Ch 1 - The People Without A Nation: The Palestinian Crisis

Chapter One: The “Nation” of Palestine

For thousands of years, the land in the fertile basin of the eastern Mediterranean has gone by many names. From its earliest name, Canaan, to Judea, Philistine, Greater Syria, the Ottoman Empire, Palestine, and now Israel, this small pocket of land is home to the holiest sights of the world's three largest monotheistic religions. Its history is riddled with conflict, and the realities of War scar its people. In the last seventy-five years, conflict in the region of Palestine and Israel has only escalated.

The History of Zionism.

By 1908, right before the world would devolve into crisis, the Zionist movement had started gaining traction in England. They had already begun purchasing land in the Palestinian territory of the Ottoman Empire for their settlements by the time WWI triggered the Ottomans' demise. As the Ottoman Empire toppled, Britain and France divvied up the whole Middle East in the Sykes-Picot Agreement. During this time, London openly committed to helping the Arabs overcome their Ottoman rulers and establish an independent and self-governing state.[1] This would not, however, come to fruition.

In 1917, the British army marched into Jerusalem and claimed control of the land that is now Israel, Gaza, West Bank, and Jordan. With the support of the British Public, London published the Balfour Declaration, promising the land of the Palestinians to the grassroots Zionist movement as the national home for the Jewish people.[2] By 1929, England recognized the growing tensions between Arabs and the immigrating Jews. After a British delegation to the area, the Shaw report found that the conflict was due to the ongoing evictions of Arab residents and other policies that created Arab unemployment.[3] The commission recommended a significant reduction in Jewish immigration and a cessation of Arab evictions by the Jewish settlers. Two more White Papers before the start of World War II (WWII) would further condemn the Jewish practice of confiscating the land and homes of the local population. In the years leading up to the end of WWII, numerous international committees and delegations continued to advocate for the cessation of apartheid, the end to the practice of Zionist Settlements (which expelled locals from their homes), and the creation of an Arab-Jewish state with clear boundaries. [4]

Leading up to 1948, on the heels of WWII, the world was reeling from the realities of the holocaust. Unimaginable methods of apartheid and cruelty resulted in a genocide that shocked the world. The holocaust's brutality created widespread support for the Zionist movement among Western Nations, which led to an increase in Zionist settlements and the eventual declaration of Israeli statehood in 1948. This triggered an uprising in the local Arab populations, and in response, Israeli forces engaged in what will likely be known as the first Palestinian genocide: the “Nakba.”

The Modern Israeli-Palestinian Situation

International Influence.

Post-Nakba, there are around seven million Palestinian refugees globally,[5] and a total of five million Palestinians inside of Gaza and the West Bank.[6] The international interest in the region has played a unique role in the formation of local government, especially as it pertains to the rise of "Christian Zionism" in the United States. These groups have contributed significant funding for new Jewish settlements as well as political voice action in support of the nation of Israel at the expense of the indigenous Palestinian people.[7]

However, the West is not the only interested party. Palestinian factions, unsupported by the Western world, have turned to their only support: the East. Local militant factions like Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, both of which have continued to engage in human rights violations,[8] are backed by Iran and, effectively, the Kremlin. The involvement of these two powerful and opposing alliances in a proxy war majorly contributes to the ongoing violence and irreconcilable nature of the conflict.[9]

Local Governance.

According to the CIA World Factbook, there is no government in Gaza or the West Bank.[10] Effectively, these two Palestinian “territories” are governed indirectly by the Israeli surveillance state. Palestinians are relegated to restricted movement,[11] curfews,[12] and extreme levels of surveillance through cameras, checkpoints, and armed forces.[13] Unfortunately, this has led to a feeling of voicelessness and powerlessness among Palestinians and the subsequent reliance on anti-western powers and militant groups like Hamas to make their voices heard. Organizations like Hamas have garnered support through their opposition to Israeli actions, occasionally employing violent means which they justify as resistance to occupation. This has further polarized the situation, complicating peace efforts and exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the region.[14] The local economy heavily depends on foreign aid and suffers high unemployment rates.

