Geography and Early History of Israel and Palestine

Israeli–Palestinian conflict舒亚锋5078043013 Introduce: in this report we will mainly talk about the origin of Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the main cause of the conflict and a solution plane.Geography and Early History of Israel and PalestineThe 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 thesouth, 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 atJericho 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 thePhoenicians of Tyre entered the area about 2000 B.C. The area became known as the Land of Canaan.So we could see this land has a close relationship with many ethnic groups and are regarded as holy place by many religions.Now we must figure out a crucial question how Israel became a state in the land where the Arabs have lived for hundreds of years. Then we maybe find out how Israelbecome a state is just how the conflict beginshow Israel became a stateTHE LAND PURCHASESLet's go back to the late 1800's. The land currently known as Israel was once an area called Palestine. For more than 1200 years…the dominant population there was Arabic. Starting around the 1880's…a steady stream of Jews began to enter into the area and began buying land from the Arabs.It turns out that many of the wealthy landowning Arabs were absentee landlords who made a quick buck by selling to the new Jewish settlers. These transactions OBVIOUSLY upset the peasant Arab farmers living on these lands who believed they had the RIGHT to live, cultivate and transfer these properties to their families.Now…at around this time many of the Jews entering into Palestine were part of a group belonging to the ZIONIST movement. This group had one goal…."to redeem the land of Palestine as the inalienable possession of the Jewish people." One of the ways this was done was with the creation of the Jewish National Fund….an entity that organized the purchase of land from the Arab landowners. This practice went on for decades.THE BALFOUR DECLARATIONSo on November 2, 1917…a document called the "Balfour Declaration" was presented. The paper stipulated that the British government was sympathetic to the Zionist cause and favorably agreed to the "establishment in Palestine of a National Home for the Jewish People" AND that they would help the Zionists achieve their goal.But then there was the following proviso…."…let it be CLEARLY understood that NOTHING shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing NON-JEWISH communities in Palestine…"B eginning on December 9, 1917…British troops began to push out the Turks from Palestine and the surrounding areas. By October of the following year…Palestine was under British military rule.The struggle to find an acceptable resolution between the Arabs and the Zionists continued. After a series of meetings and conferences….the "British Mandate" was developed. This further cemented the goals of the Zionists to take over Palestine.The mandate declared that:---there IS a historical connection between Palestine and the Jewish people.---the British should help secure the establishment of the Jewish National Homeland---AND…most importantly…a Jewish entity should assist in coordinating and developing this effort by regulating Jewish immigration AND "…ensur ing the rights of other sections of the population are not prejudiced."THE FINAL ESTABLISHMENTWhen WWII ended…the British encountered another problem. Thousands of Holocaust survivors were in camps throughout Europe. All of them were demanding to be allowed to resettle into…you guessed it…Palestine!Leaders throughout the world, including President Harry Truman, pressured Britain to loosen up its immigration restrictions.In the face of increasing violence, the British handed the issue over to the United Nations. The result was Resolution 181, a partition plan to divide Palestine between Jews and Arabs. The Jewish state was to receive around 56% of the land area of Mandate Palestine, encompassing 82% of the Jewish population, though it would be separated from Jerusalem, designated as an area to be administered by the UN. The plan was accepted by most of the Jewish population, but rejected by much of the Arab populace. On 29 November 1947, the plan was put to a vote in the United Nations General Assembly. The result was 33 to 13 in favour of the plan, with 10 abstentionsOn May 14, 1948…the Jews declared the establishment of the state of Israel. The next day, Britain renounced its mandate over Palestine AND the US recognized the state of Israel. The Soviet Union followed suit…along with DOZENS of other countries.THE MAIN CAUSE OF THE CONFLICTThe Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing dispute between Israel and the Palestinians. Although the conflict is wide-ranging, the key issues are border security, water rights, control of Jerusalem, land rights, and legalities concerning refugees. The violence resulting from the conflict has prompted other security and human rights concerns on both sides and internationally. It forms part of the wider Arab–Israeli conflict. The term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict, between Zionist helotism and the Arab population living in Palestine under Ottoman or British rule.There are also other aspects that affect the conflict ,among them religious maybe a important fact.Religious aspects of the conflictSeveral studies argue that groups on both sides, including Hamas and Gush Emunim, evoke religious arguments for their uncompromising positions .The Likud party is currently the most prominent Israeli party which includes the Biblical claim to the Land of Israel in its platform.The Land of Canaan or Eretz Israel (Land of Israel) was, according to the Torah, promised by God to the Israelites and to those who follow God's law, i.e. Jews. The Israelites conquered and ruled that land from the 11th to the 6th century BCE. Contemporary history of theArab-Israeli conflict is very much affected by Christian and Muslim beliefs and their interpretations of the idea of the Chosen concept in their policies with regard to the "Promised Land" and the "Chosen City" of Jerusalem.In his 1896 manifesto The Jewish State, Theodor Herzl repeatedly refers to the Biblical Promised land concept (though Herzl was an atheist himself).[5] In the same period, Jewish migration to Palestine (Aliyah) increased in volume.Christian Zionists support the Jews in this war because they recognize their ancestral rights to this land as explained by Paul in Romans 11. Some also believe that the return of Jews in Israel is a prerequisite for the Second Coming of Jesus.Muslims too claim to have religious priority in accordance with the Torah and Quran. Contrary to the Jewish belief that this land was promised only to the descendants of Abraham's younger son Isaac, they argue that the Land of Canaan was promised to all descendants of Abraham, with Arabs being the descendants of his elder son Ishmael. Additionally, Muslims also revere many holy sites which are revered by Jews (such as The Cave of the Patriarchs and the Temple Mount), and have constructed additional sites in the past 1,400 years, such as the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Muslims also believe that Muhammad passed through Jerusalem on his first journey to heaven.So we can make a conclusion of other aspects:-different culture and religion make the conflict worse-the long time of violence resulting from the conflict has make it into a vicious circle-the international power has deep influence on it.☐UN☐Unite state☐Arab leagueA discuss of solution planeMany attempts have been made to broker two-stated solution, which would entail the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside an independent Jewish state or next to the State of Israel (after Israel's establishment in 1948). As of 2009, a majority of both Israelis and Palestinians, according to a number of polls, prefer the two-state solution over any other solution as a means of resolving the conflict.[A majority of Palestinians and Israelis view the West Bank and Gaza Strip as an acceptable location of the hypothetical Palestinian state in a two-state solution. However, there are significant areas of disagreement over the shape of any final agreement and also regarding the level of credibility each side sees in the other in upholding basic commitments .A handful of academics advocate a one-state solution, whereby all of Israel, the Gaza Strip, and West Bank would become a bi-national state with equal rights for all.Within Israeli and Palestinian society, the conflict generates a wide variety of views and opinions. This highlights the deep divisions which exist not only between Israelis and Palestinians, but also within each society. It seems as a choice between one unsteady country and two independent countries. The situations are similar to the independence of India and Pakistan.So I think the solution of the conflict must in the framework of the 1993 Oslo Accords between Palestinians and Israelis That agreement described the so-called "two-state solution" - Israel and an independent Palestine living peacefully side-by-side - as the best way to settle the protracted conflict.Then the conflict will gradually smooth as the development of the economy and education of both sides. The developed countries can build a fund to support Palestinians.。