Israel Palestine Conflict: 1000-year History explained by Dhruv Rathee

Hello, friends!1993 was the year when Israel and Palestine were very close to drafting a peaceful solution. But what happened after it that the situation worsened to the extent that today there is a war between them? If we want to understand today's crisis properly, we need to know the history first. This is why, in today's blogs, let's get to know the detailed history between the two countries. How did the country Israel come to be? And how did the conflict between Israel and Palestine begin?

How was the country of Israel born?

Our story begins thousands of years ago. You must've heard about how terribly Hitler had treated the Jews. But do you know, the atrocities against Jews began thousands of years ago. It is said that Jesus Christ was born into a Jewish family. And some Christians believe that some Jews wanted to crucify Jesus Christ. This is a belief from an ideology that remained among the Christians for several years, decades and even centuries. And when the crusades happened around a thousand year ago, Christians killed the Jews in large numbers.

At that time, there were many rumors being circulated against the Jews that they drink the blood of Christian children, or that they use the blood for religious rituals. Because of these rumors, there was rampant hatred against the Jews. The hate that the Jews had to bear hardly any religion had to bear that in the last thousand years. After the 1800s, this hatred towards the Jews was not only because of religious reasons but also because the Jews were being seen as a different ethnicity as well. Because of all these reasons, till the late 1800s, Jews living around the world began feeling that no country accepts them as their own.

If they wanted to live peacefully, they would need to create their own country. To create a Jewish country. There was an Austro-Hungarian journalist named Theodor Herzl. He started a new political movement in his 1896 pamphlet. Zionism. He said that the Jews should get their separate country. At the time this wasn't a new idea. Since the 1870s, there were several organizations calling themselves Lovers of Zion. They were already propagating this idea. Because of these reasons, in 1881, the first large scale migration of Jews was seen in the Palestine area. The Jews built many permanent settlements in the area and started living there.

palestine map 1947

When did Palestine came into being?

Why did they choose the Palestine area? Because this was a very holy area for them. Jerusalem is the holiest place for the Jews. Do remember that at that time there was no Israel, Gaza or the West Bank. The whole area was Palestine. That fell under the Ottoman empire. Under the Ottoman empire, the Christians, Muslims and Jews lived together peacefully, more or less. There were no conflicts. One reason behind it can be that most of the land was empty. There were very few settlements on the land. And the population was very little in the area. Now we fast forward to the year 1915. World War 1 began. The British, French and Arab revolutionaries were fighting the Ottoman empire. The British play a clever hand here. They tell the Arab revolutionaries that in return for their support in defeating the Ottoman empire, they will give them the Palestine area.

And the Arab revolutionaries were fighting to create a unified Arab country. The Arab revolutionaries wanted one Arab country from Syria to Yemen. The Britishers promise the same thing to the Jews. That they will help them to create their own Jewish country near Palestine. Why do they do this? So that they could appease the American Jews. And could gain influence on American politics. But in reality, the British made a secret deal with the French. As soon as the Ottoman Empire fell after World War 1, Britain and France divided the Middle East area between themselves. The British took over the control of the Palestine region. 1918-1948 the entire Palestine area was under the control of the British Government. At this time in Germany, Hitler gets political power. And the Jews are massacred in millions in a genocide. Why did Hitler get political power?

I made an entire video on it and I'll put a link to it in the description. You can watch that as well. The Jews flee from Hitler-controlled Europe to different countries to save themselves. Some get refuge in America. But many of these Jews go to Palestine. Britain allows them to enter Palestine initially. But later, they start stopping them from coming to Palestine. Because of this, an Israeli Nationalist Movement starts in Palestine. At the same time, around the 1940s, Palestine Nationalist Movement had also begun. And the Palestinians were also demanding their own country. In 1948 the British Government realises that enough is enough.

And that they cannot remain there longer. They left the Jewish to form a Jewish country and the Palestinians to form their own country. They accepted that they could not do that and ceded the responsibility to the United Nations. The British then leave Palestine. United Nations comes up with a partition plan. About the area to be allotted for creating a Jewish country and a Palestinian country. In 1947 the United Nations Partition Plan is released. In the plan, the United Nations keeps 57% of the area for the Jewish country and 43% of the area for the Arab-Palestinian country. Jerusalem is a very historically important area for three religions, for the Jews, Christians and Muslims.

