Transcript The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Mateus Moitinho de Almeida
Scripture 19: Religions of the Book: Judaism Christianity, Islam
Professor Felix Just S.J.
June 1, 2007
Introduction to the Conflict
 The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an ongoing dispute
between two peoples, the Jewish Israelis and the Arab
Palestinians.
 The reason behind the continuous fighting of the Israelis
and Palestinians is that both peoples claim the right to
sovereignty of Israel.
 The origin of this current conflict stems from post-World
War 2 Zionism and the declaration of the State of Israel
Geography of Israel
 At present, Israel has 10,000 square miles of land and is
located at the Eastern end of the Mediterranean sea.
 The present state of Israel occupies all the land from the
Jordan river to the Mediterranean ocean, bounded by
Egypt in the south, Lebanon in the north, and Jordan in the
East.
 The Gaza Strip is located just south of Israel and is under
the control of the Palestinian authorities.
Map of Israel and Surrounding Countries
Lebanon and Syria in the
North
Jordan in the Right
Egypt in the South
Mediterranean sea on the
Left

Completely surrounded by
Muslim Countries
Map of the entire Middle East
History of Israel
1800-1500 B.C. - Semitic people called Hebrews leave Mesopotamia(now
Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran) and settle in Canaan (now Israel, Gaza
Strip, West Bank, and parts of Lebanon and Syria).
1000 B.C.- King David conquers Jerusalem and establishes an Israelite
Kingdom.
721 B.C.- Israel is conquered by the Assyrians.
605 B.C.- Judah is controlled by the Babylonians.
539-332 B.C.- Israel is under Persian rule.
History cont.
332-141 B.C.- Alexander the Great Defeats Persia and conquers Israel.
63-650 C.E.- Israel is under Roman rule.
630s C.E.- Muslim invasions take place.
1095-1240- The Crusades. Christians from the west fight for Jerusalem
because of its significance as the place where Jesus lived.
1300-1917- The Ottoman Turkish empire controls Palestine.
History cont.
1939-1945- World War 2. The Holocaust kills 6 million Jews
and 3-5 million others.
1948- The 1948 war (the “Nakba”) for independence. Israelis
and Arabs are at war.
May 14, 1948- The declaration of the independence of the
State of Israel. First time of independence since the Persian
invasion of 539 B.C.
Zionism
Zionism is a political movement that supports a
homeland for the Jewish people in Israel. Zionism
began organizing itself in the early 19th century.
This movement was successful in establishing the
state of Israel on May 14, 1948. The state of Israel
is now the world’s first and only modern Jewish
state. Zionism is partly based on the Jewish
religion which directly links Israel with the Jewish
people. However, the modern movement was
mainly secular. It was a response of European
Jews to the widespread anti-Semitism present in
Europe at the time.
The Gaza Strip
The Gaza strip is a narrow strip of land along the
Mediterranean sea. It is currently governed by the
Palestinian Authority but Israel controls the strip’s airspace
and maritime access. There are no Israeli settlements or
military bases because of the Palestinian control over the
strip and border crossings. The Gaza strip is also used by
the Hamas Palestinian group to attack Israeli territory.
The Hamas
The Hamas or Islamic Resistance Movement is a Palestinian
Islamist organization. The Hamas is seen by many
countries including Australia, the United States, Canada,
and Japan as a terrorist group. It was created in 1987 by
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin of the Gaza wing of the Muslim
brotherhood. It is best known for its suicide bombings
directed mainly at Israeli civilians as well as the Israeli
military. It’s charter states : "There is no solution for the
Palestinian question except through Jihad.”
The Haganah
The Haganah was a Jewish self-defense organization that was
created as a response to the Arab riots of 1920. The
Haganah’s role was to protect Jewish villages and farms
from Arab attacks.After the Hebron massacre of 1929, the
Haganah grew much larger and recruited nearly every
member of Jewish settlements as well as thousands from
the major cities. It also acquired foreign weapons and was
able to produce its own bombs. The Haganah evolved from
a simple militia into a skilled army according to what was
needed of them.
Conflicting Ideals
Jewish point of view:
After the holocaust and World War 2, Zionists wanted to
reclaim Israel as a Jewish state. They also wanted to make
Israel, then populated by Arabs, a state mostly, if not
completely, populated by Jews. The National Jewish fund,
which bought and developed Israeli land, refused to sell or
even lease back property bought from Arabs in order to
strengthen and expand the territorial grasp of Israel as well
as force Arabs out of the country.
Conflicting Ideals
Arab point of view:
As Arabs grew aware of the Zionist intentions, they opposed
further Jewish immigration into Israel. The Arabs realized
that this was a direct threat to the existence of Arabs and
Arab society in Palestine. Since 700 C.E., Palestine’s
population was mostly Arab. This meant a threat to 1200
years of history.
