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The Jewish perspective of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict? |
Travel Info Ok, I'm a Jewish and Latina and I've been dealing with this a lot lately, because I live in a predominately Arab neighborhood. I want to know what others (Jewish and Israeli) think of the Israeli Palestinian conflict? What is going on currently, what should happen and where it is going in the future? I've already heard the other side, so please limit this to the Israeli viewpoint. I really need the help... serious answers only!! This very important. Todah!! Travel Tips It is not a "Jewish" perspective as much as an Israeli one. While arabs may fight in the name of Islam, the fight from Israel's point of view is not a religious one. One can be Jewish and pro-palestinian, or even religious and pro-palestinian. There's a lot of story, but it's basically this: since the end of the 19th century, Jews have been immigrating to Israel (called "Aliyah"). At this time and until World War I the land was Ottoman. For the most part, Israel at that time was an uninhabitted and barren backwater. Much of Israel's present day farmland was swampland then, and the country was badly deforested. All land obtained at this time was legally purchased at exorbitant prices. In World War I the British took the area. One important event was the Balfour declaration wherein the British declared their support for the creation of "a Jewish homeland" on "both sides of the Jordan River". However, actual British rule was far from that. Britain had a difficult time of it, as they were dependant on arab oil while at the same time they had obligations towards the Jews. They tried to walk a tight line, and ended up angering both the Jews and the arabs. The most damaging practice was the limitation of Jewish immigration. The British severly limited the number of Jews allowed to enter the country. Imagine how the world would have changed had the British allowed the Jews entry to Israel up to and including World War II. Many fewer Jews would have been massacred. On top of this they (the British) did very little to prevent arab violence towards Jews. Riots erupted in the region, the worst of which was in 1929. (Anyone who tells you that the Jews and Arabs lived in peace until the creation of the state of Israel is wrong; Arabs massacred Jews on more than one occasion). This violence and the anger towards the British caused the local Jews to take up arms and form militias. These groups ranged from British collaborators to British attackers. During World War II the British decided to create and train a fighting force in Israel. Initially it was supposed to be comprised of equal numbers of Jews and Arabs, but the Jewish volunteers numbered three times as many as the Arabs, so in the end 3 Jewish battalions and one Arab battalion were created. These battalions never really saw much action, but this training the Jews received would be the basis of the future IDF. After the war was over and the world saw first hand the horrible genocide commited against the Jewish people world opinion swung in the Jews favor. However, despite the many Jewish refugees in Europe with no home to go back to, Britain still refused them entry. Many attempted to enter Israel illegally; those that were caught were sent to internment camps, the most famous on in Cyprus. Eventually Britain caved to internal and external pressure and gave the situation over to the UN. In 1947 the United Nations voted on a partition plan to create 2 states in the area, one for Jews and one for the local arabs. Despite receiving less then they had wanted, the Israeli Jews accepted the plan, while the local arabs - and surrounding arab countries - did not. In 1948 Israel declared independence, and soon after endeavored to fight off the arab armies invading from 5 surrounding countries. Israel won the war. The borders at the end of the conflict are often reffered to as the 1967 borders, because they remained the same until 1967 when Israel captured more land. During the war of Independence many arabs fled their homes. They now claim that they were evicted by Israeli forces, while Israel maintains that they fled voluntarily, most often at the behest of the invading arab armies who didn't want civilians getting in the way. What they often don't mention is that even more Jewish refugees were forced to flee their homes in the arab countries. They were forced to leave all their wealth behind and make the perilous journey to Israel. An interesting point of contrast is that Israel accepted these people and brought them into the country, despite the strain on the infant economy. Israel almost ceased to be from the sheer number of people it had to incorporate. At the time, everything had to be rationed. At the same time, the arab refugees were left to fend for themselves, to ultimately be used as political pawns. Anyway, when the dust had settled, Jordan claimed rights to the West Bank (though this was never accepted by the international community) and Gaza was ruled by Egypt. At no point was the second state, "Palestine", created. It is also important to mention that the Jewish quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem was lost to Jordan in the war. This included the Kotel or Wailing/Western Wall. Jews were denied access to it for the 19 years it was in Jordanian hands. In 1967 the winds of war began to pick up again. Egypt, Syria and Jordan were pressing on Israel from three sides and many people though Israel was about to expire. Egypt even went so far as to blockade the port of Eilat, Israel's route to the Indian Ocean (an act of war). However, before the attack materialised, Israel launched a pre-emptive airstrike on Egyptian airfields. A little bravery and planning mixed with a lot of luck to produce a monumental feat: practically the entire Egyptian