Palestine issue

The Israeli Palestinian conflict is on going dispute between Israel and Palestinians .although the conflict is wide ranging, the key issues are border security, water rights, control of Jerusalem, land right, and legalities concerning refugees.

Introduction
The Israeli Palestinian conflict is on going dispute between Israel and Palestinians .although the conflict is wide ranging, the key issues are border security, water rights, control of Jerusalem, land right, and legalities concerning refugees. The violence resulting from the conflict has prompted other securities and human rights concern on both sides and internationally. The violence resulting of conflict has prompted part of the wider Arab-Israel conflict. The term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict between Zionists and Arab population living under ottoman or British rule. Many attempts are made to solve two side issue which would result creation of an independent Palestine state and also an independent Jewish state. As of 2009 a majority of both Israel and Palestine according to numbers of polls prefer the two state solutions over any other solution over any other solution as mean of resolving the issue. The current Israeli government ha made repeated requests for continued negotiations without preconditions, but mehmood abbas , the head of Palestinian authorities has refuse to negotiate unless Israel completely halts all settlements construction and expansion. The United States, France and United Nations and others called Palestine to resume negotiations with Israel immediately. But these calls have been ignored. A majority of Palestine and Israel view the west bank and Gaza strip as an acceptable location of hypothetical Palestinians state in two-state solution. However there are many areas that are disputed in agreements. The academic advocates present one-state solution, where all of Israel, the Gaza strip, and west bank would become a bi-national state with equal rights for all. Within Israel and Palestine society, the conflict generates a wide variety of views and opinions. This highlights the deep divisions which not only between Israel and Palestine, but also within each society. Fighting has been conducted by regular armies, paramilitary groups and individuals. Causalities are not restricted to military, but also going on with large numbers of civilian population on both sides. There are many prominent actors are involved in this conflict. Two parties engaged in direct negotiations are the Israeli government currently led by Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian liberation organization (PLO), currently headed by Mehmood Abbas. The official negotiations are mediated by an international group of countries known as the Quartet on the middle east represented by a special envoy that consist of united states, Russia, the European union, and the united nations. The Arab league is another important actor, which has proposed an alternative peace plan. Egypt a founding member of Arab league has historically been a key participant. Since 2003 the Palestinian side has been fractured by conflict between the two major factions,m Alfatah and Hamas and Hamas is in power in gaza strip in june 2007.the territory controlled by the Palestine national authority( the Palestine interim government ) is split between Alfatah in the west bank, and Hamas in the gaza strip this division of government between the parties has effectively resulted in the collapse of bipartism governance of the Palestinian national authority. A round of peace negotiations began at Annapolis, Maryland, united states in November 2007. theses takes aimed at having a final resolution by the end of 2008. the partiesagree there are six core issues which need to be resolved.

History
The ancient Jewish kingdoms of Israel and Judea had been successively conquered and subjugated by several foreign empires, when in 135 CE the Roman Empire defeated the third revolt against its rule and consequently expelled the surviving Jews from Jerusalem and its surroundings, selling many of them into slavery. The Roman province was then renamed "Palestine". After the Arab conquest of Palestine in the 7th century the remaining inhabitants were mostly

assimilated into Arab culture and Muslim religion, though Palestine retained Christian and Jewish minorities, the latter especially living in Jerusalem. Apart from two brief periods in which the Crusaders conquered and ruled Palestine (and expelled the Jews and Muslims from Jerusalem), it was ruled by several Arab empires, and it became part of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire in 1516.

Periods of conflict
On the historical time line, the Israeli Palestinian conflict has six distinct phases. 19th century 1917 The period of Ottoman Empire rule in Palestine in which Palestinians saw themselves as a part of overall Arab territories which were under the rule of Ottoman Empire. During that period, the disputes were on the basis of religious background and not on national back ground. 1917-1948 The period of British mandate of Palestine in which both parties are under the British rule and under the single political entity called Palestine in English. During this period the term IsraelPalestinian conflict was not used and instead the conflict was referred to as the Arab-Jewish conflict over the land of Palestine 1948-1967 The period between the declaration of state of Israel and the six day war in which the parties resided in three separate political entities. The state of Israel, the Gaza strip(which was controlled by egypt) and the west bank. 1967-1993 The period between the six day war and the Oslo accord , in which the conflicted parties reside in the areas addressed by the UN partition plan that were under the control of state of Israel. 1993-2000 The period between Oslo accord and the second intifada, in which Israel exist along side the semi sovereign political entity the Palestinian authority. 2000-to present The period between the beginning of the second intifada up until today, in which Israel returned to perform arresting operations in area A zones in west bank and Gaza strip in 2005.israels unilateral disengagement from the Gaza strip inadvertently led to the strenghthening Hamas, which in 2007 took control over the Gaza strip.

