Which brings up the question, "Is there a chiropractor in the house?"
I met President Obama in 2009 and I didn't get the impression that he was an uncaring or unfair person, in fact my thought was quite the opposite. So somewhere between where the person ends and politics begin things go wonky.
If things were ever going to get worked out between Israel and Palestine I thought it would have been under President Clinton's term - but it didn't happen. The differences between Israel and Palestine run, not so silent, and very deep. Here is a bit of that very long history:
The boundaries of the region have changed throughout history, and were first defined in modern times by the Franco-British boundary agreement (1920) and the Transjordan memorandum during the British Mandate for Palestine. Today, the region comprises the country of Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Israel was created in 1948, after UN Resolution 181 partitioned the territory of the British Mandate for Palestine into two states for Jews and Palestinian Arabs. At the time, there were approximately 1.2 million Arabs and 650,000 Jews in all of Palestine. The Arabs objected to the creation of the Jewish state and fought a war against it. The Arab side lost the war, and the Palestinian state never really came into being. The territory allotted to the Palestinian state by the UN partition resolution was taken over by Israel and Jordan. About 780, 000 Palestinians became refugees, many of them living in the Gaza strip as well as in the West Bank.
Prior to 1917, the territory that is called Palestine or Israel was ruled by the Ottoman Turkish Empire, and included several sanjaks or districts. The name Palestine, that was used by Roman and Arab rulers, was revived by the British, who received a mandate from the League of Nations to administer Palestine as a national home for the Jewish people.
Palestine was a conventional name, others terms used for the same area were Canaan, Zion, the Land of Israel, Syria Palaestina, Southern Syria, Jund Filastin, Outremer, the Holy Land and the Southern Levant. These various names have been used between 450 BC to 1948 AD to describe a geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River as well as various adjoining lands.
The boundaries of the region have changed throughout history, and were first defined in modern times by the Franco-British boundary agreement (1920) and the Transjordan memorandum during the British Mandate for Palestine. Today, the region comprises the country of Israel and the Palestinian territories.
There is a lot that goes on here and it is very complicated. But I don't like the United States taking the side of a bully (Israel) any more than taking the side of a terrorist. The Palestinian side deserves to be heard. Palestine is not a terrorist, it is a people that desperately is trying to hang on to its shrinking boarders.
Netanyahu on his recent visit to the US laid out clearly the demands:
- Israel demands that Fatah tear up its accord with Hamas, which controls Gaza strip. Israel calls Hamas - Islamic Resistance Movement, the Palestinian version of al-Qaeda.
- The Palestine refugees issue must be resolved outside of the borders of Israel.
- Jerusalem must remain the united capital of Israel.
These are not words that convey to me a willingness to negotiate. In the meantime while Netanyahu visits American soil no news is aired about the attacks that are being made on innocent women and children by the IOF in the Sheikth Jarah suburb, Israel's hands are not squeaky clean. If negotiations are going to take place the United States should remain neutral and offer up concrete suggestions, but it looks like "our" mind is made up as well - this country is siding with Israel, right or wrong. Just another situation we can look back on at some future date as a BIG mistake.
More on Israel:
Israel was created in 1948, after UN Resolution 181 partitioned the territory of the British Mandate for Palestine into two states for Jews and Palestinian Arabs. At the time, there were approximately 1.2 million Arabs and 650,000 Jews in all of Palestine. The Arabs objected to the creation of the Jewish state and fought a war against it. The Arab side lost the war, and the Palestinian state never really came into being. The territory allotted to the Palestinian state by the UN partition resolution was taken over by Israel and Jordan. About 780, 000 Palestinians became refugees, many of them living in the Gaza strip as well as in the West Bank.
In 1967, Israel fought its Arab neighbors in the 6 day war after Egyptian President Gamal Nasser closed the straights of Tiran to Israeli ships and threatened a war to destroy Israel. Israel conquered all of the Sinai peninsula and Gaza strip that had been held by Egypt. After Jordan began firing on Israeli towns and took over the post of the UN Commissioner in Jerusalem, Israel attacked the Jordanian held West Bank. The Palestinians in those areas came under Israeli rule. Israel began to build Jewish settlements in these territories. In 1987, Palestinians began a rebellion against the Israeli occupation, the Intifada, but this had apparently failed by 1991.
Beginning in 1993, the Oslo agreements promised gradual withdrawal of Israel from the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Palestinians were hopeful that this process would end in a state for them. However, following breakdown of the final status negotiations in the summer of 2000, riots erupted in September 2000. The tripwire for the violence, which had been brewing for some time, was a visit by Israeli right wing political leader Ariel Sharon paid a controversial visit to the temple mount area, which includes the Al-Aqsa mosque, holy to Muslims, that stands on the site of the ancient Jewish temple. Palestinians refused to accept the agreement offered by US President Clinton in December 2000, and violence has continued since then. Israel has reoccupied nearly all the territory it had ceded to the Palestinians in the West Bank during the Oslo peace process, and continues to build settlements on Palestinian land. Election of relatively moderate Mahmoud Abbas as Palestinian Authority President and the Israeli disengagement plan (withdrawal from Gaza and four West Bank settlements) offer new hope of peace.
The Palestinian areas account for about 2,800 square miles of the total territory of Israel. They have a population estimated at about 3 million, per capita GDP of under $2,000, literacy rate of about 86% and infant mortality of 33 per thousand.
Those maps kinda say it all, don't they?
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, Annie. And it is appalling that congress gave Netanyahu several standing ovations this week. Oy.
