A Solution for the Palestine Israeli Conflict

1
A Solution for the Palestine- Israeli Conflict
Flag of Palestine
Flag of Israel
References http//unimaps.com/israel/flag.gif
and http//unimaps.com/flags-mideast/palestine-fla
g.gif
2
General Timeline

• 1917 The Balfour Declaration is made by Great
  Britain, which promises to establish a Jewish
  state in Palestine while also ensuring the rights
  of non-Jewish Palestinians
• 1922 After the end of WWI and the defeat of the
  Ottoman Empire, the League of Nations confirms
  British mandates over Iraq and Palestine
• 1936 Palestinian Arabs demand a halt to Jewish
  immigration and a ban on land sales to Jews. The
  British troops try to assert control but violence
  continues. The Peel Commission (an inquiry
  carried out by Britain to determine the cause for
  violence in the region) recommends the partition
  of Palestine between Arabs and Jews.
• 1939 Britain restricts Jewish immigration and
  land sales. As a result, violence erupts from
  Jewish militants.
• 1947 The United Nations divides Palestine into
  Jewish, Arab, and international areas (Jerusalem
  and Bethlehem). Fifty five percent of the
  territory is allocated to the Jewish state.
• 1948 Israel announces their national
  independence after the British mandate
  terminates. Consequently, Arab armies attack and
  Israel prevails. At the UNs General Assembly,
  Resolution 194 is passed which establishes a
  conciliation commission and asserts that all
  refugees wishing to return to their homes may do
  so and that compensation should be made to those
  who choose not to return and for the loss or
  damage to property, and that free access to the
  holy places should be assured.

3

• 1964 The Palestinian Liberation Organization or
  the PLO is established which is committed in the
  cause to liberate the homeland of the Palestinian
  people.
• 1967 Egypt blockades the Straits of Tiran which
  prompts attacks from Arab forces. Israel again
  succeeds in gaining a victory and after six days
  occupies the Golan Heights, Gaza, the Sinai, and
  the West Bank. The UN passes Resolution 242 which
  calls for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from
  occupied territories, for the right of all states
  in the region to live in peace within secure and
  recognized borders, and a solution to the refugee
  problem.
• 1973 Egypt and Syria attack Israeli forces which
  eventually becomes known as the Yom Kippur War.
  After sixteen days, the UN passes Resolution 338,
  which confirms Resolution 242 and calls for
  international peace talks.
• 1978 Israel and Egypt approves the Camp David
  Accords which confirms Israels compliance of
  Resolution 242, withdrawal of political and
  military forces from the West Bank and Gaza, and
  full autonomy of the Palestinians. The Accords
  also outline a peace agreement between Israel,
  Egypt, and other Arab countries. The Accords are
  rejected by the Arabs at the Baghdad summit and
  Egypt is isolated.
• 1979 A peace agreement is signed between Israel
  and Egypt which guarantees normal diplomatic
  relations
• 1981 Israels establishment of territories in
  Palestine increases. Egyptian President Anwar
  al-Sadat is assassinated.
• 1987 A Palestinian intifada (uprising) erupts,
  and Israel responds to the violence with harsh
  reprisals. The militant Palestinian organization
  known as Hamas is established.
• 1988 PLO head Yasir Arafat acknowledges Israels
  right to exist and renounces violence. The U.S.
  and PLO initiate dialogue.

