Israeli Forces example essay topic

Olla 1 Akin Olla Ms. KonnEnglish 11 January 2005 Palestine and Israel: The Never Ending Wagon the day of January 18th, 2004 Israeli forces rushed through the Gaza strip and attempted a dangerous raid. The effects of the raid left eight Palestinians civilians dead in cold blood. Within twenty-four hours a young Palestinian police officer by the name of Ali Jaar a climbed onto a Jerusalem bus and detonated a bomb, killing him and ten Israeli passengers. This is a very sad but common example of the never ending war that takes place not only on the battlefield but now on the streets and in homes of innocents. The war between Palestine and Israel may be able to date back to Biblical times and there seems to be no end in sight for either side. (Winder) The war in the Middle East is a great one.

The cause for the fighting between both sides has changed repetitively. One of the earliest problems dates back to the bible. It is said that an angel promised the exiled slave Hagar that her son Ishmael would be the father of a country and his descendants would be hated and against everyone. Ishmael's descendants did become the Arabs and would be hated by many especially the Jews.

But in fact the Jews would face much more persecution and hatred than the Arabs ever did Olla 2 Until recent events. From 1250 BCE to 138 CE the Jews fought many wars against the Roman Empire, the Babylonians, and the strength of Alexander the great. Over this time period the Jews were exiled, revolted, and then after a Jewish revolt in 133 CE, Jerusalem was destroyed and all of its inhabitants were exiled, banished, and forced into labor and slavery. (Porat) Thousands of years later in 1897 the first Zionist congress met in Switzerland to make plans for a Jewish state. Their dream was finally realized in 1917 the British Foreign Minister Arthur Balfour agreed to establish a national home for Jews in Palestine. He informed a leading Zionist and this became known as the Balfour Declaration.

This was the first action that may have led to the rekindling of the rivalry between Jews and Arabs. After The Declaration over the next 15 years many Jews began to immigrate to British Mandate Palestine. This caused a lot of unrest among the Palestinian Arabs, and caused a strike by the Arab population, this was countered by the Irgun Z vai Leu mi who was a Zionist group that attacked not only Arabs but also British targets. The Zionist groups hoped to liberate themselves by force.

Then in 1937 British mandate Palestine was split into to a Jewish and an Arab state. Unfortunately leaders on both sides rejected the idea and continued to fight more violently than ever until British Reinforcements caused a ceasefire. (Mallison) After many failed plans by the British to solve the problem native Palestinians and immigrant Jews began to mobilize there own forces for a war. The first battles began with Jewish forces attacking Palestinian villages in December of 1948. "The State of Israel, the first Jewish state for nearly 2,000 years, was proclaimed at 1600 on 14 May 1948 in Tel Aviv. The declaration came into effect the following day as the last British Olla 3 Troops withdrew.

Palestinians remember 15 May as 'al-Nakba', or the Catastrophe". Both sides created large armies but the Jews, now Israeli's backed by the Irgun and Lehi militant group won many early battles and on the date of April 9th the two groups rushed into a village near Jerusalem and massacred "scores" of innocents. Even after the Arabs summoned five large armies to invade the new Jewish state they continued to be pushed back by the Jews. In January of 1964 Yasser Arafat created the Fatah organization that would later cause much damage to Israeli troops. Conflicts in 1967 contributed to the destruction of the Egyptian air force and the start of Yom Kippur War. This one year war caused mainly by retaliation from Syrian and Egyptian forces left 8,500 dead on the Arab side, while the Jews lost 6,000.

(Porat) Yasser Arafat finally launched a new campaign against the Israeli's in 1974. During the Munich Olympics that year 11 Israeli athletes were murdered by Arafat's forces that were now the heads of the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization). After the Attack Arafat made a UN appearance and showed evidence towards peace. Finally in 1977 Egypt and Israel make peace with each other. Other Arab nations were infuriated by the Egyptian peace treaty and made separate treaties with Israel.

Even after the few years of peace Israel continued to define its borders by invading Lebanon. The attacks on Lebanon caused a chain reaction of massacres and bombings in the Middle East. (Mallison) Olla 4 In 1987 A mass uprising started amongst Palestininian Civilians. It started with simple with boycotts and graffiti but escalated to stone throwing and riots against heavily armed Israeli troops.

The Israeli's reacted with more troops which led to over one thousand Palestinian deaths. But the wars were always costly on both sides so the PLO requested another chance for peace, this was declined because most Israeli leaders still thought of the PLO as just another glorified terrorist organization. Finally in 1993 the PLO and Israeli government finally agreed to peace talks starting with one of the most significant moments thought out the whole history of this never ending war. The moment was the historical handshake between Rabin and Yasser Arafat on the lawn of the white house. This moment was widely televised and viewed by 400 million people not only in the United States but all around the world. Upon Arafat's return and was paraded and cheered wherever he went.

This new treaty also allowed for Palestinians to have there own army within the occupied area. After signing another Treaty the war seemed to be over again but like time and time again a single catalyst may refuel the tendency to fight. On November 4th 1995 shots were fired at a peace rally and Rabin was killed a Jewish religious extremist. (BBC Timeline) After years of attempted peace 1996 marked the beginning of a whole new extremist act, suicide bombing. With the start of suicide bombings Israel once again retaliated with swift action and began a bloody 3 week assault on Lebanon. With constant change in political power peace was a very distant thought for Palestinian and Israeli leaders.

(Origin) Olla 5 Various peace talks always left with the same results, just more arguments and suicide bombings. Even after the world was brought to a halt by the scene displayed in many pictures as Israeli troops marched into Gaza and killed the boy Muhammad Al-Durra h and his father. Finally Sharon came back into power and swept through politics a different way, with relentless assassinations and dangerous air strikes. Soon The Israeli forces were marching on again to recover all the land they had lost. This time though they faced heavy and organized resistance but were still able to easily kill 52 Palestinians.

Other conflicts came about like this one. "In May, a five-week standoff at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity ended when 13 Palestinian militants were sent into exile. A large group of Palestinians had taken refuge in the church when Israeli troops moved into the town". This was one of the final statements made by Palestinians in 2003.

Later that year President Bush called for a Palestinian leader who was not "compromised by terror" (Origin) The sadness of the wars is that they affect a lot of people who want nothing to do with the brutality and violence they are forced to face everyday. Some like the Father of the policeman who became a suicide bomber had to face many consequences. With the death of his son his family mourned and was unable to support itself. On top of those problems days after the suicide bombing Israeli forces stormed into his house and destroyed it leaving it lying in mere rubbles and stones. Now his family is forced to live in tents and on the streets to starve with it being no fault of there own.

So many chances of peace have been ignored or just completely forgotten, it's an eternal and never ending war.

Bibliography

Mallison, William Thomas. The Palestine problem in international law and world order. Essex: Longman, 1986".
The Origin of the Palestine Israeli Conflict". THE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS. 6 Jan. 2005.
Jews for Justice in the Middle East. 6 Jan. 2005.
Porat, Dina. The blue and the yellow stars of David: the Zionist leadership in Palestine and the Holocaust. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1990.
Winder, Rob. "My son the suicide bomber". BBC News Online. 2 Mar. 2004.
6 Jan. 2005.