CURRENT DISPUTE & CONFLICT BETWEEN ISRAEL AND THE ARAB-PALESTINIANS - YJ Draiman

CURRENT DISPUTE & CONFLICT BETWEEN ISRAEL AND THE ARAB-PALESTINIANS

In 1948, when the Arab countries declared war on the newly formed state of Israel, many Arabs who arrived legal or illegal in Israel aka Palestine from the early 1900 to the land of Israel fled the war zone at the request of the Arab League, to make way for the 7 advancing Arab armies. Many for fear of being in the line of fire fled, expecting to return after the Arab victory. Israel won the war, however, some Arabs stayed at the urging of the local Jewish leaders, and many of the Arabs were stuck in the countries to which they fled (Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, etc). Rather than absorb these refugees, of which some of them were originally from, the Arab countries kept them in squalid refugee camps as political pawns in a continuing campaign to drive the Jews “into the sea.” At the same time, around 990,000 Jews who had been living peacefully in Arab lands for over 2,000 years were terrorized, expelled and all their assets confiscated, including over 70,000 square miles of Jewish owned land. The expelled Jews from Arab-Muslim countries settled in Israel as full citizens and reestablished roots.

In 1967; the kingdom of Jordan attacked Israel; and Egypt and Syria joined forces and massed troops to attack Israel. While defending itself, during the Six-Day War, Israel liberated and reoccupied Jewish lands from Syria (Golan Heights), Egypt (Sinai, Gaza Strip), and Jordan (Old City of Jerusalem, the West Bank-Judea and Samaria), the Arabs resistant to Jewish liberation, developed more Palestinian refugees. Israel formally annexed its territory; the Golan Heights and the Old City of Jerusalem, making the inhabitants of those areas if they so choose, citizens of Israel. In 1979, it returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt while vacating some Jewish settlements in exchange for peace. Egypt did not want Gaza back because it did not want to absorb all of the Arab-Palestinian refugees. After the peace agreement, Israel had to decide about what to do with Gaza and how to handle its liberated territory in Judea and Samaria also known as the West Bank.

The Palestinian Liberation Organization, formed in the 1960’s, conducted terrorist attacks against Israelis and Jews around the world (such as the murder of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics, airline hijackings) in the hopes that the world would recognize the Arab-Palestinian plight. Forming an independent a second Arab-Palestinian state had been dismissed by Israel because of the security threat that the Arab-Palestinians presented. Moreover, an Arab-Palestinian state already existed on all the land east of the Jordan River, which is Jordan on Jewish territory with over 70% Arab-Palestinians as residents.

In the 1970’s, Israelis decided to resettle and rebuild its communities in the Judea and Samaria aka West Bank and parts of Gaza. These Israelis often rebuilt their communities sometimes neighboring Arab towns and villages. The Israelis were justified of their presence by international law and treaties of post WWI and appealing to Israel’s security needs and by claiming that they were fulfilling God’s wishes and abiding by international law and treaties. The reestablished Jewish communities were intended to rebuild the Jewish communities destroyed by the Arabs, provide housing and establish an early warning system for Israel in case of a war. They would serve as a buffer zone between Arab-Palestinian illegal communities and Israel proper. The reestablished Jewish communities, also fulfilled the messianic beliefs of the religious Jews, who know Judea and Samaria aka the West Bank as part of Jewish territory for over 3000 years and Biblical Israel. The Arab-Palestinians who mostly came in illegally since the early 1900’s from neighboring Arab countries deceptively view this as an occupation and see the Israeli population as enemies. Consequently, attacks against the Israelis in their reestablished communities became frequent. To enhance such attacks, the local Arab leadership educates and promotes terror and violence against Israelis.

In 1987, the Arab-Palestinians rioted in what was termed the Intifada (Arabic for struggle, or uprising; literally “shaking off”). They threw rocks at Israeli soldiers and attacked Jews in Israel. This uprising was promulgated by the local Arab leaders; thus, it was conducted by the local Arab-Palestinian people and not directly by the PLO. The PLO leader Yasser Arafat was exiled in Tunis at the time.

Yitzhak Rabin, late Prime Minister of Israel (1922-1995). Thus, in early 1990’s, the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (left; 1922-1995) made new overtures for peace. The Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinians was intended to form an Arab Palestinian Authority that would govern and control the Arab-Palestinian people; provided they abided by the terms of the agreement. Eventually, this authority would lead the Arab-Palestinian people to statehood. The peace process stalled when the Arabs started suicide bombing and terrorist activities against the Israelis. Rabin was assassinated, but in the summer of 2000, Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered the Arab-Palestinians 97% of all their land demands, including a compromise on Jerusalem. This was widely seen as the most generous offer any Israeli government could give, but Arab-Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, rejected it without making a counter-offer. His desire and/or ability to make peace, was thereafter questioned; the deception was revealed and the true intentions were exposed, that the Arabs did not want peace; it wants the destruction of Israel. Shortly afterwards, the conflict slid back into more terror and violence, and the left wing Israeli government of Barak fell to the right-wing government of Ariel Sharon. The outstanding issues which the Arab-Palestinians claim; remaining is the size and borders of the future Arab-Palestinian state, the status of Jerusalem, which the Arab-Palestinians would like as their capital, and the status of the Arab-Palestinian refugees and the million Jewish refugees from Arab countries.

Today after numerous concessions by Israel; The Arabs continue to commit terror and violence with no end in sight.

The only solution to day is; to expel any Arab-Muslim troublemakers and their families to Gaza, Jordan or to the 70,000 square miles of land, the Arabs confiscated from the million expelled Jews.

YJ Draiman