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By Jeremy R. Hammond There is a general perception that the reason the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has continued for so long is because it is extremely complex. Nothing could be further from the truth. Placed in historical context, understanding the root cause of the conflict is simple, and in doing so, the solution becomes apparent. During the late 1800s, a movement known as Zionism arose to establish a Jewish state in Palestine, then a territory under the Ottoman Empire. As a result of World War I, the Ottoman Empire was dissolved and Great Britain and France conspired to divide the territorial spoils of war between themselves. The British became the occupying power of Palestine. The League of Nations issued a mandate effectively recognizing Great Britain as such. During the war, the British had promised the Arab nations their independence in return for their cooperation in helping to defeat the Ottoman Turks. At the same time, the British declared its support for the goal of Zionism of establishing a "national home" for the Jewish people and permitted Jewish immigration into Palestine. The Zionist aims did not sit well with the majority Arab inhabitants of Palestine. The Arab states proposed that the independence of Palestine be recognized and a democratic government established that would include representatives of the Jewish minority. But this solution was rejected by both the Zionists and the British, whose respective leadership recognized that the Zionist project could not be carried out except by force of arms. As Jewish immigration continued and Arabs were displaced from their land, violent clashes between the two communities began to erupt. In 1921, for instance, Arabs rioted and attacked Jewish communities, and in 1929, Arabs massacred Jews in Hebron. Zionist terrorist organizations targeted not only Arabs, but the British as well, such as the bombing of the King David Hotel in 1946. That attack was carried out by the Irgun, whose leader, Menachem Begin, would later become prime minister of Israel. Following World War II, the British, unable to reconcile its conflicting policies and commitments, requested that the newly formed United Nations take up the matter. This resulted in the creation of the U.N. Special Commission on Palestine. The members of the commission, which included no representatives from any Arab state, explicitly rejected the right to self-determination of the population. Although the Arab states reiterated their proposed democratic solution, it was again rejected. The commission instead recommended dividing Palestine in two. Under their partition plan, more than half of the territory would go to the minority Jews, who owned just seven percent of the land (while 85 percent was owned by Arabs). The General Assembly passed a resolution in 1947 recommending that the commission's partition plan be implemented. Naturally, the Arabs rejected the plan. Contrary to popular myth, Israel was not created by the U.N. Israel was born on May 14, 1948, when the Zionist leadership unilaterally declared its existence. The neighboring Arab states took up arms against the newly declared state in the war known to Israelis as the "War of Independence" and to the Arabs as the "Nakba", or "Catastrophe". During the war, 700,000 Arabs were either driven from their homes or fled out of fear of further massacres such as had occurred at the village of Deir Yassin shortly prior to the Zionist declaration. This ethnic cleansing of Israel is the root cause of the Palestinian refugee problem one hears so much about today. Although their right of return is guaranteed under international law, Israel has refused to allow those who fled and their descendents to return to what is rightfully their own land. This is also the reason why Palestinians today do not recognize that Israel has a "right to exist". Another watershed event occurred in June of 1967, when Israel launched a surprise attack against Egypt (then the United Arab Republic). Such was the superiority of the Israeli force of arms that the war lasted only six days, during which Israel invaded and occupied the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. As a result of the war, the U.N. Security Council passed resolution 242, which emphasized the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war and called on Israel to withdraw from the territories it had occupied. Today, the West Bank remains under Israeli occupation. Israel continues to bulldoze Palestinian homes and construct Jewish settlements in violation of international law and numerous U.N. resolutions. As for Gaza, Israel withdrew in 2005, but has since placed it under siege, permitting in only enough aid to prevent a full-scale humanitarian catastrophe, while keeping Gazans perpetually in a state of misery and despair. Then, on December 27, 2008, Israel launched a full-scale military attack against Gaza dubbed Operation Cast Lead, during which the Israeli military rained down death and destruction upon the defenseless civilian population and infrastructure of Gaza. The reason why this state of affairs can continue is simple. It is because the United States unconditionally supports Israel. An illuminating example was the announcement early in the Obama administration that if Israel did not end settlement activity, it would suffer no consequences. U.S. support would continue regardless. That message was understood perfectly well by the Netanyahu government in Israel. U.S. policy must be understood and judged by deeds and not rhetoric. The fact of the matter is that the U.S. supports Israeli violations of international law financially ($3 billion plus annually), militarily (U.S. made F-16 jets, Apache helicopter gunships, and white phosphorus munitions were used during Operation Cast Lead, for instance), and diplomatically (such as the U.S. use of the veto in the U.N. Security Council). The most practical and equitable solution to the conflict has been recognized for decades. There is an international consensus on a two-state solution that has long been accepted by the Palestinian side. The reason this solution has not been implemented is also perfectly simple. It is because the Israeli and U.S. policies of rejectionism prevent it from happening. Israeli policy will continue so long as it has U.S. backing. U.S. policy will continue so long as the American people permit it to.A just and lasting peace in the Middle East is possible. It's simple. There is a choice. |
My friend,
ReplyDeleteIdeas of reestablishing a Jewish state in Israel trace back to the destruction of the Second Temple almost 2000 years ago. Modern political means to reestablish a Jewish state trace back to the late 1700s with the Zionist movement succeeding where others before it have failed.
In the early 1900s Arabs were not displaced from their lands unless the land that they were sitting on was sold by its rightful owners. Is it fair for a landlord to sell land that a family has been living on for 50 and 100 years? Maybe not to the family, but the landlord is within his rights.
Why should there be representation from Arab states on the Commission to decide the fate of a land that is not theirs? The Ottoman Empire was toppled, and the British by virtue of the League of Nations became the stewards to decide the territory's fate. Again, is that fair? What is fair in history? Did the United States gain its territory in a fair manner? Did Muhammad spread Islam in a fair way?
"Ethnic cleansing of Israel"? Is that why there are so many Arabs living in Israel today? Is that why as the partition wall is being built, Arabs are fleeing the territory of the new Arab state? It is easy to throw words around, but what "ethnic cleansing is going on today? Or what ethnic cleansing has ever gone on? Clearly not all the Arabs left in '48 and those that stayed were not persecuted, tortured, put in concentraiton camps, booted out, etc.
West Bank and Gaza Strip are not Palestinain territories. They are territories of the British Mandate that once were part of the Ottoman Empire. Even under the Ottoman Empire, Palestine was part of the Damascuc District. There has never been a politcal entity known as Palestine, except as a "county" in the Ottoman Empire or under some other empirical regime.
Yes, Gaza is under siege because these fine individuals, instead of trying to find ways to live in peace expend all their energy to build bombs and missiles to launch at Israel. What a great world this would be if all Arabs would put down their weapons and go back to the academies and the universities of 700 years ago. It is not impossible to live side-by-side and once no one's life is threatened, freedom of movement may even become a possibility.
The fact that the Arabs have not accepted a two state solution since 1948 to this day in practice - Arafat almost had it with Barak, and even Netanyahu is considering it - does not give anyone much hope that the Arabs will really settle for a two state solution. Why should any Arab be willing to give up what he believes is rightfully his for the sake of peace? What value is there for this concept of peace that it is worth living for when there is so much more worth dying for? Or better yet, killing for?
I think that if the Arabs were to honestly release Shalit and put down their weapons and solidly embrace peace, it could even happen tomorrow. The Israelis and the Jews are not as bad as you think.
Abe Weschler
PS Being that the Arab peoples have tried ousting the Jews now for over 65 years without success, it sure does seem to be that the Jews have Allah on their side!