War between Israel and Palestine. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict: development, history, reasons - why they are fighting - latest news

International conflicts are a type of international relations in which various states enter on the basis of conflicting interests. This is a special, rather than routine, political relationship, since it means both objectively and subjectively the resolution of heterogeneous specific contradictions and the problems they generate in a conflict form, and in the course of its development can give rise to international crises and armed struggle of states.

Today, the system of international relations is in a transitional state, in which traditional centuries-old forces and patterns and new factors and trends that are emerging before our eyes are intertwined and interact.

Since the Peace of Westphalia, which fixed for almost 350 years an international system based on forceful interaction, the “clash” of national states, the balance of power, the confrontation of alliances, etc., new ones have appeared in world politics characters and new global trends. TNCs and international organizations, the system of global communication, world economic interdependence, the changing role of the military factor, the spread of a largely unified popular culture, the interweaving of domestic and international problems, waves of global democratization, etc. All this today determines the new face of international relations.

Modern international relations are distinguished not only by unprecedented dynamics, but also by complexity and multidimensionality. Bipolar world cold war sank into oblivion, and was replaced not by monopolarity, but by a dynamically developing - and in different vectors and dimensions - new complex world system, essentially multipolar and multidimensional.

Figuratively speaking, the time of “Euclidean geometry” in world politics is over. The time has come for much more complex and multidimensional political equations, and many of their variables have not yet been fully determined.

Becoming modern system international relations, despite new global trends, overcoming polarizing conflicts and forming elements of a single world community is by no means equivalent to the final arrival of stability and harmony, order and progress in world politics. New destabilizing forces and trends have emerged, old, often archaic at their core, conflicts have “awakened,” and conflicts of a “new generation” have emerged. New local, primarily ethnopolitical conflicts, tensions along the North-South line, the diversity of international regimes that are not always compatible with each other, new migration flows leading, in particular, to the emergence of a lower class that is not integrated into developed societies, political and other destabilization as a result global regime changes (the so-called “waves of democratization”), etc., all this should be taken into account when analyzing and attempting to conceptualize modern international relations.

A special issue is the political and legal regime of modern international relations. Qualitative changes taking place in world politics cannot but influence the seemingly established rules that are designed to regulate the behavior of participants in international interaction. As is known, attempts to rethink a number of basic principles of public international law undertaken not only by scientists. Some countries and bloc alliances interpret a number of fundamental provisions of international law in a new, unconventional way, or even turn a blind eye to them.

In a word, the problems of modern international studies have become significantly more complicated, moreover, modern international relations do not yet represent a fully formed system and continue to be in the process of dynamic formation.

The Arab-Israeli conflict, or as it is often called, the Middle East conflict, is the longest unresolved conflict in the world. Its beginning dates back to the 40s of the 20th century and is associated with the problem of creating Jewish and Arab states in Palestine.

The question of Palestine became an international issue towards the end of the First World War as a result of the collapse of the Turkish Ottoman Empire. Palestine was one of the former Arab territories placed under British administration under the League of Nations system of mandates adopted under the League Covenant (Article 22).

All the mandated territories, except one, became, as expected, completely independent states. The exception was Palestine, where the mandate, in addition to “providing aid and advice,” had as its overriding goal the implementation of the Balfour Declaration, published by the British government in 1917, which expressed support for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.”

During the period of the Mandate for Palestine from 1922 to 1947. There was intense immigration of Jews, mainly from Eastern Europe. In the 1930s, as a result of the well-known persecution of the Jewish population by the Nazis, the influx of immigrants increased sharply. Palestinian demands for independence and their resistance to Jewish immigration sparked a rebellion in 1937, followed by a wave of continuous terror and violence on both sides throughout the Second World War and its immediate aftermath. Great Britain tried to use various shapes granting independence to a violent territory, and in 1947 it referred the problem to the United Nations.

In the period 1947-1977. after exploring various alternatives, the UN proposed dividing Palestine into two independent states: one is Palestinian Arab and the other is Jewish, giving Jerusalem international status (resolution 181 (II) of November 29, 1947). One of the two states included in the partition plan declared its independence as Israel and, as a result of expansionist actions in the 1948 war, occupied 77 percent of Palestine. Israel also occupied most of Jerusalem. More than half of the indigenous Palestinians have fled or been expelled. Jordan and Egypt occupied other parts of the territory earmarked under the partition resolution for the never-created Palestinian Arab state.

As a result of the 1967 war, Israel occupied the remaining Palestinian territory then under Jordanian and Egyptian control (the West Bank and Gaza Strip). Israel subsequently annexed the rest of Jerusalem. The war led to a second Palestinian exodus, affecting about 500,000 people. The Security Council, in its resolution 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, called on Israel to withdraw its troops from the territories occupied during the 1967 conflict.

In 1974, the General Assembly reaffirmed the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination, national independence and sovereignty, as well as the right of return. IN next year The General Assembly established the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. The General Assembly granted the Palestine Liberation Organization observer status in the Assembly and other international conferences held under the auspices of the United Nations.

In the period from 1977 to 1990. The situation in this region continued to deteriorate. In June 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon, declaring its goal to destroy the PLO. This was followed by a ceasefire agreement. The remaining PLO forces in Lebanon were withdrawn from Beirut and deployed to neighboring countries after adequate security guarantees were given for thousands of Palestinian refugees. Soon after this happened mass kill refugees in the Sabra and Shatila camps (Beirut, Lebanon).

In September 1983, a representative international Conference on the question of Palestine, adopted, among other things, the Geneva Declaration, containing the following principles: the need to oppose and reject Israeli policies and practices in the occupied territories that are aimed at creating settlements, as well as changing the status of Jerusalem; the right of all states in the region to exist within secure and internationally recognized borders, with justice and security for all people, and the exercise of the legitimate and inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.

In December 1987, a massive uprising (“intifada”) broke out in Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory. The methods used by Israeli forces during the uprising resulted in significant casualties and a large number of injuries among the Palestinian civilian population.

In October 1991, the Middle East Peace Conference was convened in Madrid. Its goal was to achieve a just, lasting and comprehensive peace settlement through direct negotiations through two channels: between Israel and the Arab states, and between Israel and the Palestinians. The negotiations were based on Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973) (the “land for peace” formula). A series of subsequent negotiations led to mutual recognition between the government of the State of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization as the representative of the Palestinian people, as well as the signing by both parties in Washington on September 13, 1993 of the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements. In addition, the implementation of subsequent agreements led to a number of positive changes, such as the partial withdrawal of Israeli forces, elections to the Palestinian Council and the establishment of the institution of presidential rule of the Palestinian Authority, the partial release of prisoners and the creation of effective administrative bodies in the areas of Palestinian self-government. The United Nations took an active part in the peace process, both as a guarantor of international legitimacy and in mobilizing and providing international assistance. In 2000 and 2001, the Israelis and Palestinians negotiated a final status agreement that remained unrealized.

