The Struggle for Palestine: A Historical Perspective

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a story of two peoples bound by a shared land but divided by competing histories, traumas, and aspirations. To understand its roots, one must unravel the political, colonial, and ideological forces that transformed Palestine from a multi-ethnic Ottoman province into a contested nation-state, displacing hundreds of thousands and igniting a century of strife.

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### **The Rise of Zionism and Colonial Ambitions (Late 19th–Early 20th Century)**

In the late 19th century, European nationalism and antisemitism reached a fever pitch. Pogroms in Russia, discriminatory laws in France, and the Dreyfus Affair underscored the precariousness of Jewish life in Europe. Theodor Herzl, a secular Jewish journalist, concluded that assimilation was impossible; Jews needed a sovereign state to escape persecution. This ideology, Zionism, gained traction among European Jews, though it initially faced opposition from religious Jews and assimilationists.

Palestine, then under Ottoman rule, was chosen as the Jewish homeland due to its biblical significance. However, the region was not an empty land: over 90% of its population was Arab (Muslim and Christian), with deep ties to the territory. Early Zionist settlers, funded by European benefactors like the Rothschilds, began purchasing land from absentee Ottoman landlords, displacing Palestinian tenant farmers. This sowed early tensions, as Arab peasants viewed the settlers as foreign interlopers backed by imperial wealth.

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### **British Colonialism and the Balfour Declaration (1917–1947)**

World War I reshaped the Middle East. The Ottoman Empire collapsed, and Britain seized control of Palestine under a League of Nations mandate. In 1917, the British issued the Balfour Declaration, pledging support for a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine. This promise, made without Palestinian consultation, reflected British imperial interests: securing Jewish support in the war and maintaining a foothold in the region.

Jewish immigration surged, particularly after the rise of Nazism in the 1930s. Between 1922 and 1939, the Jewish population in Palestine grew from 11% to 30%. Palestinians, alarmed by demographic shifts and land purchases, revolted in 1936–1939, demanding independence and an end to Jewish immigration. Britain crushed the uprising, disbanding Arab leadership and arming Zionist militias like the Haganah. By 1939, Britain reversed course, restricting Jewish immigration to appease Arab allies—a decision that trapped many Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe.

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### **The UN Partition Plan and the Nakba (1947–1949)**

The Holocaust’s horrors galvanized global support for Jewish statehood. In 1947, the UN proposed partitioning Palestine into Jewish (55%) and Arab (45%) states, despite Palestinians constituting two-thirds of the population. Jewish leaders accepted the plan, seeing it as a stepping stone; Arab leaders rejected it as a violation of self-determination.

Violence erupted immediately. Zionist militias, now well-armed, launched campaigns to secure territory beyond the UN borders. Over 400 Palestinian villages were destroyed, and mass expulsions occurred, as documented by historians like Ilan Pappé. In April 1948, the Deir Yassin massacre—where Zionist forces killed over 100 Palestinians—sparked panic, convincing many to flee. By May 1948, when Israel declared independence, over 700,000 Palestinians had been displaced.

Arab states intervened, but Israel, backed by superior organization and clandestine arms deals, expanded its control to 78% of historic Palestine. For Palestinians, this period is the *Nakba* (Catastrophe), a trauma etched into collective memory. For Israelis, 1948 marks independence and survival after centuries of persecution.

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### **Occupation and the 1967 War (1967–Present)**

In 1967, Israel preemptively attacked Egypt, Syria, and Jordan during the Six-Day War, seizing the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, and Sinai. The war transformed Israel into a regional power but entrenched its military occupation of Palestinian territories.

Israel’s settlement project began soon after, with Jewish communities built on expropriated Palestinian land. Today, over 700,000 settlers live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, violating international law, which deems settlements illegal. Palestinians face home demolitions, restricted movement, and military tribunals, while settlers enjoy Israeli civil law—a system likened to apartheid by human rights groups.

Gaza, under blockade since 2007, has become an open-air prison. Wars in 2008, 2014, and 2021 have killed thousands of civilians, mostly Palestinians. Meanwhile, Israel frames its actions as self-defense against groups like Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel’s existence.