4

• 1993 Israel and the PLO conclude a peace
  agreement in Oslo with mutual recognition and a
  five-year plan to resolve all remaining
  differences. Militant Palestinians and right-wing
  Israelis begin attempts to undermine the
  agreement.
• 1994 The Palestinian National Authority is
  established.
• 1995 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is
  assassinated by an Israeli right-wing religious
  fanatic. This setback to the peace process is
  exacerbated by violent attacks from Palestinian
  groups opposed to the Oslo Agreement.
• 1996 Palestinians elect Yasir Arafat as
  president and elect the members of a legislative
  council. Israelis return the Likud Party to
  power, which stalls the Oslo process.
• 1998 The Wye River Memorandum is issued after
  talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians,
  under U.S. auspices. An airport is opened in
  Gaza, with flights to Arab nations.
• 2000 Peace negotiations at Camp David break
  down. Ariel Sharon visits the Temple Mount and a
  second intifada is launched, more violent than
  the first.
• 2001 Ariel Sharon is elected prime minister of
  Israel, committed to rejection of the Oslo peace
  agreement and an emphasis on national security.
  The Gaza airport runway is bulldozed.
• 2002 An Arab League summit meeting endorses a
  Saudi peace plan based on U.N. Resolution 242 and
  338. Suicide bombings provoke strong Israeli
  response. Sharon blames Arafat for the violence
  and confines him in his Ramallah office. Israel
  begins building a seperation barrier within the
  West Bank.

5

• 2003 The Quartet Group (the United States,
  United Nations, European Union, and Russia) agree
  on a "road map for peace". Palestinians pledge
  full support, but Israel rejects key points.
  Violence continues, and the security barrier in
  the West Bank draws international criticism for
  undermining the peace process. An unofficial
  peace agreement negotiated by Israelis and
  Palestinians is released with extensive
  international support as the Geneva Initiative.
• 2004 Yasir Arafat dies.
• 2005 Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) is elected
  president of the Palestinian National Authority.
  Israel unilaterally evacuates its settlements
  from the Gaza Strip and four from the West Bank.
• January 2006 Ariel Sharon suffers a massive
  stroke. Palestinians elect a new government, with
  Hamas winning a small plurality of votes but a
  majority of parliamentary seats. Israel and the
  United States isolate Palestine, cutting off
  funds.
• March-August 2006 Ehud Olmert becomes Israel's
  prime minister, promising that the dividing wall
  will, in effect, be the new Israeli-West Bank
  border. Hamas and Hezbollah militants capture
  Israeli soldiers, and Israeli forces attack Gaza
  and Lebanon. Hezbollah missiles strike northern
  Israel. The United Nations approves Resolution
  1701, establishing a fragile cease-fire.
• Reference for pages 2-5 Palestine Peace Not
  Apartheid by Jimmy Carter, pages 1-10

6
Problems and Causes

• Four main causes
• - Broken promises
• - Zionism
• - Mass Jewish immigration into Palestine
• - Growth of Arab nationalism
• Broken Promises
• - Arab nationalism was exploited by European
  nations scrambling for influence in the Middle
  East.
• - Hussein ibn Ali persuaded to ally with foreign
  Christians against Muslim Turks by promise of
  Arab independence in present-day Syria, Lebanon,
  Jordan, Israel and Iraq.
• - Secretly negotiated with France to divvy up
  territory into zones of control.
• - Balfour Declaration of 1917 promised British
  support of a creation of a Jewish State.
• - Britains reasons for support of Zionism
  include the influx of Jewish refugees escaping
  prosecution in their own country.
• - After WWI, according to UN mandate, Syria and
  Lebanon were placed under French control, Iraq
  and Palestine under British.
• - 1939 White Paper, stating no intention that
  Palestine should become a Jewish State, Jewish
  immigration to be limited Britain promised to
  work for independent state of Palestine.