ReplyDeleteHey Annie,
ReplyDeleteI came across your post by chance while looking for a map of Israel. I liked your post and general review. I think you make a well-formed argument and though I don't agree with your opinion, I respect your perspective. I'm an Israeli studying a Ph.D. in the US, and wanted to elaborate on some of the points you've raised (and I do beg you to keep an open mind, as I did while reading your post):
First, some (boring) historical issues with the term "Palestine" and the maps: You were correct by stating the name "Palestine" was not of a country but the name of the area from the Jordan river to the Mediterranean sea. What I feel is a little inaccurate in the maps is that in 1917 you marked in "Dark Green" everything that's not Jewish, actually implying it's "Palestinian" (as you didn't mark Egypt or Jordan or Lebanon or Syria in the same color). As you stated, the entire territory (including all the countries I specified) was in British/French rule and was split in the Sykes–Picot Agreement. However, in the Hussain-McMahon letters, Great Britian noted the Arabs won't get all the land in Palestine (which at the time included current day Jordan). So the entire green area was not designated to be entirely Arab.
As you stated, the Arabs rejected the division of the country, and so an Arab Palestinian state was never founded until this day (not even during Arab rule between 1948-1967).
So actually - Israel didn't annex any land until 1967. The borders you see in the 1948-1967 map where the first borders the Israeli state ever had.
As for the current Israeli-Palestinian peace talk situation - there are 4 main issues on the table:
1. The Palestinian Refugees.
2. The unity/division of Jerusalem (which is Israel's capital).
3. The borders of the Palestinian state.
4. Security arrangements.
My personal view (which you can or cannot accept) is that the 3rd and the 4th issues listed are resolvable. On the contrary to what some people think about Israel, it's not a "greedy land thief" and always agreed to give territory in exchange for peace. We did it in 1978 with Egypt, we did in 1993 with Jordan (two agreements we are very proud of), and we will do it with the Palestinian when an agreement will be reached. The only issue is how to incorporate the changes of time (almost 45 years) and the security requirements. And during all negotiations with the PLO, the talks have been that the Palestinian will get between 88%-96% of the original territory Jordan held in the 1967 and the rest will be added somewhere else (probably south-west, to make a closer border with Gaza Strip) in a 3-2 to 1 ratio (for every square mile they lost from the Jordan 1967 border, they will get between 3-2 square miles).
ReplyDeleteAnd one personal note on that matter - I was an IDF officer in 2005 and I was sent into Gaza to evict Jewish families from the homes they built for decades during the Disengagement from Gaza Strip. The claim is that talks cannot initiate until there will be no building in settlements. First, there has been a freeze of 9 months a year ago - it didn't advance the negotiations. Second, for my personal experience - settlements (or security barriers for that matter) can be cleared once an agreement is reached.
The 2 tougher issues are Jerusalem and the refugees. Personally, I believe there will eventually be a split in Jerusalem (as Israeli prime ministers as Barak, Olmert and Livni were willing to negotiate it). But what Israelis care about is to keep the control over the holy places. During 1948-1967, Israelis were not allowed to pray in the sacred places. The sacred places for the Muslim on the other hand are today in the Mufti's (a religious Islamic figure) charge, even though some are built directly where the Jewish temple was built long before the Islam was founded. So again, my personal view is that compromise can be achieved.
ReplyDeleteThe refugees issue is tougher to settle on. The Palestinians want 3 million Palestinians (this number includes refugees kids and grandkids) to return to land they left with the foundation of the state of Israel (a few thousands of them were chased by armed forces) and to be granted Israeli Citizenship. Israel's view is that if they see themselves as Palestinians, they should live in Palestine (or other Arab countries if they've already built their lives there). The addition of 3 million Palestinians will mean an equal ratio of Jews and Muslims in Israel, and the end of it's Jewish nature (and the dream of a national home for the Jewish people, the British promise in 1917). My personal perspective (and again, you can disagree) is that Israel cannot receive more than several hundreds (perhaps a portion of the ones who lived in 1948). I can tell you, as a grandchild of Jew who was chased away from his country in Europe (Romania) - you can't keep dwelling in your past. My grandfather came to Israel and made his home there. It's time for the majority of the Palestinians to let go of the past and build their lives side by side with Israel.
The problem is that in order to achieve an agreement, the leaders of both sides have to waive something. I can tell you that while there have been Israeli leaders agreeing to do that (Rabin, Peres, Barak, Sharon, Olmert, Libni, and even somewhat Nethanyahu who announced he wants a 2-states solution), there hasn't been a Palestinian leader who told their people: "Listen, we can't get it all. We need to settle". This is also resulting in the Israeli public opinion going more and more "hawk" - we are starting to lose hope (I haven't though)
I actually want to go on about what you said about how Hamas sees itself (not just Israel) and this notion of what you referred as IOF (Israel's Occupation Forces, which is a twist of it's actual name - Israel's Defense Forces), but it's getting late. I do hope I managed to give a little insight from a different perspective, and explain Nethanyahu's statements. Maybe we'll continue this discussion later.
Have a good night, and may peace be upon you (Sallam Aleykum - Shalom A'lechem),
Dor.
Dor - Thanks so much for taking the time to explain your side of the situation. The more people know about a given situation the clearer it will be make the correct decisions.
ReplyDeleteI would like to see peace come to this region and realize that it will take a compromise from both sides to achieve this. But this compromise will never come if one side is portrayed as the 'good' one and the other side is portrayed as the 'evil' one.
The Israeli position is pretty much considered the right side here in U.S. politics, I hoped that I could attempt to show that the Palestinians also have a concerns and to paint the people as a whole as terrorist is neither correct nor fair.
I think you thoughtful words will help to explain some of the problems that exist today in the area.
Thanks again for taking time to comment, I appreciate you giving your knowledgeable views.