Israel and Palestine: the history of the conflict (briefly)

For a more accurate understanding of the conflict that arose between Israel and Palestine, one should carefully consider its background, the geopolitical location of countries and the course of conflict between the states of Israel and Palestine. The history of the conflict is briefly discussed in this article. The process of confrontation between the countries developed very long and in a very interesting way.

Palestine is a small territory of the Middle East. In the same region is the state of Israel, which was formed in 1948. Why did Israel and Palestine become enemies? The history of the conflict is very long and contradictory. The roots of the confrontation that has arisen between them lie in the struggle between Palestinian Arabs and Jews for territorial and ethnic dominance over the region.

Prehistory of longstanding confrontation

Throughout centuries of history, Jews and Arabs coexisted peacefully in the territory of Palestine, which was part of the Syrian state during the Ottoman Empire . The Arabs were the indigenous people in the region, but at the beginning of the 20th century the Jewish part of the population began to grow slowly but steadily. The situation changed radically after the end of the First World War (1918), when Britain received a mandate to manage the territory of Palestine and was able to pursue its policy on these lands.

Zionism and the Declaration of Balfour

The colonization of the Palestinian lands by the Jews began. This was accompanied by propaganda of the national Jewish ideology - Zionism, which provided for the return of the Jewish people to their homeland - Israel. Evidence of this process is the so-called Balfour Declaration. It is a letter to the leader of the Zionist movement from British Minister A. Balfour, which was written back in 1917. The letter justifies the territorial claims of the Jews to Palestine. The Declaration had a significant public response, in fact, it began a conflict.

Deepening of the conflict in the 20-40s of the XX century

In the 1920s, the Zionists began to strengthen their positions, the Haganah military association arose, and in 1935 a new, even more extremist, organization called Irgun Zvi Leumi appeared. But the radical actions of Jews were not yet solved, the oppression of Palestinian Arabs was carried out by peaceful means.

After the Nazis came to power and the outbreak of World War II, the number of Jews in Palestine began to increase sharply due to their emigration from Europe. In 1938, about 420,000 Jews lived on Palestinian lands, which is twice as much as in 1932. The ultimate goal of their resettlement was seen by the Jews in the complete conquest of Palestine and the creation of a state of Jews. This is evidenced by the fact that after the war, in 1947, the number of Jews in Palestine increased by another 200 thousand, and already became 620 thousand people.

Israel and Palestine. History of the conflict, attempts at solving at the international level

In the 1950s, the Zionists only became stronger (there were incidents of terror), their ideas about the creation of a Jewish state were given the opportunity to realize themselves. In addition, they were actively supported by the world community. 1945 is characterized by a serious tense of relations between Palestine and Israel. The British authorities did not know the way out of this situation, because they appealed to the UN General Assembly, which in 1947 took up the decision of the future Palestine.

The way out of the tense situation was seen by the United Nations in two ways. At the department of the newly established international organization , a committee was established that dealt with the affairs of Palestine, it consisted of 11 people. It was proposed to create in Palestine two independent states - Arab and Jewish. And also to form a no-man's (international) territory between them - Jerusalem. After a long discussion, this plan of the UN Committee was adopted in November 1947. The plan received serious international recognition, it was approved by both the US and the USSR, as well as directly by Israel and Palestine. The history of the conflict, as everyone expected, was to come to its finale.

Terms of the UN resolution on conflict resolution

According to the UN resolution of November 29, 1947, the territory of Palestine was divided into two independent states - the Arab (area of 11 thousand square kilometers) and the Jewish (area of 14 thousand square kilometers). Separately, as planned, an international zone was established in the territory of the city of Jerusalem. By the beginning of August 1948, the British colonists, according to plan, were to leave the territory of Palestine.

But, as soon as the Jewish state was proclaimed and the prime minister became Ben-Gurion, radical Zionists who did not recognize the independence of the Arab part of the Palestinian lands in May 1948 began fighting.

The acute phase of the conflict of 1948-1949

What was the history of the conflict in such countries as Israel and Palestine? How did the conflict begin? Let's try to give a detailed answer to this question. The proclamation of Israel's independence was a very resonant and controversial international event. A lot of Arab-Muslim countries did not recognize the state of Israel, declared to him "jihad" (holy war with the infidels). The Arab League, which fought against Israel, included Jordan, Lebanon, Yemen, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Thus, active hostilities began, in the center of which were Israel and Palestine. The history of the conflict of peoples forced about 300 thousand Palestinian Arabs to leave their native lands before the tragic military events began.

The army of the Arab League was well organized and had about 40,000 soldiers, while Israel had only 30,000. The King of Jordan was appointed commander-in-chief of the Arab League forces . It should be noted that the UN called on the parties to peace and even developed a peace plan, but both sides rejected it.

During the first period of military operations in Palestine, the advantage belonged to the Arab League of countries, but in the summer of 1948 the situation radically changed. The Jewish troops went on the offensive and within ten days repulsed the onslaught of the Arabs. And already in 1949 Israel with a decisive blow pushed the enemy to the borders of Palestine, thus capturing all of its territory.

Mass emigration of peoples

During the conquest of Jews from the Palestinian lands, about a million Arabs were expelled. They emigrated to neighboring Muslim countries. The reverse process was the emigration of Jews from the Arab League countries to Israel. Thus ended the first combat encounter. Such was the case with countries such as Israel and Palestine, the history of the conflict. Who is to blame for the numerous victims, it is difficult to judge, since both sides were interested in a military solution to the conflict.

Modern relations of states

How are Israel and Palestine now living? History of the conflict than ended? The question is unanswered, since the conflict has not been exhausted even in our days. The clashes between states continued throughout the century. This is evidenced by such conflicts as the Sinai (1956) and also the Six-Day (1967) war. Thus, the conflict between Israel and Palestine suddenly arose and developed for a long time.

It should be noted that there has been progress in achieving peace. An example of this can be the negotiations that took place in Oslo in 1993. Between the PLO and the State of Israel, an agreement was signed to introduce a system of local self-government in the Gaza Strip. On the basis of these agreements, in the following year, 1994, the Palestinian National Authority was founded, which in 2013 was officially renamed the State of Palestine. The creation of this state did not bring long-awaited peace, the conflict between Arabs and Jews is far from being resolved, as its roots are very deep and contradictory.