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Answer 1
Here is what I think. As much as this contributor would like to see independence for Palestine, it must be a process, and it will take many years for the Palestinian Authority to gain strength. If Palestine gained independence too soon it would fall apart and someone else would take over, upsetting the balance of authority in the Middle East. If Great Britain had simply dumped its colonists on America and granted them independence, I think Spanish or French would now be the language in North America.
Answer 2
There are several reasons why Israelis are reluctant to give Palestinians independence:
Military Defense: One of the best military advantages of holding onto the West Bank is the Jordan River Valley. The river plunges precipitously on either side, making it a perfect tank-ditch for invading armies. This would force any invaders from the Jordanian side to use the bridges across the river and allow the Israelis have an effective defense. Additionally, the West Bank is the area of the former British Mandate of Palestine with the highest elevation. Several Air-Towers have been built in the Judean Highlands to spot air traffic moving around Israel and detect in-coming military planes. Without these positions, Israel leaves itself in a much worse position. Additionally, Israel becomes only 10 miles wide near Hadera, Israel if the West Bank is lost.
Holy Sites: The majority of Jewish holy sites in Mandatory Palestine are actually in the West Bank or East Jerusalem, which are both considered Occupied Territories. These include the Western Wall in Jerusalem and the entire Old City, the Cave of the Ramban, the "City of David", David's Burial Ground at Mount Zion, the Tomb of Samuel just north of Jerusalem, the city of Hebron and the nearby the Cave of Machpelah, Joseph's Tomb in Nablus, the tombs of Pinehas and the Elders of the Great Assembly at Awarta, and Rachel's tomb outside of Bethlehem. The Palestinians under Israeli occupation currently deface many of these sites and attack Jews who seek to pray at them. Jordanians actively forbid Jews from visiting these places when they controlled the West Bank in 1949-1967. The Ottomans were not great protectors of the region either.
Many Jews are worried that if the Palestinians gain full autonomy, they will prevent Jews from visiting and praying at their holy sites, especially the Western Wall. The Islamic Waqf, which owns the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque has actually said, "The Jews have no connection to the Western Wall. It is a Muslim site that was used by Mohammed to tie up his Buraq." The Waqf then claims that the Jews "made up" their claim concerning the holiest site in Judaism in order to facilitate Palestinian repression. With people so insensitive poised to gain power over Jewish Holy Sites if the Occupied Territories are devolved, it is not surprising that Jews are worried about handing over the Occupied Territories.
Issues with the Palestinian Government: Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah as it stands currently are probably some of the best negotiating partners that Israel will ever have, but they are not perfect. Fatah has routinely stated that it will not arrest Palestinian Militants as Israel has asked them to since they do not bow to Israeli Authority. Hamas is far worse, though. Their very charter makes clear that they oppose any peaceful resolution to the Conflict that results in anything other than a complete removal of Israel. Hamas has also proven that it is more capable of earning Palestinian sympathy than Fatah and it is possible that a Hamas government could replace Fatah if Palestine were actually allowed to vote on any leadership. Such a vote would create major problems for Israel in the "Military Defense" category since Israel would have a hostile state right on its border.
Example of Gaza: Many supporters of Settlement Withdrawal looked at the Gaza Disengagement in 2005 with high hopes. Jewish Settlers left the Gaza Strip and turned it over to entirely Palestinian control. The result was not peace or increased rights for Palestinians. The result was that Hamas took control and began to bombard Israel with a constant rocket barrage. The Disengagement in Gaza has resulted as of 2013 in two wars (Operation Cast Lead 2008-2009 and Operation Pillar Defense 2012) and thousands of Palestinian victims. Instead of rewarding the Israeli show of good faith with reciprocal good faith, the Palestinians took the withdrawal as a sign of weakness and preyed on the Israelis. Israelis are not interested in being bitten again.
Israeli Settlements: Close to 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank or East Jerusalem in several major cities like Ariel, Modiin Illit, East Jerusalem, Pisgat Zeev, Ma'ale Adumim, and Efrat. Entire neighborhoods, schools, universities, companies, and livelihoods have been built up in the West Bank, not to mention voters in Israeli elections. The removal of settlements is a difficult political and social issue within Israel as it would be very costly both monetarily and socially to uproot 500,000 people and resettle them.
What else can I help you with?
Who did the British give mandate of Palestine to?
Israel and TransJordan
Was Israel controlled by another country?
The area Israel controls was historically controld by many empires. Babylon, Persia, Rome, the Ottomans. After WW1, the League of Nations made it a British mandate. Britain controled it until it referred the conflict between Jews and Palestine to the UN which gave Israel independence in 1948 with the promise to give Palestine its own state.
What did the British give up when the state of Israel was created?
They gave up control of the Mandate of Palestine.
What name did the Greeks give to the land of Israel?
they called it Palestine because it was a combination of two groups of people (Palsit and Kenaan)
Why did Israel give Gaza to Palestine?
In 1993, Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization signed the Oslo Accords in an attempt to end the First Intifada and end the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.
Where did the Jews immigrate from during World War 2?
