Australia recognized west Jerusalem as the capital of Israel
in December 2018. Australia also supported the two state solutions while Israel
and Palestine fight un Jerusalem. Most
of the foreign nations have avoided moving embassies until the city gets final
status. US President Trump first moved US embassy in 2018.
The Israel- Palestine conflict- often referred to as the world’s most intractable conflict. It is a dispute over land as claimed by Jews and Arabs. Jews claim that they have a birthright on Palestine, and seek for self-determination. Despite repeated attempts to end the conflict between the two countries, there is no peace settlement in sight.
Israel is the world’s only Jewish state, located in the east of the Mediterranean Sea. Palestinians are the Arabic population that comes from the land Israel now controls.
Historical background: The Zionist Movement
The land of Palestine is very important to the three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). Palestinian residents want to establish a state by the name on all or part of the same land.
Historically, the majority of Jews lived in Europe. Over the years, Jews were treated miserably in Europe. They were treated like the weird sect, accused of the killing of Christ, blamed for some of the misfortunes that happened to Europe, etc. European Jews were perceived as the evil and blamed for many things. Over that time, the idea of creating a Jewish State came up to free Jews from the tyrants of medieval Europe.
During the late 19th century, and as Europe was being shaped by nationalistic waves that led to the rise of the Nazi, Jews of Europe didn’t fit in the mostly Christian Europe—things just started to become worse for the majority of them. The idea of creating a Jewish state became an urgent need as the rise of Hitler was worst for Jews. The Holocaust, also referred to as the Shoah, was a genocide during World War II in which Nazi Germany, aided by its collaborators, systematically murdered some six million European Jews, around two-thirds of the Jewish population of Europe, between 1941 and 1945.
Zionism is a controversial movement largely made up of secular Jews, fueled by a desire to achieve and maintain a Jewish state in the "Holy Land". And, The Zionist movement is a movement of world Jewry that arose late in the 19th century with the aim of creating a Jewish state in Palestine
Historically, the majority of Jews lived in Europe. Over the years, Jews were treated miserably in Europe. They were treated like the weird sect, accused of the killing of Christ, blamed for some of the misfortunes that happened to Europe, etc. European Jews were perceived as the evil and blamed for many things. Over that time, the idea of creating a Jewish State came up to free Jews from the tyrants of medieval Europe.
During the late 19th century, and as Europe was being shaped by nationalistic waves that led to the rise of the Nazi, Jews of Europe didn’t fit in the mostly Christian Europe—things just started to become worse for the majority of them. The idea of creating a Jewish state became an urgent need as the rise of Hitler was worst for Jews. The Holocaust, also referred to as the Shoah, was a genocide during World War II in which Nazi Germany, aided by its collaborators, systematically murdered some six million European Jews, around two-thirds of the Jewish population of Europe, between 1941 and 1945.
Zionism is a controversial movement largely made up of secular Jews, fueled by a desire to achieve and maintain a Jewish state in the "Holy Land". And, The Zionist movement is a movement of world Jewry that arose late in the 19th century with the aim of creating a Jewish state in Palestine
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| The Holocaust |
Jews, wanted their own state and in the justification of why Palestine, historian believe it’s to do with the fact that Palestine is important to the Jewish faith, as it’s important to other faiths as well, but anyway so the idea was appealing at first, and more so as the Ottoman Empire was at its deathbed, so Jews of Europe thought that Palestine was a good idea.
However, the Arabs resisted, seeing the land as rightfully theirs. Arab nationals battled several wars over the territory.
Today’s lines largely echo the consequences of two of these wars, one happened in 1948 and another in 1967. The 1967 war is chiefly important for today’s conflict, as it left Israel in control of the west bank and Gaza strip, two territories home to large Palestinian populations.
Jordan established control over the west bank with the agreement of Israel and Egypt established control of the Gaza strip. Control of Jerusalem is split between Israel in the west and Jordan in the east. However, the Arabs resisted, seeing the land as rightfully theirs. Arab nationals battled several wars over the territory.
Today’s lines largely echo the consequences of two of these wars, one happened in 1948 and another in 1967. The 1967 war is chiefly important for today’s conflict, as it left Israel in control of the west bank and Gaza strip, two territories home to large Palestinian populations.
Six-day war
The “six Day war” Israel conducted a pre-emptive attack against Egypt and gained control over territory formerly controlled by Egypt, Syria and Jordan. Israel began establishing a settlement in Gaza, the Sinai Peninsula, the west bank, east Jerusalem.
