Conflicts between Israel and Palestine

Conflicts between Israel and Palestine have been going on since the 1940s. They were motivated
by the territorial dispute over control of Palestine.

Conflicts between Israel and Palestine have been going on since the 1940s and are rooted in the
emergence of the Zionist movement.

Conflicts between Israel and Palestine have been going on since the 1940s and date back to the
emergence of the Zionist movement, which advocated the founding of a Jewish State in Palestine.
Throughout the 20th century, a series of conflicts, such as the Six Day War, were fought. Currently,
Palestinians are forced to live in very poor conditions.

Zionist movement

One of the conflicts that generate the most tension and concern around the world is the one
involving Jews and Muslims in the enclave territory between Israel and Palestine. Both sides claim their
own space of sovereignty, although currently this right is fully exercised only by Israelis. As a result, wars
are fought, groups considered terrorists rise, lives are lost, and lasting peace is increasingly distant.

The area of dispute between the two sides in question is located in the Middle East, more
precisely, in Palestine, focusing on the city of Jerusalem, a point of strong religious tourist potential and
which is considered a sacred place for the three great religions. monotheists on the planet: Christianity,
Islam and Judaism.

It can be said that it all started with the emergence of the Zionist movement, at the end of the
19th century. During this period, a large number of Jews began to migrate en masse towards the
territories of Palestine, then inhabited by around 500,000 Arabs. This region was claimed by the Jews as
having been theirs until their expulsion by the Roman Empire, in the 3rd century AD, beginning the
Jewish diaspora, the dispersion of Jews throughout the world.

The Zionist movement was consolidated through the Hungarian journalist Theodor Herzl. He
defended the right of Jews to return to Palestine and form a Jewish national state there. This movement
emerged as a response by the Jewish community in Europe to growing anti-Semitism on that continent.

Emergence of Israel

It turns out that the growing number of Jews in Palestine began to create strong friction with the
Arab community, which had been established in Palestine for centuries. At that time, Zionist
organizations were already financing the migration of thousands of Jews to Palestine, contributing to the
development of Palestinian nationalist movements.

One of these movements was led by Hajj Amin al-Husseini, who advocated the end of the British
presence and was against the growing Jewish presence in the region. AlHusseini even led a Palestinian
uprising in 1936, evidence that the climate was tense.

The genocide suffered by Jews in Europe during World War II shocked the world and established
the political conditions for a Jewish State to be created in Palestine. The British, who were the colonial
authority in the region, gave up their control and handed over the dispute between Palestinians and
Jews to the United Nations.
 The decision taken by the UN was to divide Palestine between Jews and Arabs. In this way,
approximately half of the territory would be occupied by one of these peoples, and Jerusalem, the
capital, would be under international administration. The UN established the following|1|:

• Israel would be made up of 53.5% of the land;

• Palestine would comprise 45.4% of the land;

• The remainder would correspond to Jerusalem, under international control.

There was a great contradiction in this division, as the Jews, who corresponded to 30% of the
population, would receive a larger portion of the territory. The Palestinians, in turn, corresponded to
70% of the population and would receive a smaller portion. Furthermore, Arab authorities claimed that
their territory contained the least fertile lands and that they would have more limited access to drinking
water.

The proposal was accepted by the Jews, but was rejected by the Arabs. Even so, it was approved
by the UN General Assembly on November 29, 1947. The following year, the British withdrew from
Palestine, and, on May 14, 1948, the foundation of the State of Israel was proclaimed.

Arab-Israeli Wars

The founding of Israel began conflicts between Arabs and Israelis in the region. Throughout the
20th century, the following were fought: the First Arab-Israeli War, the Suez War, the Six-Day War, and
the Yom Kippur War.

• First Arab-Israeli War

The founding of the State of Israel was not well accepted by the Arab nations, who began an
attack against the Israelis. The Arab troops were formed by soldiers from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and
Transjordan (present-day Jordan). The war was disastrous for the Palestinians, since Israel had organized
armed forces.

This conflict lasted from May 1948 to July 1949, when the last peace agreement was signed. The war
caused Israel to expand its territory, and the 53% of the territory under Israeli control increased to 79%.

The Palestinians recognized this conflict as nakba, a word in Arabic that means “tragedy”. This is
because, in addition to losing territory, around 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes.
Israel never allowed these people and their descendants to return to their homes, even with a UN
resolution indicating that this should happen. To learn more about this tragic event, read: First Arab-
Israeli War.

• Other conflicts

In the 1950s, the Israelis took advantage of a crisis between Egypt and France and the United
Kingdom to invade the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula. The relationship between Israelis and
Palestinians remained tense, which resulted in Palestinian resistance movements against the occupation
by Israel.

In 1964, the Palestinian Liberation Organization, the PLO, was created, which sought to fight for
the lost rights of Palestinians in the region with recent events. Members of the PLO used armed struggle
as a way to resist Israel, and one of its best-known names was Yasser Arafat, leader of the organization
from 1969. The main political group of the PLO is Fatah, a moderate group that still exists .