Some of the Jews who survived the Holocaust moved to British Mandate Palestine after World War 2. The U.N. later voted to give the Jews a homeland in Palestine. mainly just palestine!
Is Israel right in killing Palestine?
It is unclear what "killing Palestine" means. Palestine is landmass and cannot be killed in any current understanding of that term. If "killing Palestine" is meant to mean "killing Palestinians", then no, Israel has no right to arbitrarily kill Palestinians. However, Israel currently finds itself in a situation where Palestinians Militants are attacking Israeli civilians and attempting to penetrate Israeli borders. These violent acts invoke Israel's right to self-defense, which Israel has just like every other nation has. In those cases, Israel has the right to defend itself up to and including the elimination of the threat.
What is modern day canaan?
Generally speaking, the land once called Canaan in ancient history, is present day Israel, give or take small other areas bordering Israel. Other people can also use Palestine for this answer.
Is Israel in Palestine?
Answer 1Palestine was the name given by Greek seafarers to the Levant, around the middle of the first millennium BCE, because of the Philistines they found along the southern maritime region between modern Tel Aviv and Egypt. They simply assumed that the Philistines occupied the entire region, and were unaware that there were Judahites and Israelites living in the mountainous hinterland. At the time, we could say that Israel was in Palestine.Answer 2Throughout most of its history, certainly since Roman times, Palestine has never known independence, but the regional name continued in use, with Britain being granted a mandate to govern Palestine after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire. In 1947, the United Nations divided a portion of the British mandate between Jewish and Arab administration. Upon the departure of the British in 1948, the residents of the Jewish-administered partition declared the sovereignty of the modern state of Israel. Neither the Arab-administered partition nor its residents were ever absorbed by the surrounding Arab nations, and neither those residents nor most of those nations accept the existence of the Jewish state.Answer 3Basically, the answer to this question is that Israel is Palestine. Israel is the portion of Palestine that the Palestinian people decided to give to the Jews after the Second World War when they had nowhere to go. The Jews decided to call this portion of the land Israel and so initially Israel is in Palestine, it is a part of Palestine, not the other way around as most people would have you believe.Answer 4Yes and No. Palestine has two different definitions and Israel has two definitions.Palestine 1: All of the lands of the former British Mandate of Palestine.Palestine 2: All of the lands not under Israeli control in 1950 that serve as the basis for any current two-state proposal for the State of Palestine.Israel 1: All of the lands under Israeli control in 1950.Israel 2: All of the lands under Israeli control, both military and civil as of 2012.Now for the spatial relationships.Israel 1 is entirely within the borders of Palestine 1, but smaller (78%)Israel 1 (78%) + Palestine 2 (22%) = Palestine 1Israel 2 and Palestine 2 overlap in much of the West Bank Territories. Israel 2 and Israel 1 overlap in all of Israel 1's territories. Israel 2 does not control the Gaza Strip territories which are part of Palestine 1 and Palestine 2. Israel 2 also controls some Syrian territory not in either Palestine.Additional Note:While Answer 3 is correct in asserting that the State of Israel is smaller than the British Mandate of Palestine (Israel 1 < Palestine 1), it is incorrect in asserting that the Palestinian People "decided to give the Jews" anything. The Palestinian Arabs were actually quite adamant about not giving the Jews any land or space as soon as it became clear in the late 1920s that the Jews intended and would soon realize their own state apparatus. They attacked the Jewish settlement in Hebron in 1929, scalping and beating many Jewish inhabitants. They organized militias to attack other Jewish settlements, they petitioned the British government to prevent Jewish immigration (resulting in the White Papers of 1939 which banned Jewish immigration during the entire Holocaust when a place of refuge was most necessary), and consistently fought against Jewish Militias who were targeting the British colonizers instead of uniting to overthrow the British before trying to decide a resolution. The Palestinian Arabs did not support a two-state solution prior to 1967 and did not accede to the idea of a two-state solution until the Oslo Accords of 1993. Still to this day, the idea of a two-state solution (as a final solution) is relatively unpopular in Palestinian circles. The reason that Israel exists as a country is because of UN Resolution 181 and the Zionist Jews who used that resolution as the basis upon which to declare a country and defend it from military onslaught.
In the twentieth Century what did Muslims call the region known as Israel?
For most of the Twentieth Century (since 1948), the Jewish areas were called Israel and The Muslim areas were called "the Occupied Territories" or the "Palestinian Territories. The original plan was for the Palestinian territories to be called "Palestine" and be set up as in independent country, but the Palestinians rejected this plan. Prior to 1948, the entire area was called Palestine, though it was never under Palestinian rule. In 1948, the Palestinians almost had the chance for self-determination for the first time ever.
How did the us help israel be established?
The United States pressed its allies to vote in favor of UNGA Resolution 181 (II) which would give the Jews of Mandatory Palestine the right to declare an independent state (e.g. Israel). Unlike the Soviet Union, the United States did not provide an arms to nascent Israel.
What is the name of the land Israel and Palestine are fighting for?
Palestinians (Philistines in the Bible) lived in Palestine. Then many Jewish people came and took the farms, cities, and land, and called it Israel. The Palestinians want the invaders to go away. The Israelis want to stay and to expand their small country.
