The Palestine-Israel conflict is essentially not a religious one, but a fight for land and the rights and freedom of the people residing there now. The claim is to the land which lies between the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. Both sides have reasonable arguments and it is the fault of neither side that this conflict began. However, over the course of the past 50 years or so, both sides have committed abominable acts against the other and this must end. The conflict is between Jews and Palestinian Arabs, including Muslims, Druze, and Christians. The goal of the Jewish people is to create a homeland for their people, including their own government to protect the rights of it’s Jewish citizens. The Arab community wants complete control over the land they have been residing in for hundreds of years.

History – The Land and It’s People

According to The Middle East Research and Information Project, the land being fought over was internationally known as Palestine until the war of 1948-49, when the land was divided into three parts: the state of Israel, the West Bank (of the Jordan River) and the Gaza Strip. This area is only about 10,000 square miles

organization the Arabs had “during the crucial decade in which the future of Palestine was decided.” (5) Britain did the only thing they could at that point, pull out and allow the UN to attempt to arrive at a peaceful resolution.

Stated on the UN’s website, after sending in a committee to investigate, the UN decided the only way to acquiesce both parties was to divide Palestine into two independent states, one Jewish, the other Palestinian Arab. (9) The Jews immediately agreed and proclaimed the independent state of Israel as their home. The Arabs did not. They refused to agree to the partition in any way, and failed to form any such independent government. The British, of course, had their part in this as well. After the UN partition resolution, the Brits were supposed to hand over the control to the Jewish people in the state of Israel and likewise to the Arabs. Instead they refused, and proceeded to aid the Arabs against the Jews in the War for Independence in 1948.

When the war began, on May 15, “Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia declared war on Israel. Surprisingly, on April 3, Israel and the Arab states agreed to armistice. (10) According to the UN, when the war was over in 1948, what was supposed to be the independent state of Israel now covered “77% of the territory of Palestine.” (9) Thousands were killed during this, “the bloodiest of Israel’s wars.” (7) “The war created over 780,000 Palestinian refugees who fled or were evicted from Jewish held areas, Gaza fell under the jurisdiction of Egypt. The West Bank of the Jordan

The Jewish Virtual Library states that Zionism is the national movement for the return of the Jewish people to their homeland and the resumption of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel which advocated, from its inception, tangible as well as spiritual aims, and essentially the common goal of a Jewish state in its ancient homeland. (6) Consistent with the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the word Zionism comes from the Biblical word for Jerusalem and Israel, Zion. “Central to Zionist thought is the concept of the Land of Israel as the historical birthplace of the Jewish people and the belief that Jewish life elsewhere is a life of exile. Over centuries in the Diaspora (known to the Jewish community as the countries they were dispersed to), the Jews maintained a strong and unique relationship with their historical homeland, and manifested their yearning for Zion through rituals and literature. In prayer, the Jewish worshipper is instructed to face east, towards the Land of Israel.” (7)

However, isolated Palestinian groups continued attacks and terrorism on the state of Israel, despite the numerous attempts to come to a peaceful resolution for both parties. On September 28, 2000, “Palestinians initiated riots after Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount. Violence escalated rapidly from rock throwing to machine gun and mortar fire, suicide bombings and lethal road ambushes, including some incidents instigated by settlers against Palestinians. The Israelis killed 15 Israeli Arabs in riots in September and October 2000, and over 2,000 Palestinians in retaliatory raids thereafter. The Palestinians killed over 700 Israelis. After the events of September 11,

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