So, the United Nations decided that Jerusalem would be under international control. The Jews accept this plan and name their new country Israel. Here, the Israel country is born in 1948. But unfortunately, the other neighbouring Arab countries weren’t pleased with this plan at all. They believed that the plan was basically the Britisher's way of continuing their colonialism. So, they start a war against Israel. Saying that they will not allow the Jews to take any part of the land. This war is named the First Arab-Israeli war of 1948. And this is a very historic war in and of itself. More than 5 countries were fighting against a tiny new country. The Jews living in Israel knew that five years ago they had seen how the rest of the world treated them. How Hitler had treated them. And then all the Arab countries were starting a war against them. If they didn't fight to survive then, they wouldn't be able to survive ever.

So, to save themselves, they fought with all they had. And very surprisingly, Israel won the war. Defeating all these countries. After the war ends in 1949, the areas that were supposed to be Palestine's according to the UN Partition Plan, Israel occupied several of these areas. The Gaza Strip area went to Egypt. And the West Bank area went to Jordan. This meant that the Palestinians did not have a country any longer. More than 700,000 Palestinians had to leave their homes and become refugees in Arab countries. This is named the 1948 Palestinian Exodus. After this, in 1967, the Second Arab-Israeli War takes place. This war lasts for six days.

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And Israel wins this easily too. Not only does Israel occupy the Gaza Strip and the West Bank area but also this large Egyptian Peninsula gets occupied by Israel after this war. Palestinians want their own country. For this reason, in 1964, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was founded. Initially, their aim is through armed struggle. To use weapons to get their own country. In the beginning, they also wanted that Israel should cease to exist. Because of this, the USA and Israel declare it to be a terrorist organization.

But one thing that needs to be remembered is if you see them from the perspective of one person, they'll seem like a terrorist organization and from the perspective of another, they're revolutionaries who want freedom for their country. In 1973, the Third Arab-Israeli War begins but it isn't very important for our story because, after that, nothing changes much. But in 1974, PLO gets officially recognized by the United Nations General Assembly. To be the representative of the Palestinian people. In 1979, the peace talks between Egypt and Israel is successful And Egypt becomes the first Arab country to recognize Israel as a country that exists there.

After the Peace-Talks, the entire Egyptian peninsula area captured by Israel is returned to Egypt by Israel. The Egyptian and Israeli Prime Ministers both are awarded Nobel Peace Prize for this successful peace treaty. But unfortunately, after two years, the Egyptian Prime Minister gets assassinated. By the right-wing extremists in Egypt. The fanatics questioned the Prime Minister's treaty with Israel. They wanted to kill him because he reached a compromise. And so, he was assassinated. From 1967 to the 1980s, it had been more than 10 years since Israel had occupied the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. During this period, many Israelis start establishing their colonies in the West Bank. They start building settlements and living there permanently.

Israeli government supported them directly or indirectly. And the prices of the homes were low there. Some people go there for cheap housing while others for their religious nationalism. Some fanatic Israelis claim that the entire West Bank area is theirs. And so, they'll reside there. And so Israeli settlements start cropping up in the West Bank area. The international community deems these settlements to be illegal because these settlements go against the United Nations Partition Plan. And the Palestinians see them as colonization. Basically, their country is being colonized by the Israelis. In 1992, Israel gets an amazing Prime Minister. His name was Yitzhak Rabin. He said that PLO is not a terrorist organization. They just want their country and the Israelis should let them have it. Israel officially recognized PLO. And in return, PLO officially recognized Israel as a country. And here the 1993 Oslo Accords take place. For the first time, both of them come together and talk.

About how the country can be correctly and peacefully divided. About how the Palestinian country can be created. As a result, in 1994, the Palestinian Government is established for the first time. It is named the Palestinian National Authority. But at this point in time, Israelis had already established permanent settlements in many West Bank areas. Which were supported by the Israeli Government. And the Palestinians were living in few areas in bits and pieces. It was then decided to divide the West Bank area into three parts. Area A, B and C. Area A would be where the Palestinian government would be in control.