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• Jewish Immigration
• - In 1918 about 90 of the population was Arabs,
  about 80 were Muslims.
• - Three main religious groups participated in
  one anothers religious festivals.
• - During the interwar era, massive Jewish
  immigration into Palestine along with land
  acquisition occurred.
• - Some 800,000 Palestinians were displaced due
  to the Catastrophe.
• - Arab Higher Committee calls for general strike
  which turned into all-out rebellion.
• - More Jewish immigration due to Holocaust
  threat and the European Nations refusal to
  accept more than a handful of refugees.
• - The Sinai War displaced another 250,000
  Palestinians.
• - At the states foundation, Palestinians in
  Israel were given citizenship rights.
• - After the Six-Day War, Israel continued to
  govern the occupied territories and the
  1.5million Palestinians there, but refused the
  Palestinians voting and other civil rights, in
  order to avoid the demographic time bomb of the
  Arabs outnumbering the Jews.
• Zionism and its Importance
• - The rise of anti-Semitism in Tsarist Russia
  (for participating in the revolutionary
  underground) and other European countries gave
  rise to Zionism.
• - Zionist slogan Land without a People for a
  People without a Land Hirst, David, The gun and
  the Olive branch, Faber Faber, 1977 suggest a
  lack of consideration for Palestinian Arabs.

8

• - Lord Balfour And Zionism has far
  profounder import than the desires and prejudices
  of the 700,000 Arabs who now inhabit that ancient
  land. Memorandum to Lord Curzon, 11 August
  1919. Cited in Ingrams, Doreen, Seeds of
  Conflict, John Murray, 1972
• Growth of Arab Nationalism
• - Caused in part by the broken promises.
• - Instead of independence as promised, their
  rulers simply changed from Muslim Turks to
  foreign Christians.
• - The failure against Israel was perceived as
  due to Arab leadership, which at the time were
  mostly installed by the British. The Arabs
  started looking for true Arab leadership, and
  began to support radical groups like Fatah.

References Peace in Tatters by Yoram Meitel,
pages 13-88 and http//www.teeth.com.pk/blog/wp-co
ntent/uploads/2006/06/israel-palestine20map.jpg
9
Previous Attempts to Solve the Conflict

• As mentioned before, in 1947, Britain brought the
  issue to the UN in order to find a solution to
  the escalating tension and conflicts between the
  Arabs and the Jews.
• The UNSCOP (United Nations Special Committee on
  Palestine) was sent to Palestine in order to
  determine a possible solution. By the end of its
  inquiry, the committee suggested that the cause
  of Arab resentment was due to the number of Jews
  in Palestine.
• Two proposals were made by the UNSCOP the
  minority proposal and the majority proposal.
  These proposals were to replace the British
  mandate.
• The minority proposal
• - Formation of a single federal state in which
  the Jews would remain a minority under Arab rule.
• - This policy would be unacceptable to the
  Zionists firstly, the Jews had never received
  Jews citizenship in an Arab state, and there were
  no reason to expect such benevolence in the
  future.
• - Secondly, Arabs thought increase in
  immigration was intolerable, but the Zionists on
  the other hand wanted control over Jewish
  immigration.
• - Thus the minority proposal failed because UN
  cant reach compromise on immigration issue. It
  was defeated in the General Assembly by 29-12 (
  Cuba Liberia 10 other Arab and Muslim states
  support the proposal)

10

• The majority proposal
• - Since it is difficult to answer the question
  of ownership or rights to Palestine, the country
  should be divided so that each nation would be
  given sovereignty over its own state.
• - Fact Jewish settlements were spread
  throughout Palestine. High living standards in
  Jewish cities had attracted large Arab
  populations. So any partition would result in a
  Jewish state that included a substantial Arab
  population
• - The northern (Galilee) and the Negev desert in
  the south would be used for Jewish settlement.
  The rest of the country would be part of the Arab
  state.
• - The borders of the Jewish state were arranged
  with no consideration for security. (virtually
  indefensible)
• - Jerusalem must remain independent from both
  states and be administered as an international
  zone more than 100000 Jews would be isolated
  from their state and surrounded by Arab state.
• - Jewish leaders accepted this proposal but
  Arabs rejected it.
• - Arab nationalists the only way to create room
  for a second state in Palestine would be to
  dislodge or exterminate the Arabs.
• - Arabs also believed that the powers were
  trying to rid themselves of the guilt they felt
  due to the Holocaust.
• - The last-minute attempt for Jewish Agency
  representatives to reach compromise with the
  Arabs in a meeting (Sept 16, 1947) failed