Rise of Zionism
In the late 19th century Zionism arose as a nationalist and political movement aimed at the restoring the land of Israel as the national home for the Jewish people. Tens of thousands of jews , mostly from eastern Europe and from Yemen, started migrating to Palestine. Zionism was a secular movement but later it referred to religious and cultural ties with Jerusalem and ancient Israel which most Jews had maintained throughout the ages. Most orthodox Jews initially believed that only the Messiah could lead them back to the 'promised land', but ongoing pogroms and the Holocaust made many of them change their minds.

The British mandate for Palestine

During world war 1 great Britain captured part of middle east, including Palestine from Ottomon empire. In 1917 Britain has promised the Zionist in the balfour declaration, and on this basis they later were assigned a mandate over Palestine from the league of nations. the mandate of the Palestine initially include the area of transjorden, which was split off in 1922. Jewish immigrates to Palestine and starts purchasing land then they face resistance from the Arab inhabitants of Palestine. Which starts several violent activities against jews and britian rule in 1920 and 1930. Jewish immigration and land purchases met with increasing resistance from the Arab inhabitants of Palestine, who started several violent activities against the Jews and against British rule in the

1920s and 1930s. the followers of the radical Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini not only killed hundreds of Jews, but an even larger number of Palestinian Arabs from competing groups. The Zionists in Palestine established self-defense organizations like the Haganah and the Irgun. The latter carried out reprisal attacks on Arabs from 1936 on. Under Arab pressure the British severely limited Jewish immigration to Palestine, after proposals to divide the area had been rejected by the Palestinian Arabs in 1937. Jewish refugees from countries controlled by Nazi Germany now had no place to flee to, since nearly all other countries refused to let them in. In response Jewish organizations organized illegal immigration, the Zionist leadership in 1942 demanded an independent state in Palestine to gain control of immigration and the Irgun committed assaults on British institutions in Palestine.

Despite pressure from the USA, Great Britain refused to let in Jewish immigrants - mostly Holocaust survivors - even after World War II, and sent back illegal immigrants who were caught or detained them on Cyprus. Increasing protests against this policy, incompatible demands and violence by both the Arabs and the Zionists made the situation untenable for the British. They returned the mandate to the United Nation, who hoped to solve the conflict with a partition plan for Palestine, which was accepted by the Jews but rejected by the Palestinians and the Arab countries. The plan proposed a division of the area in seven parts with complicated borders and corridors, and Jerusalem and Bethlehem to be internationalized. The relatively large number of Jews living in Jerusalem would be cut off from the rest of the Jewish state by a large Arab

corridor. There would be an economic union between both states .

Establishment of the State of Israel

After the proposal was adopted by the UN General Assembly in November 1947, the conflict become more intensive and Palestinian Arabs started attacking Jewish convoys and communities throughout Palestine and blocked Jerusalem, whereupon the Zionists attacked and destroyed several Palestinian villages. The Arab League had openly declared that it aimed to prevent the establishment of a Jewish state by force, and Al Husseini told the British that he wanted to implement the same 'solution to the Jewish problem' as Hitler had carried out in Europe. A day after the declaration of the state of Israel May 14, 1948 Arab troops from the neighboring countries invaded the area. At first they made some advances and conquered parts of the territory allotted to the Jews. Initially they had better weaponry and more troops, but that changed after the first cease-fire, which was used by the Zionists to organize and train their newly established army, the Israeli Defense Forces. Due to better organization, intelligence and motivation the Jews ultimately won

their War.

