmland as well as control of the water sources. The Jews accepted this plan but the Arabs rejected it. 1948 the fighting grows worse, and the UN decides to simply withdraw from Palestine since an agreement can't be reached, and the Jews declare independence on May 14, 1948.

The Arab nations tell the Palestinians to leave their homes temporarily, they will "push the Jews into the sea" and when they are done killing all the Jews, they can return home. Many Palestinians left, some stayed. Either way, on May 15, 1948 the Arab nations of Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan all declare war on Israel, planning to massacre all the Jews. Well....Israel won, and the Palestinians who had left so the Arab nations could kill the Jews then didn't know what to do or where to go, creating the refugee problem which today has only gotten worse since Arab nations today continue to refuse to help the Palestinian cause.

Answer 4

1948
u.n took a small peace of palestine and gave it to the jews from the holocaust.
the jews began expanding by kicking palestians from thier homes and abusing them.
the palestinians fought back for thier land w/ no back up or weapons
israelis continues expanding in the most inhumane ways killing anyone who resisted
palestians commited suicide b/c they had no weapons
children threw rocks, israeli soliders killed them

look at the link below to see expansion of israel

Answer 5

Just tell him to read more history and he will understand things better.

Answer 6

Because I am a kid (lol) it is very hard to find an unbiased source about this issue.

That person can read about the issue from different sources and make his/her own conclusions.
This is video that he/she may want to watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYIXukpMIIY

peace


Lady Suri, you call everything that you don't agree with bias. Let's not argue about this ok? Thanks

Peace

Answer 7

This conflict has been going on for so many years.