airforce (Soviet supplied MiGs) was destroyed on the tarmac (this is the last time any airforce has kept it's planes exposed). With this stunning accomplishment, Israel was able to take control of the skies for the duration of the conflict (six days, hence Six Day War). Following the airstrike, the war begun in earnest. Israel repelled the invading forces and counter-attacked, and by the end of the week had taken the Sinai peninsula and Gaza strip from Egypt, the West Bank (including Jerusalem) from the Jordanians and the Golan Heights from Syria. This is how those regions ended up in Israeli hands. On Yom Kippur in 1973, Egypt and Syria once again went to war, and almost succeeded. It was Israel's costliest war since its creation, but at the end of the conflict Israel was once again triumphant. Israel would later make peace with Egypt and Jordan. Egypt got the Sinai back, while Jordan relinquished all claims to the West Bank. They did however receive religious control of the Temple Mount. Another interesting contrast: while Jews were denied religious acces to Jerusalem, Israel allows all religions their run of the place, barring any security threats. The Golan Heights also remains in Israeli hands, and Syria still remains an enemy. They are of immense strategic importance. This is basically how we got where we are today, from a logistical viewpoint. In the modern day things have stalled. Israel made it quite clear that they are ready to make sacrifices for peace, going so far as to withdraw from Gaza for nothing back. The Palestinian response was to elect Hamas, a group who refutes Israel's right to exist, and calls on Israel's destruction while actively pursuing just that through terror. That more than anything has stalled the process of peace. Hamas is a terrorist anti-peace group democratically elected. Many people enjoy comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, but I think that fact makes the Palestinians a much closer fit. The only difference is that they are at a military disadvantage and can't implement their will. Israel has said, and rightly so, that it will not deal with Hamas and that Hamas is not a partner for peace. Israel seems to accept the two-state solution, whereas the Palestinian people seem not to. Until they do, there won't be peace. It is interesting to point out that the Gaza Strip has become a source of constant violence directed toward Israel. That more than anything shows the true colors of these "peace partners". They receive a large piece of land at great sacrifice to Israel and instead of showing the world that they are truelly interested in peace and building a functioning economy, they use it to launch rockets at Israel. It is true that Israel hasn't always made the right decisions, but it's also true that they are ready and willing for peace, while the Palestinians are not. They can blame Israel all they want for their ills, but that won't solve their problems. At some point they need to take some responsibility if they ever want to achieve peace. There's a lot of details to get into, too much in fact, so I'm going to leave it as such in this very broad outline. Others Good question? http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;... Can you please narrow the question? I have a response for you, but I really would rather not have to spend an hour typing up an answer that talks about everything from the history of the Jewish people (highly relevant) to Zionist ideology to logical holes in the Palestinian arguments against Israel. like 讗转讗讬 said, this is too long of a debate and the answer cannot be summarised into a quick answer. There are so many aspects of this conflict and so many facts involved. You can have a look at these for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/israeli-pal... http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/publi... http://www.challenge-mag.com/ . Indeed it is a heavy subject not within the scope of one question. If i'd have to summurize my opinion i'd say that the heart of this conflict is that the Arabs are unwilling to compromize about anything which is short of throwing the jews to the sea. That is, they had throughout the last 90 years many chances to get an Arabic state within Israel, mostly with greater territory than offered to the jews, but they always insisted to get all or nothing. Even when Israel was founded they did not accept it and started all those well known wars. Throughout all negotioations they kept being headstrong no matter what was offered to them. In other words they never and still does not accept the right for the jews to have a jewish state in Israel. Although in the International media they might claim otherwise, it is well known that when they speak in Arabic to their people they always say that their goal is still the entire "Palestine" with Jerusalem as its capital. Of course there is a greater question of what are Palestineans? As Golda once said: "Before '48 we were all palestineans" That is to say that there is no such nation of palestineans but rahter jews and arabs, and as we know the "Plaestineans" were actually Jordaneans or Egyptians. But that another topic. What's gonna happen? Sadly I don't think things are goin to get better in the near future. The "plaestineans" are trying to get as much weapons as they can. They teach their children a distorted history and brainwash them to hate the jews. Nothing good will come out from that. I think it would take a few more decades before anything would change. But I'm not worried. The jews were here for thousands of years and survived much worse catastrophies. However I do fear for us destroying Israel with our own hands something which maybe happening in the last few years. To paraphrase Golda "When the arabs love their children more than they hate Jews there will be peace" De Nada |
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