In 2000, a controversial visit to the holy courtyard of Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem by then-Likud leader Ariel Sharon led to the outbreak of the second intifada. These actions have resulted in increased casualties, reoccupation of Palestinian Authority territories, armed incursions, extrajudicial executions of suspected Palestinian fighters, suicide bombings, rocket and mortar attacks, and the destruction of buildings. In the West Bank, Israel began construction of a separation wall running through the occupied Palestinian territory, which was recognized in 2004 International Court of Justice illegal. In 2002, the Security Council adopted Resolution 1397, reaffirming a vision of the region as a place where two states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side within secure and recognized borders. In 2003, the Middle East Quartet (USA, EU, Russia and UN) approved a detailed road map aimed at realizing the two-state solution enshrined in Security Council Resolution 1515. In 2005, Israel, as part of the Disengagement Plan, withdrew its settlers and troops from the Gaza Strip, while maintaining effective control over its borders, coastline and airspace. Following the elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council in 2006, the Quartet agreed that future aid to the Palestinian Authority would be reassessed by donors in light of the new government's commitment to non-violence, recognition of Israel and acceptance of previous agreements.

New, albeit unofficial, work on a peace settlement began in December 2003. Representatives of Israel and the Palestinian civil society Led by two former Israeli and Palestinian Authority ministers, Yossi Beilin and Yasser Abed Rabbo, they came up with the so-called Geneva Initiative, a detailed draft peace agreement addressing final status issues. Despite the absence official status, this project the settlement received significant public support in both Israel and Palestine. Following a meeting between the founders of the initiative, held on December 5, 2003 in New York, Secretary General Kofi Annan stated that " road map" remains a "key mechanism" for moving forward and that the momentum needed to resolve the Middle East conflict must come from people working together for change.

In 2004, there was a further escalation of violence, which took various forms. In separate rocket attacks on Gaza City in March and April, the Israel Defense Forces killed two senior leaders of the Islamist Hamas movement, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin and Abdul Aziz Rantisi.

In November 2004, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, whose illness had progressed over the previous 11 months, died at the age of 75 while undergoing treatment in France.

In August 2005, despite some confrontation in Israel itself, Prime Minister A. Sharon carried out a well-organized and timely evacuation of all civilian settlements in the Gaza Strip and four settlements located in the northern part of the West Bank. In September, the last Israeli soldier left the Gaza Strip, and settlements Israelis stationed in this territory were handed over to the Palestinians. This marked the first withdrawal of Israeli military forces from the Occupied Palestinian Territory since June 4, 1967, although Israel retained control of the Gaza Strip's borders, airspace and territorial waters. In an address to the General Assembly, Prime Minister Sharon said Palestinians "have the right to freedom and to a national and sovereign existence in their own state," while he reiterated Israel's demand for a "one and indivisible" Jerusalem.

In 2006, two events occurred that had a significant impact on the dynamics of the development of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a severe stroke, and as a result of elections to the new Palestinian Legislative Council, the Hamas movement, which does not recognize Israel, does not accept previous agreements and does not deny violence, won a majority of seats. President Mahmoud Abbas called on Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh to form a new Palestinian government; Almost at the same time, Ehud Olmert was elected Prime Minister of Israel.

In response to Hamas's election victory, Israel stopped transferring tax revenues to the Palestinians, and major external sources of funds, including the United States and the European Union, stopped providing financial and economic assistance to the Palestinian Authority.

Amid the growing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, without consultation with the Palestinian government, the Quartet approved the European Union's proposal for a "Temporary International Mechanism" aimed at promoting "direct needs-based assistance to the Palestinian people" (in 2006, the EU spent about $865 million for these purposes).

While aid was being provided to relieve suffering in the Palestinian territory, and Palestinian leaders were conducting negotiations aimed at reconciling Fatah and Hamas, attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip continued. missile strikes using Qassam rockets, and Israel continued to carry out “targeted killings” of suspected Palestinian militants.

By September 2006, President Abbas on the Fatah side and Prime Minister Haniyeh on the Hamas side agreed to create a Palestinian unity government. However, the Gaza Strip erupted in fierce fighting between armed Palestinian factions, resulting in many deaths, causing unity talks to break down.

Attempts to revive the negotiation process after the conference in Annapolis (Maryland, USA) organized in 2007 by the George W. Bush administration virtually did not yield any results.

Israeli Prime Minister B. Netanyahu, leader of the right-wing Likud party, who came to power as a result of early elections on February 10, 2009, expressed his intention to continue peace negotiations, but at the same time avoids any preliminary engagement regarding the creation of a Palestinian state.

The end of the “G. Bush era” in the USA and demonstratively increased attention to the Middle East affairs of the new administration of President Barack Obama from the first days of its existence ensures the intensification of Washington's mediating role in resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. And new American President has repeatedly stated his vision of resolving the conflict based on the two-state principle. This principle is also supported by the “international quartet” (USA, EU, UN, Russia), which today acts as an important mediator in the peace process.

The last Dialogue on the parameters of a final settlement between Israel and the Palestinians was interrupted in September 2010 due to differences in the parties' approaches to the problem of settlement construction.

After repeated attempts at reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, an agreement on inter-Palestinian reconciliation was signed in Cairo on May 5, 2011, thereby ending the confrontation between the Palestinian movements Fatah, which controls the West Bank, and Hamas, which has a foothold in the Gaza Strip. The agreement was critically received by Israeli authorities, who called on Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to revoke it.

Speaking on May 19, 2011, with a speech on US policy in the Middle East, American President Barack Obama said that the basis for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be the restoration of Israel's borders to the state of the borders in 1967.

Obama's statement drew sharp criticism from Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he was ready to compromise on resolving the conflict before Obama announced new principles, but now Israel does not accept the proposal of the American administration, since a return to the previous borders would make the state defenseless.

Today, Palestinians hope that at the end of peace negotiations with Israel, it will withdraw its troops from the territories occupied as a result of the 1967 war - the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. The Palestinians intend to build their own independent state with its capital in East Jerusalem. However, Israel refuses to return to the 1967 lines or to share Jerusalem with the Palestinians, declaring it the eternal, indivisible capital of the Jewish state.

Russia, the EU, as well as members of the “Middle East Quartet” supported the initiative of the American leader.

However, amid heated discussion of his statements in the media, the US President decided to clarify his position in a speech at the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a major lobbying organization. In his speech, he indicated that a return to the 1967 borders is the basis for negotiations between Israel and the PNA, and not the goal.

