Israel & Palestine Violence

 ISRAEL- PALESTINE CONFLICT

In the last few weeks we all have been seeing this headline in the news constantly. In social media as well we see hashtags and posts related to this topic trending. Pictures and videos of inhuman violence on people of both sides are flooding our timelines. And this is not the first time of us witnessing this, every once in a year or two we always see this news resurfacing. 

So have you ever wondered what this conflict is all about?  Why do we keep hearing about Hamas targeting Israel with rockets and Israel retaliating with disproportionate force by launching aerial strikes and military strikes against the Gaza strip? What is this 100 years old issue?

If yes then continue reading this because in this article you will get a detailed timeline about the issue without any biases on either side.

BRIEF HISTORY OF JERUSALEM

Israel’s capital ‘Jerusalem’ is a sacred city where the three Abrahamic Religions were born: 

1. ISLAM

2. CHRISTIANITY

3. JUDAISM

During the ancient times following crusades and religious wars the Jews were driven out of Jerusalem and for centuries it had been a home for Palestine Arabs. After losing their home, Jews roamed around Europe for centuries before eventually facing persecution and holocausts in the hands of Nazis.

Jews later demanded the creation of native homeland in the 1800s & 1900s.

TIMELINE

• 1897: The World Zionist Organization is created to advocate for the establishment of Jewish homeland in Palestine.

• 1917: The Balfour Declaration,  British foreign secretary- James Balfour approves the creation of a homeland for Jews in Palestine without consulting the Arab states and Palestinians ( native to the region).

• 1947: The U.N. successfully passes the plan to separate  Western Palestine into two states. Jewish leaders accepted the proposal while Palestine Arab leaders rejected it, prompting riots.

• 1948-49: Before the U.N. plan could be implemented, Israel declared unilateral independence in 1948 in direct violation of the U.N.& International Community. The Arab states immediately retaliated against the newly created state of Israel by declaring war against it. (Arab-Israel War)

• 1949: Israel managed to defeat all the Arab states with the support of the USA and the UK. Palestinian territory drastically reduced into a narrow also known as Gaza Strip & the region known as West Bank ( which was later occupied by Jordan).

• 1967: Six day war between Israel and Arab countries, Israel further enhanced it control over the Palestinian areas and occupied many Arab territories as well which was later returned after signing a peace treaty. Israel also entirely captured the West Bank (east Jerusalem) from Jordan, Golan Heights from Syria and went on to occupy the Gaza strip.

• 1987-1993: Palestine begins a mass uprising in Gaza also known as First Intifada ( lasted for several years). Later temporary peace was achieved through signing of ‘Oslo accords & Camp David summit’). But continued violence against Palestinians triggered the second Intifada (2000-2005).

• 2000:  Palestinian extremist outfits such as the HAMAS ( said to be backed by Iran) centered in the Gaza strip is known to launch violent attacks against Israel including the civilians establishments.

• Present Day: Israel has completely altered the status quo and has significantly reduced Palestinian territories, completely occupied Jerusalem and has been pushing illegal Jewish settlements, this has completely eroded the rights of the Palestinians.

Sheikh Jarrah, Israel - an old land title dispute has been going between the Palestinian Arabs and the Jewish Settlers.

HAMAS conducts acts of terrorism while

ISRAEL is accused of violating the Human Rights

Over the years and decades many attempts have been made to work out a solution but they all have failed because they were largely based on European Model, which pushes for an unfair settlement between the victors and the losers.

Classic example -  Creation of Nazi Germany based on Annihilation of Jews.

And the irony is the the very same Jews who faced the atrocities back in Nazi Germany are seem to be committing similar atrocities with the Palestinians depriving them of their justified rights.

WHAT IS NEEDED?

It's high time that both parties look for a realistic way forward because the current situation is benefitting no one and it's the common citizens who are suffering on both sides.

It's important that both parties involved realize that Israel is here to stay and parallelly the justified demands of Palestinians is not going to be erased just by the use of violence and force.