Case Study: The Creation Of Israel And Israeli Settlement In Palestine

Case Study: The Creation of Israel and Israeli Settlement in Palestine

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Case Study: The Creation of Israel and Israeli Settlement in Palestine

Q.1 According to UN Resolution 181, what are the rights of Arabs in Israel and what are the rights of Jews in Palestine?

Following are the rights that were enshrined under UN resolution 18. Following are the rights of Jews in Palestine under UN resolution 181. Any Jew residing in the Arab state is granted the right to vote in Jewish State (UN Resolution 181, 1947). Women were granted the right to vote and run for public offices. No Jew owning land or property in Arab State would be expropriated from its ownership (UN Resolution 181, 1947). No Jew living in the Jewish state would be able to opt for the citizenship of Arab State. Jews living in the Arab State were granted rights to receive primary and secondary education in their own language (UN Resolution 181, 1947). Jews in the Arab State were given the freedom to practice their religion unobstructed. Arabs in Israel are provided similar rights under the resolution. Any Arab living in Israel can vote in Arab State only. Women were granted the right to vote and run for public offices. No Arab owning land or property in Israel would be expropriated from its ownership (UN Resolution 181, 1947). No Arab living in Israel would be able to opt for the citizenship of Arab State. Muslims living in the Jew State were granted the right to receive primary and secondary education in their language. Muslims in Jew State were given the freedom to practice their religion unobstructed.

Q.2 Are the resulting conflicts religious, economic, territorial, or a combination of these? Support your assessment with evidence.

The Israel-Palestine conflict is territorial. In the entire world, Israel is the sole Jewish state. The Muslims or the Arabs that belong to the land controlled by Israel refer that land as Palestine. The Muslims want to establish a state just like Israel had. Therefore, the conflict is about who controls what piece of land. Jews that fled out of fear of prosecution wished to establish a homeland where they could live peacefully. However, Arab states in the surrounding rejected this proposal. As the UN plan to peacefully divide the land following the exit of the British failed, the Arab states and Israel went to war in1947 and 1967 (Boraik, 2019). As a result of the wars, Israel gained control over a significant amount of land where large Muslim populations were residing (Boraik, 2019).

Q.3 Is the practice of creating Israeli settlements in Palestine illegal? Assess Dr. Ashrawi's statement that "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is more committed to settlement expansion than to peace."?

Dr. Hanan Ashrawi has rightly argued that Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is more interested in expanding illegal settlements in Muslim majority land than to peace. Israeli settlements, to begin with, are illegal when UN resolution 181 is taken into account (Gleeson, 2017). In the resolution, Muslims living in the Jew State were granted equal rights and it is the responsibility of the state to make sure that no Muslim is expropriated from any piece of land that they own in Israel or Jew State. Therefore Israeli settlements are illegal from the perspective of UN resolution 181. Furthermore, the declaration of Jerusalem as Israeli capital by Mr. Netanyahu sparked anger among the Muslims especially the ones living in Israeli controlled land (Gleeson, 2017). The declaration of Jerusalem reflects the intention of Mr. Netanyahu that he is more interested in expanding settlement rather than peace (Gleeson, 2017).

Q.4 What is the US position on this practice and how has this affected international relations?

For many years, the US had maintained a balance position as far as Israel-Palestine conflict is concerned. However, recent acts of the Trump administration suggest that they had changed their balanced stance. For instance, the US was the first country to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital (Shehadeh, 2019). This recognition suggested that the US has undermined the Palestinian right to self-determination. Furthermore, the Israeli occupation of Golan Heights, a strategic piece of land, was approved the Trump administration (Kattan, 2019). The actions of US administrations suggest that it is approving the Israeli illegal occupation of the Palestinian territory. Furthermore, the US has shut down its consulate in Jerusalem and opened an embassy instead suggest that Trump administration is in line with Israeli actions (Hughes, 2018). Lastly, Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of Mr. Trump, is in charge of brokering Arab Israel peace deal. Considering the recent US actions, the peace deal would be nothing short of stripping Palestinians off of their right to self-determination.

References

Boraik, M. (2019). Strategic logic and ability: revisiting the Arab-Israeli wars (Doctoral dissertation, University of Reading).

Gleeson, L. (2017). Palestine: On eve of Netanyahu visit, illegal settlements at tipping point. Green Left Weekly, (1126), 19.

Hughes, D. (2018). The United States Embassy in Jerusalem: Does Location Matter?.

Kattan, V. (2019). US Recognition of Golan Heights Annexation: Testament to Our Times. Journal of Palestine Studies, 48(3), 79-85.

Shehadeh, R. (2019). From Jerusalem to the Rest of the West Bank: Israel's Strategies of Annexation. Review of Middle East Studies, 1-14.

UN Resolution 181, (1947). Unispal.un.org. Retrieved 11 August 2019, from https://unispal.un.org/DPA/DPR/unispal.nsf/0/7F0AF2BD897689B785256C330061D253