The Current Conflict Between Israel and Palestine

Usher, Barbara Plett. 2021

In the last few days, the world has witnessed a big wave of violence and destruction between Israelis and Palestinians in a way we have not seen since 2014. The conflict between them has historical roots and, it has been going since the 20th century. Israel and Palestine have been fighting and disagreeing over: territory, religion, ideology, pride, and the issue does not seem to go away fast. Even though they have their differences, there are moments of stability, but the current context is of the countries destroying each other with the aid of high-powered weapons, mainly on the part of Israel.

However, what is the reason for the current armed conflict? As mentioned before the territorial issue is a crucial point of disagreement between them, particularly because of Jerusalem, and at the moment this is why Israel and Palestine are shocking the world. To understand what is happening, we need to go back in time. In 1948, after the first Arab Israeli war, Jerusalem was divided into two parts: East Jerusalem, under Arab control; and West Jerusalem, controlled by Israel. However, in 1967, during the Six-Day War, the Israelis took complete control of the region. The most sacred d religious places in the world remain in East Jerusalem for the Christian, Muslim, and Jewish religions.

That is why there are constant disagreements over that particular region. And it is also on this site that one of the predominantly Palestinian neighborhoods lies, Sheikh Jarrah. And the present conflict takes place around that neighborhood in question.

Eventhough it is a Palestinian neighborhood there is now a group of Jewish settlers claiming this land and thus leaving the Palestinian families intimidated and with the possibility of eviction. This year an opinion from a lower court supported the settlers' claim on these lands, generating fury among the Palestinians.

However, in recent weeks there have been a series of repressions against the Palestinians during Ramadan, the holy month for Muslims, at the Al-Aqsa mosque, a holy place for Muslims, due to demonstrations against the eviction of Palestinian families was another relevant factor to be considered for the beginning attacks. Taking these issues into account on May 11th, the Islamist group Hamas that controls the Gaza Strip, claimed to have fired more than 130 rockets in the direction of Tel Aviv (Israeli city). In response to an Israeli airstrike that destroyed a residential tower in Palestine and to the eviction of Palestinian families from East Jerusalem. Immediately international concerns began, calling for the closure of the escalation. Yet the request was ignored, and more than 400 rockets were launched against Israel. After five days of confrontation and exchange of launched missiles, the conflict reached the West Bank. Israeli military clashed with young Palestinians in several cities in the West Bank, which witnessed violent protests on May 14th. Still, in this context of the conflict on Saturday, May 15th an Israeli airstrike destroyed a building where several international news agencies operated, making it the largest building destroyed in Gaza by Israel so far. Fortunately, there were no deaths in the attack due to the aggravated situation, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to put an end to the attacks.

It is worth mentioning that since the beginning of the attacks, around 10,000 Palestinians have left their homes in Gaza fearing for their lives. Even after calls for an end to the escalation by the international community Benjamin Netanyahu, stated the attacks would continue in full force and for as long as necessary. Fortunately, on Thursday, May 20th a ceasefire mediated by Egypt with the participation of Qatar and the United Nations was established, between the Islamic group Hamas and Islamic Jihad with Israel putting an end to the eleven days of continuous attacks. The attacks that started on May 10th left 232 dead in Gaza and 12 in Israel, most of those killed are civilians, including women and children. This conflict left many deaths and much destruction beyond the chaos generated and showed the world the importance of resolving the decades of disagreements between Israelis and Palestinians that are far from over.

Referências Bibliográficas

BBC News Brasil. Como começou o conflito entre israelenses e palestinos. 2020. (8m22s).

Disponível em: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7LVfD8Rd5g&t=105s . Acesso em

16/05/2021.

BBC News Brasil. O que são os assentamentos israelenses e o que deu início às intifadas

palestinas. 2020. (7m53s) Disponível em: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpoNFyGdz5M. Acesso em 16/05/2021.

BBC News Brasil. Porque Jerusalém é chave para o conflito entre israelenses e palestinos. 2020. (4m40s). Disponível em: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z9Z0jw4WFk . Acesso em

16/05/2021.

BBC. Conflito entre Israel e palestinos: Netanyahu diz que ataques a Gaza vão continuar 'com força total'. BBC News Brasil, 2021. Disponível em:

https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-57138728 . Acesso em 16/05/2021.

BBC. Conflito entre Israel e palestinos: violência na Cisjordânia agrava tensão na crise. BBC

News Brasil, 2021. Disponível em: https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-57124746. Acesso em 14/05/2021

BBC. Sheikh Jarrah: a disputa judicial que causou onda de violência em Jerusalém. BBC News Brasil, 2021. Disponível em: https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-57150404.

Acesso em 17/05/2021.

Nexo Jornal. As origens do Estado de Israel. E do conflito com os palestinos. 2018. (11m35s).

Disponível em: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibM5iQE71fQ&t=5s. Acesso em

16/05/2021.