In turn, Kazakhstan stands both for the realization of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and for the right of Israel to live in peace and security.

Kazakhstan’s position is based on the requirements of implementation of UN Security Council resolutions 242, 338 and 425, the principle of “land in exchange for peace”.

Kazakhstan will support any agreements and understandings reached between the parties involved in the conflict.

September 28 this year The UN Security Council unanimously approved the Palestinian National Authority's application for permanent membership in the organization and submitted it for consideration to a special commission consisting of all 15 members of the Security Council. The Palestinian bid is expected to take several weeks to process. October 1 this year The US Congress blocked the provision of a $200 million aid package to the PNA in response to the Palestinians' application to join the UN. Aid will be withheld "until this matter is resolved." For his part, Israeli Prime Minister B. Netanyahu said on September 27 this year that his country would no longer freeze the construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, because it “led to nothing.” The Israeli decision caused a negative reaction not only among the Palestinians, but also among the United States and the European Union. October 2 this year Israel decided to support the plan proposed by the Quartet of mediators (Russia, USA, EU, UN) to resume negotiations with the Palestinians within a month without preconditions.

The Israeli government on the night of October 12 this year. approved an agreement on the conditions for the release of Corporal G. Shalit, captured by Hamas militants in the summer of 2006. In exchange for Shalit, the Israelis will release 1,027 Palestinian prisoners. The agreement does not provide for the release of the most notorious Palestinian extremists and terrorists, about 400 of whom are serving life sentences for carrying out or organizing bloody terrorist attacks.

On October 8, Israeli soldier G. Shalit was released from captivity in the Gaza Strip and handed over to Israeli representatives. In exchange, at the first stage of the deal, 477 Palestinian prisoners were released from prison, of which 287 were sentenced by an Israeli court to life sentences for murder.

The main task facing the international community today is the continuation of direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiations. All obstacles to the negotiation process must be removed. It is necessary to find a mutually acceptable formula for getting out of the crisis situation.

“Winston Churchill noted that “while the truth is putting on its pants, a lie has time to run halfway around the world.” In the deserts of the Middle East, only myths grow well, while facts remain buried in the sand.

Myths about the Middle East did not begin to emerge in the 1950s, and they have not stopped spreading to this day. It seems that the turbulent events in this region are constantly accompanied by more and more distortions of the facts about the Arab-Israeli conflict.

There is a misconception that Jews were forcibly expelled into the diaspora by the Romans after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD. e., and then, after 1800 years, they suddenly returned to Palestine, demanding that this country be returned to them. In fact, the Jewish people have maintained ties with their historical homeland for more than three thousand years.
The Jewish people base their rights to the Land of Israel on at least four premises: 1) Jews settled on this land and cultivated it; 2) the international community declared the political sovereignty of the Jewish people over Palestine; 3) the territory of Israel was conquered in the process of defensive wars; 4) God promised this land to the patriarch Abraham.
Even after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem and the period of exile and dispersion of the Jewish people throughout the world began, Jewish life in the Land of Israel continued.
By the 9th century Large Jewish communities began to be created again in Jerusalem and Tiberias. In the 11th century Jewish communities emerged and grew in Rafah, Gaza, Ashkelon, Jaffa and Caesarea.
By the beginning of the 19th century. – long before the birth of the modern Zionist movement – ​​more than 10 thousand Jews lived throughout the territory that is today called Israel. The revival of the nation, which began in 1870 and lasted 78 years, reached its climax with the creation of the State of Israel.

Palestine has never been an exclusively Arab country, although after the Muslim invasions in the 7th century. Arabic gradually became the language of part of the population. There has never been an independent Arab state or a Palestinian state proper in Palestine.
The Palestinians are the newest people in our entire land. This people began to exist in one day. Palestinian Arab nationalism is a phenomenon that emerged after the First World War. He became significant political movement only after the Six-Day War of 1967, at the end of which Israel took control of territories in the West Bank. Testimony of former PLO terrorist Walid Shebat: “It was amazing to me how, in one night on June 4, 1967, I turned from a Jordanian to a “Palestinian.” In the camp where we were taught, part of the program was “the destruction of Israel,” but we all considered ourselves Jordanians, and only when Israel occupied Jerusalem did we turn overnight into Palestinians. The star was removed from the Jordanian flag and it became the flag of the new Palestinian people.
In fact, there is no “Palestinian people”, “Palestinian culture”, “Palestinian language”, “history of the state of Palestine”.
In 985 AD the Arab writer Muqaddasi complained that the vast majority of the population in Jerusalem were Jews, and said that "the mosque is empty, there are almost no Muslims"
Many tourists: writers, famous people visited the holy land at that time and their impressions were similar. All of them found almost empty lands, with the exception of the Jewish community in Jerusalem, Nablus, Hebron, Haifa, Safed, Caesarea, Gaza, Ramla, Akko, Sidon, Tsur, El-Arish, and some cities in the Galilee: Ein Zeitim, Pekiin, Biria , Kfar Alma, Kfar Hananiya, Kfar Kana and Kfar Yassif. The majority of the population is Jewish, almost everyone else is Christian, and there are very few Muslims, mostly Bedouins. The only exception is Nablus (now Nablus), where approximately 120 people from the Muslim Natsha family lived
There is not a single settlement in Palestine whose name has Arabic roots.
Most settlements have Hebrew names, and in some cases Greek or Latin names. In Arabic there is no meaning to names like Acre, Haifa, Jaffa, Nablus, Gaza or Jenin.

Jews have lived continuously in Jerusalem for almost two millennia. They represent the largest and most cohesive group of the urban population since the 1840s. In Jerusalem is the Western Wall of the Temple Mount (Wailing Wall), the most Holy place Judaism.
Jerusalem has never had the status of the capital of any Arab state. On the contrary, for a significant period of Arab history it was an abandoned, provincial city. During Muslim rule, Jerusalem was not even considered a provincial center.
The connection between the Jewish people and Jerusalem is one of the most well-documented facts in world history. The word "Jerusalem" is mentioned more than 600 times in Jewish traditional sources, and at least 140 times in the New Testament.
Jerusalem and the Temple Mount are not mentioned in the Qur'an. Muhammad had never been to this city, and apparently did not even know about its existence. Jerusalem is mentioned only in hadiths, which were written much later than the Koran. This is a very important fact, considering that the name “Jerusalem” existed 2,000 years before the founding of Islam.
Islamic claims to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount were conceived and implemented for purely political reasons in the 1930s by Mufti Haj Amin Al-Husseini, a Nazi collaborator in the Middle East.
The Muslim "story" is that there was a mosque already in 632 AD. e. - a lie, because Jerusalem was then Byzantine.
What is written in the Koran about the distant Al-Aqsa mosque, to which Muhammad was transported at night, is not a mosque in Jerusalem.
Only in 638 AD. e. Jerusalem was captured by Caliph Omar, 6 years after the death of Muhammad.
In 632 AD, Jerusalem was part of the Byzantine Empire and was Christian.
On the temple mount was the Church of St. Mary, built in the Byzantine style.
80 years after the death of Muhammad, the Byzantine church was reconstructed, turned into a mosque, and named Al-Aqsa.
Over the past 3,300 years, Jerusalem has never been the capital of any other people, including Arabs and Muslims. It's on its own unique fact, considering that the city was conquered by so many peoples.
Few people know that starting around 1840, Jews made up the bulk of the population of Jerusalem.