In 1967, the Six-Day War began after Israeli attacks on Syria. In just six days, the Israelis took over
the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, the Syrian Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Even
with the subsequent UN resolution that Israel should return these territories, they remained under its
rule for a long time.

In 1973, the Yom Kippur War began, in which the Arab countries defeated in the SixDay War
tried to regain their territories. However, Israel achieved a new victory, as it had indirect support from
the United States. Such circumstances led the Arabs to create the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC), a cartel between the region's oil countries that raised the price of this important raw
material. For this reason, the capitalist system entered the biggest crisis after 1929, known as the Oil
Shock.

In 1979, Israel decided to return the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt, after mediation from the United
States, in order to seal an agreement between the two countries, the Camp David Accords. With this, the
Egyptians became the first Arabs to officially recognize the State of Israel, generating deep revolt among
other countries in the region.

• First Intifada

In 1987, the First Intifada reached its peak, a spontaneous revolt by the Palestinian Arab
population against the State of Israel, when the people attacked Jewish tanks and war weapons with
sticks and stones. Israel's reaction was harsh and generated one of the biggest massacres of the conflict,
which triggered a deep revolt in the international community due to the disproportionate weight of the
use of force in the areas of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

In the same year, Hamas was created, which, more radical, aimed at the complete destruction of
the State of Israel, unlike the PLO, which aimed only at the creation of Palestine. Hamas emerged from
within the Muslim Brotherhood and became one of the most influential resistance groups in Palestine.
Currently, Israel considers it a terrorist organization.

 Oslo Accords

In the mid-1990s, the situation appeared to be coming to an end, when Yasser Arafat and the then Israeli
Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin, carried out the Oslo Accords, mediated by the US President, at the time,
Bill Clinton. With this, the Palestinian National Authority was created, responsible for the entire territory
of Palestine, involving parts of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

However, in 1995, Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish extremist, and the far right gained
strength within Israel. In this way, the Jews no longer gave in to vacate the areas where the Palestinian
population still resisted. Therefore, the peace terms of the Oslo Accords resulted in failure.

• Recent conflicts

Since the beginning of the 21st century, Israel began building walls to separate places inhabited
by Israelis and Palestinians.
 In 2000, the Second Intifada began, led by Hamas. A Palestinian offensive was mounted against
Israel, which again responded harshly, in addition to demolishing Palestinian homes and beginning the
construction of the West Bank Wall or Wall of Israel, in 2002. Thousands of deaths occurred on both
sides of the war, which lasted until 2004, with the death of the leader of Hamas.

Peace agreements were reached, and thus began Israel's eviction of the Gaza Strip and parts of
the West Bank, actions that resulted in Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon receiving the Nobel Prize.

In 2006, Hamas' victory over Fatah in the elections for the Palestinian National Authority again
raised tension in the region, which intensified with the non-recognition of the election by the USA,
European Union and other Western countries. Terrorist attacks, especially with car bombs, continued in
Israel, which was seeking several attempts to eliminate Hamas, including the adoption of economic
embargoes on Gaza, which also affected the civilian population.

In 2008, a ceasefire agreement was reached between Hamas and Israel through Egyptian
mediation. However, six months later, the agreement was not renewed, as the Jews refused to end the
economic blockade then adopted. Thus, the region is continually the target of new attacks and disputes.

In 2014, new offensives took place when three young Jews were murdered in an act attributed
to Hamas, which denied responsibility. As a result, a young Palestinian was murdered by a Jewish
extremist, breaking the fragile peace in the region. There were attacks on both sides, but Israel, having
better defenses and weapons, also had advantages over Palestine.

Around 65 Israeli soldiers were killed, while more than two thousand Palestinians, fighters and
civilians, were murdered in the conflict. For this reason, many countries, including Brazil, began to
question Israel's actions in the region.

Destruction in the Gaza Strip after Israeli bombing.

The conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, as we understand, has been going on for decades
and has as its central issue the dominance of Palestine. However, in recent years, there has been much
criticism of Israel for the way this situation has been handled, especially for the disproportionate
violence used against the Palestinian populations.

The State of Israel defends itself by arguing that its action takes place only as a way of
guaranteeing the security of its own population and combating terrorist actions, such as those attributed
to Hamas, the organization that has commanded Palestine since 2006 and that, as we have seen , is seen
as a terrorist by Israel.

However, the disproportionate actions that many criticize are not just military, which, for the
most part, result in the death of innocent civilians with no connection whatsoever to groups such as
Fatah and Hamas. Many also point out that there is a segregationist regime in the region similar to
apartheid, which existed in South Africa.

Journalist Mohammed Omer highlights the difficulties in the lives of the Palestinian population
in the Gaza Strip.|2| He says Palestinians often have their gas, drinking water and electricity supplies cut
off. He also mentions the difficulty that Palestinians in the region have in obtaining food, in addition to
the frequent bombings that kill innocent people and destroy schools and hospitals.
 Furthermore, many criticize the fact that Israel, even today, does not allow the return of
descendants of refugees who abandoned the region after the war in 1948. Finally, Israeli settlements in
the West Bank and the expulsions of Palestinian residents from their homes to The construction of these
settlements has been the target of recent criticism.

