The Conflict between Israel and Palestine

Not many people know of the current issues regarding Israel and the roots of those conflicts. There’s been issues between Israel, Palestine, the Gaza Strip, and the West Back for more than the last century. The basic conflict between Israel and Palestine is they both lay claim to the same land. The compromise has been elusive. Israel has been the only Jewish state ever throughout the world. The Palestine are Arabs who are living on land that Israel controls. Israel wants its own state. The Palestines rejects Israel’s hegemony and wants to establish its own state as well. The conflict is over who would get what land as well as who will control it. This conflict has early historical roots. (Cite)

In the early 20th century, Israel sought to flee European persecution and to establish a homeland. Which was then part of Arab/Muslim majority territory. Several wars were fought over how this territory was to be divided. This goes to a couple notable wars that happened. Firstly, the 1948 war. Next, which is most important to remember is the 6 day war in 1967 that Israel won. This war is important in understanding the current conflict between Israel and Palestine. It left Israel having full control over the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Two territories with a large Arab population. (Cite)

The West Bank today is right now under Israel occupation. Israeli troops enforced Israel restrictions on Palestine effectively denying the land to the Palestinians. Also, the Gaza Strip is controlled by Hamas who are Palestinian-Islamic fundamentalist organization. (Cite)

The primary approach to solving issues has been to establish a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. Then Palestine would be given independence. The alternate route would be a one-state solution where the land becomes either Israeli or Palestinian. This approach didn’t get much significant traction though. Then there was the West Bank Settlement. It was a major impediment for peace. A huge number of Israelis lived in the West Bank settlement. The Israli’s claimed roots in connection to this land weakened Palestinian claims to that territory constraining boundaries of any future Palestine state. This pleases Israelis fundamentalists who want their West Bank explicitly incorporated as Israeli territory. These settlements and effective Israeli occupation make life difficult for Palestinians. (Cite)

The Gaza or the Gaza Strip as it is called is populated almost exclusively by Palestinians but is currently under Israel blockade. Israel used to occupy Gaza but no longer does. It’s also good to note that Gaza is neither a Palestinian state nor a Israel state. After 1967, Hamas and other Gaza base Palestinian extremists fired rockets at Israel targets. On the other hand, Israel blocks Gaza access to important supplies such as electricity, food, and medicine. The conflict continues. (Cite)

A separate but independent source of conflict between Israel and Palestine is Jerusalem. Now the capital of Israel which houses holy sites for both Israel and Palestine. How to split the city is a source of deep division. Trump has weighed in on the side of Israel. Trump’s policy of denominating Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and decision to transfer the US embassy to Jerusalem has been regarded by many as a significant impediment to the establishment of a mutually acceptable Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. (Cite)

Evaluation of peace prospects between Israel and Palestine must take account the US and Israel relationship. Israel’s deep affiliation has several components including deep support for Israel in the American public and affinity with Israel’s democratic political structure. (Cite)

The Israeli-Palestinian peace process has been going on for decades and still has yet to be achieved. There has been ongoing American effort to make peace between the two populations. Currently Jared Kushner, the US president’s son in law and senior advisor, has been the principle actor on behalf of the US and brokering and enduring peace. The ultimate objective of the US mediation effort is the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in Gaza and in the West Bank in exchange for Palestinians agreement to end attacks on Israeli targets. (Cite)

There are ongoing impediments to the process. They include Israel efforts to expand the West Bank in which Palestine construdes as an effort to quash the Palestinian state and Israel’s enduring antipathy towards Hamas. The current political climate militates against a peace agreement. Neither government trusts the other and the Trump administration has demonstrated what the Palestinians regard as a pronounced favoritism toward Israel. (Cite)

There are two approaches to a peaceful solution. There is the two-state solution and the one-state solution. The two-state solution, as the name implies, would create an independent Israel and an independent Palestine. This seems commonsensical. The Israelis wanted a Jewish state and the Palestinians wanted a Palestine state. (Cite)

The one-state solution would merge Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip into one big country. The risk of course is that our faction would dominate and visit human rights violations on the other. Polling suggests that a two-states solutions is preferred by both parties. Unfortunately, the inability of the parties to arrive at a two-states has created a fear that a one-state solution is inevitable. (Cite)

If it fails, it’s probable that a defacto single state will emerge. The reason is that apparent how separate Israel and Palestine states could be established without illegal structure to keep them distinct. The unfortunate outcome would be that either Israel ceases to exist as a Jewish state, or Palestinians become permanent 2nd class citizens. The Israelis are particularly threatened because the Arab population would ultimately be larger than the Jewish. And Israel might rise its status as a Jewish state. On the other hand, if Israel continues to dominate even if outnumbered, then Israel is no longer a true democracy. Unfortunately, the solution is not clear and a relatively peaceful coexistence is currently acceptable.

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