The conflict between Palestine and Gaza

The Conflict between Palestine and Israel
Over the past week, there have been many heated discussions, demonstrations and news reports abut a conflict that has affected the Middle East for years. This conflict between two countries has brought up many different issues such as Religion, Occupation, and Politics. Many ask themselves “How did this conflict begin in the first place? What brought on this violence today?”

This conflict first arose in 1916 when the Sykes-Picot agreement was signed where the lands of once one of the most powerful empires in the world, the Ottoman Empire, where split up and given to France and England. Many countries that went to France included Syria, Lebanon, parts of Turkey, and Northern Iraq while England had control over Southern Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Palestine. Also at this time, the Jews had no country to call their own. Appealing to Britain, they were allowed to immigrate into Palestine. Although Britain was giving away land that was not their own, during the 1920’s and 30’s, Jewish immigration was considerably increasing in Palestine, which had a majority Muslim population. A lot of this immigration, which increased greatly after WWII, was influenced by a Zionism Ideology which is an ideology that was based on the idea of all Jews living together in a single homeland. Zionism was an extreme sect of Judaism.

This brought up many different opinions and emotions. The Zionists believed that that single homeland that they wanted to live together in was Palestine, as God had promised it to them. Many of the Muslims and Arabs rose up in anger about this fact. The Muslims and Arabs did not believe the Jews as in the Holy Quran, it was stated that the Jews “harafou” or slightly changed their holy book. They felt threatened that the Zionists were going to take over their country, and surely enough that was exactly what happened.


Massacres occurred in many Palestinian cities such as Deir Yassin, Jenin, Yafa and many others. Palestinians were forced to leave their homes, many times at gun point; Zionists gathered up civilians of villages, lined them up and shot them. In many cases, woman were raped in front of their husbands and their children, pregnant woman had their stomachs cut in half as the Zionists killed the fetus in side. These horrendous events forced many to leave their homes. At the time, the Zionists had only concentrated on the big cities, but the little surrounding towns and villages who have not been affected by the massacres stayed as at the time; there were no threats towards them to make them leave. When asked about how and why many of the Palestinians fled Palestine, the Zionists covered their massacre with a lie; they stated that the Palestinians left on their own will, in order to have better lives in neighbouring countries such as Jordan and Egypt. Not once did they speak about any of these massacres, in fact, many deny that they even happened at all! It was up to the witnesses and survivors, of which there were a few, to report on these, and bring it to the attention of the wider world.

Without these massacres, the state of Israel would have never existed. On May 14, 1948, Israel had officially become a country as its borders tore Palestine into two. Israel was the country that separated the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. Many who were living on one side of Palestine, but had work in the other, often had trouble commuting to work as they had to cross the border twice a day! With a country, came a government. The governments of both Palestine and Israel were not able to maintain peace, as conflicts often arose between both sides. Palestinians were still trying to put their lives back together by what they had seen happen, their losses, and adjusting to having a new country separating them from the rest of their country. Several attempts at Peace treaties were made, however, not only the Palestinians, but also many neighbouring countries such as Syria and Iran, refused to even recognize Israel as a country. Many Israelis refused to even admit or apologize on their behalf the numerous lives lost on their account, the homes they destroyed, the future for the Palestinians they had ruined as well as occupying their land and tearing it into two. However, some Israelis did finally admit to their doings, although it was not a huge number, there was some effort in the other side to exploit the truth.

While the Zionists where trying to gain more land by terrorizing Palestinian cities, those who fled their country where having a hard time being excepted into and by other countries. They lost all they had, their homes, jobs, money, and often, even family members, where were they going to go? Many lived in Kuwait until the gulf war in 1990 where most moved to Jordan, whose population is mainly Palestinian-Jordanian up to the point that the King of Jordan, Abdullah Bin-Hussein, married a Palestinian himself who was going to be Jordan’s Queen, Rania Yassin. Many were excepted by the people and built their lives over again, while others still had difficulty living in refugee camps or even still searching for lost family members. Many families were torn apart and have not yet reunited until today!

