In 1967 the Israelis won a stunning military victory in June. They had conquered vital pieces of land like the Golan Heights, which is an area of high ground, which dominates much of northern Israel and, is the route to the Syrian capital Damascus. Between 1948 and 1967 the Syrians owned the Heights and the troops shelled Israelis settlements from these hillside so you can see how important it is for these to be held by the Israelis. Also the West Bank of the river Jordan was captured which had been a large area of the Arab stat Jordan since the 1948-9 war. Over 750 000 Arabs lived here. The land was fertile especially in the river valley this meant if the Israelis held this then they could control the water resources. Sinai was a large area of land, which was owned by the Egyptians. The land was mostly desert and very few people lived here. The last piece of land they gained was the Gaza Strip, which was a narrow piece of land on the cost. It was inhabited by around 300 000 Palestinian Arabs. It was from Gaza that many raids were launched against the Israel in the 1950s. There were many things that they could do with there newly acquired land these were Negotiation they could try and make a deal with the Arab enemies with a view on giving the land back to them. They could of tried Annexation this is when they make the land part of the Israel state and give the inhabitants the full rights as an Israeli citizen. Finally there was Military Occupation this is when they keep the troops in the area to maintain law and order and to prevent rioting. The Israelis argued with each other about the occupied territories but most of them agreed that the Jews should dominate them so the Israeli government decided on military occupation on the conquered land. It was also ordered for the army to confiscate Arab land and to build Jewish settlements so that it would make the area more secure for the Israelis to live there.
In 1987 a Palestinian uprising broke out on the 8 December. An Israeli army vehicle in the Gaza Strip crashed into a lorry killing four of the Palestinians on board. A rumour had been set out that it had been a deliberate act of revenge for the killings of an Israel two days previous. The funerals turned into huge demonstrations. At one of the demonstrations a child was shot dead by an Israel soldier this just added to the mounting pressure as thousands of Palestinians took to the streets in both Gaza and the West Bank, They put barricades of tyres, corrugated iron and other building materials up and from behind them they throw stones at the Israeli patrolling army. The life of living in an occupied territory was very poor. Thousands of Israeli troops were stationed in Gaza and the West Bank. And here they rounded up members of the PLO or suspects and others who seemed a threat to them. They were jailed or deported to neighbouring countries. Many of there homes were blown up leaving there families homeless so you can see why all this led to Intifada. The Intifada surprised many people including the Israelis, the PLO and the rest of the world. The Israelis response to this was an “Iron Fist” policy this meant that live ammunition was used. This lead to the Newspapers and Televisions around the world showing teenagers being shot at by the army, this led the Israeli government to announce that they would no longer use live ammunition but to adopt a new form which was “might power and beatings” but still the death toll rose and pictures showed the tear-gassing of demonstrators and the beating of youths. Intifada including the Israeli families because thousands of soldiers were called up to do military service on the West Bank or the Gaza Strip affected almost every family living in Palestine under the occupied territories.
Other issues were the claim to Palestine. The Jewish people lived in the land of Palestine from about 1500 BC. The Romans ruled the Jews and in AD 70 and again in AD 135 the Jews rebelled against their Roman rulers so the Roman soldiers destroyed the city of Jerusalem and expelled the Jews, so in the next 200 years they fled to neighbouring countries and settled in nearly every part of the Roman Empire. Then in the Middle Ages they were expelled from Western Europe and settled in Poland and Russia. In thee nineteenth century the emperor of Russia was assassinated in 1881 and there were many anti-Jewish riots and the new tsar encouraged the persecution of Jews and Synagogues were burnt down. For hundred of years the Jewish people dreamt that they could spend the next year in Jerusalem. By 1914 the First World War had broke out and the Jews were demanding their promise land, which was in Palestine were they lived some 2500 years ago. Between 1880 and 1914 60 000 Jews settled in Palestine. In 1917 the British were very keen to bring the United States in the First World War against Germany. The English thought that if they supported the claim to the Jewish homeland in Jerusalem then Jews living in America might influence America into the war.
The Arab claim to Palestine was that for many centuries Arabs have lived in the Middle East, they form the majority of the population and they all speak Arabic. In the seventh century AD there religion was converted to Muslim and they became followers of Mohammed. There new religion swept across Middle East and North Africa in the seventh and eighth century Palestine was one of the countries they took over. Another contributing fact to why they are still fighting is because the dome of the rock. Muslims believe that Mohammed rose to heaven from the Rock. And just below the rock is the “wailing wall” which Jews believe to be the last remaining part of the ancient Jewish temple. So both the Jews and the Arabs want to own Jerusalem.
