Why did the Israeli-Palestinian conflict happen?

Answer 1

At the end of WW2, the United Nations gave the land of Israel to the Jewish people to be their homeland. After seeing the evidence of the Holocaust, the world was horrified at the death and torture that the Jews had endured. Even still, many nations were still prejudiced enough that they didn't what them "in my back yard", so the Jews and Allies agreed that the land of Israel would be given to the jews. Immediately the rest of the Middle East vowed that the Jews would not be welcome as neighbors and that Islam would drive the Jews into the Sea. They tried. Since that time, Islam has continuously tried different methods to destroy the Jews and since the Holocaust, the Jews have vowed, "Never again." The problem goes back to well before the Holocaust. In 1917 the British government promised the Jews a "national home" in Palestine, which was under Ottoman (Turkish) rule. British forces were advancing into the region at the time. There were problems.

• It was unclear what "national home" meant.
• The area was already inhabited by Arabs.
• There was a widespread view among Arabs that they had been promised independence by Britain.

So when Britain gained control of Palestine/Israel there were all the ingredients for serious trouble. After all Britain seemed to have promised the same territory to two groups of people!

Having said this, one needs to remember that in 1917, with the collapse of Tsarist rule in Russia, it was widely (but mistakenly) assumed that there would be a sharp fall in antisemitism and that therefore relatively few Jews would want to settle in Palestine/Israel.

The trigger for the UN establishing the state of Israel in 1948 was that the area had been under British rule since 1918 and had been in a state of civil war (Arabs versus Jews) from 1936-1939 and again from the end of WW2. In 1948 Britain informed the UN that it just couldn't cope with the situation any more.

It is misleading to say that the UN gave Israel to the Jews as some kind of present or consolation for the Holocaust. The point was that Britain just could not cope with the problems in Palestine/Israel and in effect handed the territory to the UN, which then split it into two parts, which fought one another.

This mess was largely of Britain's own making. As the author Arthur Koestler, a Jew who spent some years in the area, once remarked of the 1917 Balfour Declaration:

• "One nation promised another the land of a third nation".

[Please see the Discussion Section to see other views as to what started the conflict between the Israeli and Palestinian people as well as the Related Questions below.]

Answer 2

The conflict between Jews and Arabs extends all the way back to their forefathers, Isaac and Ishmael, who were half-brothers, both being sons of Abraham by different mothers. Isaac is the forefather of the nation of Israel and Ishmael is the forefather to Arab nations, and is accepted by most Muslims as one of their primary ancestors. The conflict between Isaac and Ishmael was so bad that Abraham was forced to banish Ishmael and his mother Hagar from the household. Jews and Arabs are related by blood, they are family, and the sibling rivalry continues down to our day.

AnswerThe previous answer is completely wrong. The conflict between Arabs and Jews is not ancient. It began in the 20th Century, when the Jews returned to their native homeland, and the Arabs saw them as foreign invaders.

Answer 3

Answer 1
Israel's geographic location itself because it was founded right in the middle of Palestine's "Holy Lands."

Answer 2
In the years after WWI, illegal Jewish immigrants from Europe formed terrorist groups and attacked the British Administration and the local population of Christians and Muslims in Palestine. The British Administration gave up and handed the problem to the UN who gave the land of Israel to the Jewish people to be their homeland. Then after seeing the result of the Holocaust, the world was horrified at the death and torture that the Jews had endured. Even after this, still many nations were prejudiced enough that they didn't want them around them or their country. Once the land was granted to the Jews, immediately the rest of the Middle East vowed that the Jews would not be welcome as neighbors and that the Muslims would drive the Jews out. This land grant and hostility between the Palestinians and Israelis stirred up the two and created intense conflict, hatred and wars. A day after Israel proclaimed itself a state, 6 Islamic States: (Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon Saudi Arabia, and Syria) invaded it. Although this land was a major gain for the Jews, this gain also came at a heavy price. The Jews were unwelcomed by the Arabs and their opposing unfriendliness and hostility led to many wars.

Answer 3
The roots of this war are supposedly Biblical. God told Abraham to have a child. Abraham and his wife were extremely old (like 100), so he figured he should have the child with the house servent. Once the child is born Abraham is approached by God who is angry. He says "I meant for you to have the child with your wife". So Abraham bears a child with his wife. God tells Abraham that his rightful heir will inherit the area known as Israel. Over time, lineages are lost, It becomes unclear who is descended from the Marital child of Abraham. The Israelis and Palestinians were once one people spread over an area as big as North America. When a message came from their prophet to go to Israel, it spread slowly, and Israel is a small country. So when the second half of the people heard the message and made it to Israel, the country was already full. Imagine telling the Christians that God's Country is really Rhode Island, and you start the message in New York. You think there's going to be room for the Californian's when they get there. As for the rightful heirs, there have been DNA test conducted throughout the middle east. They show that there has been so much mixing, that there is no Genetic distinction between them. They are the same people. Yet the war goes on because both sides reject this evidence, many of them think it is a trick of the devil to sway them from their holy path.

