The current violence by Israel towards Palestinians was caused by the forceful eviction of Palestinian families living in Sheikh Jarrah. Sheikh Jarrah is a neighbourhood in Jerusalem, where predominantly Palestinian families had been living since 1948.
A US-backed zionist settler group laid claims to this land and tried to forcefully evict the Palestinian families who had been living for generations. The Israeli Police also began raiding the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem during Ramadan, where people had been praying and Palestinians were protecting them from attacks by extremist settler zionists.
The history of Palestine has seen many conflicts over Israeli Zionists trying to steal their land, while not giving them equal human rights.
This article aims to provide a simple explanation of the history of Palestine and how it was conquered by Israel.
The British Mandate
Palestine and the city Jerusalem are seen as the birthplace of the 3 Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Islam, and Judaism). However, before the 1920s, mostly Arab Palestinians had been living on this land for centuries. After the First World War and the Treaty Of Versailles, The British Mandate was passed by the League of Nations in 1922 and adopted in 1923. In simple terms, the British Mandate gave the land of Palestine, including the East and West Bank to the colonial rule of the British.
At this time, many Jewish people started migrating to Palestine due to growing Anti-Semitism in Europe. This was only worsened by the growth of fascist Nazism in Europe, and more Jewish people started emigrating to Palestine. The Jewish Agency, a Zionist group, was formed along with the growth of Zionist leader Ben Gurion. Their goals were to aid the settlement of Jewish people in Palestine.
The Creation Of Israel
After the Second World War, the question of who should rule over Palestine was taken over by the newly formed United Nations. The United Nations had suggested a partition plan, with an independent Jewish state, an independent Arab State, and Jerusalem to be put under International Trusteeship. However, neither the Arabs nor Ben-Gurion agreed to this, and when Israel declared independence on 14th May 1948 after the British forces left, this was immediately followed by the First Arab-Israeli war.
Throughout wars, from the 50s to the 70s, Israel annexed most of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, occupying Palestinian land. After this, Israel has continuously occupied and settled their own citizens on the land of Palestinian people via forced evictions like the one in Sheikh Jarrah.
Imagine if, after India’s independence, a foreign group of people came in, conquered the country, and systematically took away people’s lands and homes. This is what Palestine has had to go through.
Are There “Clashes” Between Israel And Palestine?
Most media refers to Israeli aggression and Palestinian retaliation as clashes, however, this is far from the truth. Most Palestinian aggression happens after Zionists try to oppress them or steal their land.
While it is true that Hamas does launch rockets into Israeli cities, it is mostly in the form of retaliation to Zionists settling on Palestinian land or Israeli Defense Forces attacks and human rights violations on Palestinian citizens. Israel also has one of the best anti-missile defence systems in the world, known as the Iron Dome. The Iron Dome and a lot of Israeli military capacity were funded by the United States Of America. Casualties from Hamas attacks are very low, and sometimes non-existent.
On the other hand, Israeli airstrikes in Palestinian territory are much more dangerous. There is no way to protect oneself from them. While Israel claims that it only targets Hamas operatives, there have been many civilian casualties. The death toll in Gaza after the current round of airstrikes has been 35 Palestinians, including 12 children.
“Israel has a right to defend themselves“ pic.twitter.com/iJ1zWd9o6N
— Enes Musk (@enesmusk) May 11, 2021
Do You Know Who Created Hamas?
Palestinian resistance has seen the rise of many groups throughout history, but two of the major ones are the Palestinian Liberation Organization and Hamas. Palestinian Liberation Organization was founded in 1964, and it fought for Palestinian nationalism on the grounds of secularism, socialism, and armed struggle.
Hamas, on the other hand, occupies the mainstream in the current day and age for its notoriety as Islamic fundamentalist terrorists. Their ideology is based on religion and it currently has more power over Palestine and is internationally recognized as terrorists.
But did you know that Hamas was actually created by Israel? This is not a conspiracy theory but has been admitted by Israeli officials. The creation of the terrorist group Hamas came out of Israeli support and funding to thwart the efforts of the PLO, which was growing in support at the time. This is somewhat similar to how the British used the divide and rule policy in India.
Israel with its extremely strong military, lack of any international criticism, and Right-wing Zionist governments have continuously oppressed Palestinians. They have killed children, stolen land, and even created terrorist groups that they now use as a shield in the name of “counter-terrorism” to further brutalize the people of Palestine.