Israel-Palestine

Israel-Palestine Rival nationalisms Role of religion Two conflicting narratives: Palestine as a land without a people for a people without a land or as a Western backed crusader state/colony. Two people claim the same space. For some Jews, their claim is rooted in Biblical promises (theological). Claim also based on concept of settlers’ rights – where a community forms a majority (even when not a majority of the total population) rights apply – for example, the 13 North American colonies were not a majority of the Continental population but formed a sovereign nation state. Others claim that the will of the majority of the whole territory should determine the political system.

Effects Muslim-Jewish and Muslim-Christian relations – Christians regarded as allies of Israel – a crusader state!

Narrative(s):

1791: Beginning of Jewish Emancipation (France). Full civil rights. Disabilities ended. 1819: Hamburg Temple – Reform movement, assimilation answer to Jewish problem.

1882-1903: First Aliya (return) (large-scale immigration), mainly from Russia. Mainly “secular” Jews, aided by wealthy West European Jews – saw settlement in Israel as a way to solve the “problem” of poor Jews attracting negative sentiments in Europe.

• 1894 The Dreyfus Affair: Alfred Dreyfus (French army captain) found guilty of espionage (later vindicated – victim of anti-Semitism). Jews accused of international conspiracy. See the Protocols of the Elders of Zion (late 19th century). (Document available at various internet sites, at time of writing http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/przion1.htm).

 First Zionist Congress convened by Theodor Herzl in Basel, Switzerland; Zionist Organization founded. Theo Herzl – Jews are a problem because they lack a state. Assimilation will not protect them from persecution. Palestine not initially identified as venue for a Jewish state but became the only option for most Zionists.

1904-1914

 Second Aliya, mainly from Russia and Poland.

 First kibbutz, Degania, and first modern all-Jewish city, Tel Aviv, founded.

 400 years of Ottoman rule ended by British conquest; British Foreign Minister Balfour pledges support for establishment of a "Jewish national home in Palestine". See the Declaration at the Middle East West, http://www.mideastweb.org/mebalfour.htm. British also made promises to the Sharif of Mecca in return for supporting the war against Ottomans. French and British (plus Italy) divided Ottoman Empire among themselves based on existing commercial interests (capitulations). Britain set sons of Sharif Hussein up as kings of Iraq and Jordan but retained direct governance of Palestine. Hussein forced out of Arabia by the Saudi princes. He had expected a single contiguous State including Palestine, not separate entities. Palestine is thus sometimes called the “twice promised land.” See the Hussein-McMahon Correspondence at the Jewish Virtual Library, http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/hussmac1.html

1918-1948

 BRITISH RULE

1919-1923

 Third Aliya, mainly from Russia

 Histadrut (Jewish labor federation) and Haganah (Jewish defense organization) founded. Vaad Leumi (National Council) set up by Jewish community (yishuv) to conduct its affairs.

 First moshav, Nahalal, founded.

 Britain granted Mandate for Palestine (Land of Israel) by League of Nations against Arab objections. Mandate to establish Jewish homeland without compromising rights of other peoples. See the Mandate document at the Jewish Virtual Library, http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/Palestine_Mandate.html

 Transjordan set up on three-fourths of the area, leaving one-fourth for the Jewish national home.

 Jewish Agency representing Jewish community vis-a-vis Mandate authorities set up.

 Technion, first institute of technology, founded in Haifa.

1924-1932

 Fourth Aliya, mainly from Poland.

 Hebrew University of Jerusalem opened on Mt. Scopus.

 Hebron Jews massacred by Arab militants.

 Etzel, Jewish underground organization, founded.

1933-1939

 Fifth Aliya, mainly from Germany.

1936-1939

 Anti-Jewish riots instigated by Arab militants.

 Jewish immigration severely limited by British White Paper. 1939-1945

 World War II; Holocaust in Europe.

 Lehi underground movement formed; Palmach, strike force of Haganah, set up. Anti-British actions for failing to fulfill mandate.

 Jewish Brigade formed as part of British forces.

In February 1947 Britain indicated to the newly formed United Nations that it was handing the ‘problem’ to them. She set 14th May 1948 as the date she would withdraw from Palestine, including troops stationed there.

 UN proposes the establishment of Arab and Jewish states in the Land. No specific Muslim issue – nationalism.

The partition plan gave 55% of the British mandate of Palestine to the Jews, who represented roughly 60% in the areas allocated them under the plan. However, Jews owned only about 8% of the land, since many rented from Arabs. Just under 50% of the land was ‘crown’ land, that is, vested in the Government.

