What is the centuries-old dispute between Israel and Palestine

After seven years, the conflict between Israel and Palestine has once again escalated . Between constant air strikes and shelling, once again, a situation like war has arisen between the two. In 2014, there was a war between the two which lasted for 50 days. In such a situation, after looking at the pictures of innocent people being killed in large numbers, the obvious question that confront each of us that what is the root cause of the dispute between Israel and Palestine. What is the reason that the relationship between the two is not normalizing and both of them come to the battlefield against each other.

Controversy is older than the birth of Jesus Christ

If we look at the history, the dispute between Israel and Palestine is even older than the birth of Jesus Christ. In the Bible, God selected the territory of Israel for the Jews. That's why Jews from all over the world consider it their home. However, many times Jews have faced atrocities at this place and have to be evicted from here. At the same time, Palestinians believe that they have always been natives of this place, so they have the right over this place and they do not want to lose it under any circumstances.

In 72 BCE, the Roman Empire Captured This Territory

In 72 BCE, the Roman Empire invaded and occupied the area. After this, all the Jews settled around the world. This phenomenon is called exodus. After this incident a large number of Jews settled in Europe and America.

Anti-Semitism

Meanwhile, another word anti-Semitism came into vogue. This word meant people who spoke Hebrew, that is, hatred of the Jews. In the whole world, there was a belief about Jews in the world that this is the most cunning community in the world. They can cheat anyone. In such a situation, due to 'anti-Semitism', Jews had to make their identity public. Jews fighting in the armies of many European countries had to put a star on their uniform which was called 'David Star'. Jews were identified with this star. There was also a provision for punishment for Jews for hiding or misrepresenting their identity.

Theodore Herzl : Man Behind Formation of Israel

A Jew living in Vienna named Theodor Herzl laid the foundations of the present-day Israel. Born in 1860, Herzl worked as a social worker in Vienna but had to leave Vienna due to anti-Semitism, after which he moved to France and there he worked as a journalist.

In the year 1890, France faced defeat in a war between France and Russia. When the reasons for the defeat of France were reviewed, the responsibility was placed on a Jewish officer, Alfred Dreyfus. As a journalist, Herzl did a cover story on this news. After this incident, he decided that he would gather the Jews spread all over the world and establish a new country or state for them.

The Zionist Congress

In 1897, Herzl founded the World Zionist Congress in Switzerland. Zionist means heaven in Hebrew. Jews from all over the world started donating to this organization and gathered under the banner of the organization. Every year a global conference of the organization was organized. But in 1904 Herzl, the founder of the institution, died of heart disease. His death had no effect on the movement of a separate Jewish country because the grip of the Zionist Congress had become very strong among the Jews.

Balfour agreement between Britain and Jews

At that time, the Ottoman Empire had acceded most of the areas  in Turkey and its neighbourhood. But the First World War began in 1914 and during the World War there was an agreement between Jews and Britain known as Balfour agreement. According to the agreement between the two, if Britain defeats the Ottoman Empire in war, then an independent country for Jews will be established in the territory of Palestine.

After this agreement, the Zionist Congress felt that if Britain fulfills its promise after the war, the presence of a large population in that area is necessary for the establishment of a new country. In such a situation, the Jews gradually left their countries and started settling in the territory of Palestine. But after the victory in the war, Britain did not fulfill the promise of making the country but helped the Jews to settle in this area and provided them all facilities and resources to settle here. With this began the modern conflict between Palestine and the Jews.

Persecution of Jews and Mass Exodus

After the First World War, between 1920 and 1945, millions of Jews arrived in Palestine to escape the increasing persecution in Europe and the genocide at the hands of Hitler's Nazis. The Palestinians were worried about their future after seeing the increasing Jewish population in the area, and after this a confrontation between the Palestinians and the Jews began.

After Germany took power in 1933, Hitler implemented the plan to eliminate the Jews from the whole world. After the start of World War II in 1939, Hitler massacred Jews. Hitler killed more than 6 million Jews during the 6 years of World War under a plan which included 1.5 million children. Hitler killed one-third of the entire Jewish population of the world.

UN Led Division

After the Second World War, the British ruling Palestine found it difficult to manage the conflict between the two factions. In such a situation, he took the matter to the newly formed United Nations. On 29 November 1947, the United Nations gave its decision under the doctrine of dualism and divided the region into Jewish and Arab countries. Jerusalem was declared an international city. The Jews immediately recognized this decision but the Arab countries did not accept it. After this, in 1948, the British left this area and on May 14, 1948, the land of the Jews came to exist in Israel.

Arab countries attacked Israel

Syria, Libya and Iraq attacked Israel, declaring Israel as its own nation. With this began the Arab-Israeli War. Saudi Arabia sent its army into battle and attacked Israel with the help of Egypt. Yemen also joined the war. The ceasefire was announced after the fighting lasted for a year. The border between Jordan and Israel was demarcated which was named Green Line. About 70 thousand Palestinians were displaced during this war. After the war, on 11 May 1949, the United Nations gave its recognition to Israel.

In 1967, Arab countries once again attacked Israel. But this time Israel defeated them in just six days and captured their occupied West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. Since then, Israel has occupied these areas. He even calls Jerusalem his capital.

However, he has given back some of Gaza to the Palestinians. Most Palestinians currently live in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. There is a conflict between him and the Israeli military forces.

Seeing the current conflict a leadership change is most needed in both Israel and Palestine. A part of the conflict is also driven by domestic political compulsion. New leadership in both countries will give new hope for the peace process. Apart from this successful negotiation of the US-Iran nuclear deal will also help in de-escalating the tensions, given Iran’s support to Hamas.

Conclusion:

Looking at the ground situation, the resolution of the Israel Palestine conflict is still elusive. The only way forward is peace talks between the two countries as suggested by India and further negotiations on the two-state solution proposed by the United Nations.