Adversity in the face of peace

Whilst having moved from Palestine, to Jordan and then to Lebanon, the PLO continued to attack Israel and focused its new tactics on terrorist attacks and aeroplane abduction. Frustrated and desperate to raise the profile of the Palestinian struggle the PLO began launching attacks on civilian targets such as airports, schools and apartment blocks in the 1970's. Perhaps the most famous example is the Munich Massacre where 11 Olympic athletes from Israel were taken hostage and, as a result of a blotched German rescue, killed. The next two decades were marred with violence and conflict. The intifada (Palestinian uprisings) were renowned for stone-throwing groups of youth against armed Israeli soldiers. Hamas was also founded during this time; this group is more concerned with "armed resistance" and carry out acts of terrorism against civilians. The PLO (and their leader Arafat) were recognised as supporting Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait during the Gulf War 1990-1991. The opposition of US intervention by the PLO resulted in many Arab countries (such as Egypt and many other oil-rich countries) severing ties with Palestine and thousands of Palestinians being expelled from Kuwait. In addition any funding for the PLO was removed as they were no longer seen as a partner of peace.
In 1993 Arafat sent a letter to the Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin recognising Israels right to exist and renouncing terrorism. This marked the beginning of the Oslo Peace Process during which negotiations were made towards a two-state solution. In exchange for its own police force, control over certain areas (in West Bank and the Gaza strip), autonomy over legislation etc the Palestinian authorities had to promote acceptance of Israelis and recognise their right to exist. However, the terrorist attacks continued and it was even suspected that these were encouraged by the Palestinian Authority. These allegations were denied by the PA who said that the Israelis had not conceded enough territory to ensure contentment amongst the Palestinians. Once again, violence mounted and suicide bombings along with other terrorist attacks became common.

As a result of these negotiations, which were not seen as desirable by all, intra-faction conflict also occured.Yitzhak Rabin was assinated by a Jewish right-wing radical in 1995. Despite efforts by Shimon Peres to continue negotiations in Rabin's place, the Israeli people voted for Benjamin Netanyahu in the following election due to his commitment to more direct negotiations with the PLO. He disagreed with the notion of granting concessions to the Palestinian people without anything tangible in return in order to build "goodwill".

Meanwhile, a wave of suicide bombings, orchestrated by Hamas, swept through Israel in response to the assination of the Hamas chief bomb-maker. However, this was objected to by the PLO who began attempts to oppress the violence agenda of Hamas. Having failed to do this effectively, Israel sent two secret agents to assassinate the head of Hamas, Khaled Mashal. Complication arose during the attempt and a compromise was established; the return of the captured agents for the antidote to the poison (thus saving Mashal's life) and the release of Palestinian prisoners.

As the violence continued (despite Israels withdrawal from occupied Lebanon) with little hope for diplomacy, in July 2000 the Camp David 2000 Summit was held which was aimed at reaching a "final status" agreement. The summit collapsed after Yasser Arafat would not accept a proposal drafted by American and Israeli negotiators. Barak (the newly elected Israeli leader) was prepared to offer the entire Gaza Strip, a Palestinian capital in a part of East Jerusalem, 73% of the West Bank (excluding eastern Jerusalem) raising to 90-94% after 10–25 years, and financial reparations for Palestinian refugees for peace. Arafat turned down the offer without making a counter-offer.

A Century of Conflict

I recently attended a talk by a volunteer who had spent three months in Israel, working in solidarity with the Palestinian people whos land is being taken from them by Israeli authorities. Although much of the discussion relates to the more current occurences in the region, it helped me to gain an insight into the tension which exists. The volunteer had worked with ordinary people, seen how the conflict influences children on their way to school, husbands denied the papers they need to see their wives, men refused entry to the city to find work and subsequently being forced to live in poverty. The empathy I encountered was definitely angled towards Palestinian citizens. I couldn't help but wonder if I was getting the full story. Beyond the lines of Israeli troops, surely, there are Israeli children, Israeli husbands and Israeli citizens who are just trying to get by.