November 29th, 1947 in the form of Resolution 181. The two states were to ‘come into existence two months’ after the withdrawal of British troops. Jerusalem would be an international zone under the UN. Britain was to cooperate with a UN Commission to enable the transition of power to take place. The commission would adjudicate any frontier disputes between the new states. Each state would hold democratic elections within two months. Resolution 181 was passed by 33 votes to 13 with 10 abstentions. Every Arab and Muslim country then in membership of the UN voted against. The United States voted in favor; the United Kingdom abstained. See Resolution 181 at Jewish Virtual Library, http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/partition.html

STATE OF ISRAEL

 End of British Mandate (14 May)  State of Israel proclaimed (14 May) (affirms historic relationship between Jews and Israel/refers to the Holocaust (Catastrophe) as demonstrating the need to solve the problem of the homelessness of the Jewish people/need for a safe haven.  Israel invaded by four Arab states (15 May) – reject legality of 181 as contrary to right of self-determination of the majority. See Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel at http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/decind.html  War of Independence (May 1948-July 1949)  Israel Defense Forces (IDF) established

 Armistice agreements signed with Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon.  Jerusalem divided under Israeli and Jordanian rule.  First Knesset (parliament) elected.  Israel admitted to United Nations as 59th member.

When hostilities ceased on 29th July, 1949 Israel had expanded its territory to 80% of Palestine. State of war continues. No diplomatic relations.

Egypt occupied the Gaza strip, while Jordan occupied then annexed Jerusalem and the West Bank.

1Vth Geneva Convention (1949) made annexation of occupied territory illegal. Only the UK and Pakistan officially recognized ‘the Jordanian takeover’.

Thousands of Arabs had become refugees.

Debate continues on whether they were ‘pushed’ or ‘jumped’.

The standard Israeli claim is that they voluntarily left their homes, assured by the Arab nations that this would make it easier for them to quickly destroy Israel without causing civilian casualties. The standard Arab claim is that they were rounded up and compelled to leave. Certainly, the Arab population of Israel decreased from 700,000 to 156,000.

Less than a year after independence, Jewish migration doubled the state’s population

Palestinians refer to their flight from their homes as al-Nakba, the Catastrophe, possibly evoking a comparison with the holocaust. Debate also continues about the logistics of the war.

1950 - Israel passes the Absentees’ Property Law and the Law of Return. Arguably contrary to UN Resolution 194 return of refugees Clause, the Property Law declared that all property belonging to absent owners devolved to the state. Some Arab refugees did return. Most did not. The Law of Return entitles all who can prove their Jewish identity to settle in and obtain citizenship of Israel.

1956-7: Egypt annexed the Suez Canal. Israel assisted Britain and France against Egypt. Briefly, Israel occupied the Sinai and Gaza strip then withdrew. The war ended when Britain and France disengaged in what amounted to capitulation. After this war, the UN stationed peacekeepers in the Gaza Strip.

1959: Yasser Arafat (1929-2004) established Fateh (the Palestinian National Liberation Movement), which advocated and began armed struggle against Israel.

1964: the Arab League forms the Palestinian Liberation Organization to represent refugee concerns, many of who were still living in shanty towns and camps under Egyptian and Jordanian control.

1965: al-Fateh carried out its fist guerilla campaign across the Israeli border, operating from Jordan.

1967: 19th May, the UN peacekeepers in Gaza are instructed to leave by the Egyptian President. 22nd May, Israeli ships were banned from the Suez and blocked from the Gulf of Aqaba. On 6th June, when diplomatic demands for passage through the Suez failed, Israel attacked Egypt. Reluctantly, Jordan also entered the conflict, as did Syria and Iraq. Hostilities ceased on June 11th, with the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza, the West Bank including Jerusalem and the Golan heights under Israeli control. These subsequently became known as the ‘occupied territories’. The majority of Palestinians now lived under Israeli military command. UN Resolution 242 called for the protagonists to recognize each other and to work for a just and lasting peace in which all states in the region could live in security and proposed a land for peace formula whereby in return for Israel relinquishing occupied territory, her neighbors would make peace. Israel was to have free passage though all international waterways. The Resolution made no specific reference to a state for the Palestinians but it does refer to the ‘just settlement of the refugee problem’. 1968-70: many Jews regard the ‘occupied territories’ as legally part of the land of Israel, referring to Biblical descriptions of the land. Officially, only the Golan heights was formally annexed, which made governing the territories easier; Palestinians had no civil rights and were governed by ‘military administrations that did not have to answer to the civil code’ (Akenson: 317). A process of colonization began; land was ‘seized’ by the military on the grounds that it was ‘waste’, or needed for security purposes, while land that had belonged to the Jordanian government was declared to be Israeli government property (314-5). Jewish settlers, many of whom were religious Zionists, occupied and started to farm this land. Arabs who had lived there became refugees again, increasing the population of the remaining land available for their use. About 300,000 fled to Jordan. By 1977, about 5,000 settlers ‘were in place’ (316). These settlers were considered to be full Israeli citizens, with all civil rights. The post 1948-9 borders were never officially recognized by the UN, so the West Bank was doubly occupied, first by Jordan, then by Israel.

