Status: 12.10.2023, 16:14 PM
By: Wolfgang Hauskrecht
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The conflict between Israel and Palestine has escalated into war. What is the background of Hamas' hatred? A look at history.
Jerusalem – The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians escalated again in October 2023, turning into a war in Israel. There is no solution in sight. Instead, a spiral of violence is building up, the consequences of which no one can foresee. But where does all the hatred come from and why is peace not possible?
The history of Palestine, and thus also of the Jewish people, is long and changeable. The first settlement of Israelite tribes dates back to around 1250 BC. About 1150 years later, the Romans conquered the area and successively expelled the Jews who were scattered throughout Europe. After the defeat of the Christian Crusaders, the Mamluks ruled Palestine before they were defeated by the Ottoman Turks in 1516. For 400 years, Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire.
Background to the war in Israel: Jews see Israel as the Promised Land
In 1918, a new era began. Britain occupied Palestine and also took over its administration. As a result, many Jewish immigrants came to Palestine, which Jews regard as the Promised Land – the land promised by God. By 1945, 30 percent of the population was Jewish. This led to militant clashes with the Arabs living there. Unable to resolve the conflict, Britain handed over the mandate for Palestine to the United Nations.
Israeli troops are responding to rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip with artillery fire around Sderot. © Ilia yefimovich/dpa
After the end of the Second World War with its horrific Holocaust, the General Assembly of the United Nations voted on November 29, 1947 for the establishment of two states – one Jewish and one Arab. The problem was that while the Jewish side accepted the partition, the Arab side strictly rejected it. The six Arab states in the General Assembly voted against. Just one day after the proclamation of the partition plan for Palestine, the Zionist-Arab civil war began, but it was quickly crushed by the Zionists.
Background of the Israel War: 1948 marks the beginning of the history of today's Israel
The history of today's Israel begins on May 14, 1948, when David Ben-Gurion, later Israel's first prime minister, proclaimed the State of Israel. Again, the reaction followed just one day later. Forces of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq attacked.
Israel won this first Israeli-Arab war and occupied parts of Palestinian land. About half of the Palestinian population was expelled, and in Arab countries there were pogroms against the Jewish minority.
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The United Nations moderated – with the result that the existing fronts were frozen via ceasefire agreements. Thus, the coastal plain, Galilee and the entire Negev were under Israeli rule. The West Bank (Judea and Samaria) came under Jordanian administration, the Gaza Strip under Egyptian administration. Jerusalem was divided into a Jordanian-controlled eastern sector with the Old City and an Israeli western sector.
Israel's war with a long history: Israel occupied the West Bank
However, the conflicts did not end there. This was followed by the Suez Crisis in 1956 and the Six-Day War in 1967, during which Israel occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and the Gaza Strip. Israel was suddenly three times the size – and new tensions were inevitable.
In 1973, the Yom Kippur War broke out against Egypt and Syria, which ended with an Israeli victory, but also led to the return of the Sinai Peninsula, which eased relations with Egypt. But by no means to Syria, which Israel, like many other Arab countries, still does not recognize.
Armed conflicts remained a constant companion of Israel: the 1982 Lebanon War and the Palestinian uprisings (Intifada). To be sure, there was also progress in the peace process, which led to Palestinian self-government via the Oslo Accords, which continues to this day. But the fronts hardened again and again and led to a tougher Israeli policy on Palestine under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
War in Israel is religiously charged
The conflict, which is essentially political, is religiously charged. On the Jewish side, national-religious hardliners in particular claim the entire area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, which roughly corresponds to Old Testament Canaan. Most Palestinians follow Islam, in which there is traditionally little separation of religion and politics. Recently, the influence of Islamist forces and Jewish extremists had intensified.
During the War of Independence in 1948, many Arabs had to flee, but some remained in the newly founded Israel. They became citizens and now make up one-fifth of Israel's population. Almost all of them are Muslims, a few Christians or Druze.
By law, Arab Israelis have equal rights. Many, however, see themselves as second-class citizens. Their role as minorities and the constant conflict reinforce the feeling of a double identity among many Arab Israelis: politically and legally citizens of Israel, they feel culturally and nationally Palestinians.
Israel's war: The country's existence is threatened
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stirred up anti-Arab sentiment during election campaigns. On the other hand, Israel's existence is permanently threatened. The country currently maintains stable diplomatic relations with its neighbours Egypt and Jordan – unlike with Syria and Lebanon. The greatest danger comes from Iran, which denies Israel's right to exist.
Jerusalem is a constant powder keg – for Jews, the site of the Temple and the capital of ancient Israel. Christians associate the city with the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Muslims see Jerusalem, which the Prophet Mohammed traditionally visited in a night ride to heaven, as the third most important holy site after Mecca and Medina.
War in Israel: Netanyahu rejects two-state solution
Because of its high symbolic value, violent protests are repeatedly ignited in Jerusalem. In 1947, the United Nations decided to internationalize the city, but this ambiguous status was not accepted by either Israelis or Palestinians. In 1980, the Knesset declared Jerusalem the "eternal capital of Israel", which has little international support.
The peace process was already deadlocked before the Hamas attack began. While internationally, in the Vatican as well as in the Palestinian leadership, at least officially, a two-state solution within the 1967 borders is adhered to, Netanyahu rejects the creation of a Palestinian state. A solution is made even more difficult by Netanyahu's settlement construction in the occupied territories.