ISRAELI PALESTINIAN CONFLICT

FOCUS QUESTION

• Is it possible that the Palestinian Israeli Conflict can be resolved bringing peace to the region?

THE PALESTINIAN ISRAELI CRISIS WILL NOT BE SOLVE IN THE NEAR FUTURE BECAUSE OF:

• Borders: Controversy over both Palestinian and Israeli claims to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip

• Refugees: living in camps across the occupied territories of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank;

• Jerusalem: Desire of both sides for Jerusalem as their political and religious capital

• Hatred: A deeper-than-ever hatred is poisoning both sides.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

THE MAIN CAUSES OF THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT

• It is a primarily land ownership conflict

• (lands and borders) in an historic context of ancestral homeland.

• It is also seen as a clash of religions, cultures, and unequal distribution of resources, wealth and affluence and ultimately POWER.

MIDDLE EAST PRIOR TO WW1

WHAT IS ZIONISM?

GOALS:The spiritual andpolitical renewal ofthe Jewish peoplein its ancestralhomeland ofPalestine.

Freedom from Western anti-Semitism

1949 CREATION OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL

ISRAEL ISOLATED IN AN ARAB WORLD

FORMATION OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL

• According to The Balfour Declaration (dated 2 November 1917) sent from United Kingdom's Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Baron Rothschild a leader of the British Jewish Community:

“His Majesty's government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.” (Balfour Declaration,2013,para 1)

• “The formation of Israel depended on the suppression of another people”

(Stetson, n.d., para 1)•

BORDERS

• Point: The original borders defining the State of Israel (and the Palestinian Territory) have changed over the last 50 years in terms settlement, border location, and the nature of border crossing itself.

ISRAEL’S ANNEXATION OF PALESTINIAN LANDAccording to Americans for Peace Now, "Facts on the Ground" Map Project, “ Israel currently has 163 Jewish only settlements and 97 outposts built on confiscated Palestinian land while the Palestinians have none”.

CONTESTED LAND AND BORDERS: ISRAEL ISOLATES GAZA AND THE WEST BANK

• (APA Citation)

THE WALL• This is important because: Although it was to prevent suicide bombers from entering

Israel it isolates Palestinians from each other, their fields and means of livelihood.

• Started in 2002

• Israeli

Settlements

In West Bank

MILITARIZED BORDERS

CHECKPOINTS: GAZA AND WEST BANK

GAZA STRIP

REFUGEES

Syria

Lebanon

Jordan

THE PLAYERS

• Israel: Jewish State created after WWII to act as a homeland for the Jewish diaspora that suffered persecution of the Holocaust and other historic

anti-semetic acts.

• Supported by the United States through financial aid, military aid (weapons), technology, to act as a ‘beach head’ in the Islamic / Arab world to protect the United States geopolitical interests in the region.

• (access to oil, markets, promotion of democratic and capitalist system etc)

THE PLAYERS

• Hezbollah: (The Party of God) Islamic Military Group and Political party based in Lebanon

• Was set up by the Iranians

• Anti U.S. and Anti Israeli

PALESTINIANS

• Arab and Islamic in culture, language and religion

• Claim historic Palestine as their rightful homeland

• Culturally and religiously connected to the Arab Islamic states of the middle east unlike Israel.

• There are two factions:

TWO FACTIONS WHO ARE NOT ALIGNED IN METHODS

• Palestinan Authority: based in the West Bank (Government)

• Fatah:

• The Political Party in Power is Politically motivated and seeks goals by diplomacy primarily – recognized as the legitimate government of the Palestinians

• Leader is Mahmoud Abbas

HAMAS:

• Based in Gaza

• Branded as terrorists by Israel and the U.S. they use militancy and terrorism to achieve goals

• Intifada: is an Arabic word which literally means "shaking off", though it is popularly translated into English as “uprising”.

• It is the name associated with the Palestinian violent uprisings against the Israelis

PALESTINIANS ARE:

• Supported by neighbours Lebanon in the north, Syria to the West and Egypt to the south.

• Weapons, Food, Financial support are ‘smuggled into Gaza primarily from Egypt to the south by tunnels

IRAN

• Ideological and Theocratic leader in the region as well as financial backer and sponsor of anti - U.S. terrorist organizations such as

Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza

• Engaged in a secret war against the United States through the use of surrogate organizations who are also in conflict against the Israeli / United States Alliance

• Primary tactic is suicide bombing and terrorist activities

THE FOUR CHIEF OBSTACLES TO PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST. SUMMARIZED AGAIN

• Borders: Controversy over both Palestinian and Israeli claims to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip

• Refugees: living in camps across the occupied territories of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank;

• Jerusalem: Desire of both sides for Jerusalem as their political and religious capital

• Hatred: A deeper-than-ever hatred is poisoning both sides.

MARTYR

• Person put to death for adherence to a religion

• One who suffers or is a victim – devotion to a cause

• Someone who willingly commits suicide performing a violent act in the name of the cause, and not for personal gain

• Martyrdom (The Act)

UNITED NATIONS RESOLUTION

29 November 2012

• The General Assembly voted to grant Palestine non-member observer State status at the United Nations

• 138 in favour to nine against with 41 abstentions by the 193-member Assembly

• The United States voted against it

• It means it is one step closer to being recognized as a nation.