In Area B both the governments will exercise control. And Area C will be the areas where the Israeli Government will retain control. Let alone the United Nation's Partition Plan In reality, in 1994, Palestine gets only some bits and pieces in the West Bank area and Gaza Strip to form their country. But the good news is that at that point in time, Israel and Palestine were very close to come up with a peaceful solution. For this reason, in 1994, the President of the Palestinian Authority - Yasser Arafat, and the Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Rabin were awarded Nobel Peace Prize. But unfortunately, after this, the whole situation goes downhill. When the extreme wight-wing Jewish people assassinate their Prime Minister. In the same way that Godse assassinated Gandhi Ji. Because Gandhi Ji talked about unity between Hindus and Muslims.

A Jewish extremist shot the Israeli Prime Minister thrice from a pistol at point-blank range in 1995. These fanatic Jewish people questioned the compromise with Palestine. About why they were given any land at all. They wanted entire Palestine to be Israeli's. And because of these fanatics, the situation kept on worsening. Around 5-6 years before this incident, some Islamic fanatics in Palestine came together to form the HAMAS group. HAMAS group claims that the PLO is being too secular. And compromising a lot with Israel. But in reality, they want to erase Israel from the maps. So, the fanatics created a new organization to fight for the eradication of Israel. And here the HAMAS group forms. Obviously when the peace treaty is signed around 1994 between Palestine and Israel the Jewish fanatics start hating their Prime Minister and on the other hand, the HAMAS group starts hating the PLO. All because they reached a compromise with Israel. Not only does the HAMAS group boycott the 1996 Palestinian election but they also carry out suicide bombings in Israel. Because of this, on both sides, the dominance of the extreme right-wing groups starts rising.

There is increasing polarization. People on both sides, the Israelis and Palestinians start hating each other. Some hatred was already there and after 1995 it keeps on increasing. Around 2002, violent protests were seen on both sides. More than 100 Israelis and Palestinians died on the other side of the border. There are clashes on the ground and the people have become so sceptical of each other that Israel starts building walls around its settlements. Security guards are deployed around the permanent houses built by the Israelis in the West Bank and checkpoints are placed. And it continues to become increasingly difficult for Palestinians to live there. In 2006, the HAMAS militant group runs in the Palestinian election and wins. It defeats the PLO party, Fatah, but by a very small margin. It wins 74 out of 132 seats. But after this, in 2007, a civil war takes place between these two parties in Palestine. Internally, the supporters of one-party start fighting the supporters of the other. In 2007, this war is known as the Battle of Gaza. And Palestine is divided into two parts.

In the Gaza Strip, HAMAS establishes its control. And the West Bank area is controlled by Fatah and PLO. Who are non-violent and rule the West Bank as a government should. But today when Gaza Strip is under the rule of HAMAS, they have basically occupied the area like a terrorist group. And like I told you in the last video, the war and the rockets that we get to see are sent from the Gaza Strip area to Israel. Whereas in the West Bank where the PLO is in control, this sort of violence is not seen there. So, this is the situation today, friends. There is no doubt that Israel has continued to colonize the West Bank area for several decades. Causing the clashes to intensify. The recent clash, about which I talked in the previous video, was because Israel is occupying the areas in the West Bank. And the fanatics in Israel demand that the entire West Bank area be theirs. That the entire Jerusalem be theirs. And the fanatics in Palestine want to eradicate Israel completely.

The most important question is What can be the solution to this? Look at the map of Palestine. In the West Bank, the country is divided into so many parts That today if this country were to be given an independent government how will it exist in so many bits and pieces? Some people believe that a two-state solution can still be possible. That the area is divided on the basis of 1967. On the basis of Israel and Palestine. Some people say that the division needs to be on the basis of the 1947 Partition Plan. But if this is done then the most prominent question will be What will happen to the colonies of permanent settlement that Israel had built in Palestine? There are proper societies with homes and schools and hospitals and wide roads.

What will happen to these areas if they are reclaimed by Palestine? There are hundreds of thousands of people living in the settlements in the West Bank. Here I will like to ask what do you think, friends? What can be the solution to this crisis? This problem? How should two countries be divided? Write in the comments below. I hope you found this video informative, friends. If you want to take a lesson from this video, in my opinion, it should be that Don’t stop raising your voice against the fanatics! Let's meet in the next article. Thank you.

Israel Palestine Conflict: 1000-year History explained by Dhruv Rathee