What is the reason and background for the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict?

Answer 1

There are really two questions here: What are the causes of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict? and What is the general history of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict? Each will be answered in turn.

Causes for the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:

1) Hallowed Land: The Jews consider the Land of Israel (which is not necessarily all in the borders of the State of Israel) to be a holy piece of land in that God promised it to the Jewish people as an eternal inheritance. Thus, some Jews, especially Religious Zionists see resettlement of the Land of Israel by Jews to be part of God's plan and mandate and therefore do everything in their power to settle it. In addition, it contains specific religious and historical sites such as the Western Wall and the Old City of Jerusalem, the Cave of Machpelah, the Old City of Jaffa, and the Sanctuary of Shiloh among others. Muslims also consider Jerusalem holy because of Mohammed ascending to Heaven on the Buraq over Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Both cultures want to ensure maintenance and access to the sites which they feel have been limited by the other. (Jews claim that Jordanians used the Western Wall as a landfill and Arabs argue that Israelis arbitrarily close off access to Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.

2) Zionism: A number of Jews in Europe began to feel that they were being permanently and deliberately excluded from parts of European society because of the prevalent racial and pseudo-scientific forms of Anti-Semitism. They believed that there was no possible equality between European nationals and their Jewish residents and were disinterested in the Andalucian Solution because they did not want to be second-class citizens. They believed that the Jewish people needed to form a political apparatus (an Independent State) to defend themselves and their civil rights. Zionism originally had purely secular connotations, but with the advent of Religious Zionism, the powerful secular cause of Zionism joined with the Hallowed Land idea to provoke conflict. Zionism is strongly opposed by many for many different reasons. See the link at the bottom of the page for Anti-Zionist arguments and rationales.

3) Halutzim & Jewish Land Acquisition: In the First Zionist Congress in 1897, the main resolution was to acquire, by any means, a piece of land to be made a country for the Jews. Early Zionists tried to figure out how to attract Jews to leave their country of origin and come to build this Jewish State. The general consensus always revolved around building a State in the Land of Israel/British Mandate of Palestine since that would make attraction easiest. (The idea of the Jews Returning to Israel had a very romantic notion to Jews at the time and still does today.) As a result, politically influential Jews began purchasing tracts of land from the Ottoman Pashas in control of the territory without indigenous consent and promptly began to develop it. The indigenous Palestinians took issue with the migrations of these Halutzim (Jewish Pioneers) but as the land was bought legitimately, they had little recourse but to allow them to arrive. This occupation and colonialism were certainly not greeted with friendly handshakes or pats on the back by the indigenous inhabitants who stood to lose everything.

4) Balfour Declaration, the Holocaust, and UN Resolution 181: The European Climate also supported the Zionist idea of forming a Jewish State in the Middle East as it would allow Jews to leave Europe and stop being a European problem and have to absorb the refugees themselves, rapidly increased the numbers of Jews in Israel. In addition, Britain issued the Balfour Declaration which declared Britain's intent to create a Jewish State in the Middle East. This, however, was not seriously considered until the Holocaust proved to Europeans (and Jews) that Europe was no longer safe for Judaism. UN Resolution 181 promoted a partitioning of the British Mandate of Palestine into a Jewish State and an Arab State. While this resolution did pass (and is in fact legally binding) many Arabs find issue with its decision because there were not enough independent Arab States to vote it down.

5) Palestinian Exodus & UNRWA: This is probably the most thorny issue between Israel and Palestine. During the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-9 (in which Palestinian militias also participated), many Palestinians were forced out of their homes by Israeli soldiers due to brutal atrocities. In addition, many left because they feared similar outcomes. Also Arab leaders encouraged the exodus, because they believed that they could destroy Israel and safely return all of the Palestinians after the conflict. However, this did not happen and a large number of Palestinians (some estimate four million) are in UNRWA Refugee Camps and there is a large Palestinian Diaspora. They have not forgiven Israel for not allowing them to return after the War or at any subsequent point in time.

6) Occupation of the West Bank & Gaza: In 1967, Israel fought the Six-Day War against the Arab States and took over control of the West Bank and Gaza. These territories did not come under Israeli Civil Authority and have been instead militarily controlled. Palestinians who live in these territories have to contend with Israeli checkpoints, military provisions, and incoming settlers (from the Hallowed Land section). This occupation is perceived by Palestinians to be a repression of their Right to a State and their ability to lead normal productive lives. Settlers in the territories act in a very cavalier fashion (similar to cowboys in the Wild West) and steal property owned by Palestinian families for generations in the name of Religious Zionism. Zionist Squatters are a huge problem in cities like Hebron where these individuals have "liberated" over a quarter of the city from its Palestinian inhabitants and begun to drive a wedge into those communities.

7) Blockade of Gaza & Dependence of the West Bank: Due to the militancy of Hamas, Israel has found it necessary for defense to form a blockade around Gaza and to only allow certain materials into the territory. This has resulted in a Human Relief Crisis in the Gaza where the average caught in the struggle barely have enough food, heat, and light to adequately survive. On a different token, the West Bank (as controlled by the Palestine Authority) is a patchwork of separate unconnected jurisdictions. As a result, the West Bank leaders depend on Israel for defense coordination, tax collection, and assurances of safety from settlers. This creates a secondary occupation-dynamic where the Palestinian government is bound to the desires and wishes of the Israeli people in addition to its actual constituency.

8) Retaliation: This one is fairly simple. Each side honors its fallen by engaging in retaliatory killings and attacks. In addition, the retaliation is usually on a larger scale than the offense. (I.e. one death results in ten retaliatory deaths etc.) The memories of these attacks remain years and decades after the actual events took place.