The Religious Demographics

Surprisingly to many, Palestine has a significant Christian Heritage. It was, after all, the birthplace of the church. As such, the Christian community plays a significant role in the cultural and social fabric of the region. Pre-1948, Christians made up about 10% of the Palestinian Population, Jews about 5% and Muslims 85%.[15] During the initial British and Israeli occupations, there was confusion as to how to classify the Christian Arab Communities. The British made a concerted effort to differentiate local Christians from the "Arab Muslims," erroneously equating religion to ethnicity. The Zionists were initially confused that the local church did not unconditionally welcome them like they were by their Western counterparts. Neither occupying force understood the apparent state of peace and coexistence that the Muslims and Christians enjoyed. Zionists soon concluded that it must be the Christians who were manipulating the Muslims to organize and advocate for a Palestinian State. [16]

In the modern day, the church in Palestine continues to decline due to lower birth rates and higher emigration rates. Because of the British view that Arab Christians must be like Westerners, Arab Christians were able to maintain higher socio-economic status through social and trade relationships with the West following the occupation. Due to their higher levels of income, Christians have been disproportionately financially capable of immigrating.[17] Unfortunately, this has led to a significant decrease in the local Christian population, with a proportionate decrease in the call for a secular Arab State and an increase in the Islamification of the Palestinian Crisis. 

[1] Gregory Harms, and Todd M. Ferry, The Palestine Israel conflict: a basic introduction, 2nd ed. (New York, NY, 2008.) ISBN 9870745327341.

[2] Khaled Abdelhay Elsayed, “A Brief Historical and literature Review of Peaceful Coexistence Plans (1937-1947) Between the Israelis and Palestinians,” IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science 9, no. 6, (2013): 62. E-ISSN: 2279-0837.

[3] Ibid, 63.

[4] Ibid, 63.

[5] “PALESTINE/ISRAEL” Middle East and North Africa, Refugees International. https://www.refugeesinternational.org/palestine-israel/

[6] “2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Israel, West Bank and Gaza,” OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, US Department of State. https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/israel-west-bank-and-gaza/

[7] “Editor's Note,” Critique: Critical Middle Eastern Studies 14, no. 2, (2005): 149-151. DOI: 10.1080/10669920500135470.

[8] “PALESTINE/ISRAEL” Middle East and North Africa, Refugees International. https://www.refugeesinternational.org/palestine-israel/

[9] Pavel V. Konyukhovskiy & Theocharis Grigoriadis “Proxy Wars & the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” Defense and Peace Economics 31, no. 8, (2020): 904-926, DOI: 10.1080/10242694.2019.1690942

[10] "Gaza Strip," The CIA World Fact Book, CIA, last modified November 1st, 2023. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/gaza-strip/.

[11] Una McGahern, “The Struggle to be Seen and Heard in Israel–Palestine,” Geopolitics 25, no. 1, (2020): 267-271. DOI: 10.1080/14650045.2019.1598006.

[12] “OPT: Curfew in the West Bank,” Relief Web, April 13th, 2002. https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/opt-curfew-west-bank

[13] Una McGahern, “The Struggle to be Seen and Heard in Israel–Palestine,” Geopolitics 25, no. 1, (2020): 267-271. DOI: 10.1080/14650045.2019.1598006.

[14] Ibid.

[15] “DEMOGRAPHICS OF HISTORIC PALESTINE PRIOR TO 1948,” Factsheet Series No. 7, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, Last Updated June 2022. https://www.cjpme.org/fs_007

[16] Noah Haiduc-Dale. Arab Christians in British Mandate Palestine: Communalism and Nationalism, 1917-1948. (Edinburgh University Press, 2013.) ISBN: 9780748676030

[17] David Martin “Dilemmas of Attachment: Identity and Belonging among Palestinian Christians,” Journal of Contemporary Religion 32, no. 3, (2017): 540-541. DOI: 10.1080/13537903.2017.1363462