A Brief History of the Conflict

Israel was founded with a “we won’t let this happen again” attitude. Since the days of biblical Joseph, Jews have fled (or been enslaved) to foreign countries where they have eventually risen to powerful positions in the regime’s administration. Eventually, the national leadership changes, feels threatened by the Jews, and persecutes them in some manner, usually a violent one. Even before the Holocaust, Jews that had lived under regimes that forced them to live in ghettos and restricted their rights compared to other citizens, planned on finally going back to their land or origin to create a country where they could be free to practice their religion, rituals, and traditions. Further, their host countries even viewed the secular Jews as a different race.

Slowly, since the late 1880, Jews emigrated to the Ottoman occupied land that the Romans had renamed Palestine. They left lands where they were constantly persecuted regardless of their level of religious observance. They bonded with the minority existing Jews and purchased land from the local Arab population and had great relations with Arabs and Jews. The local Arabs gave them hints on how to make the desert and stripped land redeem agriculture. These peoples came with money from others that bought into the dream of a Jewish homeland, a homeland that is spoken of composed into lyrics of songs for thousands of years.

Eventually, the Jewish population grew significant enough for the local Muslim population to feel threatened by this dream of a Jewish homeland in what was in what was a Muslim majority. There were attacks on the new immigrants and even the head of the Muslims, the Grand Mufti, was a Nazi conspirator.

As the world discovered the Nazi atrocities and that there was a large Jewish population in the territory now called Palestine, there was international rumor that a portion of the land might be given as a Jewish state. From that time until Israel’s declaration of independence, the local Arabs and Jews battled and desperately tried to have their populations control certain areas. Among the results of the fighting, all of the indigenous Jews were expelled from East Jerusalem and West Bank towns such as Jericho and Hebron and several Arab villages were leveled in current Israel.

When Israel declared Independence in 1948, she was immediately attacked by six countries only to prevail. She lost 1/10 of her population in the war. Prior to the war, around 700,000 Arabs living in the area to be Israel either left in protest of a Jewish country or were driven out. After it was clear that Israel could not lose militarily, there was quiet but still a state of war. The Arabs that left Israel wanted to come home. However, since there was still a war on and seven Arab countries attacked, Israel didn’t know who, of the 700,000 had fought with the enemies or were spying or infiltrating for them. There was never a peace treaty. The first peace treaty was with Jordan and Egypt and took place 30 years later. In that time frame, over 700,000 Jews that had been living in the Arab countries were forced to flee and were accepted by Israel. The resentment of the Jewish state rippled through the Middle East where many Jews lived in peace among the Muslim populations after having fled from so many other persecutions.

The Arab refugees, now called Palestinians, stayed in encampments on the outskirts of Israel for decades. Israel paid to develop infrastructure and to give them the foundations to build cities. As Jordan was part of what the Romans had renamed Palestine, there were battles with Jordan where thousands of the refugees were killed. Egypt had the same sort of experience and refused to let them immigrate or find refuge. Israel did not let them back in their homes and the neighboring countries would not let them immigrate to live in Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Jordan, etc. Thus, we have the descendants of these poor people living in squander; their leaders set on restoring the land of Israel as a crucial part of the Muslim world.

20% of Israel is still Arab Muslim and there are over 200,000 ultra-Zionist Jews that want all of biblical Israel to be restored. They are colonizing uninhabited portions of the West Bank, a ridiculous act, causing international condemnation. The radical Hamas, Hezbollah and other groups using terror tactics also contribute to the stalemate. They provoke violence by attacking in order to gain international sympathy as the underdog. Israel reacts in crushing ways with the hope that they will eventually surrender and accept a two-state solution. The Palestinian leadership feels they can wait for generations and that the Jews are impatient. As I have stated before, they are just watching the indigenous Jewish population grow while the Palestinian diaspora is comprised of none who have even stepped foot in Israel.

There are certainly a lot of more violent and repressive sites on the planet that are largely ignored. But, everyone loves to obsess with this issue. We all know where the lines will be and what the terms will be. That is, unless, there is an unconventional catastrophe of war. The Jews are not going to let in a large population that has never contributed to the building of the country and has been living, and perhaps, participating in a conspiracy to rid the land of the Jews. The Palestinians are entitled to compensation as the Jews should receive compensation for their homes in Europe and the Middle East. However, they will have to acknowledge that Israel has a right to exist. They further must drop the victim attitude and take responsibility for building a country in the West Bank and Gaza. The Jews are determined to no longer go quietly to their deaths. Two countries, side-by-side, with special privileges for both to visit their holy sites in Jerusalem is the vision.

The whole of the region of the Middle East has been redrawn and all of the countries created within the last century. That is, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Palestein, and Israel didn't exist. They were all part of the greater Ottoman Empire. So many borders have been agreed upon. We can easily finish the lines of this last little peace (sic).