Michael Abrahams | Israel and Palestine: how did we get here?

The conflict between Israel and Palestine appears to be a never-ending drama, like a cancer going through remissions and relapses with no cure in sight. To appreciate the situation, it is essential to understand the region’s history.

The entity ‘Israel’, located in what was known as ‘Canaan’, was mentioned as far back as the 13th century BCE. However, around 722 BCE, the Neo-Assyrian empire in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) overthrew the kingdom, and Israel ceased to be a geographic entity. By the 7th century, following the Islamic conquest of the Middle East, Arabs began to settle in the area and continued to do so for centuries.

Three critical events in the 20th century impacted Israeli-Palestine relations: The Balfour Declaration, Israel’s declaration of independence and the first Arab-Israeli War that followed, and the Six-Day War.

BALFOUR DECLARATION (1917)

During the second half of the 19th century, Jews longing to return to their ancestral land formed a nationalistic movement known as Zionism. Jews began to migrate to the area, encountering a large Arab population that had been there for many generations. In 1917 during the First World War, the British government issued the Balfour Declaration, announcing its support for the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine, then an Ottoman region with a small minority Jewish population. Unsurprisingly, the Arab population there was uncomfortable. The British were, in effect, creating a homeland for a set of people in the homeland of another set of people, without regard to how the former group felt about the situation. The resentment began here and has persisted.

ISRAEL’S DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE (1948)

Despite the British placing limits on Jewish immigration, the Holocaust significantly increased the influx of Jews to the area. In response to this, the first Arab Revolt took place between 1936 and 1939. Subsequently, in 1947, The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) partitioned Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab, and for an international, UN-run body to administer Jerusalem. Again, this decision angered the Arabs, resulting in Palestinian militias attacking Jewish settlements. Undaunted by Arab opposition, on May 14, 1948, the founding of the state of Israel was announced.

The very next day, the first Arab-Israeli War began. Egypt (supported by troops from Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Yemen), Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, invaded Israel. Palestinian militia forces also supported them. The war ended on March 10, 1949. When the dust had settled, the Palestinians lost 78 per cent of what the United Nations (UN) had allotted to them. Over 700,000 Palestinians fled their homes in an exodus known as al-Nakba, or “the catastrophe”.

SIX-DAY WAR (1967)

As tensions escalated in the region, Israel and several of its Arab neighbours engaged in the Six-Day War (June 5 to June 10) after Israel launched a surprise attack. Israel defeated a combined Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian military force and won the war with 700 casualties. Its foes suffered nearly 20,000. Israel took control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, and the Golan Heights from Syria.

The above-mentioned events are inflexion points crucial to the development of the situation today. The unilateral decisions by outside entities to create a state without consultation with the indigenous people who had settled in the area for generations, the displacement of Palestinians, the occupation of territories captured during conflicts, and the mistreatment of their inhabitants (some human rights groups consider Israel to be an apartheid state) have created a powder keg in the Middle East.

These issues have resulted in repeated uprisings leading to massive loss of life, with the Palestinians repeatedly suffering significantly more casualties. For example, during the first Palestinian intifada (1987-1993), 200 Israelis and 1,300 Palestinians were killed. During the second (2000-2005), 4,000 Palestinians and 1,000 Israelis lost their lives. In 2008, The Gaza War (Operation Cast Lead) resulted in 1,166–1,417 Palestinian and 13 Israeli fatalities. And, in 2014, Operation Protective Edge killed about 2,000 Gazans, 66 Israeli soldiers, and five Israeli civilians. All this despite several attempts at peace over the last few decades, such as the Madrid Peace Conference (1991), the Oslo Accords (1993), the Camp David Summit (2000) and the Road Map for Peace (2003).

The rise of Hamas has further complicated the issue. In 2005, Israel began the withdrawal of settlers and military forces from the Gaza Strip, with the Israeli military remaining in control of Gaza’s borders (except the Gaza-Egypt border, which is controlled by Egypt), airspace, and coastline. However, after Israel’s withdrawal, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other smaller militant groups fired rockets from Gaza into southern Israel. Hamas subsequently defeated Fatah in the Palestinian elections in 2006. Fatah and Hamas made a deal to govern the West Bank and Gaza Strip together, but the deal failed, and Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in 2007.

A two-state solution is what most of the world would like to see to end this unrelenting conflict. However, there is resistance from elements on both sides. Hard-core Zionists and right-wing Israelis resist it. As for Hamas, not only do they reject it, they believe Israel does not have the right to exist and advocate for the destruction of the nation and the genocide of Jews.

We are now seeing the result of years of resentment. Unfortunately, both the state of Israel and Hamas are going at it with no regard for the immense collateral damage resulting from their actions, as accusations of war crimes are being directed at both sides. Hamas attacked civilians and took hostages, which is a savage and inexcusable act of terror. Israel has a right to defend itself but has gone beyond that with the excessive bombing of Gaza, leading to significant loss of life (over 10,000 dead) and displacement of Gazans (over 1.5 million).

Will there ever be peace?

Michael Abrahams is an obstetrician and gynaecologist, social commentator and human-rights advocate. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and michabe_1999@hotmail.com, or follow him on X , formerly Twitter, @mikeyabrahams.