A Section of the West Bank Barrier, described as a necessary security measures by Israel.
Image Credit: Meipian
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, as of this time of writing, has been going on for about 75 years, triggered in 1948 and marking the beginning of a long series of battles between two major movements: the Jewish Zionists and the Palestinian nationalists. In simpler terms, it began, as with most wars do, with the birth of conflicting ideologies. Both the Jewish people and the Arabs structured their nationalistic movements around attaining a specific homeland… which happened to be Palestine, following a series of unfortunate events involving British colonialism, World War II and the usual meddling of the Western powers. When talking about the conflict, it is important to emphasize the importance of outside influence as an exacerbating factor, even when the very thought of conflict was an idea, rather than reality.
The Israeli-Palestine Conflict has been waging for about 75 years, with no clear end in sight
Image Credits: Zapomicron
The earliest sign of brewing conflict between the two dominant ideologies was the Balfour Declaration, issued by the British in 1917 declaring that it greatly supported the “establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people,” backing up the Zionist movement with the political might of the then-grand British Empire. Of course, they were sensitive enough to take into account the backlash such a statement would elicit from the majority population of the Palestinian Arabs, and left their wording deliberately vague in order to prevent the idea that they were swooping in order to facilitate the rise of a proxy state. Of course, they still possessed hidden intentions, wanting the Jewish community to assist them in World War One (as of this point, and in World War Two, the international power of the Jews was viewed with both awe and envy). Hindsight is twenty-twenty, and we can now look back and throw criticisms at the foolish actions committed, but it probably seemed like a good idea at the time, with the need for drastic measures as the world confronts the worst war in history (as of that time). Nonetheless, this “helpfully” increased popular support for Zionism globally, and essentially provided a legal basis to justify and embolden the movement. Naturally, this triggered protests from the remaining 90% of Palestine’s population, and can be considered one of the first major reasons for subsequent issues after the foundations were laid carefully to lead them to ruin.
The next several decades post-WWI and pre-WWII would see many conflicts, including anti-Jewish riots, the rise of Arab nationalist militants like the Black Hand and several revolts that were subjugated with extreme violence. And with the crimes against humanity perpetuated by the Holocaust, it was necessary to establish a legitimate Jewish state to support the refugees…or if you’re more cynical about it, find a place to dump all the people you don’t want in your country. This eventually led to Resolution 181(II) being passed in 1947, with the United Nations declaring a plan to divide Palestine into an Arab state, a Jewish state, and the City of Jerusalem. Of course, under the lenses of religious fervor, this was heresy to both sides. Unfortunately for the Palestinian Arabs, each major conflict saw them losing ground to the Zionists, with the Arab-Israeli war (1947) ending with the State of Israel controlling the proposed Jewish state and 60% of the proposed Arab state, the Six-Day War (1967) leading to Israel ceding territory with the continued spilling of blood, practically destroying themselves in the process economically and structurally, unable to recuperate due to a lack of time and the incessant need to march into the next conflict. Needless to say, this series of terrible, bloody conflict would serve as a hallmark of how exactly the twentieth century would end between Israel and Palestine, and how they would usher in the twenty-first century: a refusal to give ground to each other, resentment building with each defeat and the willingness to sacrifice everything in the name of an ideology.
Temple Mount, one of the holiest sites in Jerusalem, is revered by worshippers from the 3 Abrahamic religions.
Image Credit: Edmund Gall
What makes this conflict particularly bloody and messy to resolve? It centers around the holy city of Jerusalem, and who has control and territory over it. You see, Jerusalem is at the heart of the 3 Abrahamic faiths, Christianity (not relevant to this discussion), Judaism and Islam, and all 3 religions consider it their holy land. The old core, divided into 4 quarters, represents its own population and each contains the most important religious structure to their faith. Here lies the conflict: Temple Mount, otherwise known as Haram al Sharif in Islam, is located within the Islam quarter, but holds great religious significance to both Muslims and Jews. Palestinian Muslims have been rioting and pushing for control over the monument, which they perceive as rightfully theirs. Israel thinks otherwise. Control of Jerusalem, or even only control of its own Islam quarter, is what Palestinians are demanding, but that would mean a tiny strip of territory deep inside Israeli borders, which poses security risks to Israel. Of course, neither side would want to back down over their claims on the basis of religion, leading to a headlock on negotiations. Ultimately, the conflict’s resolvement rests on the issue of the holy city, and from history we can see that such issues do not usually end well…
Among the many attempted peace proposals over the decades since, the legacy of the Oslo II Accord remains most visible today in the form of West Bank Areas A and B, the creation of 165 enclaves that remain under partial civil control of the Palestinian Authority (PA). Intended as an interim measure that was supposed to precede further negotiations, the agreement granted Palestinians limited self-government for an initial period of 5 years through the PA. This was to be followed by further rounds of negotiations aimed at reaching a more permanent status quo beyond the transition period. The brief allure of peace was indeed tempting for many, yet it could not forestall the inevitable. As the Second Intifada broke out in September 2000, violence involving Palestinian militants and the Israeli Defence Forces soon escalated into armed conflict on a wider scale. At the peak of the violence, Israel’s government greenlit construction plans for a physical barrier in northern West Bank (not unlike Trump’s infamous US-Mexico border wall) - more on that later.
