What is important about the conflict between the Jews and Arabs?

Answer 1

The answer to this question may be one of two things depending on the interpretation of the question.

1) What makes the conflict relevant to people? or What is the historical significance of the conflict between the Jews and the Arabs? -- This answer is different to different people. In very wide swathes, Jews see the conflict as being important because Israel is seen as a bastion of Judaism and a protector both of Jewish Civil Interests (such as citizenship and army service) and Jewish Religious Interests (such as visiting Jewish Holy Sites in the Land). Arabs see the conflict as a repression of their culture and ethnic rights to establish a Self-Determinative Future and a new form of Colonization by Western Empires. Turkey, Iran and other regional players have their own perspectives. America has still others. Click on the links for some of these perspectives.

2) What is the "cliff-notes" version of the conflict between the Jews and Arabs? -- This is difficult to do without angering people, because there are various different interpretations of what happened. Basically, the Jews believe that the piece of land that they currently occupy belong to them as it used to be Jerusalem, their holy land, thousands of years ago. Zionists asserted that the Jewish people needed to build a nation to protect their Jewish Civil Interests and asserted that using the British Mandate of Palestine region would draw increased appeal from Jews who would see it as a return home. The Zionist Pioneers or Halutzim, bought land from the Ottomans controlling the territory and began to displace Palestinian Settlements. Eventually this rose to the level of conflict where Jewish and Arab Militias fought one another up to the Declaration of the State of Israel (which was a legal UN action). At this point, numerous Arab States encouraged the Arabs to leave and then repatriate after the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-9 ended. In addition, Jewish soldiers attacked and brutalized a large number of Palestinian villages and civilians. This drove many Palestinians off of their land and into refugee camps where they remain to this day. Israel expanded further in 1967 to incorporate all of the areas of the British Mandate of Palestine (between 1949 and 1967 they only controlled 78% of the territory) and brought those regions under Military Occupation, repressing the Arab majority and planting settlements. The Arabs began to use suicide bombers to attack Israel in an attempt to secure independence. It has met with some success, but an amicable solution is far from near.