The Baglady Interpretation and Analysis

Israeli-Palestinian conflict

When will the wolf pasture with lamb?

Contens

1. An introduction

2. Jerusalem

3. West bank and The Fence

4. One-state or two-state solution?

In 1870's, the founder of Zionism, Theodor Herzl - questing for the return of the Jewish people to The Holy Country and the establishment of the Jewish state said:

"We are a nation, one nation".

We had a sincere endeavour to integrate in to national communities wherever we came, and to maintain the belief of our Fathers. But this wasn't allowed us. They were only showing their contempt for us. So, the world needs a Jewish state to be established."

And this happened. In 1947, forty years after Herzl's death, the state of Israel was proclaimed and simultaneously the Palestinians turned down The United nation's plan. And the First Palestinian War started the day after.

During the following several decades this conflict has been an ongoing struggle between the Israelis and Palestinians or rather between the Zionists and The Arab population living in Palestine. It was essentially in context of this national conflict that the Jewish and Arab sides assumed their modern identities. It transformed The Jewish emigrants into Israelis, and the obsolete Zionism of Eastern Europe into the concrete practice of Israeli state and nation formation. The Arab residents of Palestine developed their own distinct nationalism and become Palestinians in the same context. In fact, what is the uniqueness about the Israeli and Palestinian societies emerged directly in response to the conflict between the Jewish immigrant-settlers, who started arriving during the first Zionist immigration wave in 1882,continuing in to the huge Jewish immigration after WW2.

Of course the character of conflict was changing but its extension and particular phases which always have had their characteristic features, could be recognized in the social structure of both sides.

I'd like to submit some of them and give a little insight about the tragic attempt of both sides and all political elites to come to a possible solution.

Jerusalem

For both peoples, the city of Jerusalem is the most significant point concerning the structure of both regions the beginning this strife is constantly repeating issue and an amicable resolution is far away.

According to Zwi Werblowsky, Professor of Comparative religion at Hebrew University, Jerusalem , for Jewish people , is not a city containing holy places or commemorating holy events. The city as such is holy and has served as the symbol of the historic existence of a people hunted, humiliated, massacred, but never despairing of the promise of its ultimate restoration. Jerusalem has become a burning torch for the hope and meaning of Jewish existence, its continuity from the days when God spoke of a certain place that he would choose to the days of the return which- however improbable it might seem- was never a doubt for the Jewish people.

Understanding the symbolic function of Jerusalem in Jewish tradition, we come to see that even avowed secularist's use of this symbol has a measure of legitimacy about it, unparalleled in other traditions.

Simultaneously there are the Muslims, that have lodged a claim to this holy place because Islamic people believe that Prophet Mohamed miraculously transferred himself during the night from Mekka to Temple Mount in Jerusalem and from this place he ascended to heaven. The Al-Aqsa Mosque and The Dome of the Rock were built in Temple Mount and have become the holy places with an enormous significance for Arabs or we can say Palestinian people that it is known as East Jerusalem. According to The United Nations Security Council Resolution number 242 The East Jerusalem is occupied territory and is also subject to permanent status in negotiations. One of the sensible solutions would be to consider Jerusalem as an open city with no physical partition.

West bank and The Fence

An another controversial issue is The Israeli settlement in the West bank. It their belief that this settlement of Occupied Territories is not an obstacle to peace because The West bank is disputed territory.

Comments made the Group -" Stand With Us": No Palestinian-Arab state ever existed in this region and only current Palestinian-Arab residents have claims to the West bank, where they want to build a state. Israel also has legal, historic and security claims to this land. This declaration is based on the Palestine /British Mandate/ of 1920, the last legal authority, stipulated that Jews should settle in this land.

The Group "StandWithUs" is continuing: Today, Israeli and Palestinian-Arabs both live in the West Bank. Their governments are trying to negotiate the future borders. But, ideally, Jews should have the right to settle anywhere in the world, just as other national and religious groups do.

It would be a misplaced idea to think that the sides involved in this conflict are striving for a sensible solution. However, they cannot have everything they want. In the background of this never-ending war the other war is raging, more felonious and uncontrollable than we have ever expected. It is terrorism. Israelis believe that the solution of terrorist attacks depends on the ability of the leaders to cope with the negotiations with the sides directly involved in the conflict, especially of the Arab and Muslim leaderships. As opposed to Hamas which submits that martyrdom operations , reckoned to be clear terrorist attacks by others, are justified and lawful. Because of daily experience with the threat of terrorist attacks, the Israeli Fence was built as a defensive obstacle against terrorism. "The purpose of it is to keep out the terrorist, save the lives of Israel's citizens, Jews and Arabs alike. By serving as a temporary passive and effective barrier, the fence will help restore calm to region and thereby increase the chances