After the armistice agreements in 1949, Israel controlled 78 percent of the area between the Jordan river and the Mediterranean Sea, whereas Jordan had conquered the West Bank and East Jerusalem and Egypt controlled the Gaza Strip. Jerusalem now was divided, with the Old City under Jordanian control and a tiny Jewish enclave in the Jordanian part. In 1950 Jordan conquer the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and that was only recognized by Great Britain and Pakistan. A majority of the Palestinian Arabs in the area now under Israeli control was expelled estimated by the UN about 711,000 and over 400 of their villages had been destroyed. The Jewish communities in the area under Arab control all been expelled. In the years and decades after the founding of Israel the Jewish minorities in all Arab countries were expelled approximately 900,000, most of whom went to Israel, the US and France. These Jewish refugees all were relocated in their new home countries. In contrast, the Arab countries refused to permanently house the Palestinian Arab refugees, because they maintained that they had the right to return to Israel. About a million Palestinian refugees still live in refugee camps in miserable circumstances. Israel rejected the Palestinian 'right of return' as it would lead to an Arab majority in Israel, and said that the Arab states were responsible for the Palestinian refugees.

Many Palestinian groups, including AlFatah, have admitted that granting the right of return would mean the end of Israel as a Jewish state. The question of the Palestinian right of return is the first mayor obstacle for solving the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The Six Day War and Arab rejectionism

The Arab-Israeli conflict goes on as Arab countries refused to accept the existence of Israel and boycott of Israel, while they continued to threaten with a war of destruction. There were some talks, but the Arab states all demanded both the return of the refugees and also parts of Israel in return for just non belligerence. They also founded Palestinian resistance groups which carried out attacks in Israel, like AlFatah in Syria in 1959 under the guidance of Yasser Arafat, and the PLO in Egypt in 1964. In May of 1967, the conflict escalated as Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran for Israeli shipping, sent home the UN peace keeping force stationed in the Sinai, and issued bellicose statements

against Israel. It formed a defense union with Syria, Jordan and Iraq and stationed a large number of troops along the Israeli border. After diplomatic efforts to solve the crisis failed, Israel attacked in June 1967 and conquered the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Desert from Egypt, the Golan Heights from Syria and the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan.

Initially Israel was willing to return most of these territories in exchange for peace, but the Arab countries refused to negotiate peace and repeated their goal of destroying Israel at the Khartoum conference. The Six Day War brought one million Palestinians under Israeli rule. Israelis were divided over the question what to do with the West Bank, and a new religiousnationalistic movement, Gush Emunim, emerged, that pushed for settling these areas. After 1967 the focus of the Palestinian resistance shifted to liberating the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as a first step to the liberation of entire Palestine. The Arab Palestinians started to manifest themselves as a people and to demand an independent state. East Jerusalem, reunited with West Jerusalem and proclaimed Israel's indivisible capital in 1980, but also claimed by the Palestinians as their capital, became a core issue for both sides in the conflict. The division of Jerusalem with its holy places is the second large obstacle for a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Struggle for a Palestinian state and the peace process

In 1974 the PLO was granted observer status in the UN as the representative of the Palestinian Arabs. Beside the UNRWA set up in 1949 for relief of the Palestinian refugees several new UN institutions were established to support the Palestinians and their struggle for their own state. In 1975 the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 3379, declaring Zionism to be a form of racism, which caused the UN to lose its last bit of credibility as a neutral mediator in the eyes of Israel, although that resolution was ultimately revoked in 1991. Former UN actions perceived as bias by Israel included the establishment of UNRWA as a separate organization aimed at assisting but not repatriating the Palestinian refugees and the easy acceptance of Egypt's decision to dismiss the UN peacekeeping force from the Sinai. The 'Zionism is racism' resolution gave a strong boost to the settlers' movement and helped bring the rightwing Likud party to power in 1977. 1979 peace treaty In 1979, under Likud Prime Minister Menachem Begin, Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty after American mediation, for which Israel returned the Sinai Desert to Egypt. Subsequent negotiations regarding autonomy for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank failed because the Palestinians didn't accept Israel's limited autonomy proposal for these areas, and Israel refused to accept the PLO as a negotiation partner. This changed in the early 1990s after the PLO had renounced violence, recognized the legitimacy of Israel, and declared to only strive for a Palestinian state in the 1967 occupied areas. Moreover a major uprising of the Palestinians in the occupied territories from 1987 on the first Intifadah convinced the Israeli government that they could not continue to rule over the Arab population. Oslo agreememnt Partly secret negotiations in Oslo led to an agreement under which in 1994 a Palestinian National Authority was established under the leadership of Arafat and the PLO, to which Israel would gradually transfer land. Elections were held for the presidency of the PNA and the Palestinian Legislative Assembly, from which violent or racist parties were excluded. After a 5 year transition period the most difficult matters would be settled in final status negotiations, such as the status of Jerusalem, the Palestinian refugees, the Jewish settlements and the definite borders. Eventually 97 percent of the Palestinians came under PA control, including all of the Gaza Strip and approximately 40 percent of the West Bank land. Since 1967 Israel has been establishing Jewish settlements in these areas, at first mostly small

ones in unpopulated areas and under the Likud governments from the late 1970s on all over the area and large settlement blocs.

