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Orhan Agovic
Clint Johnson
English 1010
December 1, 2016
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Three Perspectives of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Research Question: Can either side be fully justified for their actions since 1947?

Most of the world has heard of the conflict occurring in Israel and the surrounding
Palestinian land. Viewing this as an observer who is spectating all that is happening, much can be
assumed on who is to blame without delving too much into it. Whether you are observing it from
a humanitarian side, or in a political sense, chances are you will have a differing view as more is
learned about the conflict. The biggest issue is finding reason and logic within the actions taken
from both sides.
This conflict has many involvements from those other than the citizens of the area. There
are those who see the monetary exploitation of the issue, while others are pursuing a greater
agenda, such as religious purification. Israeli-Jews are hoping to achieve a state of existence and
sovereignty in what they deem is their holy-land. Palestinians, on the other hand, want to stay
where they have always lived and have ancestral ties to. Apart from those living in the region,
interest is also looming from the United States government.
Following the U.N. Partition in 1947, which granted and recognized the State of Israel as
a sovereign nation, land ownership was split in half to separate the Jewish settlements from the
Arab ones. Since then, Israel has made attempts to find common ground with the Palestinians

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and for once bring peace to the region. The Camp David Summit in 2000 is an example of one of
the attempts at peace Israel offered to the Palestinians. Much of the talks were ideas to create the
division equally, without interfering with religious practices. All 3 stakeholders of this conflict
were present in the meeting, then President of the U.S., Bill Clinton, Palestinian Prime Minister
Yasser Arafat, and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. According the Ben-Ami, Israels Chief
negotiator, details Clintons disappointment towards the Palestinian committee. A summits
purpose, Clinton said, is to have discussions that are based on sincere intentions and you, the
Palestinians, did not come to this summit with sincere intentions. Also, when analyzing how
Israel fights this war, the first thing to point out is the number of innocents that die in result of
Israels counter on Hamas (Palestinian elected officials). Hamas constant attempts to shoot
missiles into Israel cannot go overlooked. Reacting to violence with violence is harder when the
attackers are hiding inside of schools, mosques, and hospitals. As Yishai Schwartz, writer for
newrublic.org puts it, We are thus left with a paradox: Morality demands that Israel fights this
war, but allows no way to fight it morally. In this conflict, reason itself seems to fail.

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Now Palestinians, who have never had a say in the conflict, have only ever had one goal,
and that is to be able to live in their homes without fear of invasion and/or rocket missiles. Since
the partition passed in 1947, two-thirds
of the land has been illegally settled by
Israeli-Jews (refer to picture). In the
terms of the partition, the land was to be
split equally based on religious
affiliations of the towns. Fast forwarding
to 2016, only the Gaza strip and the West
Bank are controlled by Palestinians. As seen above is the infamous map that shows the
settlements changing drastically since 1947. What can be analyzed of the map is a total conquest
by the Israelis. In his book, Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky, Noam
Chomsky explains:
The Zionists were by far the more powerful and better organized force, and by May 1948,
when the state of Israel was formally established, about 300,000 Palestinians already had
been expelled from their homes or had fled the fighting, and the Zionists controlled a
region well beyond the area of the original Jewish state that had been proposed by the
UN. It's then that Israel was attacked by its neighbors - in May 1948; it's then, after the
Zionists had taken control of this much larger part of the region and hundreds of
thousands of civilians had been forced out, not before." (pp. 131-132)
This passage helps support the idea that the Palestinians did not attack Israel as soon as it gained
sovereignty, but that a deeper agenda was being pursued by the Zionists (Pro-Israel nationalists).
It should also be noted that in 1938, Ben-Gurion (first Prime Minister of Israel), was quoted in a

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meeting with fellow Zionists saying, after we become a strong force, as the result of the creation
of a state, we shall abolish partition and expand to the whole of Palestine. This was said nine
years before the partition was even passed. Many doubted this plan, but today we can argue that
its not too far away from being fulfilled. What is often overlooked when discussing the attacks
made by Hamas is assuming they are attempting to destroy the State of Israel when in fact the
continued illegal settlement by Israel is what they are fighting against. In the present day,
according to Al-Jazeera, Mosques are now banned from playing the Ezan (Islamic call for
prayer) because it is distracting and an ugly noise. This is a direct provocation by the Israeli
Prime Minister towards the Palestinians and the whole religion of Islam.
So, what does the United States involvement mean in all of this? Simply put, without the
United States backing, Israel would have ceased to exist. Iran is known to omit from recognizing
Israels existence and continually vows to exterminate them. The two governments are working
together in the common goal of stabilizing the middle east and bringing forth democracy to the
region. From this alliance, AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) was founded.
Many critics have raised the question as to why the United States is giving 3 billion dollars a
year to Israel. In return for this money given to them, Israel provides the United States with
military supports, intelligence exchange, as well as political support. The matter of fact is that
both countries need each other to fulfill their agenda. By keeping this alliance, the United States
is assured they will always receive support from Israel, and vice-versa. United States
involvement is also somewhat beneficial for the Palestinians. Rob Pinfold, a former researcher at
the Hebrew University of Jerusalem explained the situation when asked what it would mean if
America had no influence on Israel:

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I think that the big difference you'd see straightaway is an escalation in settlement
building because the Israeli right would really be able to unleash it.You see a lot, the
Israeli government in particular, they've announced some big settlement-building
initiatives of several thousand homes in East Jerusalem over the green line. And then the
Americans say, "Na-uh, sorry, this is not happening," and then the idea is quieted for
another five years, and then it happens again, ad nauseam. But without any American
influence over Israel, especially with this aid, I think you would see a drastic exploration
in settlement building.
It seems that, what normally Israel has in plan cannot always be acted upon because the United
States is there to analyze and advise the situation indirectly.
In conclusion, the justification of either side can only be found once a side has been
taken. To observe as an outsider with no affiliations to either side and to justify both sides
completely, will be an impossible task. This would leave you in a paradoxical paradigm, such as
wanting peace by going to war. For me, I see both sides in a situation that was not chosen by
them. The Jews needed a place after Hitler, but were given land that already has been inhabited
by a completely different religion. Being that WWII was caused by European nations, it
shouldve been one of those countries that opted to give land so that the displaced Jews would
have somewhere to live. So now there are Jews from all over the world going to live in a place
that they do not have any ancestral ties to. Then there are the Palestinians who were never treated
fairly by anyone, having to succumb to this occupation that is backed by the major powers of the
world. When looking to find a solution to the issue, there can only be one, those who have direct
ancestral ties that can be identified through genetic disposition should be the only ones to live in
Israel. To try and allow Jews world-wide who come from as far as Siberia and whose ancestors

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have never stepped foot, and who, per the Torah (Judaic religious text), cannot return to Israel
until the return of the prophet, now are given permission to live in Israel as a result of the illegal
removal of Palestinians. Consequentially, this is an act against humanitarian interests and
contradicting to Jewish beliefs.

Works Cited
Chomsky, Noam, Peter R. Mitchell, and John Schoeffel. Understanding Power: The
Indispensable Chomsky. New York: New Press, 2002. Print.
"Palestinians Condemn Israeli Bills on Outposts, Mosques." Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.
AlJazeera, 14 Nov. 2016. Web. 19 Nov. 2016.
Pearl, Mike. "Why the U.S. Supports Israel." Vice.com, 6 Mar. 2015. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

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Schwartz, Yishai. Israels Deadly Invasion of Gaza Is Morally Justified. Newrepublic.com. 21

July 2014. Web. 12 Nov. 2016
"The Partition Plan." TheLibrary. Jewish Virtual Library, n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2016. Background &
Overview