Israeli- Palestinian Conflict

Question 2
The Israeli – Palestinian conflict in the Middle East can be traced back to the Zionist movement which began in 1897. The leader of the movement Theodor Herzl became convinced during the Dreyfus affair that Jews needed a state of their own in order to survive in the modern world. Herzl states that “I consider the issue of the Jews neither in social nor religious terms… It is a national issue.” Nationalism was sweeping Europe and many Jews began to support Herzl’s desire for a Jewish nation.

At the end of World War I the Allies began to split up the old territories of the Ottoman Empire between themselves. The British promised Jews Israel in the Balfour Declaration, but also promised Israel to Arab tribes who helped fight the Ottomans in the Hussein-McMahon correspondence. The French also felt that they had claim to the territory due to the Sykes-Picot Agreement. Thus Israel was nicknamed the “Thrice Promised Land” foreshadowing the later conflict.

The land which would become Israel was previously named Palestine. The Arabs who lived in these territories did not call themselves Palestinians but instead associated themselves with other Arab nations. As more Jews immigrated to Israel during the years between World War I and World War II the native Arabs began to unite around an anti-Jewish movement. At the end of World War II the British gave up the providence of Israel to complete Jewish control. Jews finally had a home land that was recognized as a nation by the Allied forces. To avoid conflict the UN decided to split Palestine into two nations, Israel and a Palestinian nation. But the Arabs did not agree to this agreement made by the UN. Instead war broke out between the Israeli’s and the neighboring Arab nations, who were harboring many Palestinian refugees. Israel ended up winning these wars due to their advanced military funded by the United States.

Thus the end of World War II and the establishment of Israel led to the rise of Arab nationalism. Palestinian identity formed, rather than because of regional similarities, but as a way to unite against a common enemy, the Israelis. In the 70’s the Palestinian Liberation Organization, was founded. The PLO led many terrorist actions against Israel. The conflict is still unsolved. Now the Palestinians have been put in a position much like that of the early Zionist Jews, desperately fighting for a homeland.