Although the Oslo agreements did not require removal of the settlements, it was clear that they would constitute an obstacle to a definite peace agreement. The rapid growth of the settlements undermined Palestinian confidence in the peace process. The Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who partially froze settlement construction, was assassinated by a Jewish extremist in 1995. On the Palestinian side, Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian territory led to the construction of a terror network by the extremist Hamas and other groups, who from the mid 1990s on were able to carry out an unprecedented number of suicide attacks inside Israel. Under Arafat the PA took limited action against the terror groups and even funded them, and Arafat gave the green light for attacks when that suited his strategy. The continuing violence by Palestinian extremists constitutes the fourth obstacle for peace. The Oslo peace process got bogged down because both the Palestinians and the Israelis did not stick to agreements they made and the leadership on both sides did little to build confidence and to prepare their own people for the necessary compromises. Large groups on both sides protested against the concessions required by the agreements made. Camp David negotiations The peace process slowly dragged on towards the negotiations on Camp David in the summer of 2000. After the failure of Camp David a provocative visit to the holy Jerusalem Temple Mount by Likud leader Ariel Sharon sparked the second Intifada, which the Palestinian Authority had been preparing for. Palestinian leaders like Marwan Barghouti later admitted to having planned the second Intifada in the hope that it would press Israel into more concessions. However, the opposite happened, as the Israeli peace camp collapsed under the violence of Palestinian suicide attacks. bridging proposals In December 2000 US president Bill Clinton presented "bridging proposals" suggesting the parameters for a final compromise, including a Palestinian state on all of the Gaza Strip and about 97percent of the West Bank, division of Jerusalem and no right of return to Israel for Palestinian refugees. While Israel in principle accepted this proposal, no clear answer came from the Palestinian side. In last minute negotiations at Taba in January 2001, under European and Egyptian patronage, the sides failed to reach a settlement despite further Israeli concessions. Both

sides agreed to a joint communique saying they had never been so close to an agreement, but substantive disagreements remained about i.a. the refugee issue. After effects shortly after that Sharon's Likud party won the Israeli elections, and in the US democratic president Bill Clinton was replaced by George W. Bush. Following the terrorist attacks from Al Qaida inside America on September 11, 2001, Bush permitted Sharon to strike back hard against the second Intifada. After suicide attacks had killed over a hundred Israelis in March 2002, Israel re-occupied the areas earlier transferred to the Palestinian Authority and set up a series of checkpoints, which severely limited the freedom of movement for the Palestinians. In 2003 Israel started the construction of a very controversial separation barrier along the Green Line and partly on Palestinian land. These measures led to a strong decline of Palestinian suicide attacks in Israel, but also to international condemnations. Especially the dismissal of Palestinian workers in Israel led to increasing poverty in the territories. Although both parties accepted the 'Road Map to Peace', launched by the Quartet of US, UN, EU and Russia in 2003, no serious peace negotiations have taken place in recent years between Israel and the Palestinians. Israeli PM Ariel Sharon did take unilateral measures such as the disengagement from the Gaza Strip in 2005, but he demanded an end to Palestinian terrorism before he would engage in negotiations with Arafat's successor Abbas concerning final status issues. Plans for further unilateral withdrawals from the West Bank were put on ice after Hamas won the PA elections in early 2006, Thousands of rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel, and border attacks took place from both the Gaza Strip and south Lebanon which Israel had unilaterally withdrawn from in 2000. The latter had spurred the disastrous Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006.

