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PALESTINE ISSUE
1. Introduction/Background. The history of Palestine has been marked by frequent
political conflict and violent land seizures because of its importance to several major world
religions. The current political conflict began in the 20th century. Since the fall of the
Ottoman Empire in World War I to 1998, Palestine typically referred to the geographic
region located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River.
2. Balfour Declaration
a. On 02 Nov 1917, the British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour made
public the British support of Jewish Homeland in Palestine. It was called the
Balfour Declaration.
b. Once the British conquered Palestine from the Turks in World War I, the
League of Nations in 1920 formally approved the Balfour Declaration
granting the British mandate to govern Palestine only on the condition that
they use that governance to create a state for the Jewish people.
3. Partition of Palestine
a. On 29 Nov 1947, after more than two decades of British rule, the UN
approved a plan for the partition of Palestine into two sections: an
independent Arab State and an independent Jewish State. The city of
Jerusalem was to be an international territory with a special status.
b. In 1947, there were roughly 2/3rd Palestinian Arabs in Palestine and 1/3rd
Jews. Yet the UN saw fit to give the Jews around 56% of the territory for a
Jewish State.
4. Creation of Israel and Developments Thereafter
a. In May 1948, Britain withdraws from Palestine and Israel declared itself an
independent state. Almost immediately, neighbouring Arab armies moved in
to prevent the establishment of the Israeli state. The Arab-Israeli War of 1948
thus started. By the War’s end in July 1949, Israel controlled more than 2/3 rd
of the territory. Jordan occupied land which became known as the West Bank
and Egypt occupied Gaza Strip. Jerusalem was divided between Israeli
forces in the West and Jordanian forces in the East.
b. In 1967, the Arab-Israel War was waged in which Israel defeated the
combined forces of Egypt, Syria and Jordan. Since the war lasted six days, it
came to be known as the Six Day War. At the end of the war, Israel had
taken control of the Gaza Strip the West Bank, the Sinai Peninsula (a desert
region of Egypt situated between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea)
and the Golan Heights (a rocky plateau between Syria and modern day
Israel).
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d. Since then, Jewish settlements have been erected in these areas leading to
an increase of the Israeli Jewish Population.
e. In Oct 1973, in what is called the Yom Kippur War, Egypt and Syria launched
a surprise attack on Israel to retake the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan
Heights respectively but in vain, and a stalemate ensued.
f. In Nov 1977, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat initiated the peace
negotiations which led to the agreement known as Camp David Accords in
Sep 1978 and the signing of a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel in
March 1979, followed by recognition of Israel by Egypt. Subsequently, the
Sinai Peninsula was returned by Israel to Egypt.
g. After a series of secret meetings between Israel and the PLO in Norway, the
Oslo Accords came into existence. On the basis of these Accords, the two
sides agreed to mutual recognition and agreed to setup Palestinian self-
government in Gaza Strip and the West Bank over five years’ time.
h. In Nov 1995, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated which
struck a serious blow to the peace process, as the newly elected govt backed
off in 1996.
5. Issue Refugees. The issue of refugees, along with that of settlements and the
status of Jerusalem, is now playing a central role in the stalled peace process.
6. Present Status of the Issue
a. There is a concern that a third Intifada could break out and that renewed
tensions will escalate into large-scale violence.
b. Israeli continue to maintain its effective closure of Gaza, subjecting the
population of Gaza, to collective punishment.
c. The West Bank is now nominally controlled by the Palestinian Authority and
is under Israeli occupation.
d. Gaza is controlled by Hamas, an Islamist Fundamentalist Party and is under
Israeli blockade but not ground troops occupation.
e. Israelis consider a complete and unified Jerusalem its capital but the
Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as capital of their future state.
7. Comments/Conclusions. The solutions on offer are not wholly to the liking of any
of the party in the conflict. Whatever form peace takes, some kind of solution has to be
found to resolve the issue. Leaving the situation unresolved, especially of the stateless
Palestinian refugees, is not a humanitarian option.