Year 1844 Jews 7,120 Muslims 5,000 Christians 3,390 Total 15,510
Year 1876 Jews 12,000 Muslims 7,560 Christians 5,470 Total 25,030
Year 1896 Jews 28112 Muslims 8560 Christians 8748 Total 45420
Year 1922 Jews 33971 Muslims 13411 Christians 4699 Total 52081
Year 1948 Jews 100,000 Muslims 40,000 Christians 25,000 Total 165,000
Year 1967 Jews 195,700 Muslims 54,963 Christians 12,646 Total 263,309

When Israel captured the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1967, the authorities took steps to improve the living conditions of the Palestinians, unlike the Jordanian authorities who occupied the West Bank for 19 years and the Egyptian authorities who occupied Gaza. Universities were opened, Israel shared the latest agricultural inventions, modern amenities appeared, and the health care system improved greatly. More than 100,000 Palestinians worked in Israel, earning the same wages as Israelis, spurring economic growth.
In the recent UN Humanitarian Development Report, Palestine ranks 102
(among 177 countries and territories of the world) place in the world in terms of life expectancy, level of education and real income per capita.
The Palestinian Authority was ahead of Syria (105th place), Algeria (108th), Egypt (120th) and Morocco (125th).
Few Palestinians would be willing to trade places with Arabs from neighboring countries.

Jews have lived in Judea and Samaria - that is, the West Bank - since ancient times. Behind Lately Jews were prohibited from living in this territory only once - this happened during the period of Jordanian rule, which lasted from 1948 to 1967. This ban was contrary to the provisions of the League of Nations mandate for the administration of Palestine. The Mandate provided for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, and it specifically stipulated that “the Palestine Administration... in conjunction with the Jewish Agency... shall promote dense settlement
Jews of the land (Palestine),” which included Judea and Samaria.
From a strictly legal and moral point of view, there is no compelling reason why ancient Jewish cities such as Hebron should be free of Jews. Jews who were expelled from Hebron as a result of pogroms carried out by religious fanatics, as well as the descendants of these Jews, are entitled to the same compensation as that claimed by Arab refugees.

Israel is one of the most open societies in the world.
Arabs in Israel have the same voting rights as Jews, and it is one of the few countries in the Middle East where Arab women can vote. There are currently 9 members of the Knesset:
Arabs (there are 120 deputies in the Knesset). Israeli Arabs also held various government positions, one of them being the Israeli ambassador to Finland. Oscar Abu Razak was appointed general director Ministry of Internal Affairs. IN Supreme Court One of Israel's judges is an Arab. In October 1925, the Arab professor was elected vice-president of the University of Haifa.
Arabic, along with Hebrew, is one of the official languages Israel. More than 300 thousand Arab children study in Israeli schools. During the period when the State of Israel was created, there was only one Arab high school. Today there are hundreds of Arab schools in Israel.
The only legal difference between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel is that Arabs are not required to serve in the Israeli army. However, Bedouins, Druze, Circassians and other Israeli Arabs themselves expressed a desire to carry out military service.

In his memoirs, which appeared in 1972, former Syrian Prime Minister Khalid al-Azem laid the blame for creating the refugee crisis on the Arabs: Since 1948 we have demanded the return of refugees, when it was we who forced them to leave... We brought misfortune on Arab refugees by inviting them and putting pressure on them to leave... We condemned them to poverty... We taught them to beg... We participated in lowering their moral and social level... Then we used them to commit crimes: murder, arson and explosions that killed men, women and children - all to achieve political goals.
Palestinians were indeed encouraged to leave their homes to clear the way for the invading Arab armies. This is confirmed by numerous evidence. The Economist magazine, which often published critical materials about the Zionists, reported in its issue of October 2, 1948: “Of the 62 thousand Arabs who used to live in Haifa, no more than 5 thousand or 6 thousand people remained. Many factors influenced their decision to flee to find safety. There is no doubt that the most powerful factor was the radio messages of the Higher Arab Executive calling on the Arabs to leave the city... It was clearly implied that those Arabs who remained in Haifa and agreed to live under the protection of the Jews would be considered traitors."
Even Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, accused the Arab armies of “forcing the Arabs to emigrate and leave Israel, and then throwing them into prisons similar to the ghettos in which the Jews used to live.”
Arab refugees were deliberately not absorbed and integrated into those Arab countries ah, in which they found themselves, despite their vast territories. Of the 100,000,000 refugees since the Second World War, they are the only group in the world that has not been absorbed or integrated into the countries of their own people.
At the same time, more than 850 thousand Jews have been expelled from Arab countries over the past 66 years. They belonged to dynamic communities with thousands of years of history. On the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, the Jews of Babylon created a number of the holy books of Judaism and flourished for twenty centuries. In the magnificent synagogues and libraries of Cairo, the Jews of Egypt preserved the intellectual and scientific treasures of antiquity. From Aleppo to Aden and Alexandria, Jews contributed to the development of Arab world as scientists, musicians, entrepreneurs, writers...
All these communities were destroyed. Property that had belonged to Jews for centuries was stolen. Jewish quarters are destroyed. The rioters looted synagogues, desecrated cemeteries, and killed and maimed thousands of Jews. UN reports on the plight of Palestinian refugees can fill stadiums, but not a drop of ink has been spilled on the fate of Jewish refugees.

The maximum existing estimate of the number of Arabs killed during the Arab-Israeli conflict and in the brutal Arab-Israeli wars from 1922 to 2014 is 65,000-70,000 people (lower estimates also exist).
The most deadly military operations for Palestinian Arabs were two: the Arab Revolt against the British Mandate regime in 1936-1939 and Black September. Between 1936 and 1939, perhaps up to 6,000 Arabs were killed during the suppression of the Arab Revolt. Black September was a coup attempt by Palestinian Arabs in Jordan in September 1970, its suppression by the Jordanian Royal Army and subsequent brutal repression of Palestinians in Jordan in 1970-1971. According to one estimate, about 20,000 Palestinians were killed by the Jordanian army (virtually overnight);
The third and fourth largest sources of Palestinian casualties during this period were the Lebanese Civil War in 1975-77 (over 5,000 Palestinians killed) and the Second Lebanese Civil War in 1985-1987 (also over 5,000 Palestinians killed). During the same time in Israel, about 2,000 (18% of them children and minors) died as a result of terrorist attacks and about 25,000 in Israeli wars.
On the other hand, since 1948, 12,000,000 Muslims have been brutally murdered around the world. By contrast, more than 90 percent of the 12 million dead were killed by fellow Muslims.

