THROUGH MY EYES

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT AS TOLD BY A PALESTINIAN

YOUTH

Abuse, neglect, resentment and anger these are a few of the words that I
feel have summed up my childhood. Being a teen born and raised in the territory of
Palestine, I have witnessed acts that will forever impact both my family and I.
Before I could even formulate sentences, I have been aware of the ominous conflict
between Israel and Palestine that shrouds every part of my daily life. Today, I would
like to give my perspective on the conflict and shed light on whats truly going on.
The most confusing part of growing up was hearing my family talk about both
nations claims to the land. Now that I am older, I am able to understand that the
root of this conflict is essentially Israel and Palestine arguing about whose right it is
to occupy the disputed area. The Israelis claim that they have a valid reason for
overtaking our land, but to what extent does this override Palestinian rights? Prior to
the establishment of the nation state Israel, the land of Palestine was under British
mandate.1 In exchange for land, Palestinians overthrew the Ottoman Turks for
Britain; this shows that it was not only the Jewish population that was promised land
- invalidating their Zionist argument. 2 After the United Nations partition plan in
1948, the land was divided into Jewish and Arab states. However, a year later Israel
had control of 50% more land than the partition had allotted them further
angering the Arab population. 3 Additionally, the Arab peoples have been residing in
this region since biblical times, and Jewish settlers only arrived in the last 100 years
when considering this fact, it can be determined that Palestinians hold more
evidence towards obtaining a right to the land. 4
Not only did Israel further encroach into Palestinian territory in 1949, they
also took western Gailee; a wide piece of land extending from central Palestine to
Jeruselum.5 This portion of land became known as the Green Line forcing more
than 750 000 Palestinians to flee their former homeland. 6 My grandparents refer to
the Palestinian Exodus as Nabka, or the disaster. After several wars, Israels brutal
1 Cecil Maranville. "Palestine Israel Whose Land Is It, Really." United Church of God.
N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
2 Ibid
3 Crisis Guide: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict." Council on Foreign Relations. Council
on Foreign Relations, n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2015.
4 Overview - Israeli-Palestinian Conflict - ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.

determination to even further expand their territory continued to be successful.

Finally, in October 1973 on the Israeli holiday of Yom Kippur, Sadat ordered Egypt,
Syria and Iraq to attack Israel. 7 However, as the conflict progressed, it became
obvious that the U.S.As backing of Israel would lead to their eventual success; my
father often says that this was the moment that everyone realised that Israel could
not be defeated.8 Why is it that Israel can continue to expand their borders while
Palestine cannot? What gives them the right to continue to push their settlements
into our ever-diminishing territories?
While peace negotiations have been made throughout the years, they have
been relatively ineffective and are not followed through by either Israel of Palestine.
In 1993, the Oslo agreements tried to formulate an actual agreement between Israel
and Palestine; a huge milestone.9 Even though it would still be 3 years until I was
born, I am aware of the hope that this agreement created for my family and
Palestinians alike. The Oslo Agreement stated that Israel was to withdraw their
military presence from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank over the next few years,
and that a Palestinian self-governing body was to be established creating the hope
that Palestine would finally be recognized as a state. 10 However, these hopes were
soon dashed. Jewish Israelis were skeptical of the terms of the agreement, as they
were more concerned about maintaining their biblical right to the land than
creating a fair situation for all parties involved despite the fact that the United
Nations had already deemed their settlements violations of international law. 11 The
ultimate failure of the Oslo Agreement can be attributed to a variety of factors;
however, the main area disputed was about how much territory Israel was willing to
give up, and how little Palestine would accept in return. 12
5 Beth Rowan. "Timeline: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict 19482000." Infoplease.
Pearson Education, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.
6 Ibid
7 Jerry Falk. History Twelve | Student Workbook. 3rd ed. Surry: Hazelmere, 2013.
Print.
8 Ibid
9 History of Mid-East Peace Talks." BBC News. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2015.
10 Ibid
11 Oslo Explained | Al Jazeera America." Aljazeera America. N.p., 13 Sept. 2013.
Web. 13 Feb. 2015.
12 Ibid

Unfortunately, the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis is far from over.
Ever since I was born, since my parents were born, and the early childhood of my
grandparents, we have been immersed daily in relentless conflict. Now that I am of
an age where I am able to fully understand the complexity of the dispute, I feel as if
the following are the biggest issues between Israel and Palestine today. Inarguably,
prolonged wars, intifadas, and other areas of conflict have been damaging to both
nations involved; however, Palestine continues to suffer on a much larger scale. Due
to restricted movement, and Israeli controls over virtually every sector comprising
Palestinian territories, Palestinians are subjected to extreme poverty, violent deaths,
injury, and may be prevented from receiving an education, in addition to an everincreasing sense of food insecurity. 13 Israel, in fact, seems as if they are only
benefitting from the bereft situation of Palestine a fact that will only further
elongate the road to peace. By placing Palestine in such an exaggerated
disadvantageous position, it is only natural that the uprising of terrorist
organizations should occur; while Israel and the rest of the world may be convinced
that were all violent terrorists, we urge you to come live one day in our shoes. You
may realize that things are not always the way they seem.

Works Cited
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<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/31439/Arab-Israeli-wars>.
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"Green Line." Haaretz | Israel News. Haaretz, n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2015. <http://www.haaretz.com/misc/tags/Green%20Line1.477795>.
Hanna, William. "Israel's Persecution of Palestinians and the Reality Of Present Day "Anti-Semitism"" Global Research.
N.p., 17 Feb. 2015. Web. 18 Feb. 2015. <http://www.globalresearch.ca/israels-persecution-of-palestinians-and-thereality-of-present-day-anti-semitism/5431642>.

13 Swirski, Shlomo, E., N., and T. "The Cost of Occupation: The Burden of the IsraeliPalestinian Conflict, 2008 Report." The Cost of Occupation (n.d.): n. pag. Global
Policy. Oxfam G.B., June 2008. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.

Hatuqa, Dalia. "Land: The Heart of the Conflict Between Palestine and Israel - Al-Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle
East." Al-Monitor. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2015. <http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/05/palestineisrael-conflict-land.html#>.
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Yusuf, Muhsin. "The Partition of Palestine - An Arab Perspective." Palestine-Israel Journal. UNESCO, n.d. Web. 11 Feb.
2015. <http://www.pij.org/details.php?id=106>.