Israeli-Palestinian Conflict - Overview
The
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a part of the greater Arab-Israeli
conflict, is an ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinians.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is by no means a simple two-sided
conflict with all Israelis (or even all Israeli Jews) sharing one point
of view and all Palestinians another. In both communities, there are
individuals and groups who advocate total territorial removal of the
other community, those who advocate a two-state solution, and those who
advocate a binational solution of a single secular state encompassing
present-day Israel and the Gaza strip and the West Bank.
Since the Oslo Accords, the government of Israel and the Palestinian
Authority (PA) have been officially committed to an eventual two-state
solution. The main unresolved issues between these two bodies are:
* The status and future of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem
which comprise the areas for the proposed State of Palestine.
* Israeli security from attacks against Israeli targets.
* Palestinian security from Israeli military attacks.
* The nature of a future Palestinian state.
* The fate of the Palestinian refugees.
* The settlement policies of Israel, and the ultimate fate of
settlements.
The refugee issue arose as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. The
issue of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem arose as a result
of the Six-Day War in 1967.
People who sympathize with Palestinians tend to view the conflict as an
illegitimate military occupation of Palestine, supported with military
and diplomatic assistance from the U.S. Many tend to view the armed
Palestinian resistance within the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a right
granted by the Geneva conventions and the United Nations Charter, and
some extend this view to justify attacks, frequently against civilians,
within Israel proper.
PLO Fatah Hamas PIJ
The emblems of major Palestinian organizations include a map of
present-day Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. (Significant
populations of Palestinians and Israelis alike do claim a right to the
entire region).
Those sympathetic to Israel tend to view the conflict as a campaign of
terrorism perpetrated by Palestinian groups such as Hamas, Islamic
Jihad, Fatah and others, and supported by other states in the region and
the majority of the Palestinians. Many tend to believe that the control
of part or all of the territory is necessary for the security of Israel.
This sharp contrast of views on the nature of the conflict has been a
key obstacle to resolution.
A peace movement poster: Israeli and Palestinian flags and the words
Salaam in Arabic and Shalom in Hebrew. Similar images have been used by
several groups proposing a two-state solution to the conflict.
Enlarge
A peace movement poster: Israeli and Palestinian flags and the words
Salaam in Arabic and Shalom in Hebrew. Similar images have been used by
several groups proposing a two-state solution to the conflict.
One current peace proposal is the Road map for peace presented by the
Quartet of the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United
States on September 17, 2002. Israel has also accepted the road map but
with 14 "reservations". Israel is currently implementing a controversial
disengagement plan proposed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. According to
plans submitted to the United States, Israel has stated that it will
remove its entire "permanent ... civilian and military presence" in the
Gaza Strip, (namely 21 Jewish settlements there, and four in the West
Bank), but will "supervise and guard the external envelope on land, will
maintain exclusive control in the air space of Gaza, and will continue
to conduct military activities in the sea space of the Gaza Strip." The
Israeli government argues that "as a result, there will be no basis for
the claim that the Gaza Strip is occupied territory", while others argue
that, should the disengagement happen, the only effect would be that
Israel "would be permitted to complete the wall [that is, the Israeli
West Bank Barrier] and to maintain the situation in the West Bank as is"
[1] [2].
With the unilateral disengagement plan, the Israeli government's stated
intent is to allow Palestinians to create a homeland with minimal
Israeli interference while extricating Israel from a situation it
believes to be too costly and strategically unsound to maintain over the
long run. Many Israelis, including a significant portion of Sharon's own
Likud Party are worried that the lack of Israeli military presence in
the Gaza Strip will lead to an increase in suicide attacks on Israel. A
specific concern is that Palestinian militant groups such as Hamas,
Islamic Jihad, or the PFLP may emerge from the power vacuum of a
post-disengagement Gaza as the political powers in the Gaza Strip.
History
See History of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for an account of events
of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict beginning in the 1880s and
continuing to present day.
Related articles
Ethnicity
* Arab -- Jew -- Palestinian -- Armenian
Religion
* Islam -- Judaism -- Christianity
Geography
* Palestine (Land of Israel)
* Geography of Israel
* West Bank (Judea and Samaria)
* Gaza Strip
Places
* Jerusalem -- Ma'alot -- Hebron -- Bethlehem -- Church of the Nativity
-- Gaza City -- Jenin -- Jericho
History
* Israeli-Palestinian conflict timeline
Until 1949
* Balfour Declaration 1917
* 1922 Text: League of Nations Palestine Mandate
* British Mandate of Palestine
* 1947 UN Partition Plan
* Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel, May 14, 1948
* 1948 Arab-Israeli War
* 1949 Armistice Agreements
* Palestinian exodus
1949-1967
* 1956 Suez War
* 1967 Six Day War
* Khartoum Resolution
* Occupation of the Gaza Strip by Egypt
* Occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem by Jordan
1967-1993
* 1970 War of Attrition
* 1973 Yom Kippur War
* 1978 Camp David Peace Accords between Egypt and Israel
* 1982 Lebanon War
* 1990/1 Gulf War
* 1993 Oslo Peace Accords between Palestinians and Israel
* first Intifada
1993-present
* al-Aqsa Intifada
* Camp David 2000 Summit between Palestinians and Israel
* Road map for peace
* Violence against Israelis
* Israel's unilateral disengagement plan
* Jabalia Offensive in the fall of 2004
Ideology and ideas
* Zionism
* Pan-Arabism
* Jewish state
* Proposals for a Palestinian state
Media coverage
* New Historians
* Promises, an Oscar-nominated documentary
* Media coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
* Charles_Enderlin
* Muhammed_al-Dura
Elements of the conflict
* Partial list of Palestinian terrorist acts
* Palestinian refugees
* Israeli settlements
* Israeli West Bank barrier
* Child suicide bomber
* Al-Aqsa Intifada
* Violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
* Peace Process in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Organizations and armed forces
* Israel Defense Forces
* Anti-Israel Movements
* Fatah
* Hamas
* Hezbollah
* Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)
* Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development
* Palestinian Authority
* Palestine Liberation Organization
* Palestinian Islamic Jihad
People
Israeli
* David Ben-Gurion -- Menachem Begin -- Shimon Peres -- Yitzhak Rabin --
Ariel Sharon -- Chaim Weizmann
Palestinian
* Mahmoud Abbas -- Hanan Ashrawi -- Yasser Arafat -- Marwan Barghouti --
Haj Amin Al-Husseini -- Dalal Mughrabi -- Nabil Shaath -- Ahmed Shukairy
-- Sheikh Ahmed Yassin -- Ahmed Qurei
Others
* King Hussein -- Anwar Sadat -- Colin Powell -- Anthony Zinni
From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli-Palestinian_conflict
Back to Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
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