Palestine: Arab-Israeli Conflict (Part 1)

The fundamental issue on which Arab-Israeli conflict now centers and has centered is on the basic claims and rights of two peoples in Palestine. The Palestinian tragedy needs to be recognized by every living human on this earth and we should seek justice for peace of this Holy Land that has brought so many people to God.

In 1917 the Zionists started their plots to get Palestine lands as their homeland by extracting from the British government a promise to view in favor the establishment in Palestine for a national home for the Jewish people. They used words like "Promised Land" and "Bible Land" trying to appeal to their Chrisitan terms, swaying larger governments to take their side as a poor Jewish people with no home to go to.

The world opinion has been led to believe that Palestine problems is just simply a conflict between Israel and Arab states over the territory that the Arabs regard to as part of the Arab homeland. The Israelis proclaim Palestine as their homeland because of the Balfour Declaration of 1917, the United Nations partitioning of both in 1947, and what is called the Biblical Promises that Jews should all return to their own homeland. Two races or nations fighting over one land they both deem as theirs. However, we must first see it as a problem between Jews and Arabs before we can say its only political and moral issues are involved.

Israel had a mass immigration policy and land acquistion goals that seriously destroyed any peace in that region. They came the year of 1948 killing many Arabs and driving them out of their lands by force. Many Arabs fled the country for fear and many were not allowed to return. Yet the Jews pride and gloat in their right they say they have to return to their homelands. Their ideology is that no one else has any rights to go back home but them. They had no home, so they begged all government to let them in but none of the governments wanted to have them move in on their own countries by the millions so they chose to wave them off on a country weaker in artillary and power to rid themselves of their begging. To show how malicious and zealous they can be to get land, just remember their invasion of Egypt in 1956 and the attempted annexation of the Sinai Penninsula and the Gaza Strip territory.

With the fall of Arab power in Spain, North Africa and the Arab Middle East Jews found refuge with the arabs from persecution they received in other lands. They lived together peacefully until the Zionists started to claim Palestine was their rightful possession and their true homeland. In 1920 Zionist riots broke out in Jerusalem on Easter Sunday of that year. The result of that many people who had been living on the best terms lost their lives. Zionists then pushed their mass immigration policy and a campaign to try to buy Arab lands and pushing out Arab workers from Jewish enterprises and this broke out into bloody riots.

In the years 1915-1916 the British government making packs in ten letters to Sherif Hussein of Mecca promising them if they support their war efforts they will give them independance in all the arab regions specified in Sherif Husseins demands. Meanwhile before the sun came up the next day the British government was talking secretly with France and Russia for the dividing among themselves the Asiatic provinces of the Ottoman Empire after they won. The lands Sherif of Mecca had asked for were among those Ottoman lands.

(will be continued)

* (taken from excerpts from the book "Bitter Harvest" by author Sami Hadawi) * this book is availible at many bookstores and is a true look at the sufferings of the palestinian people*

Kareema Davison

Read Part 2