The Saint

Story by News Editor Zoebelle Bean

In recent months, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has become more important in today’s press. In an effort to engage our readers and keep them informed, a brief coverage of the conflict has been covered below.

After World War I, the land of Palestine was a British protectorate from 1923 to 1948. Around this time, a movement was begun by the Israelis, who had been dispersed mostly throughout Europe and the U.S. due to natural immigration. They wanted to come back to their homeland and re-establish Israel. In returning to their homeland, small groups emerged, who called themselves kibbutz. These groups began skirmishes with the Palestinians, fighting over where they each could settle.

When World War II began, a renewed movement for a homeland began because the Israelis believed they needed a place to be safe since they were being persecuted throughout the world. However, Palestinians were already living in the land that the Israelis needed to occupy, creating tensions between both people.

In 1917, the British announced the Balfour Declaration, attempting to create a state for both the Palestinian and Israeli people. The British proclaimed that their mandate would end in May of 1948. On the last day of their mandate, the creation of the state of Israel was announced, and thus began the Arab-Israeli war. The Israelis and the Palestinians began fights along their borders from the end of World War II to the present day.

The U.S. has always supported Israel because they understood that the Israelis are a persecuted people. However, the U.S.’s unrestrained unilateral support of Israel led to the Israelis sometimes unfair treatment of the Palestinians. Today, the Israelis have gained so much control that they oversee much of what the Palestinians do, imprisoning them in Gaza and the West Bank. Since Gaza borders Egypt, Egypt originally allowed them access to their land and places to work and live. However, in 2014, military general El-Sisi took control in a coup-de-tat, remaining de facto president of Egypt until present day, making it in effect a dictatorship. It was at this point that Egypt closed their border with the Palestinians in Gaza.

Over time, Israelis have built settlements in the West Bank where they originally agreed that they wouldn’t. Each time a conflict begins from these settlements, Israel has the upper hand due to U.S. backing. The conflict has also been aggravated by the U.S. moving their embassy from Tel Aviv (the capital of Israel) to Jerusalem, for no political or geographic reason. Recently, the U.S. and Israel have also negotiated with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia directly, cutting out the Palestinians from the peace process. Now, not only are the Palestinians imprisoned and told what they can and can’t do, but they also suffer from limited support from their fellow Arab nations who are involved in these negotiations. 

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has become more pertinent today as HAMAS, a radical organization that functions as a political party in Gaza, has militarily invaded Israel and kidnapped over 200 citizens, holding them hostage. Israel has also been considering a ground invasion of the Palestinian land. The intensity of the conflict has escalated significantly and the world is watching as these powers converge.

Information taken from Reuters website