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• In November 1947, the UN passed a resolution
  which divided Palestine into Jewish, Arabs, and
  international areas.
• In November 1967, the UN passed Resolution 242,
  hoping that it would solve the conflict
• When the resolution was passed in November 1967,
  the Arab states chose to interpret it in a way
  that placed all the responsibility for
  concessions on the Israelis rather than on
  themselves.
• Resolution 242 called for peaceful and accepted
  settlement through negotiation and other
  peaceful means (thus to end Arab-Israeli
  conflict).
• Withdraw of Israeli troops from territories
  occupied in the recent conflict. However, the
  resolution does not make Israeli withdrawal a
  prerequisite for Arabs to live in peaceful
  coexistence with its Israeli neighbours. Nor does
  it specify the amount of territory that Israel
  must give up.
• Every state in the area had the right to live in
  peace within secure and recognized boundaries
  free from threats or acts of force. This was
  opposed by the Arabs who had no intention in
  negotiation with Israel.
• Resolution 242 did not take into account that
  most of the Arab states that declared themselves
  at war with Israel or that refused to grant
  Israel diplomatic recognition (such as Saudi
  Arabia, Iraq, and Libya) have no territorial
  dispute with Israel.
• Arafat did eventually accept resolution 242 (Nov.
  5, 1988). A special envoy was sent to negotiate,
  but both Lebanon and Syria rejected it in the
  end. Syria's point was that the complete
  withdrawal of Israeli forces was a necessary
  prerequisite. Note that Palestinian leaders were
  not invited.

12

• The initial rejection of resolution 242 by the
  PLO was due to the fact it only addressed it as a
  "refugee problem" as opposed to a Palestinian
  problem, and makes no mention of Palestinian
  right to self-determination". They wanted
  statehood in Gaza and West Bank.
• Negotiations eventually broke down because of the
  Arab's perceived betrayal by Clinton and Barak,
  whose Camp David proposals were less than what
  they expected
• The Camp David Accords was another initiative to
  help solve the conflict
• Signed by President Carter (US), Prime Minister
  Begin (Israel), and President Sadat (Egypt) in
  1978
• Israel is committed to withdraw from all the
  Sinai within three years in exchange for the
  normalization of relations
• A five-year transition period would be granted to
  Palestinians living in West Bank and Gaza Strip
  for arrangement of autonomy. Negotiations on the
  final status of the territories would begin after
  the third year of the transition period.

13

• The other Arab leaders were angered by Sadat for
  making separate peace agreement with Israel. To
  calm their angers, President Carter made several
  statements that supported the Arabs position on
  key issues. This did not win any new support from
  the Arabs and only succeeded in angering the
  Israelis.
• During the six months of negotiation process, the
  Arab states continued to condemn the Camp David
  Accords and warned to expel Egypt from the Arab
  League, and to impose sanction on Egypt if Sadat
  signed a peace agreement with Israel.
• The treaty was signed on the White House lawn on
  March 26, 1979
• Israel must withdraw from the western half of the
  Sinai within nine months and from the entire
  Sinai within three years.
• Israel agreed to withdraw from El Arish and oil
  fields developed in the Sinai by the Israelis in
  exchange for guarantee that Egypt would allow
  Israel to purchase oil from Sinai.
• Sadat agreed to exchange ambassadors with Israel
  and begin the process of normalizing the
  relations.
• US were committed to support Israel if Egypt
  violates the agreement.
• A total of 5 billion will be given to both
  countries for economic and military assistance.

