Arab-Jewish conflict in Palestine

1. Jews and Palestine: Why do they want this piece of land?

• People were polytheistic -which means they belived in more than one god- whereas
Abraham was asked to believe in only one god.
• Jews, Christians and muslims all believe in Abraham, but they all disagree about the
stories on him.
• Because of Abraham's loyalty to one god, he was promised many children and a
great nation, which was supposed to be extended from the Nile river to the
Euphrates river.
• Abraham was told that Jews were the “chosen” people.

2. Arabs and Palestine: Why do they want it?

Since the begginig of history, Palestine has had many conquerors: Egyptians, Assyrians,
Babylonians, Persians, Selevids, Romans, etc. They wanted it because of:

• its geographical features, such as crossroads, suitable for travelling.

• It is a perfect link between the mediterranean and the Red sea.
• It is the shortest route from Europe to Asia.
• It is “where it all began”.

3. The British Mandate: What did it include?

• It established a form of government and tried to control Palestine.

• The one who was in charge of the region was called a “high commissioner”, and:
◦ all complaints had to go through him.
◦ He had all the power.
◦ He could only be controlled by superiors in London.
• The Mandate gave Jews the right to National Home in Palestine with freedoms and
rights that they'd have in any other country.
• It was said that Arabs wouldn't be removed from their land and that they didn't have
to leae their land. Also they wouldn't discuss both the majority and minority's rights.
• Three offcial languages were to be used in official documents: English, Hebrew and
Arabic.
• The Mandate allowed the areas -which were ready- to self-govern themselves.
• Holy places were controlled by an international mandate and League of Nation, that
had to supervise its access.

4. The PLO and its activities: describe their importance in this conflict.

Was a political and military organization formed in 1964 to unite various Palestinian Arab
groups and ultimately to bring about an independent state of Palestine. Since 1968 it has
been led by Yasser Arafat.

Even knowing the record of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) toward Israel,they
weren't aware that it terrorized Palestinians, too - yet such, it turned out, had been the case
in South Lebanon from 1975 to 1982. This not only contradicted theories about the way in
which guerrillas depend on the support of the local population among whom they live; it
also made no sense that the PLO would alienate its own constituency.
 Finally, in perhaps the strangest anomaly of all, the launching of the Reagan initiative in
September 1982 turned the world's eyes once more on the PLO, as though its response
were the key to a peace settlement in the Middle East.

5. Describe the peace process.

The peace process in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and has taken shape over the years.
Since the 1970s there has been a parallel effort made to find terms upon which peace can
be agreed to in both the Arab–Israeli conflict and in the Palestinian–Israeli conflict.

From the Israeli perspective, a key concern is security, and whether the major Palestinian
figures and institutions are in fact trying to fight terrorism and promote tolerance and co-
existence with Israel. Israeli concerns are based on abundant documentary and empirical
evidence of many Palestinian leaders having in fact promoted and supported terrorist
groups and activities. Furthermore, there is much concrete evidence of Palestinians having
supported and expressed incitement against Israel, its motives, actions, and basic rights as
a state. The election of Hamas has provided evidence for this view, with the Hamas charter
stating unequivocally that it does not recognize Israel's right to exist. However there remain
some activists on the Palestinian side who claim that there are still some positive
signs on the Palestinian side, and that Israel should use these to cultivate some positive
interactions with the Palestinians, even in spite of Hamas's basic opposition to the
existence of the Jewish State. Since mid-June 2007, Israel has cooperated with Palestinian
security forces in the West Bank at unprecedented levels, thanks in part to United States-
sponsored training, equipping, and funding of the Palestinian National Security Forces
and Presidential Guard.

6. What is the situation today?

I would like to say that I find it absolutely ludicrous that both Palestinians and Israelis are
fighting to get back what they consider their land and whatnot, without even noticing -or
maybe they do but just don't care less- all of the people who are being killed, from both the
“enemy” and their own people, because of their actions. Because I am sure many Israelis
and Palestinians give much more preference to what they consider more important, such as
getting money to feed their families.