World powers were introduced to each side America sent weapons and aid to Israel and between 49 years they have gave Israel $85 billion where as Russia have only given the Arabs a fraction of that so the Israelis have always had the advantage. The English had originally said for the Jews to go Palestine in 1917 so that they could get support from the Jews in America. This is why the Americans and English are hated around the world today dew to our interfering that has made matters worse.
My conclusion is that I feel that the main contributing fact to why there is still no peace in the middle east is dew to the fact that the Palestinians were left homeless, they were kicked out of there own country and naturally they want it back. The majority of Palestinians live in overcrowded wet dirty refugee camps where nobody has the heart to live so some become extremists because they have no more will to live. This backfires on the Palestinians because the Israelis believe all Palestinians are terrorists.
2.Source A has been taken from an interview with existing PLO members in the early 1970s. They talk about when how hijacking a plane is more effective than killing hundreds of Israelis in battle. An example of this was in 1970 king Hussein feared that the Israelis would start bombing bases within Jordan so he put a stop to Palestinian attacks being launched from his country. Then in the same month four aircraft planes were hijacked by Palestinians belonging to the British Airways, Swissair and TWA they were taken to a Palestinian base within Jordan. The passengers were let of the planes and one of the British Airways plane was blown up. I feel that this would be more effective because it is getting the worlds attention it is making people to start thinking about the problems within Israel. They then go on to say how the world had neither been for them nor against them and at least know the world will talk. The acts of terrorism made the Palestinians very disliked by the rest of the world.
Source B comes from a Palestinian called Sami el-Karami it has been taken from the book “War and Peace in the Middle East”. I feel that the Palestinian means that they would prefer not to fight and loose life on both sides, he speaks out for all of the Palestinians I know this because the source tells me “we wish we could win with these methods”. He then goes on to say that our people do not enjoy killing they carry bombs and machine guns because that is there last resort. I believe they feel they have been let down by the UN and the United States because they have waited for 22 years for 3 things which are liberty, freedom and democracy and there was no result so they had to take matters into there own hands.
Source C is a letter from a Palestinian student in Lebanon to his parents. He tells his parents that for twenty years our people have been waiting for a solution and all that has came around has been charity and humiliation while the Israelis live in there homes. He then goes on to say that he has decided to join the freedom fighters and he has asked for his parents blessing. I feel that he has done this because he has no reason for living he has lost all hope so all there is to do is to fight for his last remaining feeling which is to have his home back.
Source D has been quoted from a Palestinian women. She says that she is proud that her son did not die in a refugee camp and died in fighting on occupied soil. She tells us that the press from around the world come and take pictures of them standing in queues waiting for food rations she believes that, that is not a life and she is write because who wants to exist if there is nothing left to live for. The final thing she comes round to say is that she is preparing her eight-year-old for the day that he can fight for the freedom of there people.
Source E is from a 17-year- old Palestinian speaking to a British journalist. He begins with the short sentence “We are not terrorists” this may be seen as a bias view because many countries around the world believe that they are. Hassan the 17-year-old then continues to say that we do not bomb women and children and if women and children are killed it is a mistake and we regret it this shows that they do care about what is happening to the people other than Palestinians. He tells the British journalist that they are against Israelis not against Jews; this also shows that they are not discriminating against the Jews as a whole. He then tells us that they want their land back, which has been taken by the Israelis. One of the last things he tells us is that the bombs are for military targets and the soldiers within the Israeli army. The sentence which comes out of the 17-year-old are very precise and to the point he makes demands and explains that they do not want to harm any civilians just Israeli soldiers.
Source F is the last source and it comes from a typical point of view from an Israeli in the 1970s, which was the decade that the athletes were murdered at the Olympic games and may explain why this view exists. The Israeli tells us that the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organisation) are a murderous group with sophisticated weapon but from sources in the book that this quote comes from tells us that the Palestinians used rocks and stones to throw at the Israeli army who had many machine guns and other weapons like tanks which would control the Gaza Strip these weapons were given to them by the Americans. There army was well trained and disciplined and all members had weapons and a uniform, and the Arab army was ill equipped and they do not have a uniform they are dressed in normal day to day clothes. This shows that the Palestinian army was disorganised poorly equipped and badly trained. So it is hard to understand why this point exists. The Israeli then goes on to say that there is no choice other than to destroy the PLO’s military capability. I feel that, that is just unjust excuse dew to the fact that most members within the PLO fight with stones. The last thing that is said is that Israel is fighting a just war! Which differs from the last few words from source E that is “We have no other alternative”. I feel that the reason why both source E and F differ is because the Jews have been persecuted since Roman times but mainly by the Nazis and they just want there holy land back and that the Arabs have lost everything they have ever owned so they have no other alternative than to fight. I feel that the Palestinians are freedom fighters not terrorists.