Understanding Israel & Palestine

Chapter 2

Ever since the Jews started moving out during & after the Jewish diaspora & their numbers dwindled, the Arabs continued to live in Palestine for centuries. For the Arabs, this was their home where they envisaged their future generations would also grow & flourish. They lived here surrounded by other Arab / Islamic nations like Syria, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon & Egypt. They nurtured very strong emotional & religious connect with the land.

As already noted, Palestine had multiple rulers. The Turkish Ottoman empire ruled from the end of the 16th century till the end of the 1st world war. The Ottomans were overthrown by the British in WWI who took control of Palestine in 1917

Irrespective of the rule in Palestine or elsewhere in the world, antisemitism or anti Jewish sentiment was a global phenomenon which had existed from times immemorial. During the late 1800 & early 1900, the persecution of the Jews was on the rise across nations & continents. They were not safe in the countries to which they had migrated during the diaspora. The widespread genocides & tortures created terror among the Jews who craved for a safe nation of their own.

It was at this juncture that Theodor Herzl, a socio-political thinker, journalist & playwright propagated the Zionist movement in the 1890s. The movement called for a safe Jewish state in West Asia where the Jews from across the world could live safely. Zionism or the Zionist movement gained popularity & there was a sharp increase in the Jewish population migrating to Palestine. They started purchasing land from the Arabs & building their new lives here. The world was witnessing the Arab-Jews conflict at its germination stage.

Hence, this was the time, the early 20th century, which required an immediate & amicable solution to the asks of the Arabs & the Jews. If the conflict could have been addressed appropriately at this stage, the issue may have been nipped in the bud. However, the British failed to deliver on this front.

As we track the British record of colonial regime, we observe that whenever the British gave up control over their colonies, they left behind a trail of humongous blood shed & strife. Look at what we had on hand post the unthought through, un-researched partition of India with no consideration for the people, culture & religions of the country. The same holds true for the middle East. Post the 1st world War, British & French defaulted on their assurances of providing Arabs & Jews independent states & instead divided the region amongst themselves & Egypt. Then came their Belfour declaration of 1917 vide which the British promised the “creation of a national home for the Jewish in Palestine while continuing to uphold the civil & religious rights of the existing non-Jewish communities”. The outcome of this declaration was a constant flow of Jewish population to Palestine. The Arabs were concerned. They considered the Belfour declaration a serious threat to their independent existence in Palestine. They were apprehensive of the growing Jewish dominance. This created acute tension between the British & the Arabs. There were frequent violent Arab uprisings against the British with loss of life & property. Discontent was soaring high. As an immediate solution, the British now went back on the Belfour declaration & imposed a threshold on the area of land which could be purchased by the Jews in Palestine, thereby, alienating the Jewish population now. The situation called for a delicate balance which the British were not interested in delivering

Chapter 3

Post the 2nd world War, when British left the region, they did not demarcate nations & there was no hand over of power. They simply sailed off. It was left to the UN to propose demarcations of the Arab & Jewish states as 2 co-existing nations. This would provide a safe haven to the Holocaust surviving jews. The Jews accepted the UN proposed borders & proclaimed the birth of the state of Israel in 1948. However, the Arabs declined & along with the neighboring nations attacked the state of Israel on the very next day of its creation. Their aim was complete annihilation of Israel. However, the war ended on a completely different & surprising note with Israel wrestling away 77% of the Palestine region as compared to the UN allocated 55%. The war created a massive population of Arab refugees who were displaced from their land & homes of centuries. They were forcibly removed from Palestine leaving behind their properties & belongings. They had to take shelter in the refugee camps & till date continue to fight for their right to return.

Arabs call this the Nakba or catastrophe – a catastrophic destruction of the lives they had created for themselves across generations in the land of Palestine.

During the subsequent 6 days war in 1967, Israel further captured Golan Heights from Syria, West Bank from Jordan, Gaza & Sinai peninsula from Egypt. Thereafter the region has seen wars including the very critical Yom Kippur war of 1973 with Egypt & Syria, massacres, suicide bombing, terrorist attacks, assassinations, unprecedented loss of life & property which continue till today.

During the multiple wars that followed, Israel continued taking over fresh land. They built sprawling Israeli settlements by displacing the Arabs. The picture shows one such settlement in the West Bank

This further enhanced the already acute refugee problem with lakhs of Arabs losing their homes & properties. The Israeli settlements have made normal livelihood for Arabs impossible. There are numerous checkpoints, boundary walls with restrictions on movements of Arabs who need to display IDs & pass through multiple checkpoints for going through their daily jobs. While Israelis argue that these drastic controls are essential for their national safety, these have converted Arab lives into equivalent of captivity. Such widespread subjugations have resulted in frequent Arab uprisings specially among the youth who, for want of better organization, often resort to stone pelting followed by high handed suppression by the Israeli armed forces which have grown in might & intelligence. The Palestinians felt the need of an organization to guide them into winning over lost territories & creating their nation.

