Team Israel
Prepared by Paula Kilpatrick, Pam Katronic and Mykal Mercer
· Historical Authority of Israel Control: Much of the Israel-Palestine conflict revolves around the question of whether the Jewish people have the right to establish a national homeland (Israel) in the area known as Palestine. From a historical viewpoint, the Jewish people have as much right as any of the area’s other indigenous groups to establish a homeland in Palestine. The area known as Palestine was the birthplace of the Jewish people almost 4000 years ago, sometime between 1800 and 1500 BC. The ancient Jewish kingdoms of Judea and Israel (est. 1000 BC) were located in this region. When the Jewish people controlled the area during the ensuing period, Jerusalem served as the center of control and worship until the time they were expelled from the city by the Romans in 135 AD. Regardless of the ensuing exile of the Jewish people from the area by the Romans, there has been a population of Jewish people present in Palestine continuously from that time to present day. (MidEastWeb for Coexistence RA, 2006)
· Legal Authority of Israel Control: From a legal standpoint, the Jewish people have been granted authority to form a national homeland (Israel) from two of the parties that have exercised control over the Palestine area during the 20th century. After World War I the League of Nations granted control of the region known as Palestine to Great Britain in the Palestine Mandate of 1922. In this mandate, the League of Nations specifically made Great Britain responsible for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people” (The Avalon Project, 1996), putting into effect an earlier declaration made by the British government in support of a Jewish national homeland in Palestine. In 1948, the Jewish people once again received authorization to form a national homeland, this time from the United Nations who had taken control over Palestine in the wake of Britain withdrawal from the region. In 1947, the United Nations set forth a plan for the partition and independence of the area known as Palestine in General Assembly Resolution 181. This resolution called for the formation of two independent states, one Jewish and the other Arab, and set the boundaries for these states. The resolution also charged each of these states with the establishment of their own government and militia. The Jewish state that was formed as a result of this resolution was Israel. (The Avalon Project, 1996)
· Current Israel/Palestinian Conflict: The current Israeli-Palestinian Conflict stems from the Six-Day War in 1967, in which Israel fought Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. Israel was victorious and ended up taking control of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, which include the areas for the proposed State of Palestine. The Orthodox Jews believed Israel’s defeat was a sign of God's love and support. Therefore, the Jews respected and considered the West bank lands holy. Israel’s defeat was believed to be an ally and attempt to end the conflict. (ifAmericansknew.com)
· Peace Proposals Rejected by Palestinians: A Road Map for Peace Proposal was offered by the United States, Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations. The goal of this proposal was an independent Palestinian state living in peace with Israel. Israel has done its part by accepting the proposal with a few reservations, but the Palestinian government completely denied the proposal. Despite Palestine’s rejection, Israel has removed its military and civilian presence from the Gaza Strip. Israel has also conceded to the Palestinian government the right to create a Palestinian homeland with nearly zero Israeli interference. Yet, despite these generous concessions, Palestinians feel that any concession is only a bribe to avoid future concessions. Also, the Palestinians have refused every single attempt at peace that Israel offered to them. In the eyes of Israeli’s, progress is difficult to achieve when their attempts at peace are refused and made out to be insincere.
Sources cited:
The Avalon Project at Yale Law School, (1996). United nations general assembly resolution 181. Retrieved January 22, 2007, from The Avalon Project Web site, http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/un/res181.htm
ifAmericansknew (2006). The Origin of Palestine-Israel Conflict. Retrieved January 22,2007 from www.ifamericansknew.com
MidEastWeb for Coexistence RA, (2006). Israel and palestine: A brief history. Retrieved January 22, 2007, from MidEastWeb Web site, http://www.mideastweb.org/briefhistory.htm#Geography%20and%20Early%20History
6 comments:
I believe that Israel presented the most compelling arguments on their blog, although in my heart I agree with the Palestinian citizens.
Cathy Smucker
I VOTE ON YOUR TEAMS ARGUMENT. Good job on you research and your blog looks great. Great content and your presentation of data. I believe that both teams worked through the problem very well.
I guess I would be interested in hearing some of the peace proposals Israel has given Palestine. I sided with Palestine because the lack of human rights that Israel is giving Palestine. I would think that if you wanted a peaceful settlement you would treat the Palestinians a little better.
Based on the 2 blogs, I side with Palestine's faction. While the best solution would be for everyone to live in harmony, we known this is not the case. It seems to me that Israel is trying to control the rights of the Palestinians through military force and unethical tactics. Palestinian's are refused the right to vote, and many are starving to death over a conflict that needs to be resolved...
Team Palestine Resposne
I –By the end of the 1948 war the Jewish state — having now declared itself "Israel" — had conquered 78 percent of Palestine — far more than that proposed even by the very generous UN partition plan. And three-quarters of a million Palestinians had been made refugees. Over 400 towns and villages had been destroyed, and a new map was being drawn up, in which every city,
river and hillock would receive a new, Hebrew name. All vestiges of the Palestinian culture were to be erased. In fact, for many decades Israel — and the US, following its lead — denied the very existence of this population. Golda Meir once said, in fact: "There is no such thing as a Palestinian."
II - UN Partition Plan
Finally, in 1947 the United Nations decided to intervene. However, rather than adhering to the democratic principle espoused decades earlier by Woodrow Wilson of "self-determination of peoples," in which the people themselves create their own state and system of government, the UN chose to revert to the medieval strategy whereby an outside power arbitrarily divides up other people’s land. Under considerable pressure from high-placed American Zionists, the UN
decided to give away 55 percent of Palestine to a Jewish state — despite the fact that this group represented only about 30 percent of the total population, and owned less than 7 percent of the land.
III - Current Conflict
There are, then, two issues at the very core of the continuing conflict And escalating violence in the Middle East:
First, there is the inevitably destabilizing effect of trying to maintain an ethnically preferential state, particularly when the exclusionist entity is of largely colonial origin. As we have seen, the original population of what is now Israel was 95 percent Muslim and Christian. And yet, Muslim and Christian refugees are not being allowed to return to their homes in the current "Jewish state." Israeli peace negotiators refuse to even discuss the possibility of applying this UN guaranteed right.
Second, Israel’s continued confiscation of Palestinian land in the West Bank and Gaza is being resisted by the Palestinian inhabitants. It is These occupied territories that, according to the Oslo peace accords of 1993, were going to become a Palestinian state. However, when Israel continued to take land in these areas and to move its citizens onto it, the Palestinian
population rebelled. This uprising, called the "Intifada" (Arabic for "shaking off") began at the end of September 2000 and continues to this day.
IV - Palestine was its own country and everyone got along until the Israelis decided to make Palestine its homeland. Palestinians had their land taken from them so that the Israelis
can call something home - in all rights it was the land and it was decided by the UN to give up more than half of it - which they had no right to do. So in order to give one culture a homeland it took a homeland away from another culture.
If America Knew (2007).
A Synopsis of the Israel / Palestine Conflict. Retrieved Jan 23, 207, from http://www.ifamericansknew.org/history
Posted by K Moon
I'd like to say you have a nice blog and have well articulated position statements. .. but I'm from team Palestine and that seems impossible since we were right - Acuallty I do favor the political and religious view point of Israel. It is an unfortunate situation but I would say that I have learned from this assignment new information that I was unaware of previously.
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