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Palestine
Ppole005@uottawa.ca

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HIS 1111 E

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Martina Taverna 5714907

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 Palestine has a very lengthy and rich history. The land has been ruled by some of the

most powerful empires. It is the birthplace of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It was once one

of the richest Middle Eastern countries, and a huge trade centre for cargo coming from Africa,

Europe, and Asia. Today Palestine is the centre for the one of the largest international conflicts,

and one of the most dangerous hot zones in the world. The fight for the holy land began

centuries ago, but this paper will focus on the warfare since the creation of Israel and the current

occupation of a beautiful land once known as Palestine.

The life of a Palestinian is not an easy one. As documented in the film “Death in Gaza” it

is apparent the psychological struggles that are faced daily by children and teens within the

remaining Palestine. Walls are built in order to keep Arabs contained. Houses are routinely

demolished in order to make more room for the neighbouring Israelis. After dark the city comes

alive with Hamas activity and young teens writing graffiti to rally more militants. Not only is it

difficult to live within, but impossible to have an identity outside the country. Most maps do not

place Palestine as a country; some will only indicate “Occupied Palestine”. There is no

government, and therefore no passports to allow movement from one country to another.

Palestine was occupied by the British Mandate from 1920-1948. Following WWII

England had decided to give the country its right to rule. However, following the mass Genocide

of millions of Jews, there began a Zionist movement to allow for a solely Jewish country with its

own right to govern itself. The debate over Palestine thus ensued. On May 14 1948 the British

mandate was terminated, and on May 14 1948, the David Ben Guiron declared the state of Israel

within the Palestinian borders.[ CITATION PMH01 \l 3084 ] Mass immigration had already

begun to the Israeli declared lands. Immediately the members of the Arab league launched an

attack by entering into the allotted Arab land that was agreed upon in the partition plan by United
Nations. Armies from Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Le#1banon, and Iraq joined forces to eliminate the

Jewish enemy. “The Arab League Secretary General Abdul Razzek Azzam Pasha declared the

intent to rage a war of extermination and momentous massacre”.[ CITATION Mar94 \l 4105 ]

The battle was thought to be over before it had started. The Arab League had an estimated

population 40 million; meanwhile the newly created state had only 600 thousand.[ CITATION

PMH01 \l 3084 ] There are many plausible reasons that such a strong force could have been

defeated so easily. One main downfall of the Arab armies was the lack of unity between

commanders. Each country had their own agenda for the outcome of the war. Egypt hoped to

gain more territory on the West and South banks of Palestine. Transjordan was even willing to

accept the Jewish state in return for territorial gains on the Eastern front of Palestine.

[ CITATION PMH01 \l 3084 ] Numerous ceasefires were initiated and broken as the war raged

on throughout 1948. February 24, 1949 Egypt signs an armistice agreement with Israel. This

agreement places the Gaza Strip under Egypt’s rule, and also allows for Israeli gains.

[ CITATION But09 \l 3084 ] At this point, the economics of Palestine are futile. The fertile

lands had been seized by the new state of Israel, and the influx of refugees into the Gaza strip

made it impossible for Palestine to thrive. Almost 80% of jobs were lost following the war, and

Gaza was unable to keep up with the swelling population.[ CITATION But09 \l 3084 ] Palestine

had become an area of humanitarian crisis.

Fighting and border raids continued in the following years after Israel`s independence.

However, fighting escalated in 1953. The conflict began on the night of October 12, 1953 when

an Arab terrorist entered Israel by crossing the Jordan border and lobbed a grenade into a

sleeping Jewish family`s home, killing the mother and two children.[ CITATION Ben96 \l

3084 ] Immediately the Israelis decided to take action; and operation Qibya was born, one of the
most brutal massacres led by the Israeli army. On the night of October 14th, 1953 Israeli regular

military surrounded and cordoned possible.[ CITATION Ben93 \l 3084 ] Militants entered

homes, shooting and killing inhabitants, and demolishing homes in a systematic fashion. The

devastation was 45 homes destroyed, over sixty villagers, mostly women and children, killed,

and the town mosque and school ruined.[ CITATION Ben96 \l 3084 ] This began the retaliation

directed towards Israeli army and police.

