When I hear discussions regarding the Israeli-Palestine Conflict misunderstanding on several points appear to be commonplace. These misunderstandings typically involve such issues as how Palestine was originally acquired by the Jews, which nations have ruled and which ethnic groups have mainly inhabited the region over the centuries, and who has committed atrocities and acts of terrorism. The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief overview examination of this ongoing conflict from a long range historical perspective; beginning with the original Hebrew acquisition of Palestine up to the establishment of the modern state of Israel. Dates, especially during the ancient times are often necessarily approximate.
Hebrew tribes started coming out of the desert and invading Palestine during the late Bronze Age (15-12 Centuries B.C.E.). Historians report that they (Israelites) were firmly established by the 12th Century B.C.E., having forcibly taken the land from the Philistines and Canaanites. The name Palestine originally meant "Land of the Philistines." A few centuries later King David acquired more territory in the region through aggressive warfare. It might be noted that all of these ethnic groups, as well as modern day Arabs, are classed as Semitic peoples.
The Israelites ruled the land for the most part during the period of about 1200-700 B.C.E. From about 700 B.C.E. until 1948, when the nation of Israel was created by the United Nations, Palestine was held and ruled by several different powers, including Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, Greece, Rome, Byzantines, Ottoman Turks, and Great Britain. Great Britain maintained a somewhat uneasy and awkward control at the time that modern Israel come into existence.
From the 7th Century C.E. Islamic conquest until World War I Palestine was mainly under Arab/Muslim rule, except for relatively short periods during the Christian Crusades. During this same time span and on up to the end of World War II, Arab peoples were clearly the major inhabitants of the region. For example, in 1946 there were 1,269,000 Arabs and 678,000 Jews in Palestine. Palestine was not under Jewish control for some thirteen centuries prior to 1948.
The Zionist movement, aimed at creating a Jewish national state in the ancient homeland of Palestine, was underway in the early 20th Century and by the 1920s Arab-Jewish conflicts had started with Arabs reacting against territorial expansion of Jewish immigrants and religious site usage (Western Wall).
In the 1920s and 30s Jewish secret military groups were formed (Irgunists and Sternists) to oppose both Arab resistance to the Zionist movement and the British occupation of Palestine. Near the end of World War II these groups were engaged in well documented terrorist activities. After creation of the state of Israel by the U.N., Zionist forces both defended against Arab resistance and aggressively committed atrocities as a means of frightening the Arab population away. For example, on April 9, 1948 the Arab village of Deir Yasin was captured and much of the population, some 240 civilian men, women, and children, were massacred. On September 17, 1948 Jewish terrorists assassinated Count Bernadotte, a mediator appointed by the U.N. in an attempt to reduce tensions.
Another matter that is sometimes brought up concerning this conflict involves religious beliefs. This is the concept that as "God’s chosen people" the Jews are entitled to the "promised land," (i.e. land promised by God, no less). Unless one is willing to subscribe to mythology as being truth, this is clearly nonsense. The concept seems analogous to the arrogant British idea during their imperialist period that they had a mandate to teach the rest of the world how to live and behave "properly." Perhaps God selected the Jews to teach the rest of the world how to worship "properly."
As stated at the beginning of this essay my purpose has been to examine history bearing on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict from ancient times to the establishment of the state of Israel. The history of the region since then has been complex and violent, and is generally well known. Suffice it to say that for the past five and one-half decades the region has been one hell-of-a mess. For a long time now both sides have had ample claims to aggression, violence, injustice, and even atrocities. But, in truth, from a long range historical perspective it appears that the Palestinians have AT LEAST as much of a claim to the land as the Israelis. The Jews originally acquired the land by force and the Arabs/Muslims have held and inhabited it for a considerably longer period of time than the Jews.