What can be seen in this conflict is that its resolution is far from coming, because, even with
momentary peace agreements, a small spark is enough to reignite the battles again, raising the death toll
once again. At the same time, the creation of a Palestinian State has been difficult, as territorial disputes
are still intense, although such a State is internationally recognized by several countries.

Solving the conflict between Israel and Palestine requires looking at the roots of the problem

Arlene Clemesha states that it is necessary to overcome rhetoric and narratives of blame

The only way to resolve this debate is for different countries to come together to tackle the roots
of the problem – Photomontage from USP Newspaper with images from Wikimedia Commons

On Saturday morning (7), the State of Israel received a surprise attack from the Islamic group
Hamas, which left the Gaza Strip. The conflict, which has deep historical roots, has not seen combat of
this magnitude since 1948 — with the War of Independence. Recently, the spokesman for the Israeli
armed forces, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, stated that Israeli troops have regained control of all
communities around the Gaza Strip. Thus, the region is being isolated as a way of causing a bottleneck in
the supply of basic products.

Still according to the rear admiral, the fighting between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Hamas has
ended. Arlene Clemesha, professor of Arabic History at the Department of

Oriental Literature at the Faculty of Philosophy, Literature and Human Sciences (FFLCH) and director of
the Center for Arab Studies at USP, highlights that the only way to resolve this debate is the union of
different countries to address the roots of the problem.

Surprise attack

Israel has one of the most advanced defense systems in the world, so the attack came as a
general surprise to most people. Among the different explanations that were sought to understand how
the attack happened, the fact that the State of Israel did not take the strength of its enemy seriously
stands out. “The enormous technical, surveillance and intelligence superiority that Israel has built since
the origin of the State was not able to predict this attack. The failure was not technical, but, firstly, in
relation to not taking the enemy seriously”, points out Arlene.

Thus, the expert reports that Hamas was carrying out training and operations in broad daylight
near the border. However, Israel did not view these actions as a prelude to an attack, leading to
unpreparedness for this attack. Some individuals also point out the possibility that Iran was involved in
the attack plan, since the country has already declared that its support for the Palestinian cause is
unquestionable, but the State has already denied its involvement in this attack at the UN.

“Iran supports Hamas by sending weapons and training, but denies involvement in planning the
attack, but this factor is irrelevant to the scenario as a whole, since the militants are Palestinians and the
training, ultimately , it’s local”, points out the teacher. Another factor that has been pointed out by
experts in this regard is the fact that the current far-right Israeli government, which has been advocating
any type of repression against the Palestinians and the dismantling of the Judiciary and educational
systems, is having negative effects on different sectors of the country.

Thus, there are a series of protests that are taking place against the reform of the Judiciary that
have ended up affecting unity within Israel's own security forces. “There is a split in Israeli society that
opposes this government, with a division within the institutions. So, this attack comes at a time of
division in society and weakening of defense capacity”, he adds.

Furthermore, Arlene highlights that it is important to remember that the Israeli armed forces are
in this location, firstly, as a way of controlling the Palestinians and expanding Israeli territories, so it is
necessary to evaluate the issue well to think of truly solutions. effective.

Palestinian society

Looking at the causes of the problem and not its expressions therefore seems to be one of the
few ways to resolve these issues. Comparisons are constantly made between Hamas and the Israeli army
during the repression and occupation of Palestinian territories, however, the expert assesses that this is
a debate that seems to go in circles, making it difficult to blame the different actors who present
themselves as expressions of the problem. It is essential to think about demands that can defend the
human rights of everyone who lives in this region.

“Israel has maintained military occupation over the Palestinian territories of the Gaza Strip, the
West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights since 1967. The Gaza Strip is today surrounded on all
sides and Palestinians cannot enter or leave” , assesses the teacher. Furthermore, it is also important
that different nations around the world are involved in this process, as the issue of Palestine has become
a global issue since 1947, with the UN's decision to create a Jewish State that did not have the objective
of being plural. — causing the expulsion of thousands of Palestinians from their territory.~

Triggers

Another aspect that has been generating commotion in this debate is the possibility of
involvement of other Middle Eastern countries in this conflict, since Hezbollah, a Lebanese political and
paramilitary organization, released some rockets in Lebanese territories that are occupied by Israel as a
form of solidarity with Hamas .

The United States also announced that it will deploy warships near the Gaza Strip as a sign of
support for Israel in its “right to defense”. Despite this, Arlene highlights that none of these countries
evaluate the Palestinians' right to defense, a factor that marks one of the inconsistencies that surround
this entire debate.

Hamas also declared that it is prepared for a long-term war, lasting no less than six months, and
regional powers are not expected to become directly involved in the conflict. Israel also assumed that an
absolute siege will be carried out in the Gaza Strip as a way of strangling the population through the lack
of resources.