The Causes Of The Palestinian Israeli Conflict Essay

The Causes Of The Palestinian Israeli Conflict - Essay Example The conflict thus received considerable attention from scholars studying conflict and terrorism between the two countries (Caruso and Esteban 1; Ross 6). The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is mainly a dispute regarding the possession and control of territory referred to as the holy land, Palestine and Eretz Israel. Territory control evokes the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with powerful passion that involves identity, propriety of cultural together with religious claims and honor (Kapitan 494). Elements in both sides of the conflict consider control of the region as a way of securing cultural identities as well as the human rights of their own individual members, their continuous presence in the land, room for cultural appreciation and development and survival of their people as a distinct population (Waxman 76). Both sides of the conflict seek autonomy and the fact that they seek it in the same territory results in the conflict, a struggle that often turns deadly killing even the unarm ed and innocent people (Allegra and Paolo 263). Majority of Israeli Jews together with their supporters are determined to create and uphold a Jewish state in Palestine with their dominant leaders endeavoring to extend the state to most of the territory. Therefore, after 1967, expansion into west bank ensured that either the Palestinian Arab population in the west bank moved to other parts or it was confined in isolated enclaves (Hallward 262). Violence in terms of overt physical assault, settlement building, expulsion, economic restrictions and structural violence of land confiscation have been the predominant ways of securing the Jewish end while Arab civilians are the principal victims (Kapitan 495). On the other hand, Palestinian Arabs retain deep desire to maintain or return to the territory where they were the predominant community in at least the past 1300 years. Therefore, Palestinian Arabs seek self-rule to protect their human rights and ensure they continue living in their land. After continuous diplomatic ideas and peaceful resistance failed to progress their quest, since they were the weak party, the Palestinians availed themselves to their strategies of violence in order to publicize their quest and enhance their community’s tenacity to resist (Yvroux and Jean-Paul 94). This brought the intervention of external parties making Israel to change its policies in the face of casualties among its civilians (Kapitan 495-6). The principle of self-determination has become a diplomatic stage for both Arabs and Jews who claim autonomy in Palestine. Zionists argue the 1917 Belfour declaration together with 1922 League of Nations permission for recognizing Palestine constitute appreciation of the Jewish right to autonomy in Palestine, a right which moreover grounds in historical and cultural links of Jews to the land. Arabs counter by arguing that those who actually owned and inhabited a territory for a long period have the right to self-determination in the land and in Palestine, thus this only means the Arab majority. Despite assurances before 1947 from Zionist leaders that Jews never had the intention of evicting Arabs out of their land and homes, Zionist political rhetoric in streets and exclusive policies regarding Jewish owned land brought to the surface other intentions. On the other hand, Palestinian Arabs requested for the establishment of democratically elected council and eventually establishment of an Arab state that emulated the successful countries across the borders (Kapitan 497). Expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians during the 1947-1949 war is a basis for