Obstacles to peace
The primary cause for the Arab-Israeli conflict lies in the claim of two national movements on the same land, and particularly the Arab refusal to accept Jewish self-determination in a part of that land. Furthermore fundamentalist religious concepts regarding the right of either side to the entire land have played an increasing role, on the Jewish side particularly in the religious settler movement, on the Palestinian side in the Hamas and similar groups. But whereas the settlers received a blow when they failed to prevent the disengagement from the Gaza Strip, Hamas won the Palestinian elections, and after their breakup with AlFatah and their take-over of the Gaza Strip, they remain a dominant force capable of blocking any peace agreement. The Arab-Israeli conflict is further complicated by preconceptions and demonizing of the other by both sides. The Israelis see around them mostly undemocratic Arab states with underdeveloped economies, backward cultural and social standards and an aggressive religion inciting to hatred and terrorism. The Arabs consider the Israelis colonial invaders and conquerors, who are aiming to control the entire Middle East. There is resentment concerning Israeli success and Arab failure, and Israel is viewed as a beachhead for Western interference in the Middle East. In Arab media, schools and mosques anti-Semitic stereotypes are promoted, based on a mixture of anti-Jewish passages in the Quran and European anti-Semitism, including numerous conspiracy theories regarding the power of world Zionism. Since the Oslo peace process however, a broad consensus has been formed that an independent Palestinian Arab state should be established within the areas occupied in 1967. Polls on both sides show that majorities among Israelis and Palestinians accept a two state solution, but Palestinians almost unanimously stick to right of return of the refugees to Israel, and most Israelis oppose a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem.

Current issues in dispute The following outlined positions are the official positions of the two parties; however, it is important to note that neither side holds a single position. Both the Israeli and the Palestinian sides include both moderate and extremist bodies as well as dovish and hawkish bodies. Many Palestinians nowadays believe that Israel is not really interested in reaching an arrangement, but rather interested in continuing to control the entire territory from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River. As proof of their claims, they point to the expansion of the Jewish settlements during the terms of the Israeli left-wing political parties, the argument that it has always been Israel which has conquered territory which belonged to Arab countries, that the IDF entered Palestinian towns during the intifada, as well as quotes of Israeli right-wing leaders and religious leaders who have expressed their support in a Greater Israel and in implementing a population transfer On the other hand, many Israelis nowadays believe that the Palestinians true intentions are to conquer the Palestine region entirely and that their official claims are only a temporary strategy. As a proof to their claims, they note the rise of the Hamas, which has called for the takeover of all parts of Israel, incitement against Israel made in the Palestinian schools' textbooks and to the Palestinian political violence made against Israeli civilians within the Green Line borders. Due to the large number of opinions and interpretations, the question of the true demands of the parties is a political issue by itself, about which many Israelis and Palestinians disagree. Core issuesA variety of concerns has emerged as key issues in seeking a negotiated settlement between the two sides. Since the Oslo Accords, finalized in 1993, the government of Israel and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) has been officially committed to an eventual two-state solution. JerusalemThe border of Jerusalem is a particularly delicate issue, with each side asserting claims over this city. The three largest Abrahamic religionsJudaism, Christianity, and Islaminclude Jerusalem as an important setting for their religious and historical narratives Israel asserts that the city should not be divided and should remain unified within Israel's political control. Palestinians claim at least the parts of the city which were not part of Israel prior to June 1967. As of 2005, there were more than 719,000 people living in Jerusalem; 465,000 were Jews mostly living in West Jerusalem and 232,000 were Muslims mostly living in East JerusalemThe Israeli government, including the Knesset and Supreme Court, is centered in the "new city" of West Jerusalem and has been since Israel's founding in 1948. After Israel captured the Jordaniancontrolled East Jerusalem in the Six-Day War, it assumed complete administrative control of East Jerusalem. In 1980, Israel issued a new law stating, "Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel.At the Camp David and Taba Summits in 200001, the United States proposed a plan in which the Arab parts of Jerusalem would be given to the proposed Palestinian state while the Jewish parts of Jerusalem were retained by Israel. All archaeological work under the Temple Mount would be jointly controlled by the Israeli and Palestinian governments. Both sides accepted the proposal in principle, but the summits ultimately failed.

Conclusion

One and only solution of this issue is to give the Palestinians their land and resources back to them. To make (mashrik-e- wusta) Middle East peaceful region, peace process should be by dialogues. Muslim countries should help their Muslim Palestinian peoples. If Palestinians are not getting their rights through peace means then all Muslims should unite to defend Palestine.