Just when things were getting worse and worse in Palestine, in 1987, three Palestinians, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Abdel Azziz al-Rantissi and Mohammed Taha had created an organization to help ease the Palestinians out of their suffering. They helped raise money which they gave out to those who needed it, they petitioned for Palestinian civilians captured and put into Israeli Prisons to be free, they stuck up for their morals and showed us the true meaning of Islam. This organisation was called حركة المقاومة الاسلامية , the Islamic resistance Movement, also known as Hamas. They offered funding for children who couldn’t go to school, they offered social services to whom it was unaccessiable to. Hamas is also a political party representing the Palestinians.In January 2006, elections were held in the west bank and the Gaza strip where Hamas had won the elections. The other party that had run up for the presidency was Fatah which many saw as a corrupt and inefective government. Along with Palestine’s troubles with Israel, there was a civil war break out between Hamas and Fatah. Many viewed Hamas as a terrorist group and although it was a fair and just election, the United States of America and Israel refused to accept Hamas and recognize it as a government.

On June 27, 2006, both parties signed an agreement to rule together. They needed this desperatly because on the 9 of June, 2006, antoher Israeli invasion intended towards Gaza killed 8 Palestinian civilians. Rockets were fired again from either side, with Israel starting the first one, which broke a 16 month cease fire. As the fireing continued between Palestine and Israel, the civil war between Hamas and Fatah continued. This ended up in splitting Palestine up even further. All Fatah supporters were to live in the West Bank where they would have control over it, while Hamas supporters were to move to Gaza.

A ceasefire between the two countries had been called on the 18 of June, 2008. To the joy of many, as the civil war had just ended, and a ceasefire was called, any attempts of a peacetreaty had been throw out because as part of the treaty, Israel continually controled and reduced the necessities entering Gaza. Food, water, medicine, and other necessities were and are until today very limited they. Although both countries should have been free, Israel ended up occupying Gaza. They watch and moniter the citizens of Gaza depriving them from things starting as little as a drivers licesnes, all the way to water. Water tanks which are used to store water so that families can drink are shot down by Israeli millitants.

Up until December 26, 2008, Hamas has held to it’s ceasefire agreement, however what was the result? No food, water, heat, jobs and simple things that need to keep people running. The Israelis where practically choking the Gazans, Hamas had to defed itself, even with the little resources they had. Out of the rockets that Hamas shot that broke the cease fire, within the first 5 days, only four cilivians had died, contrary to the then 400 that the Israelis had shot fireing back. Israel came back with such agression, claiming that it was after Hamas. When you see people targetting mosques where people are praying, hospitals where the sick and injured are being heald, civilian houses blwing up, along with the civilians, this is inhumane! Palestinians do not go and target Jewish Synagoges while they are praying! A commonly used excuse that the Israelis use to make their sde sound better is “we are only targetting Hamas.” What they don’t realise, is that Hamas is the civilians! The whole organization stood up for the morals, values and beliefs of Islam! Hamas is not an Alien coming from outer space, but rather the Gazan citizens. Gaza represents the Hamas movement while the West Bank represents Fatah.

This is how the situation got to where it has gotten today. Many misconseptions that we are often blamed for is “why are Arabs discriminating against Jews?” The answer to that is that we are not discriminating against Jews, but are fighting against the Zionists who believe to the extremeties. Many say how Hamas is a terrorist group, but when you kill a baby, who can barely speak, let alone hold a gun, when you kill an old man or woman who have done nothing, that is terrorism! Both states can exsist beside each other as they had in the 1700 and 1800’s, but instead of having an Isreal and a Palestine, you can have one Palestine that both the Arabs and the Jews (not the Zionists) live in. Before the Zionist ideology had even surfaced, Palestine was a land where Arabs and Jews lived together peacefully! Both states can exsist if two conditions are met. Those two conditions are that both Palestine and Israel are FREE countries, non-occupied, and the second condition is for Israel to be happy with the land they have, and leave the Palestinians either living in the West Bank, or in Gaza, to live alone. An ultimate wish is for Israel to no longer become a country, so that all Palestininas no matter where they are from can go back and live there as finally declare “I’m home, and this is my Palestine”, even though I am highly doubtful anything of the sort will happen, it’s the least they can do to repay for all the lives they’ve killed, the families they’ve torn apart and all of those they had dehidrated and starved. No more rockets, no more tanks, no more bombs. Palestinans will always be Palestinians, yet all they want is to go back to their homes, back to where they had lived for hundreds of years! We will fight for our country! There will always be a Palestine, no matter much Israel bombs and kills, Palestinians will always call themselves Palestinians!