Online Presentation:
Israel - Palestine
Inroduction
The history and conflict between Israel and Palestine is nothing new. It has been taking place in different forms of disagreement for centuries. Today, Palestine is fighting to create their own Muslim state but their views are split into two factions: Fatah and Hamas. Hamas is the more radical group strongly opposed to the peace talks and any sort of compromise with Israel. Peace talks have taken place and are currently being held, but so far no definitive solution has been reached. The goal of this presentation is to inform readers by giving background on the area and people, providing an account of the conflict that has occurred and is still going on, and offering current information on peace talks including hope for the future of Israel and Palestine.
Background
The land variously called Israel and Palestine is a small, (10,000 square miles at present) land at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. During its long history, its area, population and ownership varied greatly. The present state of Israel occupies all the land from the Jordan river to the Mediterranean ocean, bounded by Egypt in the south, Lebanon in the north, and Jordan in the East. The recognized borders of Israel constitute about 78% of the land. The remainder is divided between land occupied by Israel since the 1967 6-day war and the autonomous regions under the control of the Palestinian autonomy. The Gaza strip occupies an additional 141 square miles south of Israel, and is under the control of the Palestinian authority.
Palestine has been settled continuously for tens of thousands of years. Fossil remains have been found of Homo Erectus, Neanderthal and transitional types between Neanderthal and modern man. Archeologists have found hybrid Emmer wheat at Jericho dating from before 8,000 B.C., making it one of the oldest sites of agricultural activity in the world. Amorites, Canaanites, and other Semitic peoples related to the Phoenicians of Tyre entered the area about 2000 B.C. The area became known as the Land of Canaan.
History of Discord
History's legacy created divisive issues between Palestinians and Israelis. Judea, home of the Jews in ancient times, was conquered by the Romans and renamed Palestine. Palestine was later conquered and inhabited by Arabs for over a thousand years. The Zionist movement arose to restore the Jews to Israel, largely ignoring the existing Arab population. Following the Balfour Declaration in 1917, Palestine was granted to Britain as a League of Nations mandate to build a national home for the Jewish people. The Arabs resented the Jews coming in to take their land. Led by Grand Mufti Hajj Amin El Husseini, they rioted repeatedly and later revolted, creating a history of enmity between Jews and Arabs in Palestine. Britain stopped Jewish immigration to Palestine. Following the Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis, pressure on Britain increased to allow Jewish immigration to Palestine. In 1947, the UN partitioned the land into Arab and Jewish states. The Arabs did not accept the partition and war broke out. The Jews won a decisive victory, expanded their state and created several hundred thousand Palestinian refugees. The Arab states refused to recognize Israel or make peace with it. Wars broke out in 1956, 1967, 1973 and 1982, and there were many terror raids and Israeli reprisals. Each side believes different versions of the same history. Each side views the conflict as wholly the fault of the other and expects an apology.
Allenby enters Jerusalem, 1917
Timeline of Palestinian-Israeli History and the Israel-Arab Conflict
Click here to read about the increasingly violent conflict between Palestine and Israel,
and also Palestine's two factions, Hamas and Fatah
Click here to read about the obstacles that must be addressed in current peace negotiations
Click here to read about Israel and Palestine Governments and the current Mideast Peace Conference in Annapolis, Maryland
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