The Palestine Liberation organization or the PLO under the charismatic leadership of Yasar Arafat was the outcome of this need. PLO was formed in the 1960s

In the initial days, PLO tried to wrest powers from the Israelis using force through multiple plane highjacks & suicide bombings. But in the long run, their efforts resulted in further restrictions & suppression of the Arabs.

Subsequently, Arafat & Israeli Prime Minister Rabin, under the watch of USA, signed the Oslo Accords of 1993 & 1995 aiming to bring Arab-Israeli reconciliation in the region over a period of 5 years. PLO was recognized as the representative of Palestine. However, post the assassination of Rabin in November 1995, the agreements never really materialized. Few steps were taken like the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops & settlement from Gaza in 2005, hand over of Sinai peninsula to Egypt. On both sides, we have radicals who want the entire region as their own & are completely averse to the ideas of either a 2 state solution of peaceful co-existence of Israel & Palestine with Jerusalem as an international city or single nation with peaceful co-existence of Arabs & Jews. They are the reasons we do not have peace here despite efforts by multiple US presidents as well

Over the years, Arabs, specially the radical Arabs, seem to have lost faith in the efforts of the PLO. Their frustration was further enhanced by PLO’s inclination towards reconciliation with the Zionists.

Out of this frustration was born the radical entities of Hamas in the Gaza strip in 1987 & Hezbollah in Syria under the covert guidance of Iran. The Gaza strip has been the Islamic heartland for challenging the Israelis given that the Fatah & PLO have lost their sheen & viewed to be toothless. During the election of 2006, Hamas won 44% of the vote share.

Thereafter, the struggle for power between Fatah & Hamas resulted in a bloody civil war resulting in the Hamas rule over Gaza since 2007 while the Palestinian land is governed by the Palestinian Authority

Israel, though withdrew from Gaza in 2005, has built walls, checkpoints along the border & developed technologies to identify tunnel constructions to prevent Hamas from infiltrating into their land & conducting guerilla war. Egypt, which is also apprehensive of Hamas, has further cordoned off & blocked Gaza making it the largest open air prison for its almost 2 million residents

It’s a very complicated region – Lebanon, Iran, Jordan, UAE, Syria & others – all have fair share in interfering & complicating the knot further. The region , as on date, is split as below:

⦁ Palestine, which is not universally recognized as a sovereign state but is recognized by many countries & the UN as a non-member observer state. It is primarily inhabited by Arabs under a Palestinian rule which was headed by the PLO (Palestinian liberation organization with Yasar Arafat as it’s leader) earlier. Now it is controlled by the PA (Palestine authority)
⦁ Gaza Strip is under Hamas control
⦁ West Bank has Arabs & Israeli settlements
⦁ Israel controls areas as defined in the UN proposal along with the areas it acquired during the wars & have created settlements on

The real puzzle is the endless turmoil for control of this small region. As I understand, the region is mainly barren with no hidden treasures of oil like the UAE. One reason could be the control of the Suez canal which plays a critical role in connecting Mediterranean with the red Sea. The other is the radicals of the 2 sides who do not want to settle for anything less than the entire land between the sea & the river & are non-believers of the concept of peaceful co-existence of the Arab & Jewish states. And not to forget the religious angle of the holiest of holy city of Jerusalem for the Jews, Christians & Muslims

Then happened October 2023 with the persecution of approx. 1200 Israelis by Hamas infiltrators. This was a horrific incident with killing of women, children, burning down of houses, widespread shooting. Innumerable Hamas infiltrators poured into Israel on bikes, hand gliders & tanks. More than 200 hostages were also taken into Gaza. It was an unprecedented reign of terror which continues till date.

There have been few ceasefires & few exchange of hostages & Palestinian prisoners, however, a final peaceful solution is still awaited. Israel’s dual aim of freeing the hostages & complete elimination of Hamas through indiscriminate pounding of the strip with bombs & missiles have reduced Gaza to a mound of rubbles.

Loss to civilian lives & properties is unparallel. Schools, hospitals have been bombed considering them to be Hamas hideouts.

The war rages on despite President Trump’s recent call for ceasefire & a surprising proposal on the way forward for the Gaza strip. Trump proposes to resettle the Gazans elsewhere & convert Gaza strip into a riveira !!!

The region has been an unsolvable puzzle for decades. While the tussle may continue with external support as well for both sides, the sad reality is that civilian life in Gaza & also in rest of Palestine, their growth & prosperity have come almost to a stand still. There have been claims of genocides against Israel. There are multiple instances where civilians, including women & children have been killed in strikes on civilian properties, at times without confirmation of Hamas existence in those properties. Israelis continue to defend these as their war against terrorism & protection of their country
It calls for strong leaders on both sides along with strong interventions from external powers to bring the region to peace. However, the engagements need to be extended to neighboring nations as well. Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan, UAE & Bahrain have already signed up peace agreements with Israel. However, Iran, Syria & Lebanon have to be completely engaged in the discussions between Israel, Palestine, Hamas, Hezbollah & the external powers. Only then there can be a flicker of hope of peace prevailing in this sliver of a land of Islam, Judaism & Christianity.