photo credit: Sophia Robinson
As many people know, one of the biggest topics in the world right now is the conflict in Palestine. For years, there have been lots of disputes and arguments regarding the Palestine area, even dating back to Biblical times. According to History.com, in 1,000 B.C.E., King David started Jewish control over Jerusalem. In the following centuries, especially during the crusades, the power controlling the city changed constantly. Between 1517 and 1917, the Ottoman Empire (that had Islam as its official religion), had control of the city. Both the Muslims and Jews feel that they have religious claims over the city.
According to the BBC, Britain took control of the Palestine region during World War I, following the fall of the Ottoman Empire. During this time, a majority of Arab people and a minority of Jewish people lived in the area. Tensions grew when the UK agreed to establish a “home” for the Jewish population in Palestine.
This was a complicated situation as the Jewish and Arab populations both had historical links and claims to the land. There were many disagreements and possible solutions thrown around during this time.
In 1948, the day after Israel declared independence, it was surrounded and attacked by five different Arab nations. This was called the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. At the end of this conflict, Egypt occupied the Gaza strip, Jordan occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem and Israel occupied West Jerusalem. This led to an estimate of 750,000 displaced Palestinians.
Now, after many conflicts and disagreements, the territories Palestine occupies are the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza strip. Israel occupies the rest of the territory. However, there are around 700,000 Jews living in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Palestine wants them to leave the territory, but Israel says they have the historical rights to live there and won’t leave.
“On October 7, those attacks by Hamas, on Israelis, on Jews, is really the powder keg that blew this whole thing up. So, Israel responded with their IDF, it’s called the Israel Defense Force. Israel’s military response left Gaza pretty much leveled,” AP Government Teacher John Carmichael, who is well educated on the topic, said.
This current conflict started because of attacks by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023, that killed about 1,200 people and led to 251 hostages, according to the BBC. However, this conflict is more complicated by the fact that Hamas is now the government of Palestine.
“That’s kind of how that started, because of what Hamas did, this terrorist organization. They have kind of kidnapped the Palestinian people. It is a good analogy to what the Taliban has done to people. They’ve taken control of Palestinian people, and, so you had all that large loss of life, and you have the prisoners. And so, that’s where the whole world started paying attention, once Israel started the bombing,” Carmichael said.
According to CNN, Israel approved a ceasefire on Oct. 9, this year. However, this ceasefire did not last long.
“It’s a delicate balance. The fact that the ceasefire was agreed to was largely seen as a positive, with just even bringing the different parties to the table. Why it ended is that the root of the conflict is still there between the groups in power, between Israel’s government, and between Hamas, there was an attack carried out by Hamas on Israeli soldiers. Israel’s government responded to that attack in kind, and that marked the beginning of the complication with the ceasefire. My understanding is that the ceasefire is still ongoing, but we have seen violence on both sides that jeopardizes it continuing,” World History Teacher Brooke Sandy said.
However, there are a lot more complications regarding the breach of the ceasefire.
“Hamas says that the Israelis fired at them, the Israelis said that Hamas fired at them. The ceasefire failed because two Israeli soldiers were killed, and then the Israelis hit back with an air to land missile. They struck it with a missile and killed people, so that has really kind of jeopardized this whole peace plan,” Carmichael said.
However, there is little hope for a permanent end to this horrible conflict that has killed so many people.
“I’m not optimistic, just because until the Palestinian people have a safe place to go, they’re not going to be happy. And the Israelis, they want to live safely in their area, too, but they’re mixed together right now. They have such a hard time living together. So, I don’t see it ending anytime soon,” Carmichael said.
