Introduction
The conflict between Palestinian Arabs and Jews
is a modern phenomenon, which began around the turn of the 20th century.
Although these two groups have different religions (Palestinians include
Muslims, Christians and Druze), religious differences are not the cause of the
conflict. It is essentially a struggle over land. Until 1948, the area that both
groups claimed was known internationally as Palestine. But following the war of
1948-49, this land was divided into three parts: the state of Israel, the West
Bank (of the Jordan River) and the Gaza Strip.
This is a small area: approximately 10,000 square
miles, or about the size of the state of Maryland. The competing claims are not
reconcilable if one group exercises exclusive political control over the total
territory. Jewish claims to this land are based on the biblical promise to
Abraham and his descendants, on the fact that this was the historical site of
the Jewish kingdom of Israel (which was destroyed by the Roman Empire), and on
Jews' need for a haven from European anti-Semitism. Palestinian Arabs' claims
to the land are based on continuous residence in the country for hundreds of
years and the fact that they represented the demographic majority. They reject
the notion that a biblical-era kingdom constitutes the basis for a valid modern
claim. If Arabs engage the biblical argument at all, they maintain that since
Abraham's son Ishmael is the forefather of the Arabs, then God's promise of the
land to the children of Abraham includes Arabs as well. They do not believe
that they should forfeit their land to compensate Jews for Europe's crimes
against them.
The Land
and the People
In the 19th century, following a trend that
began earlier in Europe, people around the world began to identify themselves
as nations and to demand national rights, foremost the right to self-rule in a
state of their own (self-determination and sovereignty). Jews and Palestinians
both began to develop a national consciousness, and mobilized to achieve
national goals. Because Jews were spread across the world (in diaspora), their
national movement, Zionism, entailed the identification of a place where Jews
could come together through the process of immigration and settlement.
Palestine seemed the logical and optimal place, since this was the site of
Jewish origin. The Zionist movement began in 1882 with the first wave of European
Jewish immigration to Palestine.
At that time, the land of Palestine was part of
the Ottoman Empire. However, this area did not constitute a single political
unit. The northern districts of Acre and Nablus were part of the province of
Beirut. The district of Jerusalem was under the direct authority of the Ottoman
capital of Istanbul because of the international significance of the cities of
Jerusalem and Bethlehem as religious centers for Muslims, Christians and Jews.
According to Ottoman records, in 1878 there were 462,465 subject inhabitants of
the Jerusalem, Nablus and Acre districts: 403,795 Muslims (including Druze),
43,659 Christians and 15,011 Jews. In addition, there were perhaps 10,000 Jews
with foreign citizenship (recent immigrants to the country), and several
thousand Muslim Arab nomads (bedouin) who were not counted as Ottoman subjects.
The great majority of the Arabs (Muslims and Christians) lived in several
hundred rural villages. Jaffa and Nablus were the largest and economically most
important Arab towns.
Until the beginning of the 20th century, most
Jews living in Palestine were concentrated in four cities with religious
significance: Jerusalem, Hebron, Safad and Tiberias. Most of them observed
traditional, orthodox religious practices. Many spent their time studying
religious texts and depended on the charity of world Jewry for survival. Their
attachment to the land was religious rather than national, and they were not
involved in -- or supportive of -- the Zionist movement which began in Europe
and was brought to Palestine by immigrants. Most of the Jews who immigrated
from Europe lived a more secular lifestyle and were committed to the goals of
creating a Jewish nation and building a modern, independent Jewish state. By
the outbreak of World War I (1914), the population of Jews in Palestine had
risen to about 60,000, about 33,000 of whom were recent settlers. The Arab
population in 1914 was 683,000.... will be continue.....
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