Zach Hanson

Indira Gesink
FYE The Quest for Peace in the Middle East
9 September 2015
Palestinian-Israeli Conflict
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a clash between a pair of religious and ethnic
groups who both believe they have rights to the same territory. The territory is located in
the Middle East. Throughout the years, there have been many wars and conflicts in the
region. Just like the African colonies, after World War I, the western powers began to
divide up the lines of the Middle Eastern countries.
After the Second World War, the Jews were given the area to have a place to
relocate after the British passed a mandate allotting a small territory to the Jewish
refugees. The Palestinian inhabitants protested the new Jewish control. In 1967, the
Jews conquered the areas of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank where the Palestinians
live today. There is still much conflict in the area today between the Jewish Israelis and
the Palestinian natives. The Jews believe that they deserve the land, and that God gave it
to them. They believe that God blessed their survival as a nation, as they had made it
through the Holocaust in Europe, and the wars in Israel following WWII.
The Palestinians see the whole situation differently, though. They believe that
they were the original inhabitants of the land. One of their holy cities is located in the
territory that Israel believes to be their own, and the Palestinians want to be able to live
there and to access the area. They also believe that since the land was originally theirs,
they should have the right to come back and live freely.

Based on the readings and the class activity, I think the best solution would be a
multi-state system. In one of the readings, Eban says, Any discussion of this problem
revolves around the two themes of resettlement and what is called repatriation, (162).
I think that after going through my experiences in our in class activity, repatriation would
not work. I found that the best solution was to split the area into a few states. The
current Gaza Strip area would be left alone, and allowed to run with the current
government that is in place. In the territory that is currently the West Bank, the
Palestinians would be allowed to form a new government. The compromise that I came
up with is that it would be a parliamentary government, with a bicameral legislature. The
two houses would be split, one of Israeli natives and one of Palestinian natives. The
executive would be voted on from the Palestinian house. That way, the former Israelis
would still have representation and protection for the Jews living in the state.
Connecting the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, there would be a covered road
between that would not be able to be accessed in Israel. This would allow the native
Palestinians to trade between the two separated states and to travel freely, but border
checkpoints would keep the terrorist Hamas government inside the Gaza Strip.
Overall, I think that this is the best possible compromise for the two nations to find a
middle ground. I think that this is fair, and it allows for both states to be able to work
well.

Works Cited

Eban,Abba."TheRefugeeProblem."27Aug.2015.Speech.