History > Palestinian – Israeli Conflict

I.

A. Have you been wondering what the reasons must be behind the Palestinian – Israeli conflict? Whether it is a new problem or has been going on for a long time? Do they really hate each other, and they have a problem that is impossible to solve?

B. I will explain to you so we can all understand the historical backgrounds that this seemingly never-ending fighting is based on.

C. I’m going to talk about the history of the Jews

• in Biblical times,

• during the Zionist movement

• and in the second half of the 20^th century.

II

A. The known history of the Jewish nation goes back to Biblical times.

1. It begins with the patriarch Abraham as described in the Bible.

   1. He was the first to forsake polytheism and idol worshipping for his people for the belief in one God.

   2. Abraham’s son Isaac and Isaac’s son Jacob are also considered to be patriarchs by the Jews.

   3. Joseph, one of Jacob’s twelve sons was sold as a slave to the Egyptians by his own brothers.

   4. Joseph’s family settled in Egypt and lived there for centuries in peace until 1580 B.C.E. the new Pharaoh came to power and felt threatened by the Jews.

2. In the book of Exodus the story of Moses and his liberation of the Jews from Egyptian bondage is told.

   1. Moses led the Jews out of Egypt, and they wondered 40 years in the desert.

   2. While in the desert, Moses ascended Mt. Sinai, and returned with the Ten Commandments, as well as with the Torah. Moses died before the Israelites arrived.

   3. The twelve tribes of Israel then systematically conquered Israel.

   4. Challenges from Canaanites and Philistines were repelled. The Jews settled down and lived under the rule of various kings, among them was King David and King Solomon.

B. By the end of the 19th century, after two thousand of years of living in isolation and segregation all around Europe, Jewish nationalism emerged as a prevailing dream.

1. This movement, known as Zionism, envisioned a return of all Jews from the Diaspora to a Jewish homeland.

1. In the 1880s, Eastern European Jews made their ways to what was then called Palestine.

2. Baron Rothschild assisted the first agricultural settlements with funds

3. The second Aliyjah wave brought Jews from Russia in 1905.

4. Tel-Aviv was found as the first all-Jewish city in 1908.

5. The Arabs opposed these Jewish settlements from the beginning, and there were many anti-Jew attacks.

2. In 1917, after Palestine came under British rule, the State of Israel was established.

a. In November 1917, in the Balfour Declaration the British government granted the “establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.”

2. By 1929 the Jewish population in Palestine was 160.000, and by the spring of 1936, there were close to 400.000 Jews, 30% of the population. The other 70% was Palestinian Arabs.

3. Influenced by Arab uprisings and by the Mufti of Jerusalem, in 1939 the British government limited the immigration of Jews to 10.000 per year for the next five years, with any further Jewish Immigration to be made only with Arab consent.

4. On November 29, 1947, the General assembly divided Palestine between the Arabs and Jews into two independent, sovereign states.

5. On May 15, 1948, the British left the country, and David Ben-Gurion declared the independence of the State of Israel.

C. The history of Israel in the second half of the 20^th Century was very controversial.

1. It is dominated by battles of various extents between Israel and neighboring countries, but mostly between Israelis and Palestinians.

1. Israeli massacres in Gaza, invasion of Egypt and the Suez crisis in 1956.

2. !965 Israeli Fattah carries its first attack in Gaza.

3. In 1967 during the 6 Day War Israelis occupy the rest of Palestine.

4. In 1988 Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement is founded.

5. The assassination of Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 by an Israeli.

6. During the 1980-90’s and in present times we’ve been witnessing number of suicide attacks by Palestinians, and counter attacks by Israelis.

2. Attempts to make peace between the two nations, against all the odds, have succeeded to some degree.

a. The first peace conference on the Middle East was convened in Madrid on October 30, 1991, with the aim of achieving a peace settlement between Israel and the Arab states, and between Israel and the Palestinians.

b. The 1993 Washington Agreement between the two nations led to many positive developments, such as the partial withdrawal of the Israeli forces, the election to the Palestinian Council and the partial release of Palestine prisoners.

c. During the past three years however, there has been increasing concern at the deadlock in the peace negotiations.

III.

1. I hope I made it clear for all of you who were wondering what might have caused this enormous disagreement between the two nations who live side by side on the land of promise.

2. I told you about the early period of the Jewish nation, about their most recent history and about the peace process between them as assisted by other nations.

3. Increasing violence on both sides, especially against civilian targets, the actions of the Israeli government with regard to Jerusalem, the expansion of settlements, confiscation of lands, are seriously undermining the attempts to make peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Resources:
www.trumanlibrary.org
http://wikipedia.org
www.palestine-net.com
www.jewishrichmond.org
www.un.org

 

 

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