On October 29th 1956 the Suez war is launched with France and Israel crossing into the

Sinai to take control of the dam. Israel moved troops into the Gaza strip in order to aid in the

war efforts. The Suez Crisis was over in a matter of 10 days, however, Israel continued its

occupation of the Gaza strip for four months while launching a “screening” operation in search

of terrorist Palestinians. “In all, the IDF (Israeli Defence Force) is estimated to have killed

between 930 and 1,200 Palestinians before withdrawing from the Gaza Strip”.[ CITATION

But09 \l 4105 ]

In 1964 a very crucial organization was created to aid in the fight for Palestine. The Arab

League, with the encouragement of Egyptian President Abdel Nasser, establishes the Palestine

Liberation Organization to mainly oversee the resurgence of Palestinian nationalism.

[ CITATION But09 \l 4105 ] One faction of the PLO was an army, stationed in Gaza with

headquarters in Cairo.[ CITATION But09 \l 4105 ] The PLO used military training and set up

recruitment camps across Gaza to target young oppressed citizens desperate to make a change.

The initial belief was that the PLO was a terrorist organization. However, in 1974, at the seventh

Arab Summit conference, the Palestine Liberation Organization was designated the “The sole

legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.”[ CITATION Mad93 \l 4105 ]

 On June 5th, 1967, Israel launched the Six Day War against Egypt, Syria and Jordan.

[ CITATION PMH01 \l 4105 ] The war was quickly over with Israel the victor, gaining territory

on all sides. Israel once again occupied Gaza and West Bank. With much territorial gains, also

came a refugee problem. Israel was not equipped to deal with the swelling population. In order

to create security and to lessen the population, Israel conducted mass sweeps to evict refugees

and threats from the Palestinian Liberation Army members.[ CITATION But09 \l 4105 ] The

occupation was dubbed the Palestinian Exodus as Israel swept through the Gaza strip and West

Bank, rounding up thousands of people to deport to Egypt. The United Nations Special

Committee heard allegations of over 400 villages being demolished during the occupation.

[ CITATION Uni70 \l 4105 ] By December, approximately 245,000 refugees had fled from

Gaza and West Bank into Jordan, 11,000 had fled from Gaza to Egypt, and 116,000 Palestinians

and Syrians had fled the northern Golan Heights further into Syria.[ CITATION Dav89 \l 4105 ]

“The imposition of Israeli rule was met by student demonstrations, marches on government

offices, teacher protests against curriculum changes, lawyers’ boycotts of the military courts, and

the boycott of Israeli goods.”[ CITATION But09 \l 4105 ]

Economically, Palestine experienced soaring unemployment when a defeated Egyptian

army was forced to leave the Strip. There was an immediate elimination of Egypt’s bureaucratic

jobs, the loss of an export market to Egypt, and the decline in Egyptian tourist revenues.

[ CITATION But09 \l 4105 ] After fighting settled, Israel began to incorporate Palestine into its

economics. Israel began a policy of economic integration which allowed Palestinians to work in

the Israeli markets and provided cheap goods to Palestine. Israel also integrated Gaza’s water

supply and hooked up the Strip to the national electricity grid.[ CITATION But09 \l 4105 ]

Living Standards improved for Palestinians as Israel worked to incorporate the occupied
terriyories. However, many radical nationalist were not happy with the overall acceptance of

Israeli control. Extremist organizations became more popular in the fight for independent

government against the occupying state.

Palestine experienced a devastating blow in 1970 by Jordan. The Hashemite King of

Jordan, Hussein, launched an attack to eliminate Palestinian forces attempting to overthrow his

Monarchy. On September 16, 1970, the King declared martial law, and immediately sent tanks

to destroy known Palestinian Liberation Army camps and force refugees into Lebanon.

