Understanding the Israeli Palestinian conflict, Jewish settlements and the one state or two states solution
One of the main obstacles for the creation of a Palestinian state in the Middle East is the fact that a big percentage of the land that is supposed to form the Palestinian state (West bank and Gaza) is occupied by Jewish settlements.
On the other hand, 20% of the Israeli population is Arab (non Jews), these Arab non Jews are mainly the descendants of some 156,000 that remained and were not expelled by Jewish military and militias or did not flee their lands in the aftermath of 1948 Arab-Israeli war. (Originally 950,000 Arab lived in the region that later became Israel, only 15% remained and their descendant form now 20% of Israeli population.)
Population of Palestine - Israel:
Year | Jewish | Arab1883 | 15,300 | 356,000
1914 | 61,000 | 737,000
1922 | 95,000 | 726,000
1931 | 176,000 | 881,000
1939 | 458,000 | 1,083,000
1946 | 603,000 | 1,340,000
2009 | 5,913,000 | 5,403,000*
*(1,513,200 in israel , 2,407,681 in west bank and in 1,482,405 gaza)
Jewish population grew dramatically in the 1930s as European Jews sought refuge in Palestine during the years of Nazi oppression prior to the Holocaust.Many of the Palestinians want to get their own country, but many wish to get back what was taken from them, especially that the Israeli state have created a variety of legal measures to facilitate the transfer of land abandoned by Arabs that fled or were expelled to state ownership, these included the Absentee Property Law of 1950, and the Land Acquisition Law of 1953.
On the other hand, Israel is the Promised Land for the Jewish people, and Jews have suffered a lot and they need to be able to call a place home where they can feel safe and not threatened by exterminations or expulsions.
The Jewish settlements The reason why they are called Jewish settlements is because these settlements are constructed by Israeli Jews and not the Israeli Arabs.
A possible strategic objective of such settlements would be to eventually exchange the Israeli Arab lands and population in Israel with the settlements population and lands in the West bank in order to have a 100% Jewish state and get rid of the 20% Arab minority.
Judea and SamariaThe term "Judea and Samaria " corresponds to the territory usually known outside Israel as the West Bank. Because of the Jewish settlements, the region is listed as one of seven administrative Districts of Israel.
Many Israelis support the settlements in the West Banks because they consider the settlers as the Jews who are following G-d's command to inhabit the land that He promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their descendants.
Israel or Palestine And the situation gets more complicated, many of the Palestinians consider the Jewish population in Israel as European settlers that came during and after the Second World War period, while many Jews consider the Palestinian as Arab and Bedouin settlers that have settled in this land during the last 2000 year.
Palestinians view Israel as their homeland and the land of their ancestors the Canaanites. They have some of their religious most holy places like the al-Aqsa Mosque the 2nd most holiest place in Islam and Bethlehem that is believed by most Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth and one of the holiest places in Christianity.
Jews view Israel as their promised land and that they have the right to inhabit it because G-d have promised their ancestors that the descendants will inhabit this land.
Genesis 12:6-7 Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land.
Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
Genesis 50:24 And Joseph said to his brethren, "I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob."
Exodus 6:8 ‘And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the LORD.’"
Exodus 33:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Depart and go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give it.’
Le 26:42 then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember; I will remember the land.
De 1:8 ‘See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—to give to them and their descendants after them.’
De 6:10 "So it shall be, when the LORD your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build,
De 9:5 "It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD your God drives them out from before you, and that He may fulfill the word which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
De 30:20 "that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them."
De 34:4 Then the LORD said to him, "This is the land of which I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there."
Geo-political situation of Israel-Palestine:The two (2) state solution:
Both populations are attached to this land and would like to take over completely.
Both regions West Bank and Israel have a high percentage of populations that belong to the other population.
West Bank and Gaza are too far to form a single country.
With such a confrontational history there would be no way to stop the 2 countries Israel and Palestine (if it would be formed) from entering in a continuous war cycle in the future.
A possible peaceful future between Palestinians and Israelis:The only possible solution for a peaceful future would probably be to have a single country for both the Jews and the Palestinians.
Both populations would be able to claim victory,
The Jewish population would finally be in control of the entire land, and they will finally be able to live in peace with their neighbors.
The Palestinian population would be able to go back to the villages they were expelled from or settle in a place where they can build future for their kids.
And such a solution would reduce extremist politics in both populations to a minimum, because of the vote power of both populations, it would be impossible for a far right or extremist party to have access to power.
But 2 main obstacles for the one state solution arouse:
First: the demographic challenge, having Israelis and Palestinians form one state would go against the idea that Israel is the homeland for the Jews, especially if the demographic consistent of the one state population tends to remove the place of Jews as a majority.
Second: the civil rights of the population, with such a one state solution, the Palestinian might find themselves in a situation similar to the blacks in South Africa during apartheid, where the Jews will be in control of the state that was created mainly on the foundation of Israel.