Arabs and Palestinians refused to make peace even before there was a single settlement. The Palestinians also refused to make peace when Ehud Barak promised to withdraw all settlements. Moreover, when Egypt proposed peace, the settlements of the Sinai Peninsula did not become an obstacle; they were immediately withdrawn.
From 1948 to 1967, so-called. The "West Bank" was part of Jordan and Gaza was part of Egypt. During this period, the Arab world did not lift a finger to create a Palestinian state. The Arab world sought to destroy Israel when there was not a single settlement in the West Bank and Gaza.
In 2005, Israel liquidated all settlements in the Gaza Strip - and in return received only rocket attacks on its cities.

The Palestinians are not mentioned in resolution No. 242. There is some hint in the 2nd paragraph of Article 2 of this resolution, which calls for finding a “just settlement of the refugee problem.” But nowhere is there a demand to grant the Palestinians any political rights or territory.
UN Security Council Resolution 242 was intended and written as a peace document. She called for “the immediate cessation of all aggressive declarations and every state of war”, for “recognition of sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of all states in the region”, to the recognition of the right of each of these states “to live in peace, having secure and recognized borders, without being subject to threats and violence”
The core of the resolution is the international community's demand to the Arabs to establish peace with Israel. The Arabs (!) are ordered to end their declared state of war with Israel, recognize Israel's right to exist and provide reliable guarantees for the security of its borders.
Initially, part of the Arab world rejected resolution 242. The Arab countries involved in the conflict at a summit in Khartoum (Sudan) (08.29.67 - 09.01.67) adopted a declaration that went down in history as the “Three Nos”:
No - peace with Israel!
No to recognition of Israel!
No to negotiations with Israel!
However, in this case, Arab propagandists, with their usual hypocrisy, managed to replace cause with effect, declaring that the violator of resolution #242 was Israel, and not the Arab countries that refused to make peace with it. Their accusations are based on another paragraph of the resolution, which calls for "the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territories they captured as a result of the latest conflict." Israel, the Arabs argue, has failed to comply with the UN resolution, so why should we make peace with it while it continues to occupy the West Bank and Golan Heights? The Arabs prefer to forget that Israel's retreat from any territory is expected after the conclusion of a peace treaty, and not before. Selected wording ("territories" - without definite article or the words “all”) is by no means accidental. It was intended to provide the opportunity to negotiate a particular depth of retreat so that part of the territory occupied in 1967 would be retained by Israel in order to ensure its security. Israel can control the territories until its Arab neighbors make peace with it. Israeli control over these areas is not an obstacle to peace, but a barrier to aggression and war.

For a more accurate understanding of the conflict that arose between Israel and Palestine, one should carefully consider its background, the geopolitical location of the countries and the course of conflict actions between the states of Israel and Palestine. The history of the conflict is briefly discussed in this article. The process of confrontation between countries developed for a very long time and in a very interesting way.

Palestine is a small territory of the Middle East. The state of Israel, which was formed in 1948, is located in the same region. Why did Israel and Palestine become enemies? The history of the conflict is very long and contradictory. The roots of the confrontation between them lie in the struggle between Palestinian Arabs and Jews for territorial and ethnic dominance over the region.

Background to the long-term confrontation

Throughout centuries of history, Jews and Arabs coexisted peacefully in Palestine, which Ottoman Empire was part of the Syrian state. The indigenous people in the region were Arabs, but at the beginning of the 20th century the Jewish part of the population began to slowly but steadily increase. The situation changed radically after the end of the First World War (1918), when Great Britain received a mandate to administer the territory of Palestine and was able to pursue its policies in these lands.

Zionism and the Balfour Declaration

Widespread colonization of Palestinian lands by Jews began. This was accompanied by the propaganda of the national Jewish ideology - Zionism, which provided for the return of the Jewish people to their homeland - Israel. Evidence of this process is the so-called Balfour Declaration. It is a letter to the leader of the Zionist movement from the British Minister A. Balfour, which was written back in 1917. The Letter justifies the territorial claims of the Jews to Palestine. The declaration was significant; in fact, it started the conflict.

Deepening of the conflict in the 20-40s of the XX century

In the 20s of the last century, the Zionists began to strengthen their positions, the Haganah military association arose, and in 1935 a new, even more extremist organization called the Irgun Zvai Leumi appeared. But the Jews had not yet decided to take radical action; the oppression of the Palestinian Arabs was still carried out peacefully.

After the Nazis came to power, the number of Jews in Palestine began to increase sharply due to their emigration from Europe. In 1938, about 420 thousand Jews lived in the Palestinian lands, which is twice as many as in 1932. The Jews saw the final goal of their resettlement as the complete conquest of Palestine and the creation of a Jewish state. This is evidenced by the fact that after the end of the war, in 1947, the number of Jews in Palestine increased by another 200 thousand, and already reached 620 thousand people.

Israel and Palestine. History of the conflict, attempts at resolution at the international level

In the 50s, the Zionists only strengthened (there were incidents of terror), their ideas about creating a Jewish state received the opportunity to be implemented. In addition, they were actively supported. The year 1945 was characterized by serious tension in relations between Palestine and Israel. The British authorities did not know a way out of this situation, so they turned to the UN General Assembly, which in 1947 took up the decision of the future of Palestine.

The UN saw two ways out of the tense situation. At the department of the newly created international organization, a committee was established that dealt with the affairs of Palestine; it consisted of 11 people. It was proposed to create two independent states in Palestine - Arab and Jewish. And also to form between them a no-man's (international) territory - Jerusalem. This plan of the UN committee was adopted in November 1947 after a long discussion. The plan received serious international recognition, it was approved by both the USA and the USSR, as well as Israel and Palestine directly. The history of the conflict, as everyone expected, was supposed to come to its conclusion.

Terms of the UN resolution to resolve the conflict

According to the UN resolution of November 29, 1947, the territory of Palestine was divided into two independent states - Arab (area 11 thousand sq. km) and Jewish (area 14 thousand sq. km). Separately, as planned, an international zone was created on the territory of the city of Jerusalem. By the beginning of August 1948, the British colonists, according to the plan, were supposed to leave Palestine.