[ CITATION Avi07 \l 4105 ] The PLO had been granted somewhat of a diplomatic immunity

inside Jordan which undermined the Jordanians. Perhaps that is the cause of such a drastic

policy to rid Jordan of the refugees. Syria attempted to end the conflict and restore peace with

little avail. In the meantime, Hussein, Abdel Nasser and other Arab representatives were

meeting in Cairo.[ CITATION Avi07 \l 4105 ] King Hussein finally agreed to treat both

Jordanians and Palestinians as equals and to allow for the PLO to continue its operations within

the state. Unfortunately Abdel Nasser died during the talks which nullified any agreements

which had been earlier agreed upon. The deportation and exile of Palestinians continued until

the end 1971. The regretful events were called Black September, which later fuelled an

extremist group with the same name who were responsible for the Munich attacks. On

September 5th 1972, Palestinian Guerrillas entered the Olympic Village in Munich, Germany

killing 2 and taking 9 Israeli Olympic athletes hostage. They demanded the release of 200

prisoners Arab prisoners.[ CITATION Mar94 \l 4105 ] Sadly all hostages and gun men were

killed in a show-down on the tarmac where hostage exchanges were to take place.

In 1978 a peace agreement was outlined to allow for more leeway for Palestine. After 12

days of secret meetings between United States President, Jimmy Carter, Egyptian President,
Anwar el Sadat, and Israeli Prime Minister, Menachem Begin, two peace agreements, The

Framework for Peace in the Middle East, and the Conclusion of a Peace Treaty between Egypt

and Israel.[ CITATION Geo90 \l 4105 ] Jimmy Carter called for the removal of Israel from the

occupied states, and the creation of a separate Palestinian entity, but not a separate state.

[ CITATION Geo90 \l 4105 ] Israel agreed to remove its army from Palestine and to allow for a

small autonomous governing system in the territory. In theory Palestine was to receive more

control, yet in practicality there was little change. Later that year there were massive protests

condemning the Camp David Accords and calling for new talks which would include the

Palestine Liberation Organization.[ CITATION But09 \l 4105 ]

Intifada has been translated to mean uprising. The first intifada refers to the years

between 1987 and 1993 when local Palestinians revolted against Israeli forces.[ CITATION

Jam04 \l 4105 ] The demonstrations were low-grade and began within refugee camps. The

tactics used were rock throwing, Molotov cocktails, grenades and hand guns.[ CITATION Jam04

\l 4105 ] The Israeli government was criticized for its harsh reactions to Palestinian rioting

which left many dead. Eventually policies were changed to allow for less force to be used

against rioters and more preventative measures to be taken. This led to the Madrid Conference

in 1991 which allowed Palestine much more influence. The United States and Israel both

changed their stance on the PLO, for before their policy was that the PLO should be treated as

terrorists.[ CITATION Mar94 \l 4105 ] The change allowed for the states to be more accepting

and to even allow for negotiations to occur between them. In 1993 the PLO and Israel were able

to sign a negotiation called the Oslo Accord which granted Palestinians the right to self

government on the Gaza Strip and the city of Jericho in the West Bank through the creation of

the Palestinian Authority.[ CITATION Ala03 \l 4105 ] The agreement led to a time of relative
peace within the country as Palestine was finally given their rights. But by 2000, talks at Camp

David with Prime Minister Ehud Barak of Israel had dissolved and Palestinians were again

growing wary. Al-Aqsa, or the second Intifada began which has yet to officially end.

Currently the state in which Palestinians live is a depressing one. Many cities are over

run with tanks, restrictions, and midnight terrorist activities. Walls are littered with hate

messages and bullet holes as children run vapid through the streets. What was once a thriving

merchant centre is now the centre of a crisis. Hate is bred as generations learn of bloodshed and

destruction. There are always ongoing peace talks between nations and councils and committees

to end the violence, but the inevitable “Palestinian Question” has yet to be answered. Hopefully

in the near future the two sides can learn to live together in harmony. But there has yet to be a

plausible solution to the painstaking question.

Bibliography
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Butler, L. (2009). Gaza; A Chronology. Journal of Palestine Studies , 98-121.

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Madfai, M. R. (1993). Jordan, the United States and the Middle East Peace Process, 1974-1991.
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McDowall, D. (1989). Palestine and Israel: the Uprising and Beyond. I.B. Tauris.

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