Important Events after the declaration of the
Independence of the State of Israel
The Balfour Declaration (1917) Before Great Britain Conquers Jerusalem and Palestine,
Britain issues the Balfour Declaration. The declaration
states British support of the creation of a Jewish state in
Palestine. This is a step forward for the Zionist movement
but for the Arabs, this only makes their problem worse.
Important Events cont.
The Arab Riots (1920-1921, 1929)Arabs against the Balfour declaration start riots and pogroms
against Jews in Jerusalem, Hebron, Haffa and Haifa. The
violence that resulted from these riotss and pogroms led to
the creation of the Haganah. The riots were done to show
the British the Arab discontent with the Jewish
immigration into Israel.
Important Events cont.
The White Paper (1936)As a response to the Arab revolt, the British started limiting
Jewish immigration. The White Paper stated that 15,000
Jews would be allowed to enter Palestine every 5 years.
Illegal Immigration (1945-1948)-
After World War 2 and the Holocaust, Jews from Europe
began immigrating to Palestine with the help of the
Institution for Illegal Immigration. For the most part, old
boats were used to cross the Mediterranean sea to reach
Israel.
Important Events cont.
The War for Independence “The Nakba” (1948)After the U.N. decided that Palestine would be split into a
Jewish and an Arab state and after occupying countries
such as Britain left, the Jews and Arabs began a war for the
territory of Israel. While the surrounding Arab countries
did not invade, the fighting was done mostly by Arab
Palestinians and Israeli underground groups such as the
Haganah.
Important Events cont.
Israeli Independence (May 14, 1948)The Jewish Israelis win the war against the Arabs and declare
independence. As a result of the new Jewish state, many
displaced Arabs are turned into refugees.
Biblical Readings
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Genesis 17: 1-8
Genesis 22: 9-14
Exodus 1: 1-12
Exodus 3: 4-10
Exodus 11: 1-10
Exodus 12: 37-42
Second Samuel 5: 1-5
Second Samuel 6: 1-10
These verses illustrate the deep roots that Judaism has in
Israel and Palestine. These may give some insight as to
why post-World War 2 Jews wanted an independent state
so badly.
Qur’anic Readings
Surah 2: 144-158
Surah 5: 97-100
Surah 6: 91-94
Surah 22: 29-33
Surah 27: 83-93
Surah 42: 1-9
These verses of the Qur’an show how Arabs also have
understandable claim to Israel and Palestine. They also see
themselves as sons of Abraham, the inheritors of the Holy
land.
Significant Religious Sites
 The City of Jerusalem
 The Temple of Jerusalem
 The Western Wall
A Model of the Second Temple of Jerusalem
Islamic Religious Sites
 Dome of the Rock
 Al-Aqsa Mosque
Demographics
Israel:
As of now, there are roughly 7,000,000 people living
in Israel. About 5.3 million people are Jewish, 1.3 million
are Israeli Arabs, and 300 thousand are neither of the two.
 Jews: 5,000,000 (76%)
 Muslims: 1,000,000 (16%)
 Christians: 150,000 (2%)
 Druze: 100,000 (1.5%)
 Unclassified: 300,000 (4%)
Demographics
Palestine (The Gaza Strip and the West Bank):
There are about 2,500,000 people currently in
Palestine. 99.4 are Arab Palestinians while 0.6% are
Jewish.
Muslims: 2,467,500 (98.7%)
Christians: 175,000 (.07%)
Jews: 150,000 (.06%)
Recent Events
Israel Rejects Arab Peace Plan (2002)
The peace plan, put forward after an Arab
league summit summit in Saudi Arabia,
offered peace if Israel withdrew from land
captured in the 1967 war, allowed a
Palestinian State and allowed the release
of Palestinian refugees. This was rejected
by Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon
Peres.
Recent Events Cont.
Fledgling Palestinian Government Faces Internal, External
Challenges (May 3, 2007)
Six weeks after the Palestinian Government’s creation, it was
still struggling with the same problems it had faced in the
beginning. Among some of the problems were a crippling
economic condition and the same tensions between leaders
of opposing parties and states.
Recent Events cont.
Fighting Among Palestinians Reignites in Gaza
Fighting in Palestine between to parties, the Hamas and the
Fatah, led to at least 17 deaths. The fighting was because
of some attacks by the Hamas party on the Palestinian
President’s guards. The Fatah accused the Hamas of the
attacks but the Hamas denied this and blamed the attacks
on Israeli forces.
Bibliography
 http://www.mideastweb.org/nutshell.htm
 http://www.mideastweb.org/briefhistory.htm
 http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/middle_east/janjune07/unitygov_05-03.html
 http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/middle_east/janjune07/mideast_05-15.html
 http://english.aljazeera.net/Israeli-Paletinianconflict.html
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zionism
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel
 http://www.mideastweb.org/log/archives/00000588.htm