Understanding the Israel-Palestine Conflict

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By Aeliya Bilgrami, Third Year English and History

Amidst recent developments, in which more than 1,400 people were killed and 200 were captured, there has been a resurgence of interest in the Israel-Palestine conflict. This article aims to shed light on the historical context which led to the renewed violence in the regions.

In the late 19th century the Ottoman Empire ruled over the area that is now contested as Israel and Palestine. This region in 1878 consisted of a population that was 87% Muslim, 10% Christian and 3% Jewish. 

Theodor Herzl founded the concept of Zionism as a political movement in 1896. Zionists believed that Jewish people should leave Europe and settle in a new state. While the concept of a Jewish homeland in Israel has deep historical roots within Jewish and even Christian tradition, Herzl’s contribution formulated Zionism as a modern political movement. This movement took off, and the First Zionist Congress in 1897 was held in Basel, Switzerland, resulting in the creation of the World Zionist Organisation.

In 1917, the British government issued the Balfour Declaration, promising “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people”. This was following a series of unofficial promises in 1915-1916 Britain had made to various groups over what to do with the land they anticipated to win after defeating the Ottomans in WWI. Britain established a colony in Palestine at the close of the war, setting up divisions between the previously intermixed Christians, Muslims and Jews, following colonial ‘divide and rule’ policy. The British authorities in Palestine began from 1920 to facilitate immigration of Jewish people from Europe.  Between 1920 and 1939 the Jewish population increased by over 320,000 people. This increase in population alongside the country’s economic inability to accommodate it led to tensions between Arab and Jewish communities within Palestine, eventually resulting in riots in 1921. The Churchill White Paper in 1922 called for a limit to Jewish immigration, while reinstating Britain’s commitment to the Balfour Declaration. 

By 1938 the Jewish population in Palestine was just under 30%. Many Jewish immigrants began mass purchasing land from non-Palestinian Arab land owners and evicting the Palestinian tenant farmers that lived on and worked the land. This resulted in heightened tensions between the 1920s and 1930s, culminating in a nationalist Palestinian revolt against the British in 1936-1939, which was suppressed with the aid of Jewish militias. Another White Paper was published in 1939, limiting Jewish immigration and calling for the establishment of a joint Arab and Jewish state in Palestine within 10 years. Tensions reignited as Jewish people needed to immigrate due to persecution in Europe, and Palestinians were not in favour of a joint state after almost 20 years of violence.

Following the end of WWII in 1945, the newly created UN aimed to resolve tensions in the region. In 1947 the UN voted to partition Palestine into separate Palestinian and Jewish states. This was not received well and in 1948 the Arab-Israeli War broke out. This led to an Israeli victory, resulting in the occupation of a third more land than they would have under the initial UN proposal, and formally establishing the state of Israel. During the war, Jordan annexed the West Bank and Jerusalem, and Egypt controlled the Gaza Strip. Afterwards, around 700,000 Palestinians fled their homes and became refugees in neighbouring countries.

Tensions continued between Israeli settlers and Palestinian natives. The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) was formed in 1964, led by Yasser Arafat. In 1967, the Arab and Israel Six Days War occurred, in which Israel won, gaining control over the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights. The UN passed Resolution 242 which called for Israel to withdraw from conquered territories and all participants in the fighting to recognise Israeli and Palestinian statehood. This was not enforced. The Israeli government began to establish Jewish settlements in what had been Palestinian territory; East Jerusalem, The West Bank and The Gaza Strip. These were illegal, according to international law. PLO guerrilla groups were operating in the contested areas to attempt to rise against the settlements. 

In the 1980s the Palestinians launched the First Intifada, in which they refused to pay Israeli taxes and boycotted Israeli products. Israeli armed forces cracked down on this and violence ensued. During the Intifada, in 1987, Hamas was established. They led militias against Israeli forces, and also began social welfare projects in Gaza. While Hamas was widely supported in Palestine for its military and community strength, violence against civilians meant it was declared a terrorist organisation in 1997.

The First Intifada led to the first peace talks between Israel and Palestine, also known as the 1993-2001 Clinton Talks. The first of these was the Oslo Accords, in which a permanent peace ‘based on Resolution 242’ was envisioned. The Israeli PM Ehud Barak was initially cooperative. However, after the Camp David Summit in 2000, the peace process failed when Ariel Sharon, a candidate for Israeli PM, led 2,000 armed guards to the Temple Mount, a site of immense religious importance to Muslims, Christians and Jews, in a provocative display. This led to the Second Intifada which lasted until 2005 and featured a series of Palestinian protests, suicide bombings and military suppression from Israel.

In 2002 Israel began construction of a West Bank Wall on the basis of security. The illegal settlements that were established from the 1940s-60s were walled in on the Israeli side, and many Palestinian communities were broken apart, with those living in close proximity to the wall facing restrictions on their movements. 

In 2005 Yasser Arafat, leader of the PLO, died, and Hamas won the majority of parliamentary seats. A Palestinian Authority and Hamas joint governance ensued until 2007, when Hamas ousted the Palestinian Authority from power. Since then, there have been disagreements between Palestinian political parties over the governance of Palestine, with conflicting ideas on how Palestinians can gain self determination. 

The conflict in recent years has been characterised by rocket attacks in Israel from Hamas, military suppression and persecution of Palestinians from the Israeli Defense Forces, and further invasions of Palestinian territory. 

References:

https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-44124396.amp

https://abcnews.go.com/amp/International/timeline-long-history-israeli-palestinian-conflict/story?id=103875134

https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/18/why-israel-palestine-conflict-history