Reference for slides 9-13 The Complete Idiots
guide to Middle East Conflict by Mitchell G,
Bard, Ph.D., pages 131-134, 202-206, and 236-238
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• Unfortunately, this accord also failed because
  the Arabs refused to accept it
• In March 2002, the Summit of the League of Arab
  States unanimously adopted as the Arab Peace
  Initiative the plan proposed by Crown Prince
  Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia calling
  for full Israeli withdrawal from all the Arab
  territories occupied since June 1967 and for
  Israel's acceptance of an independent Palestinian
  State with East Jerusalem as its capital, in
  return for the establishment of normal relations
  with the Arab countries in the context of a
  comprehensive peace with Israel. This initiative
  introduced a new and important element in the
  search for a lasting political solution the
  collective political commitment of the Arab world
  to long-term peace with Israel. The Arab Peace
  Initiative will remain a crucial element in
  future peace efforts.

Reference http//www.washingtoninstitute.org/mapI
mages/41db110b8ca1f.jpg and http//domino.un.org/
unispal.nsf/4f35dda0969b398885256c940075d006/84344
184a97d40e805256c82005f71f3!OpenDocument
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Current Situation

• Right now, Palestine has a president (Ehud
  Olmert) who is in favor of recognizing Israel and
  Palestine as two separate countries and
  negotiating for peace. However, the Prime
  Minister from the Hamas party and the majority
  government he is leading do not support
  recognizing Israel as a nation at all, and are
  not in support of peaceful negotiations.
• This has made the negotiation process much more
  difficult.
• Although Israel has evacuated the Jewish
  settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, it
  still maintains a strong military control in
  those areas while the international aid has been
  cut off for the Palestinian leadership because
  the nations supplying aid oppose the Hamas-lead
  government.
• Over the past year, the Israeli-Palestinian
  conflict has deteriorated further, eroding many
  of the achievements of the peace process. The
  ongoing cycle of violence and retaliation has
  further inflamed political tensions and caused a
  significant death toll on both sides. The
  international community, united in its support
  for the vision of two States living side by side
  in peace and security, has continued to develop
  initiatives aimed at stopping the violence and
  bringing the parties back to the negotiating
  table. (see reference 7)

Reference http//domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/4f35d
da0969b398885256c940075d006/84344184a97d40e805256c
82005f71f3!OpenDocument
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• Since the outbreak of the intifada at the end of
  September 2000, more than 1,800 Palestinians have
  been killed and some 25,000 injured. On the
  Israeli side, more than 600 people have been
  killed and over 4,000 injured. I have urged both
  sides to live up to their obligations under
  international humanitarian law to ensure the
  protection of civilians. Illegitimate or illegal
  means cannot be justified by reference to
  legitimate objectives whether they be an end to
  occupation and statehood for Palestinians or
  security for Israelis. Beyond the question of
  legality, surely we need no further reminder of
  the ultimate futility of the present course than
  the hundreds of deaths, thousands of injuries and
  tens of thousands of grieving families and
  friends of the victims of this conflict. The
  parties are on a path leading to further pain and
  suffering a path that will bring neither closer
  to achieving its stated goals. (see reference
  7)
• The situation reached a particularly dangerous
  point at the end of March 2002, following a
  Palestinian suicide bomb attack in the Israeli
  city of Netanya. After that terrorist attack,
  which left 28 persons dead and 140 injured, the
  Israel Defence Forces (IDF) launched a massive
  military operation in the West Bank, leading to
  the reoccupation of cities under full Palestinian
  control (Area A). That operation, called
  "Defensive Shield" by Israel, inflicted severe
  damage on the Palestinian security and civilian
  infrastructure and created a humanitarian and
  human rights crisis. To address the sharpening
  trend towards greater violence and the attendant
  consequences for both sides, in April 2002 I
  proposed the deployment of a multinational force
  to help provide security for Israeli and
  Palestinian civilians, and to promote an
  environment conducive to the resumption of
  negotiations. This proposal remains on the
  table. (see reference 7)

Reference http//domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/4f35d
da0969b398885256c940075d006/84344184a97d40e805256c
82005f71f3!OpenDocument
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The Proposed Solution

