Israel and Palestine Issues Essay Example for Free

Israel and Palestine Issues Essay The issues between Palestine and Israel originate in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The list could drag on and on about what exactly they are fighting about but most of their issues are somehow related to land and property. To this day they can’t come to an agreement on who owns Jerusalem. That has been a touchy subject for ages. Israel is also worried about their settlements they have created since the Six Day War and what will happen to them if and when a peace treaty is defined. One cause of Palestine’s’ fury has to do with the refugees which occurred from the Israeli War of Independence in 1948. In brief, these two countries’ conflict is long ago rooted and still there hasn’t been a resolution for the troubles they are having. First off Israel and Palestine have been unable to decide who gets to claim Jerusalem as their own. Both countries title Jerusalem as their Holy place of worship. Israeli’s are for the most part Jewish and Palestinian’s are Muslim; Jewish book of holies is the Tenach and Muslim book of holies is the Koran. In the Tenach Jerusalem is mentioned over 700 times whereas in the Koran it wasn’t mentioned once. We can trace back Jerusalem as being the capital of Israel 2,000 years before Islam/Palestine was created. There is no record of Palestine ever having control or right, if you will, over Jerusalem. Israeli’s and Palestinians are concerned about their religious holy places under the governing of the other country. On occasion, Palestine has not allowed Jews to visit the Western Wall, and Jewish cemeteries have been abused or violated. Israel on the other hand, has seldom blocked sacred sights of another religion. Jerusalem has been a long disputed piece of land between these two groups of people and it probably won’t get any better. Next in order, during the Six Day War Jewish communities were captured by Israel from Jordan. Since then Israel has set up more than 130 settlements. The majority of Jews live in 8 of the largest settlements, which Israel would like to free and make theirs in a peace treaty agreement with the Palestinians. Most of the large ones border Israel and the West Bank, excluding a few which dwell deep inside Palestinian territory. Building and remodeling of the settlements has been an ongoing project since 1967. In 1997 they had formed 31 settlements with 4,400 people; in 1992 they had a total of 120 settlements with a total of 100,000 people; and in 2009 the opulation had grown to more than 306,000 people. This arguing about the settlements is one cause to the stalling of the peace process between these two countries. The Palestinians are being inconvenienced because the settlements redirect the resources needed by their towns. They also stunt the traveling of Palestinians because the security challenges them if they pass through the local roadways. Third of all, Palestinian Refugees haven’t been allowed to return to their families and homeland after the 1948 Israeli War of Independence. The estimated number of Israeli’s who either fled or were thrown out of their country tolled about 711,000 in 1949. In 2010 a survey was taken and they found out that there were more than 4. 7 million descendants of the original refugees. One third of them live in camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, the rest live in towns and cities near the refugee camps. Palestine is urging the right of the refugees to return to the places they lived before the war but new Israeli law only allows Jews to gain citizenship. Therefore Palestinians cannot apply because obviously they are Muslim. Israeli’s ponder the possibility of letting the refugees return in the form of a family reunion and allowing a vague number of further refugees to settle as well. This resolution involves the U. S. to help aid the refugees with money and services until they are able to provide for themselves and get back on their feet in the new setting. Israel and Palestine still haven’t resolved this issue because they are more concerned with bigger issues. In summary, Palestine and Israel have many unresolved issues that may or may not ever be dealt with. Both countries have their own beliefs and practices which more than likely won’t be able to coincide and cooperate long enough to make agreements and choices that benefit both sides and make everyone happy. Clearly if they don’t start making compromises and giving up a little to get what they want no one that lives there will ever be happy because the problems will just be sitting there getting bigger and bigger, eventually turning into another war.