What is the root cause of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict?

Answer 1

Easy answer for a difficult problem: 1. They (Europeans, inc Britain) made a nation out of someone else's country 2. See the link below for more information.

The Ottoman Empire owned most of the Middle East since the 16th century. It became an ally of Germany's during WWI. the British offered to give the Arabs independence in return for their help in defeating Germany and the Ottoman Empire. The Arabs agreed and, led by Lawrence of Arabia, fought in the war on the side of Britain.

After WWI, however, the British reneged. Britain and France entered into a secret pact, called the Sykes-Picot Treaty, to divide up the former Ottoman Empire after the war. ( See The Balfour Declaration,

Then, after WWII, a homeland for the Jews (Israel) was established in Palestine, and a flood of Europeans, who had never set foot in the Middle East, arrived and took away land that had belonged to the Arabs for millenia.

These refuges relocated to the half of Palestine that was left to them after the creation of Israel. From the Arab point of view, they have been lied to, cheated, and run off their land. They are very resentful of the Jews, whom they see as Europeans, who were given Their land. Also, they are just plain Angry at having their loyalty betrayed.

From the Israeli point of view, Israel is only Part of Their land, which they fled after Rome destroyed Solomon's temple in 70 a.d. The land belongs to them, pure and simple.

There are some Israelis who believe that All of ancient Israel should be returned to them, and are building settlements in an effort to retake the Rest of their land, which is currently occupied by Palestinians, since it is in the half given to them in the partition.

For additional information on the Causes of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, please see the Related Question below.

Answer 2

See the following related questions on the causes of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and the Possible Solutions.