Beginning of settlements/Religious Jews believe that Biblical Israel (Greater Israel) should again be Jewish.

International Jewish community increased support for Israel – believing that it could survive.

During the same period, the PLO declares that its goal is a democratic, secular state covering the whole of the former British mandate of Palestine. Arafat became Chairman of the PLO in 1969.

1970: PLO is expelled from Jordan following terrorist activities involving the high jacking of Swiss, American and British planes by Black September (see Bard: 231) and the killing of Jordan’s Prime Minister. Attacks on non-Israeli targets were intended to provoke the international community to rebuke Israel for mistreatment of the refugees and to demand justice for the Palestinian people. The PLO relocated to Lebanon. The PLO declared a Palestinian republic in the northern city of Irbid.

October 1973: in the Yom Kippur War Egypt and Syria briefly regain the Sinai and the Golan Heights respectively but Israel quickly recovered these territories.

1975-90: civil war largely stimulated by the flood of Palestinian refugees into Lebanon sparks conflict among the various communities of this multi-cultural country.

The traditional balance and power-sharing arrangement between Christians and Muslims breaks down. Attacks across the border into Israel result in Israeli intervention (June 1982). Lebanon asked Syria to assist in ending the conflict.

By June 1985 most Israeli troops had been withdrawn. The war officially ended with the Taif Agreement of 1990. In 1982, some Lebanese Shia with the support of Iran form the Islamic Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine, better known as hizbullah (the party of God). Hizbullah is liberally funded by Iran ($1 billion between 93 and 03. Subsequently, Islamic language of jihad and reference to Palestine as a land sacred to Muslims entered the discourse of Palestinians fighting for their own state.

In 1987, Palestinians formed HAMAS (the Islamic Resistance Movement) which rejects peaceful means of achieving its goal, which is to replace Israel with an Islamic state.

Some believe that HAMAS wants a state that would be Jew-free, although its charter says that under the banner of Islam ‘followers of all religions can co-exist in security and safety’ (article 6).

The preface speaks of obliterating Israel. Article 32 , citing the Protocols of the Elders of Zion that alleges a Zionist conspiracy to control the world, claims that unless stopped Israel plans to continue her expansion throughout the region.

HAMAS’s election as the majority party in the Palestinian parliament in January, 2006 resulted in a stalemate, with both sides refusing to talk.

The international community cut off aid to the P.N.A until HAMAS recognizes Israel.

The international response has been to suggest some form of power-sharing, or a government of national unity within the P.N.A. in which parties that do recognize Israel and are willing to negotiate with her participate in the government alongside HAMAS.

This raises questions about whether majoritarian democracy is the ideal in contexts where different actors need to co-exist.

10 Nov 1975: the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 3379 condemning Zionism as Racism because Israel allows any Jew to return while denying Palestinians the same right.

16 Dec 1994 Resolution 4686 rescinded the above. A year later at the World Conference Against Racism held in South Africa, Syria, Egypt and Iran proposed to insert a condemnation of Israel as a racist state into the Conference Declaration.

The US and Israeli delegations walked out. The final document did not condemn Israel. It did condemn anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and anti-Arabism and stated that the ‘Holocaust must never be forgotten’.

1977: Egyptian President Anwar Sadat accepts invitation to visit Jerusalem. Negotiations begin to normalize relations between Egypt and Israel and on the issue of Palestine.

1979: Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin sign a peace treaty brokered at Camp David by US President Jimmy Carter.

Israel agrees to return the Sinai to Egypt, applying UN Resolution 242's ‘land for peace’ formula; Israel ‘received additional US aid for withdrawing’ (Bard: 242; see Resolution on p 344). The Treaty recognized Resolution 242 as the basis for resolving the conflict.

The Treaty committed all parties to move towards granting Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza full autonomy within five years. An elected, self-governing authority would be established. Its powers and remit were to be agreed by all parties, including Jordan.

Israel’s security would not be compromised. This political initiative represents the first real move towards peace. Sadat was assassinated on October 6th 1982 by members of Islamic Jihad, who regarded him as an apostate Muslim.

1982: PLO relocated from Lebanon to Tunisia.

1987-1993 The First Intifada: According to the time-table agreed at Camp David, a Palestinian authority should have been established by the mid-1980s. Frustrated by lack of progress, initially non-violent protest begins in the West Bank and Gaza.

In 1988, Arafat, speaking at the UN, pledges that the PLO would renounce violence and recognize Israel if the Palestinians were allowed to establish their own State.

This gives some impetus to the political process, in which Norway become involved as a broker in addition to the US.

