In a previous post a reader requested that I explain the circumstances and origins of the Palestinian national movement. I have decided that the most effective response is a simple citation of the facts. Accordingly, I will abstain from any editorialising.
In the second part of his question, Samuel asked me whether one can be neutral in one's sympathies on the Israeli-Palestinian issue. The answer is a resounding no. The case for Israel is far more compelling than the case for Palestine.
In the year 1947, the United Nations General Assembly accepted a resolution that divided British Mandate Palestine into two distinct territories. The orange portions (as indicated below) were appropriated to form a Jewish state and the yellow portions were designated to form the basis of a Palestinian state.
Neighbouring Arab regimes instantly rejected the resolution. That was where the consensus ended. Syria, which had administered the land during the Malmuk period, demanded the right to annex it. As did Jordan, which had occupied the West Bank (hence the West Bank of Jordan) since the Ottoman Empire's conquests. Gaza belonged to Egypt. However, the UN resolution called for the creation of a new and independent Arab state alongside Israel; a policy the Arab governments were averse to.
Nevertheless, Israel proclaimed independence on May 15 1948. Several weeks later, the newly born state was invaded along three fronts by the armies of Jordan, Syria and Egypt. Israel's military success and the subsequent Armistice Agreements ensured that the two-State solution was never fully implemented. Adding further detriment, the Arab nations effectively sealed their borders to the displaced and relegated them to refugee camps. Border skirmishes ensued as the refugee population demanded integration. The notorious Black September Massacre (Sept. 16 1970), sanctioned after Palestinian Fedayeen attempted to seize the Jordanian Kingdom, resulted in the deaths of thousands of Palestinians along the Jordanian border. Naturally, Israel integrated very few displaced Arabs.
The birth of the Palestinian movement is contentious and difficult to ascribe. I view the initial phase of transitory statehood as commencing in the years 1956-1958. These were the chaotic years of spontaneous resistance against Israel allegedly organised by non-governmental entities (in reality these groups were part of an Arab led proxy war, but that's rather incidental). Specifically, the Fatah Party was formed by Cairo student-activist, Yassir Arafat, and the organisation actively engaged Israeli troops. The Palestinian identity was cemented over the years 1964-1967 and is attributed to two main factors. The first was the sense of statelessness among the new generation of Arabs living in satellite camps. The second was the threefold expansion (to roughly 1/2 the size of Tasmania, or the size of New Jersey) of the Jewish state in the Six Day War. Demoralised by the abominable failure of the Arab war machine and the empty promises to "push the Jews into the sea", the Arab refugees shed their dependency of their brothers and sought to liberate Jerusalem with their own blood. Thus far they have successfully forced an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and remote Israeli settlement.
Israel has undertaken numerous initiatives to resolve the conflict with the Palestinians. To date, all have failed. The fundamental problems are the asymmetrical expectations between the two peoples, extensive corruption within the Palestinian leadership and the reluctance of the Palestinians to disavow violence and pursue legitimately diplomatic routes.
What does the future hold for the region? Assuming a continuation in terrorism (a rather shrewd assumption), Jews will certainly embrace emigration. In fact, I will be amazed if Israel sustains a Jewish Knesset and demographic majority over the next fifty years. I also suspect that certain radical Muslim elements are viewing the Israeli conflict as a successful experiment in warfare. Given comparable (but latent) demographics within certain Western countries and the tendency of the media to embrace self-hating pseudo-liberalism, I anticipate similar clashes globally. The Middle East conflict, though alluringly territorial, is clearly existential. Crap-I've editorialised.
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