9) Jewish Rejection of Dhimmitude: (Written by someone else) The Arabs rejected the Jewish state purely because it was Jewish. Had it been just another Muslim group, a separate state would have been accepted without controversy. But it was intolerable to allow the Dhimmis (the non-Muslims who lived in Muslim States) to set up a state. Even worse, one in which Dhimmis would rule over some Muslims. This problem - and nothing else - is the root cause of the conflict.

General Historical Discussion
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict has had numerous stages, but they are generally broken up into four major periods (whose names are my choice): British Mandate Period (1920s-1948), 1948-9 War and Armistice (1948-1967), Expansive Israeli Period (1967-1987), Palestinian Intifada and the Palestinian States (1987-Present).

1) British Mandate Period:
This period was characterized by a British Mandatory Government controlling the area called the British Mandate of Palestine. Some of the major events during this period were the increased Jewish Immigration to the Mandate of Palestine and their modernization of the territory. This brought in Arab immigration from neighboring territories who wished to live in the more sanitary and developed conditions in Palestine. This combined immigration led to massive population increases. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Jewish population was becoming more significant and Arab leaders and militias urged the British to prevent further Jewish immigration. This resulted in the British rescinding Jewish immigration rights to the territory and culminated with the 1939 White Papers permitting only nominal Jewish immigration. During World War II, Palestine remained off-limits to Jews wishing to flee the Holocaust. This, combined with the White Papers, led many Jewish leaders to openly resist the British Occupation. In 1947, the British relented and brought the Palestinian and Jewish question to the United Nations. The slaughter of the Holocaust and American and Soviet pressure galvanized the world to provide for a Jewish State and an Arab State. The Palestinian Jewish population (who could anachronistically be called Israelis) approved of the Partition whereas the Palestinian Arab population refused further territorial concessions. The previously formed Jewish militias began to confront Arab militias in the Jewish-Arab Engagement as early as mid-1947. When Israel Declared Independence in 1948, the War became an international conflict involving Arab Armies from seven additional nations.

2) 1948-9 War and Armistices
This period was characterized by the forced emigrations of large numbers of endemic Arabs from Palestine and endemic Jews from elsewhere in the Middle East to Arab countries and Israel respectively in the wake of mass Arab Anti-Semitism. There was also a semi-viable State of Israel and remaining Palestinian territories were occupied by other Arab Nations. As a result of the 1948-9 Arab-Israeli War, Israel now occupied 78% of the Mandate of Palestine. During this period, Israel was considered weak by both allies and enemies and was treated to belligerent treatment from its neighbors (even during the "peace"). Syrian missiles rained down on the Galilee lowlands periodically, Egyptians cut off Israeli shipping through the Suez Canal (leading to the Suez Crisis of 1956), skirmishes in the water occurred, and the Old City was forcibly cleansed of its Jewish inhabitants by Jordanian forces. Palestinian rights were also suppressed by the Arab States as Jordan militarized the West Bank and Egypt openly annexed Gaza after watching its Palestinian Puppet State fail. The Egyptians openly taunted Israel and amassed troops at the Israeli border in 1967 in order to eradicate the country.

3) Expansive Israeli Period
This period is characterized by an Israeli State that acquired (through war) numerous additional territories from Arab States. During this period, most Arab States (Egypt excepted) refused to negotiate with Israel and therefore did not successfully reacquire these lands. The Six Day War completely changed the dynamic of Arab-Israeli relations. Israel was now negotiating from a place of strength and ceding territories for peace. Arab States refused to negotiate at first, but after the stalemate from the Arab-Israeli War of 1973, some Arab countries were willing to negotiate. Egypt and Israel signed a Peace Accord in 1979, giving the Sinai back to Egypt in return for mutual recognition and peace. Israel also effectively stopped Syrian peacetime attacks and reunited Jerusalem (against international law). Several of the Palestinian refugee camps were opened and a minority of Palestinians began to commute to work in Israel. In the 1981 and 1982, Israel was pulled into Lebanese Civil War and fought alongside the Christian Falangists against Sunni and Shiite Arabs. Israel withdrew to the Litani River after the Syrian intervention stabilized the conflict and back to Israeli borders in 2000.

4) Palestinian Intifada and the Palestinian States
This period is characterized by the creation of the Palestinian Authority and beginnings of a Palestinian State in the West Bank and Gaza Territories. This period is defined the "Roadmap to Peace". The Palestinian Uprising began to show Palestinian dissatisfaction with the continuing Israeli military occupation of the territory and lasted from 1987-1993. At that point the Oslo Accords were signed, granting recognition to a new body called the Palestinian Authority which would be responsible for governing Palestinian affairs. Israel ceded discrete pieces of land to the PA, but refused to give up large chunks of land until 2005 when it ceded all of Gaza to the PA. In the wake of this new accord, Jordan finalized a Peace Treaty with Israel in 1994. Earlier, in 1991, as a sidenote, Iraq launched skud missiles at Israel in an attempt to shatter the American-Arab Alliance to liberate Kuwait, but following American instructions, Israel stood down and did not enter the fighting. In 2000, the Second Palestinian Intifada began in response to Palestinian anger over perceived Israeli intransigence in devolving more power. This intifada lasted until 2005 and was considered a loss by Palestinians. In 2007, the Palestinian Elections sparked a civil war between Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah, leading to the former controlling Gaza exclusively and the latter controlling the West Bank exclusively. Hamas continued to exhibit bellicose behavior, bothering both Israelis and Egyptian Military leaders (who termed the territory Hamastan). Responding to constant civilian bombardment, Israel invaded Gaza in December of 2008 in what resulted in nearly 1400 Palestinian Civilian casualties.