Untangling the Isreal-Palestine quagmire
By: Babatunde Adeleke
Tags: Conflict Resolution, History, Palestine, Israel, International Relations

Just before you get started, if you are looking for a piece that will tell you who is right or wrong in a few paragraphs, this is not the article for you, I am sorry. Or maybe I am not.

This article is a walk through the thorny path of history. You might not like some of the things you will read, I didn’t like some too.

With that out of the way, let’s get started. A line at a time as we untangle this Web.

Jerusalem — the cause of trouble

War, peace, bombs, the iron dome, troops, and more armed conflicts are the images that have buzzed across the screen for the past week. In the last few weeks, tensions have heightened again between Israel and Palestine yet again, leading to bombings of locations across both entities and the wanton killing of civilians. But, unfortunately, many people were quick to simplify the conflict and the untold hardship and pin it down to religious differences. This might be true, or maybe not.

When this kind of conflict starts, it is not unusual for the United Nations and its powerful member nations, including the United States and Great Britain, to caution the warring units. They might even issue sanctions in a bid to ensure a ceasefire is achieved. So why is it different in this case? What makes the Israeli case different?

In this expose, the aim is to look at the conflict as a whole and bring out actionable points. Ready to go on this ride? Let’s run it up!

Palestine

map of ancient Palestine

If it must be answered, then the cause of the Israel-Palestine conflict is the land. Yes, the land is the reason why you have seen those ugly scenes on your TV these past days, and it is not the first time. It will most likely not be the last too.

Palestine is a small region of land that has played a prominent role in the ancient and modern history of the Middle East. The history of Palestine has been marked by frequent political conflict and violent land seizures because of its importance to several major world religions and because Palestine sits at a valuable geographic crossroads between Africa and Asia. Today, Arab people who call this territory home are known as Palestinians, and the people of Palestine have a strong desire to create a free and independent state in this contested region of the world.

Until 1948, Palestine typically referred to as the geographic region located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. Arab people who call this territory home have been known as Palestinians since the early 20th century. Much of this land is now considered present-day Israel.

Today, Palestine theoretically includes the West Bank (a territory that sits between modern-day Israel and Jordan) and the Gaza Strip (which borders modern-day Israel and Egypt). However, control over this region is a complex and evolving situation. There is no international consensus concerning the borders, and many areas claimed by Palestinians have been occupied by Israelis for years.

A conflict orchestrated by the powers that be

Palestine didn’t just come to be. The stretch of land has always been there. The land was part of the Ottoman Empire. That is according to historians, of course, there is another history, the one that Israel believes in. As outlined in the old testament, Palestine was the land that God gave to the children of Israel as they left the land of Egypt.

That is not just all; the land is where Solomon built the temple, the same temple where the ‘presence of the lord’ came down and filled the house. It was the same land Israel came to after being held hostage in Babylon. The Old Testament books of Deuteronomy, Nehemiah, and Ezra lend credence to this historic line.

In 1916, Captain Lawrence of Great Britain went to Palestine to help the local Arabs rebel against Ottoman rule. He succeeded, and he became a local/international hero. This is a newspaper clipping from 1st of April 1918 declaring that the Holy City is in British Hand.

the newspaper clip

Captain Lawrence is widely referred to as the Lawrence of Arabia. He tipped the scale against the growing Turkish Ottoman Empire by promising the Arabs independence after World War 1. Lawrence reneged on his promise to the Arabs.

In 1917, the Balfour Declaration was enacted. The declaration was formal support of the King’s Government for the Zionist movement. Luckily, there is documentation for that too.

scanned copy of the Balfour Declaration

Zionism is a Jewish political movement in Europe during the 19th / 20th Centuries; the goal was The spiritual and political renewal of the Jewish people in its ancestral homeland of Palestine. The movement was founded by Theodore Herzl with the motto, next year in Jerusalem

The Balfour declaration was made by Sir Arthur James Balfour, the then British foreign Secretary. The declaration reads in part;

His Majesty’s Government views with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine…

It is now clear that the conflict that we see today is one that was orchestrated by the powers that be; this might explain why they usually sit out when the conflicts start. It is to be noted that the British White Paper later ended Jewish land purchases in Palestine, and the foreign ministry later clarified that it was never intended that Palestine become a Jewish State.

If you are still confused as to why the UK and the US are quiet, a trip down history lane is in order.

Christopher Columbus, the explorer who 'discovered America' wrote that there were Indians on the land. Yet, he said he had discovered the new land, the land of the free. The very foundation of the land of the free was built on pushing the very owners of the land to the fringe.

Today, the red Indians or native Americans are still in the US but how much of their voices can you hear? It will be hypocritical for the US to interfere in a land grab, judging from their own history.