Subsequent negotiations quickly stalled as the Bush administration’s peace roadmap failed to progress past its initial phase. Eventually, the transitional power-sharing agreement cited in the Oslo II Accord was all but abandoned in practice after Hamas first swept to power in an upset victory of the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council elections. The hardline Islamist faction spared no time in seizing Gaza Strip and replacing PA government institutions with those of Hamas in the following year, forcing the cleavage of the Palestinian territories into the PA-controlled West Bank and Hamas-governed Gaza. Aid flows to the PA ground to a halt as the international community condemned the violent turn of events; initial sanctions slapped on a Hamas-majority PA government were swiftly followed by a total blockade of Gaza Strip itself by Israel and Egypt. While Oslo II collapsed, the drawing up of borders between Israel-controlled and PA-managed territories in areas A and B remains till today.
Note that the Palestinian territories within West Bank are not contiguous i.e. they are enclaves fully surrounded by Israeli land.
Image Credit - 50 Days of War on Innocent Civilian: Ma’an News Agency Coverage of Israeli and Palestinian Conflict
Tragedy of the West Bank Barrier
2 decades on, the barrier that was touted as a necessary security measure against suicide bombings planned and carried out from within West Bank may still raise civil rights questions. For instance, its very presence has been roundly condemned as an ill-disguised mechanism by which Israel could annex Palestinian land - unsurprising, as the bulk (approx 85%) of the physical barrier deviates from the 1949 Armstice Line into West Bank. Any future peace talks may also be jeopardized by the barrier’s presence. Even a UN General Assembly resolution, A/RES/ES-10/14 that overwhelmingly called for the immediate cessation of the Barrier’s construction coupled with an ICJ advisory opinion (that found the barrier to be in violation of international law) were brushed aside by the Israeli authorities.
Today, the Barrier’s disastrous consequences are painfully apparent. Palestinians residing near Jerusalem are routinely denied or face delayed access to urgent medical attention as they must take a roundabout route to the hospital in Ramallah, an hour-long commute away, instead of the 5-min journey to a Jerusalem medical center. Worse still, Palestinian farmers are routinely denied access to their ancestral farmlands on opposite sides of the barrier. The barrier has fermented mutual mistrust as well - with the physical separation that has resulted in families and friends bitterly separated (tedious paperwork is required to cross the barrier and applicants often face denials), it therefore comes at no surprise that a sustainable peace process has remained out of reach.
A Diplomatic Solution
A political settlement to the conflict has repeatedly proven elusive in the past, so the hopes of yet another round of negotiations succeeding in bridging the entrenched differences is minimal for a start. Nevertheless: there is cause for hope especially when we look at recent developments in the region as a whole. In the waning months of the Trump administration, America brokered a series of normalization statements known as the Abraham Accords between Israel and 2 Arab states, the UAE and Bahrain (with Sudan and Morocco later joining), paving the way for further negotiations with other Middle Eastern nations in the future. More recently, China has successfully mediated between the 2 major arch-rivals of the Arab world, Saudi Arabia and Iran (2 months ago as of the time of writing), culminating in an unprecedented agreement to restore diplomatic relations. Needless to say, the evidence does point to signs of things getting better. And if it fails in the end, well, it’s certainly a step in the right direction.
References
Al Jazeera. (2023a, April 6). Iran, Saudi Arabia envoys meet in China amid warming ties. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/6/saudi-arabia-iran-agree-to-continue-efforts-to-establish-ties
Jeffery, S. (2006, January 26). Hamas celebrates election victory. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/jan/26/israel1
Lowery, G. (2008, July 10). The effects of Israel’s West Bank barrier: Hopelessness, shattered lives and distrust, says Cornell scholar. Cornell Chronicle. https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2008/07/cornell-sociologist-studies-israels-west-bank-barrier
Turak, N. (2023, March 16). The China-brokered Saudi-Iran deal has big repercussions for the Middle East - and the U.S. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/15/does-chinas-role-in-saudi-iran-rapprochement-represent-a-new-order-.html
UNRWA. (2023b, January 31). UNRWA - European parliament. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/documents/droi/dv/905_impact_/905_impact_en.pdf
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