Israeli Palestinian Conflict:

An Essay Discussing The Background Of The Conflict Between Israel And Palestine,
Including Three Examples Of The Art That Came From It.

Pat Wilson

Humanities 122

Professor Angela Koon

May 13th, 2010

The Israeli Palestinian conflict truly is an going tragedy that has spanned many
years. The wake of destruction left behind from the ongoing fighting is hard to fathom.

“As of February 2009, 123 Israeli children have been killed by Palestinians and 1,487

Palestinian children have been killed by Israelis since September 29, 2000.”(If Americans

Knew) That is far too large a number especially when it is only a small fraction of the

overall casualty rate. “1,072 Israelis and at least 6,348 Palestinians have been killed since

September 29, 2000.”(If Americans Knew)As those numbers continue to rise so does the

need for peace. To best understand the severity of the issue you have to understand the

issue itself.

-How did it start?

The problem goes back to well before the Holocaust. “In 1917 the British

government promised the Jews a national home in Palestine, which was under Ottoman

(Turkish) rule. British forces were advancing into the region at the time.”(BBC News)

However, there were three main problems with this promise. For starts, the British never

defined what “national home” actually meant. The second problem was the whole area

was already inhabited by Arabs. The third problem is that there was a widespread belief

among Arabs that the Palestinians had been promised independence by Britain.

Britain seemed to have promised the same territory to two groups of people. So

when Britain gained control of the Holy Lands, there were all the ingredients for serious

trouble. “In 1917 British Foreign Minister Arthur Balfour committed Britain to work

towards "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people"(BBC

News)

As the Jewish people started emigrating back to Palestine tensions rose. “In 1922,

a British census showed the Jewish population had risen to about 11% of Palestine's
750,000 inhabitants. More than 300,000 immigrants arrived in the next 15 years.”(BBC

News) The Arabs eventually reached their limit and violence ensued. “Zionist-Arab

antagonism boiled over into violent clashes in August 1929 when 133 Jews were killed

by Palestinians and 110 Palestinians died at the hands of the British police.”(BBC News)

This would far from be the last time such an event occurred. “By this time, the militant

Zionist group Irgun Zvai Leumi was orchestrating attacks on Palestinian and British

targets with the aim of "liberating" Palestine and Transjordan (modern-day Jordan) by

force.”(BBC News)

-The UN steps in.

In 1947, Great Britain realized they were in over there head and the conflict

became such a complex problem that they were unable to handle it individually. They

chose to hand the territory over to the UN. The UN set up a special committee which

recommended splitting the territory into separate Jewish and Palestinian states. Although

the resolution seemed great in theory, getting both sides to agree on it was just not going

to happen.

In 1948 the UN voted on the issue and it was passed. “The UN voted in 1948

(Security Council Res. 93 and General Assembly Res. 194) to tell Israel to allow the

Palestinian refugees to return to their homes, but until today Israel never complied. In

1967 Israel militarily occupied the remainder of Palestine (The West Bank and the Gaza

Strip).”(UN.org)

-Declaration Of Independence.

Not willing to accept the terms the UN proposed, Israel was born. “The State of

Israel, the first Jewish state for nearly 2,000 years, was proclaimed at 1600 on 14 May
1948 in Tel Aviv. The declaration came into effect the following day as the last British

troops withdrew.”(BBC News) Palestinians remember 15 May as "al-Nakba", the

Catastrophe.

-The 1967 War

With turmoil at an all time high, in 1967 the severity of the Israeli Palestinian

conflict reached a new terrifying level. In just six days of fighting, the face of the middle

east conflict was changed forever. “Egypt's powerful air force was put out of action on

the first day of fighting when Israeli jets bombed it on the ground in a pre-emptive

strike.”(BBC News) That was just the beginning. “Israel seized Gaza and the Sinai from

Egypt in the south and the Golan Heights from Syria in the north. It also pushed

Jordanian forces out of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.”(BBC News) What was a

tremendous victory for Israel, was a shiver down the back of the rest of the world. “The

territorial gains doubled the area of land controlled by Israel. The victory heralded a new

age of confidence and optimism for Israel and its supporters.”(BBC News)

-Current Status

Although no single incident since has had as much of an impact as that six day

period, the situation has remained just as tense, violent, and in desperate need of peace.

Palestinians have been living under Israeli military occupation. While in some parts Israel

has allowed a Palestinian organization to provide education, health care, infrastructure

and policing, Israel retains overall power. “According to international law, an occupying

force is responsible for the protection of the civilian population living under its control.

Israel, however, ignores this requirement, routinely committing violations of the Geneva

Conventions”(BBC News)
 What started as an issue that could have been solved then escalated into a

situation that would be difficult to solve, now has now escalated into a conflict that is

seemingly unsolvable.

I have included three pieces of art that have born out of this conflict, which I find

to be the most intriguing

Rajie Cook's Ammo Box is a pun on weaponry. The United States supplies Israel with the
most sophisticated and powerful military equipment--Cobra helicopters, F-16 jet fighters,
Merkava tanks, and intensive military training. These arms are primarily used against a
civilian population that has little more than stones with which to defend themselves.

Emily Jacir splits her time between Ramallah, West Bank and New York City. Her
refugee tent, rough and utilitarian, refers to the depopulation of Palestine in both a
historical and a contemporary context. To this day, these refugee tents are easily seen in
the camps in Gaza, where Israeli tanks and bulldozers regularly demolish Palestinian
homes. The embroidery of the names of the villages destroyed was a collaborative effort.
Crossing Surda is a document of Jacir’s experiences, some banal, some harrowing, of
crossing the militarized Surda checkpoint that separates Ramallah where she lives from
Birzeit University where she works.
Adnan Yahya lives with his family in a refugee camp in Amman, Jordan. His portrait is a
bitter caricature of Israel’s current Prime Minister Ariel Sharon depicted in the act of
torturing a Palestinian. The box of matches marked with the US flag refers to the vast
military aid that the United States government provides to Israel, and the painted internal
framing devices also remind the viewer of the role of the United States in encouraging
Israel’s ongoing aggression.The lurid colors communicate a sense of the deathly,
unnatural and unhealthy atmosphere that Sharon’s rightwing government has fostered.
 Works Cited

"A History Of Conflict." BBC NEWS | News Front Page. 17 May 2009
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/middle_east/03/v3_ip_timeline/html/defaul
t.stm>.

"History Of The Palestine Problem." Welcome to the United Nations: It's Your World. 17
May 2009 <http://www.un.org/Depts/dpa/ngo/history.html>.

“If Americans Knew - What Every American Needs To Know About Israel/Palestine.” 23
Feb. 2009. 17 May 2009 <http://www.ifamericansknew.org/>.

Images-

Gonzalez, Rosalinda. "Made In Palestine." Stationmuseum.com - Home. Web. 14 May

2010.
<http://www.stationmuseum.com/Made_In_Palestine/Made_In_Palestine.htm>.