FatahUSDiplomaticrelationshipinWestBank

Background
Thehistory of theIsraeliPalestinian conflicthas its roots in the late 19th century and
beginningof20thcenturyalongwiththehistoryofregionandcontinuestothepresentday.
Theendofthe19thcenturyandthebeginningofthe20thcenturyaremarkedbythebirth
of two major nationalist groupsas the Jews and the Arabs. In the 7th century, a new
influencewasgrowingintheWestAsiathatwasknownasIslam.TheIslamasapractice
startedwiththeprophetMuhammad.
The PalestineIsrael conflict is the ongoing struggle betweenIsraelisandPalestiniansthat
began in the early 20th century. It is also important to look at the history of early 20th
century.Howtheseproblemswereshaped.MajorturningpointinthehistoryoftheWest
Asia came whenoilwas discovered, first in Persia in 1908 and later inSaudi Arabiain
1938 and the other Persian Gulf states, and also inLibyaandAlgeria. It is also very fact
thatcrudeoilwasthemostimportantcommodityinthe20thcenturyofindustrialworld.
However,theOttomanEmpirewasdefeatedbyBritishEmpireforcesin1918.Atthesame
time,theBritishpromisedtotheJewsthroughtheBalfourDeclaration(1917)increating
aJewishhomeland in Palestine. The rise to power of German dictatorAdolf Hitler
inGermanyhadcreatedanewurgencyintheZionistquesttoimmigratetoPalestineand
createaJewishstatethere.TheimmigrationofJewishhasincreasedtotheLandofIsrael.
However, it is also important to see the key issues of conflict between PalestineIsrael.
Thesearethemutualrecognition,settlementofrefugees,borders,security,waterdisputes,
controloverJerusalem,Israelisettlements.Atfirstissue,theJerusalemismostimportant
for both parties, social, politically, theologically, and chronologically. It is also holy city
forJudaism,IslamandChristianity.ForChristians,Jerusalemhasbeenaholycitysince,
even according to theNew Testament,Jesus was crucifiedthere. As well as, in Islam,
Jerusalemisthethirdholiestcity.InIslamictraditionin610CEitbecamethefirstQibla,
the focal point for Muslim prayer. Prophet Muhammadmade hisNight Journey over
there.Whereas,theWesternWallistheancientwallthatsurroundedtheJewishTemples
courtyardandisoneofthemostandlastsacredsitesinJudaism.Insumup,theOldCityis
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hometomanysitesoftremendousreligiousimportance,theTempleMountanditsWestern
Wall, theChurch of the Holy Tomb, theDome of the RockandAlAqsa Mosque. These
religiousholysitescannotbeseparatedorcansayinseparablebecausetheirlocation.They
areattachedwithonetoothersbytheirwalls.
InApril,PalestinianPresidentMahmoudAbbasannouncedthatthePalestinianLiberation
Organization's (PLO) leading faction, Fatah, has agreed to a unity pact with its main
political rival, Hamas, ending a sevenyear rift between the parties. This led to the news
immediatenegativereactionsfrombothIsraelandtheU.S.,whoconsiderHamasaterrorist
group. It is also a fact that Hamas and Fatah have long held fundamentally opposing
viewpoints on several issues, most notably, that status of Israel, which Fatah has tried to
workwith,butHamashasofficiallyvowedtodestroy.
US provide humanitarian assistance in West Bank. Although it is also a fact that
UNRWAs services encompass education, health care, relief, camp infrastructure and
improvement,communitysupport,microfinanceandemergencyresponsewiththesupport
of US. Hamas and Fatah have fundamentally different approaches to the state of Israel.
Hamas believes the state does not have the right to exist, and Fatah believes it does,
choosing to attempt political solutions instead.Fatah has an official stance of nonviolent
resistance,whileHamashasconsistentlyusesterroristtacticsagainstIsrael.These(major)
disparities have kept the two from joining forces since 2006, whenHamas swept
PalestinianelectionsandunseatedFatahastherulingpartyinthePalestinianAuthorityfor
adecade.Abbashadjusttakenhisseataspresidentinanelectionthatfollowedthedeathof
longtimeleaderYasserArafat,andwasslatedtofinishouttheterm.
ReviewofLiterature
ElizabethMatthewa(2011),arguedthatEducationforpeaceisthebestwaytoensurethat
the next generations of Israelis and Palestinians have the skills, the knowledge, and the
motivation to create a truly peaceful West Asia. He stressed also that through education,
IsraelisandPalestinianchildrenmustbeprovidedwiththeskillsandknowledgetolivein
peaceandtocreatemutualrespectandunderstandingwhichwilltransformtheirlivesand
this region into cooperation, prosperity, and freedom. Asher Susser (2012) explores that
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withthefailureofthepeaceprocessunderthesigningoftheOsloAccords,thetwostate
solution lost much of its appeal, legitimacy, and practicality in the region. The Israeli
settlements and the successive Israeli governments is somewhere in contending with the
challenge of the settler movement across the region. In this literature, the author also
focusesthepoliticalconfusiononthenatureofPalestinewiththePAandHamas.
ResearchQuestion
x WhatwerethecoreissuesofPalestineIsraelConflict?
x WhatexplainstheRelationofFatahandUSinWestAsianPolitics?
x WhatdifferentformatsofassociationwithHamasFatahapplytoPalestineIsraelConflict?
x WhatarechallengesandrestrictionsFatahUShumanitarianAid?
ResearchMethodology
This research will use both primary (official records and document of the states) and
secondary (books, journals and research papers etc.) sources of data and adopt inductive
methods to analyze the subject of the research. This research will also use historical,
descriptive,andanalyticaltoolsofmethods.
TentativeChapters
Chapter1:Introduction
Chapter2:RootcausesofConflictbetweenPalestineIsrael
ThischapterwillexaminetherootcausesofPalestineIsraelconflict,howithaschanged
time to time as manifested in the region and effect regional politics. The discussion will
payalsoattentiontothecoreissuesofconflicts.
Chapter3:UnderstandingnatureofFatahUSDiplomacy
ThischapterwillexaminetheunderstandingnatureofPalestinianRefugee.Furtherwithit
willfollowthepoliticsoftheirRightsandintheregion.
Chapter5:Conclusion
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Thischapterwillhighlightthefindingsandtestthehypothesisofthestudy.

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