But as soon as the Jewish state was proclaimed, and Ben-Gurion became prime minister, radical Zionists, who did not recognize the independence of the Arab part of the Palestinian lands, began hostilities in May 1948.

Acute phase of the conflict of 1948-1949

What has been the history of conflict in countries like Israel and Palestine? How did the conflict begin? Let's try to give a detailed answer to this question. The declaration of Israeli independence was very resonant and controversial international event. A lot of Arab-Muslim countries Israel declared “jihad” (holy war against infidels). The Arab League that fought against Israel included Jordan, Lebanon, Yemen, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Thus, active hostilities began, with Israel and Palestine at the center. The history of the conflict of peoples forced about 300 thousand Palestinian Arabs to leave their native lands even before the start of the tragic military events.

The army of the Arab League was well organized and numbered about 40 thousand soldiers, while Israel had only 30 thousand. The Commander-in-Chief of the League was appointed. It should be noted that the UN called on the parties for peace and even developed a peace plan, but both sides rejected it.

At first, during the fighting in Palestine, the advantage belonged to the Arab League of countries, but in the summer of 1948 the situation changed dramatically. Jewish troops went on the offensive and within ten days repelled the onslaught of the Arabs. And already in 1949, Israel, with a decisive blow, pushed the enemy to the borders of Palestine, thus capturing its entire territory.

Mass emigration of peoples

During the Jewish conquest, approximately a million Arabs were expelled from Palestinian lands. They emigrated to neighboring Muslim countries. The reverse process was the emigration of Jews from the League to Israel. Thus ended the first military clash. This is how countries like Israel and Palestine have had a history of conflict. It is quite difficult to judge who is to blame for the numerous casualties, since both sides were interested in a military solution to the conflict.

Modern relations of states

How do Israel and Palestine live now? How did the conflict end? The question is unanswered, since the conflict is not settled even today. Clashes between states continued throughout the century. This is evidenced by such conflicts as the Sinai (1956) and the Six-Day (1967) wars. Thus, the conflict between Israel and Palestine suddenly arose and developed for a long time.

It should be noted that there was still progress towards achieving peace. An example of this is the negotiations that took place in Oslo in 1993. An agreement was signed between the PLO and the State of Israel to introduce a system of local self-government in the Gaza Strip. Based on these agreements, the following year, 1994, the Palestinian National Authority was founded, which in 2013 was officially renamed the State of Palestine. The creation of this state did not bring the long-awaited peace; the conflict between Arabs and Jews is still far from being resolved, since its roots are very deep and contradictory.

There is an expression that is actively used by all means mass media: "occupied territory". This phrase defines the attitude and perspective for reasoning, literally, of the whole world.

In its truest and truest meaning, "occupied Palestinian territory" means that Israel is illegally occupying land that belongs to someone else. In other words, Israel is violating international law. Israel has no rights to the territory it occupies. And even Israeli territory within the Green Line is in doubt.

There can be no peace because Israel is building houses and creating cities (usually called settlements) in the “occupied territory.” If Israel renounces its claim to the "Occupied Palestinian Territory" then the Arabs will make peace and the land will be freed from the greatest tension ever present in the Middle East.

It is striking how little journalists and politicians know about Israel's roots. They talk as if Israel suddenly appeared one day, confiscated the land from the Arabs and captured the capital of Palestine.

Every follower of Yeshua should know the facts about the emergence of the modern state of Israel.

More than 3,500 years ago, a man and his family left Ur of the Chaldeans (modern Iraq) and came to the land that was then called Canaan. God promised him that this particular land would be the inheritance for him and his descendants forever.

Well, of course, what journalist in the modern world would accept such a fantastic “document” from God as legitimate? Fortunately, there are other official and legal agreements and documents that, although routinely ignored by experts and political leaders, however, provide validity and legitimacy for Israel's existence at the international level, no matter what other nations claim today.

This was just after the end of World War I and after England and France had defeated Germany and the Turkish Ottoman Empire. At that moment, they had no choice but to share the spoils. After all, this is what victorious armies do, isn’t it? Even before the war was officially over, Sir Mark Sykes, representing English interests, and French diplomat François Georges-Picot negotiated the Sykes-Picot Agreement, which divided the territory of the Ottoman Empire between Britain and France (with some Russian participation). Great Britain received the southern regions of the Middle East, including the so-called territory of Palestine (the Romans gave this name to the land of Israel), and France received Greater Syria. Great Britain also decided to give France a small piece of Palestine - the Golan Heights. This territory, once belonging to the Hebrew tribe of Manasseh, was part of the British Mandate. And France later gave this territory to Syria - such a kind of random model of governance.

Occupied Palestinian Territory?

• The State of Palestine never existed.
• There was no Palestinian people until Yasser Arafat and other Arab nations created one in 1964.
• The “Palestinian people” do not celebrate any national holidays or memorial dates, but only days of protest against Israel.
• No nation has claimed Jerusalem as its capital for centuries since the Romans expelled the Jews from Jerusalem in 70. That's right: no one, until Israel declared the new Jerusalem its capital and then captured the old city in 1967.

Balfour Declaration

The two colonial powers, Great Britain and France, began dividing the former Ottoman Empire according to the demands and circumstances of the time. Fortunately for the Jews, during World War I, the eminent scientist Chaim Weizmann discovered new way production of acetone, which was used in the production of English gunpowder. This discovery provided significant assistance to the British war effort. This discovery also prompted the British Foreign Secretary, Arthur Balfour, to sign the Balfour Declaration in 1917. This Declaration is the fundamental basis of Israel's legal rights to the territory of Palestine as its Jewish homeland.

Next, a number of documents and agreements were signed that confirmed the Balfour Declaration - by the international organization "League of Nations", the peace conference in San Remo and, finally, by the United Nations, which voted to admit Israel to the UN.

During both world wars, when millions of Jews died in gas chambers, the Arabs of the Middle East made enormous efforts to prevent Jews from entering their homeland. The British understood that there were many more Arabs than Jews, and that England needed Arabs to resist the Ottoman Turks. Therefore, they caved in under Arab pressure, uprisings and political demands of the Arabs.

Three White Papers

In 1922, Winston Churchill proposed a plan that he believed would work. When the Arabs demanded that he revoke the Balfour Declaration, he replied in his 1922 White Paper that he could not do so. The Balfour Declaration was confirmed. However, to appease the Arabs, he, by his own decision, took the land under the British Mandate east of the Jordan, 76% of which was promised to the Jews as their land, and issued a decree prohibiting Jews from living in this territory. This was a departure from the decisions of the Balfour Declaration, but Churchill thought that it was worth taking such a step, and subsequently Britain could reserve for the Jews the remaining 24% of Palestine west of the Jordan and to the borders of the Mediterranean Sea. Churchill was considered a friend of the Jewish people.

