The Palestine-Israel conflict

    Recently, there has been a lot of talk about the conflict between the Hamas group and the Israeli government. By writing this blog, I hope to educate you about the history between Palestine and Israel, from an unbiased standpoint. I myself didn't really understand the motives and causes for this conflict when I first heard about it, so hopefully you find this helpful.

    This chronicle starts all they way back in the early 20th century, close to the end of World War I. In 1917, the British Government issued the Balfour Declaration, promising to make Palestine "a national home for the Jewish people". At the time, Palestine was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, and so after the war ended the region of Palestine was conceded and given to the British Government. The handing over of territory was a mandate from the League of Nations (the predecessor to the United Nations), but at the time faced criticism for ignoring the Palestinian voices, who inhabited the land, and wanted independence.

Rubble in Current Gaza (Palestine)

    Given the British promise, when World War II burst into the scene, tens of thous
ands of Jews were migrating to Palestine. This resulted in tension and clashes between the Palestinian Arabs and Jewish migrants.

Damage in Israel, Following Hamas Attack

    Not long after, in November of 1947, the United Nations (UN) passed Resolution 181, which called to split Palestine into two independent states; a Jewish and an Arab State. The resolution determined the UN to oversee Jerusalem, though the Palestinian Arabs were against this. Since the Palestine people refused to recognize the resolution, conflicts continued with the Jewish people. Then on May 15th, of 1948, Israel declared independence from Britain, which marked the start of the Israeli-Arab war, where the Arab states were fighting against the creation of the Israeli state. Throughout the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees fled their residencies, and which Israel went on to win. The territory was then divided into three parts: Israel, Gaza Strip, and the West Bank.

    1967: The Six-Day War occurs, which results in Israel gaining control of many Palestinian territories, which once again forced many Palestinians to become refuges. Israel maintained control of these territories for decades.

    Then in 1987, the Palestinian forces began an uprising for Palestine to become its own state, which lasted until 1993, when the two authority figures from each respective side signed the Olso accords, which declared the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as a representative for the people of Palestine, and established Israel's right to exist in peace.

    In 2000, following another uprising from Palestinian forces (which ended in 2005), the people of Palestine people were able to achieve autonomous control of Gaza and the West Bank. In 2005, Israel withdrew from the Gaza strip, meaning the Palestinians were in full control of Gaza. 

    The very next year, Hamas won an election allowing them to take control of the Gaza strip, replacing the representatives from the PLO. Hamas has been defined a terrorist group by both the United States and the EU. Soon after in 2007, Israel set up blockades against Gaza, after Hamas' armed takeover of Gaza. Soon, Egypt also set up blockades on the Gaza strip, which greatly impeded the flow of people and goods through the area.

    Since then, there have been continuous violence between Hamas and Israel, however the recent news has been about the surprise attack Hamas launched on innocent Israeli civilians. Israeli forces have retaliated, by cutting off food and power to Gaza, and through missile and rocket strikes. Now that we are back in the present, it is important to emphasize the loss of innocent lives on both sides of the war. The still ongoing war has resulted in the deaths of nearly 10,000 Palestinian lives, and over 1,400 Isreali lives, most of which were lost during the initial Hamas invasion. 

Thank you for reading.