A Wall Between Cultures

*This is just a brief history of the conflict. I have my own opinions on the issue, which will appear in a separate article.*

The history of the Middle East dates back thousands of years. The area has seen powerful empires rise and fall, it has seen various peoples conquer and be defeated, it has seen more wars than anyone can remember. Recently, the conflict has heated up dramatically and has become a major issue in international politics and relations. However, many people remain generally unaware of the situation between Israel and Palestine.

Around 1800 B.C.E, the people known as the Hebrews first arrived in the land east of the Mediterranean Sea, and since then the area has been ruled by various empires. Since this time, many Jews have felt that this region is their homeland, and that the place their ancestors settled is their birthright. In the nearly four thousand years since the first Jews arrived here, the controlling powers have held varying views on Judaism and have maintained different policies regarding the Jewish people. In 720 BCE, the Babylonians exiled the Jews, and this banishment remained in place for several hundred years until the Persians lifted it in 538 BCE. Similar patterns went on over the next one thousand years, under rulers such as the Romans and the Byzantines.

Then around 630 C.E., the Period of Islamic Rule began. Arabs had been migrating steadily into the area for a while, and starting in 630 C.E., they dominated the region and maintained control until the twentieth century. Contrary to popular belief, however, the Jews and Arabs lived in relative peace for most of this time. It was only in the 1900’s that conflict really broke out. Part of the reason for the emergence of this conflict was the birth of Zionism in 1897, a movement to establish a Jewish homeland in the land near Jerusalem, an area which had become known as Palestine.

World War I only increased the desire of the Jews to create a homeland, a place where they could be safe from the persecution they had suffered for thousands of years. In 1917, Great Britain issued the Balfour Declaration, declaring that the Jewish people had a right to establish a homeland in Palestine. Since then, Jews have been migrating to Palestine, and many Arabs resent this movement.

The tension forming between these two peoples finally culminated after WWII. Six million Jews had been killed in the Holocaust, and in 1947 the United Nations voted to create a Jewish state of Israel. They divided the land, giving about 57% to the Israelis and the remaining 43% to the Palestinians. When the state of Israel was officially declared in 1948, the Palestinians attacked. The fighting that followed finally ended in 1949, and the Jews had pushed the borders back to enclose about 78% of the territory. The 1949 border became known as the Green Line, and it divides Israel from what is now called the West Bank and Gaza.

Over the next twenty years, fighting continued. But in 1967, Jordan, Egypt, and Syria formed a blockade that prevented Israel from accessing the Red Sea. Israel, fearing an that an attack would follow, launched a preemptive strike that began the SixDay War. By the end of the fighting, Israel had completely occupied the West Bank, Gaza, Golan Heights, and the Sinai Peninsula. Military occupation continued for the next several decades.

Meanwhile, in 1964, the Palestinian Liberation Organization formed under the leadership of Yasser Arafat. Ten years later, the PLO was admitted to the UN, and was from then on recognized as the legitimate form of representation for Palestinians. In 1988 the PLO declared the state of Palestine independent; although this state does not officially exist today, over 100 countries do recognize the nation of Palestine.

As the PLO declared independence, a militant Palestinian uprising was beginning, known as the First Intifada. This group used violence as a means to achieve its goal of reclaiming the territory it felt rightfully belonged to the Palestinians. It died down in 1993, after the Oslo Accords were signed, a treaty that created a framework for future peaceful relations between Israel and Palestine. But this temporary truce began to splinter at the turn of the century, when the Camp David Accords failed to further peace negotiations.

With the failure of the Camp David Summit, a new Palestinian uprising formed: the Second Intifada. Like the First Intifada, this group was a terrorist organization that used violence to try to remove Jews from Israel. In response to the increased violence, in 2002 Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called for the construction of a 30 foot high, 450 mile long “security fence” between Israel and the West Bank.

Since the building of the wall, controversy has broken out throughout the world over its legality and ethics surrounding its existence. Israel claims that the barrier is necessary to ensure the safety of its people, while Palestine declares that the wall is hurting its economy, cutting people off from resources, and destroying its culture.

No solution exists that will make both sides completely happy. The United States have historically supported Israel, but when discussing this conflict or choosing sides, you can't speak in absolutes. So much media attention in America has focused on limited coverage of a few areas of Israeli and Palestinian life, and fails to give the public a real perspective on the horrific situation in the Middle East. This is an important issue, one that cannot be tuned out and ignored. But too many people are basing their opinions on biased facts and ageold cultural grudges that must be put aside if there is any hope for a peace to form.