On May 12, the UN warned Israel and Palestine against a “full-scale war.” Although tensions have long been high between Israeli and Palestinian people in East Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank for years, the situation there has escalated since the beginning of the Ramadan. Among the main disagreements stemming from the 100 year old issue between the two groups include whether or not Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank should stay or be removed, what should happen to Palestinian refugees and whether a Palestinian state should be created separate from Israel.
What are the origins of the conflict?
After the Ottoman Empire was defeated in WWI and Britain took over what is now known as Palestine, a Jewish minority and Arab majority were the main inhabitants of the land. Once Britain was assigned the task of establishing a “national home” in Palestine for Jewish people, tensions rose as Jews viewed this land as their ancestral home while Palestinian Arabs claimed it theirs as well. A plan devised by the United Nations that would have given each group a part of the land fell apart, and Israel as well as the surrounding Arab nations fought several wars over the last century. Today’s lines reflect the outcomes of two of these wars, one in 1948 and the other fought in 1967, which put Israel in control of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, two areas that are home to larger Palestinian populations.
As part of Jerusalem Day, nationalist Jews set up a march that was set to pass through Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem. Although it was called off, participants still planned to gather at the Western Wall, the holiest site in the city for Jews, while members of the extremist group Hamas announced that it would fire rockets if Israeli settlers did not withdraw from the mosque of Sheikh Jarrah.
The Israeli military has begun ground operations against Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist political organization and militant group that has been fighting with Israel since 1987 and in Gaza in recent days. According to The Wall Street Journal, up to 4,000 troops have been deployed to the border, where ground and air forces are striking targets using tanks, artillery, tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades. Palestinians and Israeli police have clashed in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem and at the Al Aqsa Mosque in the Old City following an Isareli Supreme Court decision ruled on Sunday, May 10th, to postpone the eviction of Palestinian families living there.
According to The Washington Post 119 Palestinians, including 31 children and eight Israelis, including one child, have been killed as of May 14. On Tuesday, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, warned that the situation is “escalating towards a full-scale war” and “leaders on all sides have to take the responsibility of de-escalation.”
Here’s how American politicians are reacting
President Joe Biden spoke Wednesday for the first time since the violence started this week and voiced confidence in a swift end to the latest tensions while also declaring his pro-Israel stance by saying the state “has a right to defend itself when you have thousands of rockets flying into your territory,” but never mentiond the Palestinians. Similarly, the Democratic mayoral contender for new York, Andrew Yang, made a statement on Twitter on Monday saying he stands with “the people of Israel who are coming under bombardment attacks, and condemn the Hamas terrorists.” He later clarified his previous tweet with a new one explaining that he felt his statement was “overly simplistic” in his “treatment of conflict that has a long and complex history full of tragedies.”
In contrast, congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Illhan Omar and Cori Bush voiced their support for Palestine and the rights of its people on social media and on the House floor.
The hashtags #FreePalestine, #GazaUnderAttack, #GenocideinGaza and others have completely taken over Twitter and Instagram, accompanied with videos of children rummaging through rubble for their belongings, women and men weeping for their lost spouses and citizens being handcuffed and put under arrest.
While some view what is happening in Palestine as ethnic cleansing, military occupation and land theft, others view it as Israel taking land back that was theirs. The primary and most hopeful solution to solving the conflict today, according to some experts, is a so-called “two-state solution” that would establish Palestine as an independent state in Gaza and most of the West Bank. The rest of the land would belong to Israel, allowing both groups to have partial ownership.