The Arabs happily took the lands on the eastern bank, but continued terrorist attacks against the Jews in the remaining 24% of the land that was supposed to be the Jewish homeland.

In 1930, the British government issued another White paper in response to ongoing violence. It stated that it was now necessary to limit the number of Jews migrating to any place in the Holy Land, since they were taking jobs away from the Arab population. However, it is a well-known fact that Jews, wherever they lived, boosted the economy and, in fact, gave Arabs new jobs. The Arabs themselves moved to the places where the Jews settled. But the British wanted to stop Arab violence at any cost.

In 1939, at the beginning of the extermination of 6 million Jews in Europe, the British issued a third White Paper, which for the next five years allowed only 10,000 Jews per year to come to Palestine. Thus, during World War II, Jews were denied safe refuge from the Nazi butchers. The British sense of justice collapsed under the weight of Arab terrorism and obstinacy.

Jews are still homeless

Meanwhile, France granted independence to Lebanon in 1943 and Syria in 1946, and Britain declared independence for Iraq in 1932 and Jordan in 1946.

But Israel continued to exist without its own country due to the incessant violence from the Arabs, who strongly advocated that no Jews could create their own state in the middle of “Arab territory.”

In the end, Britain gave in and handed the whole mess over to the League of Nations and then to that organization's successor, the UN.

The UN welcomes Israel as a member

The League of Nations, and then the UN, kept the Balfour Declaration in force, but carved out a small section of what remained of the British Mandate for Israel, leaving open the possibility of the formation of another Arab state in the mountainous area of ​​the West Bank (Judea and Samaria).

Israel agreed to accept this small strip of land to form its new state and was admitted to the UN as an independent Jewish state in 1948. It is completely incomprehensible that after the extermination of 6 million Jews in the same decade, Great Britain never voted for Israel to join the UN. It was the only country to abstain. Even Russia voted for Israel!

But absolutely all Islamic states that were members of the UN in 1947 voted against the formation of the state of Israel. It was simply fate that at that time the Islamic states and their allies did not have the majority of votes in the UN General Assembly, as they do now.

Israel accepted UN Resolutions 181 and 273, and Founding Father David Ben-Gurion declared Israel a free and independent state on May 14, 1948.

Five Arab states invade Israel

The Arabs completely rejected the UN resolution and five Arab states invaded Israel the very next day, swearing oaths to destroy the newly formed state.

When the fog cleared, the Jordanians captured the territory of Judea and Samaria on the west bank of the Jordan and eastern Jerusalem, and the Egyptians occupied Gaza for themselves. They were able to do this because there was no “Palestinian people” or “Palestinian state.” The only rulers in Palestine for the last 500 years have been the Ottoman Turks and the British.

4 thousand Jews died in the War of Independence, but Israel acquired 60% of the territory that the UN offered to the Arabs to form their new state! The CIA did not believe that Israel had a chance of winning. The number of Israeli irregular troops was only about 20-30 thousand people. Many of them were new immigrants and could not even understand Hebrew commands, while the Arabs had numerous regular armies. Israel's victory was an absolute miracle.

Six Day War 1967

More than 19 years later, the Arabs again threatened to throw Israel into the sea and, unleashing hostilities, blocked Israel's access to the Red Sea. Israel responded by driving the Egyptians out of Gaza and the Jordanians out of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and old Jerusalem. Israel captured the Sinai desert, Gaza, and the ancient lands of Judea and Samaria. Moreover, they took the Golan Heights from the Syrians, thereby ending decades of constant Arab terrorist attacks on Jewish villages and kibbutzim in the Galilee. And all this in six days, an incredible miracle.

The Arab states had no choice but to sign a ceasefire agreement with Israel. But they made it clear that they do not recognize any borders with Israel, since they initially did not accept the very fact of the existence of the state of Israel. No Israel - no borders.

Yom Kippur War in 1973

Once again, the Arabs invaded Israel with a surprise attack on Israel's holiest day. Once again, miraculously, Israel drove the Arabs back and could even march victoriously into Cairo in the south and Damascus in the north. But by this point the UN was almost hysterically demanding that Israel stop. Another ceasefire agreement was signed, but again no borders of Israel were defined, because (do you remember?) The Arabs refused to recognize the existence of the state of Israel, and therefore did not recognize its borders. Until today, the borders of the State of Israel have not been recognized in writing by any of the Arab states, only the ceasefire lines.

Eastern border - Second Intifada (2000-2004)

Muslim violence increased. During the Second Intifada, which began in 2000 in the West Bank, every type of terror imaginable was recorded: nighttime militant raids; bus explosions; shooting at a bar mitzvah; random attacks with bladed weapons; street riots; siege of cities; cyclists throwing bombs; clashes at holy places; car bombs; sniper shootings; human shields; mortar fire on rural settlements and farms.

Experts told Israel that it was impossible to win a guerrilla war, and the intifada was precisely a guerrilla war. However, Israel had no other options if it wanted to survive. After 5,800 Arabs were killed, the intifada ended.

According to the NGO B'Tselem, 1,053 Israelis were killed and 2,267 wounded. 120 Arab suicide bombers blew themselves up along with the bombs they were carrying. What did the Arabs acquire in Judea and Samaria? First of all, they lost their booming economy in the region, but gained the hassle and inconvenience of many new Israeli checkpoints and a security wall (though the world said it was illegal) to keep suicide bombers out of Israeli territory.

Northern border - Hezbollah

There have been many wars in Israel, too many to write about in this article. Let's talk about just one: the war in which Hezbollah terrorists continuously attacked Israeli cities along the northern border. Israel pushed them back and created a buffer zone in southern Lebanon, fighting the terrorists along with Lebanese Christians who were on Israel's side. Under international pressure, Israel ceased hostilities in 2000, which led to Hezbollah's transformation into a powerful guerrilla army that received weapons from Syria and Iran. Data from just one short war between Israel and Hezbollah, which lasted 33 days: on the Israeli side, 121 soldiers were killed, 1,244 were wounded, 43 civilians were killed, including 18 Israeli Arabs, 1,384 civilians were injured, mainly from 4,000 rockets fired.

In an attempt to end the violence, on August 11, 2006, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted UN Resolution 1701. The resolution ordered Israel to withdraw and Hezbollah to disarm under the control of UN forces (UNIFIL). Israel retreated, but Hezbollah rearmed. Today, according to military intelligence Israel, Hezbollah has about 40 thousand missiles. This terrorist organization, armed by Iran and Syria, could fire 500-600 rockets a day on Israel's northern borders if war breaks out again.

Hezbollah places its weapons near schools, hospitals and civilian homes so that if Israel attempts to destroy weapons depots, civilians, especially children, will die. Thus, Hezbollah wins the political war in the media, further isolating Israel and hindering its self-defense.