We have seen how the UK and the crown orchestrated promises they knew they were not going to keep. Less than honorable, if you ask me.

Some interesting stats for pondering

· First Jewish Settlements: The Kibbutz System was founded in 1908. It was a system of Communal living.

· In 1920, there was 1 Jew to every 10 Arabs in Palestine.

· By 1947, the ratio was 2 Arabs for every Jew.

The Arabs felt that they were losing control of their “country!” I feel like they should be agitated. You cannot come into my house, humiliate me after I have been hospitable, and expect me to be cool with it. It’s not going to happen.

It was only a matter of time before the Palestinians revolted. The goal of the revolt was simple:

· An end to Jewish immigration to Palestine.

· An end to the transfer of lands to Jewish owners.

· A new “general representative government.”

Jews will tell you that Jerusalem has always been a holy city, yes, but maybe not Zionist in nature.

The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Hussani, with Adolf Hitler.

UN wades in

The Peel Commission, headed by Earl William Peel in 1937, sought a reason for why the Palestinian Muslims revolted. They concluded the land should be divided. It was rejected. The 1947 UN Deal (a revamped version of the Peel Commission’s plan) was designed to avoid war when the British left Palestine.

Palestine — from the UN plan

Palestinian Jews accepted the plan, but the Muslims did not. That didn’t deter the plan, though. On the 14th of May, 1948, the state of Israel was born.

A newspaper clipping from the Palestine post on may 14, 1948

Note the Newspaper name.

There is an alternative history, as established in the Torah and the Bible.

All along, we have gone with what we know from modern history, there is also a historical point of view from where Isreal see that they are the rightful owners of the land, hence, the continued agitations.

Israel believes that Palestine was a Roman creation. There were no Arabs nor Muslim inhabitants during the Israelites foundation of its first Jewish kingdom b4 the Roman occupation. Reading through history texts and biblical accounts you will understand that the Romans ruled Israel during the time of Jesus Christ. Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of Israel which the Romans called Palestine.

After the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ years after, the Jews rebelled against the Roman control of their lands which led to a war between Jews and their Roman occupiers. The Jewish Rebellion failed leading to another Jewish) Israelites dispersal around the world (Remember the dispersal after Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon sack and occupied Israel & Jerusalem). The Muslims invaded years after during the conquests of the ottoman Turks from ancient Anatolia (Turkey) and Arabia.



Jerusalem at this time was now an epicenter of Christian pilgrimage by Europeans whose countries have adopted Christianity as a state religion. The European called for Crusade against the Muslim jihadists which led to christian European soldiers including an English King George marching to Jerusalem to reclaim it. The Russian kings called the Czars also fought for the protection of the christian heritage in the Holy Land.



The Zionist movement is basically bent on restoring the old order - the order from the Torah. Anything less than that is unacceptable and if it involves bombing and warfare to get it, then so be it.

Here is a timeline that you can look through for the Isreali side of the tale.

3,000 to 2,500 B.C. — The city on the hills separating the fertile Mediterranean coastline of present-day Israel from the arid deserts of Arabia was first settled by pagan tribes in what was later known as the land of Canaan. The Bible says the last Canaanites to rule the city were the Jebusites.

1,000 B.C. — According to archaeological evidence, King David conquered the city. He was warned that “even the blind and the lame can ward you off,” the Bible says. He named his conquest The City of David and made it the capital of his new realm.

960 B.C. — David’s son Solomon built the first Jewish temple. The Bible says the Israelites also fought many wars against another Canaanite tribe called the Philistines, who lived along the southern coastline.

721 B.C. — Assyrians conquered part of the land of Israel called Samaria, and Jewish refugees fled to Jerusalem, causing the city to expand.

701 B.C. — Assyrian ruler Sennacherib laid siege to Jerusalem.

586 B.C. — Babylonian troops occupied the city, destroying the temple and exiling many Jews.

539 B.C. — Persian King Cyrus the Great conquered the Babylonian empire, including Jerusalem.

516 B.C. — King Cyrus allowed Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild. The Jews built the Second Temple.

445–425 B.C. — Nehemiah the Prophet rebuilt the walls of the city.

332 B.C. — Alexander the Great of Macedonia, took control. After his death, his empire was divided into four, including the Seleucid Empire that contained the land of Israel and their ancient enemies, the Philistines (Palestine).

160–167 B.C. — The Jews’ Maccabean revolt, launched against the Seleucid Empire and Greek influence, eventually returned the city to Jewish control. The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah celebrates the purification of the Second Temple after the Maccabees reconquered the city.

141 B.C. — The Hasmonean dynasty of Jewish rulers began, and the city grew.

63 B.C. — Roman General Pompey captured Jerusalem.

37 B.C. — Roman client King Herod renovated the Second Temple and added retaining walls, one of which remains today and is called the Western Wall, or the Wailing Wall by Jews.

