The Israeli-Palestinian Dispute

1. What the dispute is about?

The Israeli-Palestine conflict is about territorial disputes, particularly the Gaza
Strip and the West Bank. The conflict between the two countries started a long time ago,
and it is one of the longest-running conflicts in the world. Although Jews and Arab
Muslims have claimed the territory for thousands of years, the current political struggle
dates from the early twentieth century. Jews escaping persecution in Europe desired to
build a national homeland in the Ottoman and later British Empire, which Arabs and
Muslims dominated at the time. The Arabs held firm in their conviction that the country
was indeed theirs. An early UN plan to divide the region among the various groups
failed, and Israel and the surrounding Arab countries fought many battles over the
territory. The 1967 war or the Six-Day war is one of the most crucial wars in this conflict.
A military and political conflict led to a gory war between Israel, Egypt, Syria, and
Jordan. At the end of the war, Israel won and then gained control over what was
Palestinian’s territories.

2. What led to the dispute?

Due to this territorial conflict, there has been a lot of fighting and violence, which
resulted in the loss of thousands of innocent lives, including children. In 1987, there was
an armed uprising from thousands of Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip and the West
Bank against the Israeli government. The rebellion, also known as the first intifada, ended
in 1993, resulting in 359 Israelis and 1603 Palestinian deaths. In 2000, the second intifada
occurred and caused more violence than the first, including suicide bombing. About 4300
lives were lost in the five-year uprising, with a ratio of three Palestinians to one Israeli.
This year, Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, fired over 200 rockets to Israel, killing 23
people, including nine children. The Israeli on the other hand answered the attack with an
airstrike targeting Gaza which killed 35 Palestinians. Additionally, in Jerusalem, Israeli
are trying to evict the Palestinian families by right-wing Jewish settlers. The two sides
continuously attacking each other resulting to hundreds of deaths and destroyed
properties.

3. What the government officials from the disputing countries are doing to address the
problem?
There are two proposed approaches in resolving the conflict. The first approach is
called the "two-state solution," making Palestine a self-dependent state in most of West
Bank and Gaza while leaving the rest of the land to Israel, the best method to resolve the
conflict. Though the theory of the two-state solution is apparent, the two sides are still
vehemently opposed to making it work in practice. The second one is called the "one-
state solution," where the entire territory becomes either one huge Israel or one big
Palestine, an alternative to a two-state solution. Most observers believe this would create
 more issues than it would solve, but political and demographic factors make this outcome
increasingly plausible over time.
4. How the concept and sense of nationalism is observed in the different measures to
address the dispute?
Nationalism can be aggressive and rooted in rivalry. The conflict led to Israeli
settlements on Palestinian Territory, which they occupied since after winning the Six-Day
war in 1967. Even though the United Nations said it was illegal, the Israelis feel that they
claim the land and sovereignty over it. On the other hand, the desire of Palestinians for
statehood and the feeling that the land belongs to them gives them the drive to fight for
that land, which resulted in the first and second intifada that claimed thousands of lives.
The concept and sense of nationalism can also be observed from the proposed approaches
in resolving the conflict. The “two-state-solution” will make the State of Palestine and the
State of Israel independent of each other, meaning the two states will have their own
people, territory, government, and sovereignty. The solution will also create a sense of
membership and ownership. On the other hand, the “one-state-solution,” also called the
bi-national state, will help maintain the political and legal identities of the two groups as
separate nationalities. However, to safeguard the minorities and protect their collective
interests, both groups should have necessary agreements.