Southern border - Hamas

Israel unilaterally withdrew its troops from Gaza in 2005, and Gaza was completely taken over by the terrorist organization Hamas. For more than 12 years, Hamas has been bombing the population of southern Israel, firing more than 15 thousand rockets during this time. In Sderot alone, about 15 thousand people suffer from PTS (post-traumatic syndrome) and about a thousand people are undergoing treatment.

One of the most recent conflicts in Gaza, in November 2012, dubbed the "Pillar of Cloud" in Hebrew, gave Israel a brief respite until Hamas resumed its rocket attacks. Psychologists suggest that up to 70% of Israeli children living under this constant bombing suffer from trauma and chronic emotional disturbances.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshal, visiting the Gaza Strip for the first time (his home in Syria is no longer safe) said: “Palestine, from the river to the sea, from north to south, is our land, and we will never give up one inch of this land.”

Years have passed, and the majority in the UN is now on the side of Islamic states; Muslims have discovered new types of weapons for political war against Israel. Their plan is to completely isolate and delegitimize Israel so that the world will say, “Down with Israel!”

Now that the Palestinian National Authority has been accepted by the UN General Assembly as a non-state member, the PNA has new arsenal funds for war against Israel. But that's a different story.

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The prophetic words of the Bible are coming true before our eyes:

« And it shall come to pass in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all nations; all who lift him up will tear themselves apart, and all the nations of the earth will be gathered against him.”(Zech. 12:3)

But the prophecies predicting the day when Israel will be saved and become a light to all nations will also be fulfilled. On that day, says the Lord: “They will no longer endure shame from the nations.”(Ezek. 34:29)

Background to the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

In order to understand why the conflict between Israel and Palestine arose, first of all, let's consider its background. Palestine is a territory located near the Mediterranean Sea in the Middle East. The history of this small piece of land goes back centuries. The roots of today's conflict between Israel and Palestine lie in the past in the territorial and ethnic struggle between Palestinian Arabs and Jews. But, it must be said that such a tense situation between the two peoples was not always there.

For a long time, Arabs and Jews lived peacefully as neighbors in Palestine. Palestine was considered part of Syria during the Ottoman Empire. The population in Palestine at that time was dominated by Arabs. At the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, Jewish settlements began to appear in Palestine, and mainly around the city of Jerusalem. But we must admit that the colonization of Palestine by Jews proceeded very slowly. According to statistics, in 1918 the population of Palestine was Arabs, with a total population of 93%. The picture began to change dramatically when, after the First World War, Britain gained the right to rule Palestine. This mandate came into force in September 1923.

Widespread propaganda began for the settlement and colonization of Palestine by Jews. This idea was put forward in 1917 by British Foreign Minister A. Balfour, writing a letter to the Zionist leader. The letter announced the establishment of a national home for Jews. The letter later became known as the Balfour Declaration.

At the beginning of the 20th century in the 20s, the military organization “Hagana” was created, and already in 1935 the Jews created an organization of extremists - “Irgun Zvai Leumi”. True, it should be noted that at first the displacement of Arabs from Palestine was peaceful.

After the Nazis came to power, World War, Jewish emigration to Palestine increased sharply. So in 1932 there were 184 thousand Jews in Palestine, in 1938 there were already 414 thousand people, and by the end of 1947 there were more than 600 thousand Jews, that is, at that time a third of the population of Palestine. Many people say that the ultimate goal of Jewish emigration in Israel is the conquest of Palestinian lands and the creation of a Jewish state. The idea of ​​​​creating the state of Israel goes back a long time, but only after the Second World War did the implementation of this idea become possible. The idea of ​​​​creating a Jewish state was supported by the world community; the Holocaust played a large role in strengthening this idea. In November 1945, the situation in Palestine was tense to the limit. The conflict between Palestine and Israel was brewing.

In addition to the fact that Palestine was shaken by clashes between Arabs and Jews, during this period the movement of Zionist terror intensified, which was directed against the British authorities. Great Britain was unable to solve this problem on its own and submitted a decision on the future of Palestine in 1947 to the UN General Assembly.

At that time, there were two solutions to the future of Palestine. A special committee for Palestinian affairs at the UN was created, which, consisting of 11 people, signed a letter recommending the creation of two independent independent states on the territory of present-day Palestine: Jewish and Arab. And leave between them an international zone - the city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was to receive international status. The plan for the division of Palestine was discussed for a long time and was approved in November 1947. Among the countries that recognized and approved this division into Palestine and Israel were the USA and the USSR.

According to resolution No. 181/11 of November 29, 1947, Palestine was divided into two independent states - Jewish with an area of ​​14.1 thousand square kilometers, which is 56% of the total area of ​​Palestine, and Arab, with an area of ​​11.1 square kilometers, which is 43% of the total area of ​​Palestine, and Jerusalem - the international zone - 1% of the total territory.

Before August 1, 1948, British troops had to be withdrawn from the country. As soon as the decision to create an independent Jewish state of Israel was proclaimed, the Zionists began a real, undeclared war. And even before the official declaration of Israeli independence, 250 thousand Arabs were simply forced to leave Palestine. At the same time, many Arab countries did not recognize the independence of Israel and declared “jihad”—a holy war—on the new state. In May 1948, a military conflict began in Israel.

The news of Israeli independence in Palestine instantly spread throughout the world. The countries of the Arab League, immediately after Israeli Prime Minister Ben-Gurion declared the independence of the State of Israel, began military operations. Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, having united all their efforts, unanimously declared war on the newly created state of Israel. This is where the history of the conflict between Israel and Palestine began.

The Arab League troops numbered 40 thousand soldiers, while the Israeli troops numbered 30 thousand. The Arab League troops were commanded at that time by the King of Jordan. In 1948, the United Nations called on the conflicting parties to a truce, but the truce plan that was proposed was rejected by the parties as unacceptable to both sides.

At first, the military conflict between Israel and Palestine developed in favor of the Arab League, but the course of the war changed dramatically in the summer of 1948. Within 10 days, the Jewish army, facing the larger and better armed army of the Arab League, launched a decisive offensive and neutralized the Arab offensive onslaught. In the final offensive of the Jewish army, which took place in 1949, the Israelis occupied the entire territory of Palestine, pushing the enemy back to the very borders.

More than 900 thousand Arabs were expelled from the Palestinian territory, which Israel conquered, at that time. They settled in different Arab countries. At the same time, more than half a million Jews were expelled from Arab countries and began to live in Israel.

The history of the Israel-Palestine conflict lies quite deep. The two sides must understand this issue, because as the history of Israel and Palestine says, two peoples can live amicably on the same territory.