Answer 4

Although no official "Palestinian Israeli war" exists, there have been tensions between the two groups ever since Israel was carved out of Palestinian territory in 1948 by the UN. Many Palestinians see this as a pseudo-colonial act while the UN would argue that it was necessary after the atrocities of the Holocaust.

However, there is such a thing as the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Please see the Related Question below to read more about when it started.

If you are using "Israeli-Palestinian War" to refer to the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-9, this war started in May 1948, as soon as Israel declared itself an independent state and was promptly invaded by 7 Arab Armies. The Israeli-Palestinian Engagement occurred even earlier in September of 1947.

Answer 5

It is unclear what this question is asking exactly. The Related Questions below address both possible facets of this question.

1) What are the causes of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict? -- This question addresses the reasons why Israelis and Palestinians are in conflict and their general grievances.

2) How did the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict start? -- This question addresses the set of events that were the first shots in establishing an Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.

Answer 6

There was no single event that caused the Arab-Israeli Conflict. There are a myriad of causes that started or further inflamed the violent situation. See the related question for a list of such causes.

However, the simplest explanation for why the Arab-Israeli Conflict exists is because two very different groups of people with two very different worldviews each want the same piece of land and are willing to do almost anything to secure it for themselves and not the other.

Some of the historical context:

The Arab-Israeli Conflict has its origins in the confrontation between immigrant Zionist Jews in the Mandate of Palestine and their interaction with the indigenous Arabs in the 1920s and 1930s. Before that point, the Immigration into the land had been a small trickle and Arabs were not terribly concerned. However, the Jewish immigration in the 1920s was quite large and disruptive. By the mid 1930s, both sides had developed militias which they used both to attack British colonial institutions and each other. In 1947, as UN Resolution 181 was being debated, a full-scale war erupted between the Jewish militias and the Arab militias. When Israel declared its independence in 1948, the Arab States joined in the War which caused it to be internationally recognized and called the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-9.

Therefore, if we use the terms Israeli and Arab retroactively to those people who would eventually identify or would be identified as Israelis or Arabs, the conflict started during the 1920s. If we require that these terms be strictly applied, then the conflict started in 1948 when Israel declared its independence.

Answer 7

The question explicitly assumes that Israel started the conflict. The origin-events of the conflict are actually quite unclear. However, the overall cause of the conflict was that two groups of people (Arabs and Jews) both wanted to create independent states where they would be the majority and dominant ethnicity. They both opposed the Ottoman Turks and their successors, the British Mandatory Authorities. However, the Jews were much more organized and determined than the Arabs, leading to Jewish military victories in the Jewish-Arab Engagement of 1947-1949 and the creation of Israel. In the same war, the Palestinian Arabs' dream of a state was quashed by Israeli success as well as territorial occupation by Egypt and Jordan.

Answer 8

Please see the Related Questions below.

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict has its origins in the confrontation between immigrant Zionist Jews in the Mandate of Palestine and their interaction with the indigenous Arabs in the 1920s and 1930s. Before that point, the immigration into the land had been a small trickle and Arabs were not terribly concerned. However, the Jewish immigration in the 1920s was quite large and disruptive. By the mid 1930s, both sides had developed militias which they used both to attack British colonial institutions and each other. In 1947, as UN Resolution 181 was being debated, a full-scale war erupted between the Jewish militias and the Arab militias. When Israel declared its independence in 1948, the Arab States joined in the War which caused it to be internationally recognized and called the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-9.

Therefore, if we use the terms Israeli and Palestinian retroactively to those people who would eventually identify or would be identified as Israelis or Palestinians, the conflict started during the 1920s. If we require that these terms be strictly applied, then the conflict started in 1948 when Israel declared its independence.

Answer 9

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict has its origins in the confrontation between immigrant Zionist Jews in the Mandate of Palestine and their interaction with the indigenous Arabs in the 1920s and 1930s. Before that point, the immigration into the land had been a small trickle and Arabs were not terribly concerned. However, the Jewish immigration in the 1920s was quite large and disruptive. By the mid 1930s, both sides had developed militias which they used both to attack British colonial institutions and each other. Jews also flooded back to the Holy Land following World War II, since they felt that they would always be persecuted in countries where they were the minority. In 1947, as UN Resolution 181 was being debated, a full-scale war erupted between the Jewish militias and the Arab militias. When Israel declared its independence in 1948, the Arab States joined in the War which caused it to be internationally recognized and called the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-9. The on and off conflict that has remained unresolved for over half a century now.

Therefore, if we use the terms Israeli and Palestinian retroactively to those people who would eventually identify or would be identified as Israelis or Palestinians, the conflict started during the 1920s. If we require that these terms be strictly applied, then the conflict started in 1948 when Israel declared its independence.

Answer 10

Instead of rewriting two perfectly good questions, please see the Related Questions below.