30 A.D. — Jesus was crucified by the Roman soldiers.

70 — During another Jewish revolt, the Romans destroy their Temple and exile many Jews.

135 — The Romans rebuild Jerusalem as a city of their own.

335 — Roman Emperor Constantine built the Church of the Holy Sepulcher over the spot where Jesus was said to have been buried and to have risen from the dead.

614 — The Persians capture Jerusalem.

629 — Byzantine Christians recapture Jerusalem.

632 — Muhammed, the prophet of Islam, died and was said to ascend to heaven from a rock in the center of where the Jewish Temple used to be.

637 — Caliph Omar entered the city to accept the surrender of its Byzantine ruler, the Patriarch Sophronius.

691 — The Muslim memorial known as Haram al-Sharif, or the Dome of the Rock, was built around that spot where Mohamed was said to have risen to heaven, remains there today.

1099–1187 — Christian Crusaders occupied Jerusalem, claiming it as a major religious site.

1187 — Salladin captures Jerusalem from the Crusaders.

1229–1244 — Crusaders recapture Jerusalem twice.

1250 — Muslim rulers dismantle the walls of the city.

1517 — The Ottoman Empire captures Jerusalem, and Suleiman the Magnificent rebuilds the walls from 1538 to 1541.

1917 — The British capture Jerusalem in World War I.

1948 — The state of Israel is established, dividing the city between Israel and Jordan.

1967 — Israel captures East Jerusalem and immediately annexed it, granting Arab (Palestinian) residents permanent resident status, but not citizenship.

The fight where no side is wrong

Israeli side:

– Believe that this land was given to them by God (ancestral home)

– Want a homeland for protection

– Consider the Palestinians “terrorists.”

Palestinian side:

– They also believe that this land was given to them by God (ancestral home)

– Their land for forcible take and sold without their consent

– Consider the Israelis “invaders.”

“Dividing wall” between a Jewish and Muslim settlement

What is it this time?

Jerusalem has been the scene of violent confrontations between Jews and Arabs for 100 years and remains one of the most bitterly contested cities on earth. The latest clashes began a month ago with an Israeli move to block some Palestinian gatherings at the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, already a time of heightened religious sensitivities. After those restrictions eased, tensions over a plan to evict dozens of Palestinians from an east Jerusalem neighborhood continued to fuel confrontations.

Most recently, rockets streamed out of Gaza, and Israel pounded the territory with airstrikes, with dozens killed and no resolution in sight.

The death toll in Gaza rose to 43 Palestinians, including 13 children and three women, according to the Health Ministry. Israeli airstrikes have leveled two multistory apartment towers in the Gaza Strip, where 2 million Palestinians lived.

Bombs, the iron dome and more bombs

Palestine Hamas started this new round of conflict by firing rockets into Israel areas. Luckily, the Israeli Iron dome was able to intercept.

Israel’s Iron Dome is an air defense system developed by the Israeli firms Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries, with financial and technical support from the United States. First put into service in 2011, it is designed to stop short-range rockets and artillery like those fired from Gaza.

Again, you see the hands of the U.S right there. In retaliation, Israel fired on key Palestine positions and of course, targets were acquired.

I am not to be judge nor jury but would we have seen this level of protest if the Palestine rockets have somehow managed to evade the iron dome, killing Israeli women, children and men?

I say you don’t get into a reckless war and then whip up sympathy when you are losing. It doesn’t work like that.

Where is God in all these?

Two warring sides, each believing that they are on God’s side, how ugly can the situation get? One thing is clear, God, the same God who is just, true and eternal cannot be siding with a land-grabbing Israel or a provocative Palestine, and I say that for a fact.

For those who cite Israel continued victory in skirmishes and the sagacity of the 6-day war as a pointer to the God effect, I ask, how do you explain America’s dominance? How about China? It’s a ‘Godless’ state remember? It is the effect of evolving, cutting-edge technology and the best minds. Simple.

For those who believe that the Israel Palestine conflict is a religious cause; a Christian vs Muslim issue. It is not; There are Christians in Palestine, as much as there are Muslims in Israel. Both countries have no state religion. Jews are usually not Christians. If anything, they are Zionists who believe that Israel is God’s special nation and that the Torah is the holy book. I do hope that with this brief lesson in history, the point is abundantly clear.

Further resources:

Palestine. Ancient History Encyclopedia.

What is Palestine and Palestinians? Israel Science and Technology Directory.

Everything you need to know about Israel-Palestine. Vox.com.

Map: The countries that recognize Palestine as a state. Washington Post.

UN Partition Plan. BBC News.

The Palestinian Liberation Organisation. The History Learning Site.

Timeline: History of a Revolution. Al Jazeera.

In our hands; the six day war documentary.