Israel - Palestine Conflict

Hey everyone, I'm sure you all enjoyed a merry Christmas and a happy New Year and hopefully you're now sober enough to read this blog.

Anyway, unless you've been living under a rock over the festive season you'll have noticed that one of the main news stories (aside from the credit crunch) is the recent renewal of open warfare between Israel and Palestine. Newspapers and the media endlessly show grisly pictures of the consequences of this conflict but do little to explain the causes of the war. As DARE AWARE is about awareness of humanitarian issues, this blog will hopefully explain the motivations of these two states and why they feel inclined to annihilate one another.

To go to the very roots of the problem takes us back thousands of years to Biblical times. All three Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Islam and Christianity) have a claim on the lands of Israel and Palestine; the Jews believe that God granted them this 'Promised Land' and after a period of genocide and mass extermination of the indigenous tribes they settled there. Muslims believe that some of the holy sites in Jerusalem such as the Temple Mount (where Abraham nearly sacrificed his son to God) should belong to them. After the 7th century Arab conquest of Palestine, the lands remained in Muslim hands for 1200 years until they came under British control during the First World War. In the Balfour Declaration of 1917 the British promised the European Jews a new 'Jewish National Home', following the rise of 'Zionism' - the quest to restore Jews to their ancestral prmoised lands - in Europe.

Jewish immigration to Palestine escalated dramatically after World War 2 due to the persecution and Holocaust of European Jews from 1933-1945. The 1948 'Declaration of the State of Israel' lead to thousands of Jews settling in Israel, much to the native Palestinians fury, for their lands had been divided in two and half handed to their Zionist enemies, whilst expelling the Palestinians from their homes.
At first they tried to destroy the newly-formed state but after an UN-backed armistice Israel had time to recover and become a powerful and stable country. In the 1967 6-day war Israel managed to capture the Sinai Desert, the West Bank, Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem from its neighbouring aggressors. This brought another 1 million Palestinians under Israeli control.

Israel returned most of the lands taken during the 6-day war and withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005, peace talks were underway to also return West Jerusalem when the militant group Hamas was elected, restarting the terrorist attacks on Israel.

The American-lead invasion of Iraq in 2003 further provoked Muslim-Jewish hostilities and now Palestine refuses to accept the existence of Israel, many militant clerics have issued 'fatwahs' or Holy Wars against Israel.

On 27th December, in response to continued rocket-fire from Palestinian troops into Israeli lands, Israel has commenced targetting and bombing militant compounds in Palestine and the Gaza Strip, though these attacks also result in hundreds of civilian deaths. The balance of power is also quite unequal; Hamas armed forces number 15,000 - Israeli forces are upward of 622,000 and have far superior technology and support. According to these figures it is not surprising that for the 460 Palestinians killed so far Israel has suffered only only 4 fatalities.

With the above information and historical causes it would be extremely interesting to hear your views on the conflict. Was Israel justified in their response? Was the extent of their response justified? Who should have claim on the disputed lands? It is all a matter of opinion and it would be good to hear your thoughts on the matter.