• End result/goal
• Two state solution Israel and Palestine must
  recognize each other as independent
  nation-states.
• For this goal to be achieved, the extremists in
  Israel need to give up their claim to the
  biblical holy land Eretz Yisrael and their
  settlements or military occupation on the
  disputed areas allocated to the Palestinian
  state.
• While the Palestinian extremists need to give up
  their claim on the whole Palestine including
  what is now Israel. They also have to forsake
  their alleged right to return to their homeland
  after being expelled
• The two sides must refrain from creating
  violence. Palestinian government must punish
  those who launch attacks to harm Israelis. And
  the Israeli government must refrain from sending
  troops to or attacking Palestinian lands
• Precise borders should be negotiated with
  reference to the UN resolution 242 which is an
  internationally recommended solution
• The Security Council (1) Affirms that the
  fulfillment of Charter principles requires the
  establishment of a just and lasting peace in the
  Middle East which should include the application
  of both of the following principles (i)
  Withdrawal of Israel armed forces from
  territories occupied in the recent 1967
  conflict (ii) Termination of all claims or
  states of belligerency and respect for and
  acknowledgement of the sovereignty, territorial
  integrity and political independence of every
  State in the area and their right to live in
  peace within secure and recognized boundaries
  free from threats or acts of force.

Reference The Case for Peace by Alan Dershowitz,
pages 11-26, 27-30, 51-58
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• Freedom of movement will not be restricted as
  long as all citizens of both countries display
  their passports when crossing the border. In
  order to ensure the safety of border travels, all
  citizens who apply for the passport will undergo
  a security check.
• The PNA will be recognized as the official
  governing body of Palestine. In order to
  guarantee the legitimacy and fairness of the
  election process, UN election observers will be
  sent to the states of Israel and Palestine in all
  elections that take place in the next five years.
  
• The division of Jerusalem is much too difficult
  to implement because the demographic map is not
  easily turned into a political map. The most
  important religious symbols are literally on top
  of each other. Thus, Jerusalem will be put under
  the governance of the UN respecting all religions
  at Jerusalem until Israel and Palestine can
  peacefully negotiate and set an agreement about
  the division of Jerusalem.
• The division of land
• The Palestinians retain 100 of Western Bank and
  100 of the Gaza Strip. However, Jerusalem will
  be put under the temporary governance of the UN
  until Israel and Palestine can peacefully
  negotiate the separation plan for Jerusalem
• Both nations are ordered to grant full
  citizenship rights of all to their citizens and
  religion and race will not be a factor.

19

• The West Bank and the Gaza Strip will be
  Palestinian territory while Israel keep all other
  parts of what is now Israel.
• Transportation between the West Bank and the Gaza
  Strip should not be hindered as long as
  international security is not threatened.
• Jerusalem will be put on temporary UN governance
  until the two parties can peacefully negotiate
  how to separate Jerusalem.

Reference http//www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stor
ies/israel.palestine/map.html
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References

• 1.)The Complete Idiots guide to Middle East
  Conflict by Mitchell G, Bard, Ph.D.
• 2.)Palestine Peace Not Apartheid by Jimmy Carter
• 3.)The Case for Peace by Alan Dershowitz
• 4.)World Book Encyclopedia by unknown author
• 5.)The Arab-Israeli Conflict Witness History
  Series by Paul Harper
• 6.)http//domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/4f35dda0969b39
  8885256c940075d006/84344184a97d40e805256c82005f71f
  3!OpenDocument
• 7.)http//www.teeth.com.pk/blog/wp-content/uploads
  /2006/06/israel-palestine20map.jpg
• 8.)http//www.washingtoninstitute.org/mapImages/41
  db110b8ca1f.jpg
• 9.)http//www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/israe
  l.palestine/map.html
• 10.)Peace in Tatters by Yoram Meitel
• 11.) http//unimaps.com/flags-mideast/palestine-fl
  ag.gif
• 12.) http//unimaps.com/israel/flag.gif