As the Intifada progressed, young men and boys started to throw stones at Israeli troops. Later, such weapons as Molotov cocktails and hand grenades were used. Israelis soldiers and civilians were killed. The first suicide attack within Israel took place July 1989 when a bus was bombed.

1993 Oslo Accord: Arafat and Israeli PM, Yitchak Rabin sign the Oslo Accord in Washington, DC. The Accord established a National Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Gaza. Arafat and Rabin receive the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize together with Israel’s then Foreign Minister, Shimon Peres. 4 November 1995 a right-wing Jew assassinates Rabin for signing the Accord. In 1994, Arafat returned to the West Bank. Hamas rejected the Accord and started a campaign of suicide bombings.

26 Oct 1994: Israel and Jordan normalize relations. Jordan received billions of US Aid as a result.

Jan 20 1996: Arafat is elected President of the National Palestinian Authority with a 88.2% majority.

2000 Second Intifada: despite the existence of the PNA conditions do not improve and a second uprising breaks out. This was also sparked Israeli PM, Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount. Upwards of 700 Israelis and 2,000 Palestinians loose their lives. Suicide bombings increase. Hamas gained popularity. March 2002: Israel starts to build a defensive wall around its West Bank settlements and between its borders and the PNA.

28th March 2002: the Saudi Crown Prince proposed a peace plan that involves all Arab governments recognizing Israel in return for settlement of land disputes and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. The PLO rejects the plan, which the Arab league accepts. Israel describes it as an ‘interesting development’. The plan states that the Arab countries would ‘consider the Arab-Israeli conflict ended, and enter into a peace-treaty with Israel, and provide security for all the states of the region’.

May 2003: the European Union, the Russian Federation, the UN and the USA publish their Road Map to Peace, setting out a time-table for resolution of territorial issues and for the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian State (reproduced in Bard: 355-341). The PNA and Israel accept the plan, which endorses the ‘two-state solution’.

November 2004: Arafat, virtually a prisoner in his Ramallah bunker, was allowed to fly to Paris for medical treatment (repeatedly bombed by the Israelis) where he died (11th November). Many claim that he had enriched himself with money intended to aid his people (Burr, Collins: 223-225). 24th November Syria declares willingness to negotiate with Israel based on ‘land for peace’ principle ‘without condition’. Israel said that the offer was ‘not serious’.

9 Jan 2005: in the Palestinian Presidential election, the moderate Mahmoud Abbas of Fateh wins with 62.52%.

August - Sept 2005: The Israeli government unilaterally withdraws from and closes settlements in the Gaza Strip. Many Israelis opposed this and settlers who refused to move were forcibly evicted. Israel refuses to negotiate with the PNA as long as violence continues.

2006: In the Assembly elections of 25 Jan HAMAS gains 44% of the vote, a ‘small plurality’ (Carter, 2006: 10) but win the majority of seats. Western states withdraw aid unless HAMAS recognizes Israel. Negotiations start to form a government of national unity that would include Fateh

12 July 2006: Hizbullah, which has 14 out of 128 seats in the Lebanese Parliament and a wide network of social welfare activities, captured two Israeli solders. Blaming the Lebanese government, Israel commenced air-strikes, followed by an invasion involving several direct military encounters with Hizbullah forces. Civilian as well as military installations were destroyed. A UN brokered cease fire came into effect 14 August 2006. Death toll estimates vary but approximately 44 Israeli civilians and 119 soldiers, approximately 500 Hizbullah militiamen, 46 Lebanese Army combatants and upwards of 1,100 Lebanese civilians are reported dead. In addition, 7 UN personnel were killed. October 2006: Syria repeats offer of talks with Israel; Israel rejects this saying that Syria must first withdraw support for armed insurgency. Oct 12, HAMAS PM Ismail Haniyah says that HAMAS will not recognize Israel or abandon the armed struggle.

15 February 2007: Ismail Haniyah resigns to make way for a government of national unity.

14 June 2007 Abbas declares a state of emergency following armed clashes between HAMAS and Fateh in Gaze. HAMAS however effectively control Gaza; Fateh the West Bank.

April 2008: Turkey attempts to mediate between Syria and Israel to revive talks.

4 June 2008: HAMAS offers Israel a temporary cease-fire through Egyptian mediation, which is refused.

References

Akenson, Donald H. 1992. God's peoples: covenant and land in South Africa, Israel, and Ulster. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Bard, Mitchell Geoffrey. 2001. Myths and facts: a guide to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Chevy Chase, MD: American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise.

Burr, Millard, and Robert O. Collins. 2006. Alms for jihad: charity and terrorism in the Islamic world. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Carter, Jimmy. 2006. Palestine: peace not apartheid. New York: Simon & Schuster.