Israel – Palestine conflict and the U.S
The U.S has played a significant role as the mediator role in the Israeli Palestine conflict. After the failed 2000 Camp David Summit, Washington never made any meaningful attempt to push the Israelis to accept the two-state proposal.The 2007 Annapolis conference was a failure too. The previous U.S administration launched a peace bid which also collapsed at an early stage.
The U.S.A has been criticized by the OIC (organization of Islamic cooperation) and other Arab organization, for vetoing most Security Council decision critical of Israel
The U.S.A has more Jews than Israel. Jews have significant control over the US media and economy.
Also, Israel receives about 3$ billion in direct foreign assistance each year, which is roughly one-fifth of America’s entire foreign aid budget. On the other side, United States has been vocal about its intention to veto any Palestinian bid for statehood. Due to which Palestine had to be satisfied with a non-member observer status in UN
The second term of previous administration saw a degrading US-Israel relationship. Iran Nuclear deal of 2015 irritated Israel and it criticized the US for the deal.
With the new presidency regime under America, who is more inclined to Israel, the illegal settlement by Israel in the west bank and Gaza may see a rise.
What does Palestine want?
Palestine wants Israel to withdraw to pre-1967 borders and establish independent Palestine state in the west bank and Gaza. And Israel should stop all expansion of settlement before coming to peace talks. Palestine wants East Jerusalem as the capital of independent Palestine state.
What does Israel want?
Israel has the intention of having sovereignty over Jerusalem, and recognition of Israel as a Jewish state. Israel is the only country in the world created for a religious community. They also want the right of return of Palestine refugees only to Palestine and not to Israel.
Resolutions- 242, and 338
In response the war, the UN Security Council passes resolution 242, which calls for the withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict.Egypt and Syria organized a surprise attack on Israeli forces in the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan heights on the day of the Muslim month of Ramadan, in which the annual fast is performed.
The UN Security Council passes resolution 338, which calls for an immediate cease- fire.
Madrid Peace Conference
The conference includes delegations from Israel, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, and the Palestinian. The Madrid conference marks the first time most of the Arab parties (except for Egypt) and Israel sat down at a table together. The conference is organized along bi-lateral lines as well as multilateral lines.
Oslo peace process
The trade-offs made became known as “land for peace.” Because they could now resolve all the issues right way, the two sides agreed to make gradual steps towards a final settlement of the conflict. The process by which the two sides would gradually exchange land for peace and work out the more difficult issues standing in the way of a final agreement became known as the “Oslo peace process”
What is the two-state solution?
The two-state solution would create an independent Israel and Palestine and is the mainstream approach to resolving the conflict.The 1993 Oslo Accords marked the first time that the state of Israel and the Palestine liberation organization formally organized one another and publicly committed to negotiating a solution to their decades-long conflict.
That two-state vision requires Israel to abandon its opposition of Palestinian claims (to national sovereignty).
Ever since the Oslo Accords, giving statehood to the Palestinians has been the bedrock of any proposal to solve the conflict as it is considered the internationally acknowledged solution.
What is the alternative?
One is to retain the status quo. That is, a militarized Jewish state permanently occupying the Palestinian territories, without giving full citizenship rights to the Palestinians. The other one is to have a single democratic federal state with equal rights to Jews, Muslims, Christians and others. It is time for international actors who care about the situation of the Palestinians and start pushing for the latter solution.
INDIA – PALESTINE – ISRAEL
Why India does support Palestine?India with a considerable number of Muslim populations has been always sympathetic to the Muslim population in Palestine. India did not want to jeopardize the interest of its citizens (more than 7 million) working in Arab countries which are a good source of forex reserves. India is dependent on Arab nations for its larger oil imports. India’s co-operation with the Soviet Union cold war era our desire to counter Pakistan with the support of Arab nations was another reason for our pro-Palestine policy.
India and Israel relationship
Israel supported India during Indo-Pakistan wars even before full diplomatic ties were established. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of US as a superpower, India started aligning itself with the US and this further added to our improved relations with Israel.
Importance of Israel relation of India
Israel became an important defence partner for India. When India was planning to undertake a military strike against Pakistan in June 2002 as part of Operation Parakram, Israel supplied hardware through special planes. Indian president visited Israel in 2015 was another milestone in bilateral relations, as this was the first visit by an Indian president to Israel. India is the world’s largest buyer of Israel weaponry and in 2013 India was the third trading partner of Israel in Asia.
