The
Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the continuing dispute between Israelis and
Palestinians that started in the mid-20th century in the aftermath of the greater
Arab-Israeli conflict. As part of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process,
several efforts have been made to end the conflict.
The United Nations
proposed a proposal to divide Palestine into two parts in 1947, following more
than two decades of British rule: an independent Jewish state and an
independent Arab state. The city of Jerusalem, which both Jews and Palestinian
Arabs declared as the capital, was supposed to be an international territory
with a special status.
The proposal was
approved by Jewish officials, but was vehemently opposed by many Palestinian
Arabs, some of whom have been actively battling British and Jewish interests in
the region since the 1920s.
The Arab groups
argued that in some areas they comprised the majority of the population and
should be given more land. All over Palestine, they started to form volunteer
armies.
Israel declared
itself an independent state in May 1948, less than a year after the Partition
Plan for Palestine was implemented, indicating a willingness to enforce the
Partition Plan.
Nearly immediately,
neighboring Arab armies moved in to prevent the creation of the Israeli state.
The Arab-Israeli War of 1948 that followed included Israel and five Arab
nations-Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Lebanon.
A new chapter in
the war between Jews and Palestinian Arabs opened in the 1948 conflict, which
has now become a regional contest involving nation-states and a tangle of
diplomatic, political and economic interests.
Trump’s Middle East Plan
US President Donald
Trump officially unveiled his long-awaited Middle East Peace Initiative for the
settlement of the seven-decade-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict on January 28,
2020.
There are two
sections to the 29,000 word plan:
Part A is a
political structure that proposes:
1. Redrawing the
borders to incorporate into Israeli territory the vast majority of illegal
Israeli settlements and annexing the Jordan Valley (section 4);
2. Recognizing
"Al Quds" , Arabic term for Jerusalem as the capital of a potential
State of Palestine, while still recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's
"undivided capital" in contradiction (section 5);
3. Requiring the
State of Palestine to continue to be totally demilitarized (section 7); and
4. Denying
Palestinian refugees the internationally accepted Right of Return (section 16).
Part B contains an
economic framework which promises to "facilitate more than $50 billion in
new investment over ten years" This involves the building of a tunnel to
build a port and airport between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and an
artificial island off the Gaza coast.
Biden’s Presidency for Middle East
The election of Joe
Biden as the next president of the United States has given rise to expectations
that his government will strive for world peace, and that the people of
Palestine will be able to hope for justice and a solution to the conflict.
Hoping, however,
suggested a severe neglect of the national interest that drives a nation's
foreign policy. The new Biden administration will not be able to disregard
America's strategic ambitions and the heavy impact of the Israeli lobby on U.S.
policy.
Since the birth of
Israel some seventy-three years ago via a United Nations resolution, America
has been a staunch supporter and even champion of Israel's policies and
geopolitical interests.
Throughout his
tenure in office, outgoing US President Trump stood firmly behind Israel and
walked an extra mile to put the Zionist state in a more favorable position—at
the detriment of the Palestinian people.
Trump recognized
the entire territory of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moved the
embassy of his country from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Despite the
resentment of the international community, the Trump administration remained
unmoved and continued to accept the settlements that Tel Aviv had established
on what was said to be the Palestinian territory.
What came as a huge
blow to the Palestinians was the 'Deal of the Century' by Trump's son-in-law,
Jared Kushner.
The Kushner
plan—which reduced the Palestinian territory to just 17 per cent, gave
everything Israel desired and made the establishment of a separate Palestinian
state almost unworkable—meaned that the 1967 boundaries were no longer valid,
despite the UN resolutions.
Now all eyes are on
the new U.S. administration under Biden, but it is unlikely that Biden will try
to undo the moves the Trump administration has made in favor of Israel. The
President-elect suggested that his administration would leave unchanged the US
recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
This traditional
U.S. bias of the Biden team against Tel Aviv may have closed the expectations
of the Palestinians; but their leadership seems confident that the stalled
peace process would be revived during Biden's presidency.
The Biden
administration will revive the peace process by encouraging the Palestinian
crisis on both sides to come to the negotiating table.
This can prove to
be a confidence-building measure and encourage both parties to consider each
other's viewpoint on the dispute.
Any measure that disappoints the Palestinian people and demolishes their
dreams of securing an independent Palestinian state must be discouraged.
Written by - Anushka
Jain
Edited by - Adrija
Saha
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