A few months back, two countries were very aggressively trying to destroy each other. There was continuous firing and bombarding by both sides on each other. It all started after Israel attacked a peaceful procession in Al Aqsa mosque, which happens to be the second most important religious place of Islam after Mecca. Israel alleged suspicion of terrorist attack, while Palestine complained of their religious sentiments being hurt. The countries involved were Israel and Palestine and their enmity has been there for many years. But, this was not the condition alwyas. So, what is actually the reason behind this level of hate and tension between the two? Let’s try to find out and for that let’s delve into History for the answers.
Tracing the Origins of the Area
As we know there are two main parties in the story, one of the parties is Jews. If we look at history we find that Jews have been suffering persecution for a long time back. It started regarding the belief that the killers of JESUS CHRIST were Jews. After that point, they were on the receiving end of violence and hate throughout the world. All this lead to all the Jews coming together in search of a separate country of their own. A Journalist named Theodor Herzi came up with a new political movement … ZIONISM in his 1896 pamphlet named ‘JUDENSTAAT’ (The Jewish State) which advocated the need for a separate Jewish country. During this time, millions of Jews migrated towards their holiest place, Palestine, which came under The Ottoman Empire.
WORLD WAR I and the Entry of British
As it is said that “If two fishes are fighting … Britishers must have passed by”. World War I started in 1914 and Britishers, French and Arab powers were hungry for this Ottoman Empire. The Britishers did the trick by promising Jews and Arabs a separate country if they help them. But, they had already done a deal with France and as soon as Ottoman Empire got defeated, they divided the whole country amongst themselves only. It left the mouth of both Jews and Arabs wide open as It were just the British ruling over the whole of Palestine.
After that around the 1930s, our great Hitler comes to the fore and the world-famous Jewish genocides killing over 6 million Jews takes place which further accelerates the Jewish emigration, especially towards Palestine. This leads to the demand for both a Jewish state as well as a Palestinian state coming at the same time. Britishers after fuelling the whole damage does a FAQIR unable to control the situation just like they did almost everywhere around the globe.
The Entry of United Nations and the Birth of Israel
Now, United Nations takes the responsibility of resolving the conflict and divides the whole area ‘almost’ equally between the Jewish and the Arab. While the Arab and Jewish were given 45% and 55% of the area respectively, Jerusalem was kept under International control because of its religious significance. The Jewish group was more than happy and named its part as Israel, which also marked the birth of Israel. But, the story didn’t end there as many as five Arab neighbouring countries (Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria) announced war against Israel about their dissatisfaction related to the birth of an Israeli state. Israel was just a small country and facing five big nations seemed an uphill task for them. But, Israel showed great valour in the First Arab-Israeli war and ended up defeating all the five nations in this fight for existence.
The 1948 Exodus and the 1967 War
After the war, two important areas ‘Gaza Strip’ and ‘West Bank’ went into the hands of Egypt and Jordan respectively, leaving almost nothing for the Palestinians. Because of this, the 1948 Exodus took place as around 7 million Palestinians migrated to Arab countries. Now, in 1967 the 2nd Arab-Israeli war takes place resulting in yet another victory for Israel. But this time, Israel ends up seizing the ‘Gaza Strip’ and ‘West Bank’ back from Egypt and go ahead and conquer the ‘Egyptian Peninsula’ area as well.
The Birth of PLO and the Assassination of ANWAR SADAT
In 1964, the birth of the Palestine Liberation Organization was formed. Initially, it focussed on armed struggle, but later softened its approach and in 1970 also got recognition as the ‘Representatives of Palestine’ by both the Arab League and the UN. Also, by this time Egypt and Israel start negotiating with each other on peace terms. On one hand, Egypt becomes the first nation to recognise Israel, Israel on the other hand return the ‘Egyptian Peninsula’ to Egypt. The Prime Ministers; Menachem Begin of Israel and Anwar Sadat of Palestine were awarded Nobel Peace Prize for this landmark moment.
But, the Egyptian extremist groups didn’t like it at all and went up assassinating their PM Anwar Sadat and all the peace process comes to a halt. After this, Israel too chooses the wrong path and purposely sends many of its people to make settlements in the ‘Gaza Strip’ and the ‘West Bank’ area despite knowing that these are Palestine dominated areas. These settlements are internationally criticized as they further aggravate the situation between Israel and Palestine.
YITZHAK RABIN and the 1993 Oslo Accords: So Near Yet So Far
Yitzhak Rabin is one of the best prime ministers to ever hold office in Israel. He not only recognized PLO officially but also accepted their demand for a separate country Palestine, who too return accepts Israel officially. So finally, after so many years of hate, the two countries were finally looking close towards a peace treaty in the Oslo Accords of 1993. The Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chief Yasser Arafat also win the Nobel Peace Prize for the same. For the first time, the Palestine government is formed under the name Palestinian National Authority Though Palestinians get only some small portions scattered over the whole big region, thanks to the illegal settlements by Israel, the situation becomes quite peaceful in the area.
The agreement divided the whole region area-wise, such as some portion to be governed by Israel and Palestine individually while some to remain under joint control. Just then the extremists again come at the forefront and assassinate Yathzik Rabin as they can’t tolerate even an ‘SUI KE NOK BARABAR’ land to be given to Palestinians. The whole peace process and effort for controlling the situation goes into the drain in a single go and from then on the situation has only worsened to date.
HAMAS and the Battle of Gaza
HAMAS, an Islamist terrorist militant group comes up in 1987. It does not believe in peace talks or any form of agreement and believes in spreading terror and hate to achieve its purpose. From then on, it has continuously headed many suicide bombings and clashes with Israel. 1995 and 2002 saw extreme violent situations between the two countries leading to many deaths. In the 2006 elections, Hamas also competes and surprisingly ends up winning it over PLO (Fateh). This further leads to polarization within Palestine followed by a civil war (The Battle of Gaza). This eventually ends up dividing the whole of Palestine into two parts. While the Gaza Strip area comes under the control of Hamas, the West Bank area comes under PLO. Since then, the West Bank area under PLO has been demanding a proper Palestine and the Gaza Strip area has been indulging in one terrorist activity after the other towards Israel.
Conclusion: Only a Two-State Solution seems Fair
Now, we see how the situation all started with some British tactics. After that, greed for power and religious extremism has only worsened the situation in the area. They came close to agreements but the sick-minded people ensured that never becomes the case. If you look at the map of the region carefully, you can see the situation is extremely peculiar as despite being defined as a country Palestine is actually a collection of small land pieces. So, many experts are of the opinion that the division that was done by United Nations back in 1948 was and is the best possible situation in the area. But, will that happen? The chances are minimal. But the violence that took place recently, is really worrying because it was mostly the innocents who had nothing to do with all this, who ended up losing their lives. TIll how long can they continue to fight and kill in the name of their past enmity. People are dying and dying for literally nothing… and we can’t be okay with that. Not at all.
JAI HIND
