Israel-Palestine Conflict

By: Quentin Atchley

During times of major global conflict, it's easy to forget to ignore other disputes that have
been continuing for years without any implication of slowing down. The Israel-Palestine
conflict has been a continuation of strife in the Arab and Jewish world, with recent
Hamas attacks on Israel and continued occupation of previous Palestinian territories. It’s
been proposed throughout the last 70 years to modify the borders of both Palestine and
Israel, but to define these borders it is necessary to recognize both groups as nations.
Once that has been accomplished setting boundaries on these nations to help prevent
further conflict can be placed upon the land.
The Conflict between these 2 nations stems back 3000 years to when the Jewish people
controlled what is now known as Israel and more importantly the city of Jerusalem.
About 2000 years ago the Jewish people were driven from their land and the people of
the Islamic faith gained control, this has been the status quo until recently with the fall of
the Nazi regime in 1945. The dissolution of the Nazi regime and the international
community's sympathy for the Jewish people gave the land of Israel to the Jewish people
allowing them to self-govern and proposed a 1947 map of Israel after rising tensions
between Arab and Jewish people in the area. The 1947 map formed Israel into 2 distinct
groups, one for Palestine, and one for Israel. Palestine was granted the Gaza Strip, West
Bank, and territories surrounding Jerusalem, as well as part of the land bordering the
Mediterranean sea and Lebanon, while the rest of the land was given to the Israelis. The
1947 proposal gave the majority of the land to the Jewish peoples while giving
Palestinians more fertile land. This border was accepted by the Jewish people but rejected
by the Nation of Palestine. The 1967 border of Israel was formed post Six Days War. The
Six Days War was a preemptive strike by Israeli forces into Syria and Egypt (4) Israel
had gained the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights further separating the Palestinian and
Arab populations from their neighbors. With the Camp David accords in 1979 Israel
started to withdraw its troops from Sinai while maintaining control over West Bank, Gaza
Strip, and Golan Heights. (4) In 1987 the Palestinian people had become fed up with the
Israeli leadership and organized a series of strikes and protests named intifada, by the
‘90s the violence had increased and several had died. (sec-gen 25). In the early 2000s,
another Intifada had been ignited that lasted until 2005 after the president of Israel had
visited one holiest sites in the Islamic faith (Sec Gen & 4). Several attempts have been
made for peace between the two nations during the 2010s but had fallen apart with the
rise of Hamas an extremist Palestinian party (4).
Many of the disputes between the two nations could be settled by separation with
internationally recognized borders. Several attempts have been made in the past with
varying success but with the current situation in Israel, it is necessary to begin finding a
solution to the two nations terms. Finding a middle ground of who gets what ports, who
 gets what fertile land, and what to do with the Holy City makes the situation difficult that
up until now has been a mostly disregarded issue.
The border separating Palestine and Israel in the years between 1949 and 1967 would be a
place to begin separating the 2 nations and relieving tension in the region. These
borderlines would give the West Bank area of now Israel to Jordan while giving the Gaza
strip to Egypt. (1) These updated borders would allow for the Islamic Palestinian people
to rejoin other Islamic nations, a modification to this would be to allow for Palestine to
become its own Nation with the previous territories given to this new nation instead of
giving the land to neighboring countries. Addressing the post-1967 border that Israel
found itself gaining by returning the Golan Heights to Syria (1) or giving this land to the
new Nation of Palestine would allow for the Islamic peoples to find freedom from Israeli
prosecution. The population in these 3 locations is Majority Islamic with the West bank
population of 2million being 92% Sunni, and Gaza Strip has a population of 1.1 million
is 99% Sunni (2). The Golan Heights does not have a very large population with an
estimated 50,000 people of which half of the population is Syrian and the other half
claims to be Israeli (3). The slight modification to the pre-1967 border could lead to
conflict with the Gaza Strip is so separated from the rest of Palestine, this separation
could lead to Israel leading a military campaign to regain control of the land and the ports
that the strip gives, a simple solution to this would be to enforce the border with UN
peacekeeping efforts and harsh international retaliation in the case of a military
campaign. These borders would still leave Jerusalem in the hands of Israel which could
cause major military conflict in the holy city or could lead to skirmishes around the holy
city that both nations claim to hold ownership over. A solution to this would make
Jerusalem an international city.
While this border would satisfy many of the desires of both sides, it leaves many things up
for debate and potential conflict. To satisfy the border disputes it would be in the
international interest to supply ports, fertile lands, and separate Ethnic groups from the
city of Jerusalem. First is the separation of the groups from the Holy City; by making
Jerusalem an international city (UN 181) it becomes possible for the UN to maintain the
peace within and around the city, maintaining its position as an international city allows
for both Ethnic groups to lay claim to their desired portions of the city without resorting
to violence. Allowing for both nations to access the Mediterranean helps prevent conflict
over trade routes to do this it is in the best interest of both Israel and Palestine to view the
Gaza Strip as land under Palestinian control while the majority of the Mediterranean
coast is still in the hands of Israel. Separating the two nations within the now-Israeli state
to prevent internal conflict is a necessary step, Referencing the pre-1967 map (1) of Israel
with the West Bank allotted to Palestine, and returning the Sinai peninsula to Eygpt in
1979 it was returned to Egypt during the Camp David Accords. This gives plenty of
fertile lands for both nations allowing for the continuation of current farming practices.
Returning the Gollan Heights to Palestine would also be part of this deal. Separating the
two nations along these borders would make it very difficult for Palestine to defend itself
 against their Israeli neighbors. A proposed solution would be to designate UN
peacekeeping forces to the area until both Nations accept their new borders. These
borders give the majority of the land to Israel but with the difficult farming lands to the
south and the Majority of the Israeli population being centered in Tel Aviv, it should
remain a problem to be watched over carefully.
The two nations of Israel and Palestine have been in an ancient conflict over the belief that
they both have ownership over the city of Jerusalem and their confused borders in the
state of now-Israel. Many of their current issues could be mitigated by finding a solution
to the proclaimed borders that both nations have stated belong to them. Using previously
produced borders with minor modifications to find a simple solution to their border
disputes and using a more complex mash-up of previous borders and current conflict
zones to find a permanent solution should be the ultimate goals of the international
community. If this issue is not resolved in the near future it leads to the loss of hundreds
of innocent lives and the continuation of violence in the region.

Source 1: BBC News. (2020, September 16). Israel’s borders explained in maps.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-54116567

Source 2: The West Bank and Gaza: A Population Profile. (2002, April 20). PRB. Retrieved
May 30, 2022, from https://www.prb.org/resources/the-west-bank-and-gaza-a-
population-profile/#:%7E:text=The%20bulk%20of%20these%20are,East%20Peace
%20in%20Washington%2C%20D.C

Source 3: Fortin, J. (2019, March 22). A Brief History of the Golan Heights, Claimed by
Israel and Syria. The New York Times. Retrieved May 30, 2022, from
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/21/world/middleeast/golan-heights-israel.html
Source 4: Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. (2022, May 22). Global Conflict Tracker. Retrieved
May 30, 2022, from https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/israeli-
palestinian-conflict