After the First World War the Levant region was divided between British and French rule after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. During the war a promise had been made to the Jewish people to develop a Jewish homeland in Palestine. However, the Zionist and Arab movements were unwilling to co-operate and so when the British  passed the adminstration of the Eastern area of the region to the Arab dynasty (Hashemite) it was recognised as an autonomous Arab state and Jewish hopes of a Zionist state were eliminated.

With the rise of the Nazi party, the number of Jewish immigrants soared. Many were absorbed into legal settlements but the Arabs percieved the influx as a threat to their national identity. Between 1920 and 1950, tension rose and conflict increased dramatically. Arab leaders incited religious riots against the Jews and many were killed. The British responded with numerous inquests and reports; one of which was The Peel Commission of 1937 which proposed a two-state solution in which the region would be divided into two states.  Jewish immigration and land-purchasing rights were restricted. At the same time Arab leaders made deals with the Nazi party who promised to eliminate any Jews from the region once Germany had gained victory. However, after Germany's defeat and news of the holocaust spread, support for the Zionist cause increased.

In Chapter VI of the UN report of 1947, the majority of the Committee proposed recommendations for consideration by the General Assembly that Palestine within its present borders, following a transitional period of two years from 1 September 1947, shall be constituted into an independent Arab State, an independent Jewish State, and the City of Jerusalem.

There was a mixed recpetion to such a plan and the approval sparked attacks carried out by Arab irregulars against the Jewish population in Palestine. The Arab-Israeli war then ensued. The war resulted in an Israeli victory, with Israel gaining territory beyond the partition borders for a proposed Jewish state. The Gaza strip and West Bank were occupied by Egyptian and Transjordan armies respectively. Many Jews had fled the surrounding countries during the conflict and reached Israel for seeking security. However, the Arab who fled the region itself were not welcomed by neighbouring countries; they became known as the Palestinian refugees.

"In 1949, Israel offered to allow some members of families that had been separated during the war to return, to release refugee accounts frozen in Israeli banks, and to repatriate 100,000 refugees. The Arab states rejected this compromise, at least in part because they were unwilling to take any action that might be construed as recognition of Israel. As of today, most of them still live in refugee camps and the question of how their situation should be resolved remains one of the main issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

After years of conflict, the Palestinian Liberation Organization was established (1964) and sought to  purge the Zionist presence from Palestine and called for the right to return for Palestinian refugees. Eygpt, which was still occupying the Gaza strip, began to train Palestinian fighters who carried out raids on Israel. This prompted an attack on Eygpt by Israelis called the six-day war. Israel had captured, among other territories, the Gaza Strip from Egypt and the West Bank from Jordan (including East Jerusalem). Shortly after Israel seized control over Jerusalem, Israel asserted sovereignty over the entire city of Jerusalem and the Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem were given a permanent resident status in Israel. Because Palestine was never award the status of "state" Israel was not technically guilty of occupying it illegally under the Geneva Conventions or international law.

Robin Hood Week of Action!

This week charities, celebrities and professionals alike have joined forces to push the Robin Hood tax back under the noses of politicians! This weekend the G8 summit, held in America, will look closely at the effectiveness of past aid commitments and consider how best to alleviate poverty for the 50 million people still struggling to survive. Shortly after this, European Finance Ministers and European Heads of State will meet to decide the fate of the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) in Europe. This is a vital time for the campaign as countries will have to decide whether they are in, or out.

Despite over 1000 economists supporting the tax and advocating it as something which is not only morally right but also something which is technically feasible. The task now is to spread the word so that, when election time comes, it is politically advantageous for candidates to demonstrate their support for FTT. This small tax could generate billions for good causes both internationally and at home and could ease the burden of this double-dip recession.

With campaigners mobilised in over 14 countries mobilised, activists are tweeting, blogging, flyering and conducting eye-catching stunts to get the message out! This tax isn't complicated and it doesn't have a catch!

The Exeter University Oxfam Society made use of the new Forum Project on campus (a multi-million pound hub of student activity) and let people know exactly what is being proposed. Taking advantage of the many students revising in the cafes and study spaces they encouraged their captive audience to take action online or to fill out petition cards then and there!

At the same time, information postcards were strategically placed between books in the library to catch the eye of those who might be most interested (see the economics and politics aisles below!)



The Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Getting to the root of the problem...

Today, I signed a petition. Unsurprising perhaps, given the amount of mailing lists I am on regarding human rights, poverty alleviation, climate change and other global issues. Having read the summary I decided it was a worthy cause and so happily added my name to the thousands of others. The petition was against the Israeli government who are apparently uprooting olive trees owned by Palestinian farmers (http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-uprooting-palestinian-trees). This to me seems immediately unfair and unnecessary; farmers in developing countries are often the victim of inconsiderate behaviour by governments or large corporations. Reports of land grabs in Africa and humble farmers being made destitute by intensive industry which hijacks their land are unquestionably tragic and morally wrong. With this in mind, I signed the petition as an act of solidarity with those who also respect peoples right to make a living and right to self determination.

Given that next year I will be studying the Arab world for the first time, I figured this may be a good starting point, a "way in" to the overwhelming topic of war and peace in the Middle East. But, having looked at just two hits from my google search of "understanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict" I am already feeling fuzzy-headed. Unfortunately it is assumed that you already know about the previous century of religious tension and development, let alone the recent developments riddled with political clashes, secular violence and foreign involvement.

So, as I have been some what neglecting this blog recently, I will use it to document my quest to gain a basic understanding of this vital issue. In the late 1800's and early 1900's the Jewish and Arab populations of the Middle East underwent a nationalist movement. The Jews Zionist movement highlighted their support of a Jewish nation-state called the Land of Israel where they would be free from anti-Semitic discrimination and not integrate with other religions (although such a movement has been part of the Jewish religion for millenia, it was only officially established in 1897 as a response to persecution). Meanwhile, Palestinian nationalism is not so easily defined. With different groups aligning themselves with different villages, regions and religions and some aligning themselves against colonialism or rule by other states - known as Pan-Arabism (“Palestine was conquered in times past by ancient Egyptians, Hittites, Philistines, Israel, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Romans, Muslim Arabs, Mamlukes, Ottomans, the British, the Zionists…the population remained constant-and is now still Palestinian.”). Regardless of specific beliefs, there was a distinct emphasis on self-government by Palestinian people. These similar yet conflicting movements collided in the Levant (the region shown below).

At the end of the 1800's, the majority of inhabitants of Palestine were Arab Muslims whilst the majority of Jews lived in Europe or the Mediterranean.  However, as the Jews began to descend on, what they see as their historic homeland, tension mounted. In the late 19th century small acts of violence and retaliation took place in communities between the Jews and the Arabs. For example,

Another incident happened in Petach Tikva, where in early 1886 the Jewish settlers demanded that their tenants vacate the disputed land and started encroaching on it. On March 28, a Jewish settler crossing this land was attacked and robbed of his horse by Yahudiya Arabs, while the settlers confiscated nine mules found grazing in their fields, though it is not clear which incident came first and which was the retaliation. The Jewish settlers refused to return the mules, a decision viewed as a provocation. The following day, when most of the settlement's men folk were away, fifty or sixty Arab villagers attacked Petach Tikva, vandalising houses and fields and carrying off much of the livestock.

At first the objection to immigrants was on cultural, not religious grounds (as most Jews were from Russia and Europe). However, as waves of Jewish settlers flooded the region their Zionist aspirations became apparent. Consequently, the Arab population began protesting against the acquisition of lands by the Jewish population. Thus, in 1892 the Ottoman authorities (under which Palestine was ruled) banned land sales to foreigners. Still, by 1914 the Jewish population in Palestine had risen to over 60,000 and with WW1 on the horizon, things were not about to improve.