A controversial topic that seems to arise in daily television programs, forms of literature, and even conversation is the Palestinian refugee conflict. With supporters on both factions of the issue and with increasing violence exhibited by both Palestinians and Israelis, it is hard to distinguish what is the main root of the problem and what can be done to solve it. This dilemma has plagued and effected both the Jewish and Arab followers, and politicians that range from extreme liberal Democrats to conservative zealots.
Foremost, it is necessary to become familiar with why there is a dispute. Although most people believe the problem dates to the biblical era, it actually began in the late nineteenth century when the Zionist movement was created. This was established as a belief in which there should be a homeland and independent nation for the Jewish people called Israel. European Jews settled in the Ottoman ruled district of Palestine, which was home to mostly an Arab population.
Map of Israel, the Palestinian territories (West B...
Map showing the West Bank and Gaza Strip in relati...
The main differences between the 1947 partition pr...After the Allies defeated the Ottomans in World War I, the British were given a ruling by the League of Nations to control Palestine. Jewish immigrants started to journey to Palestine unregulated. The high Arab population started to become the minority as more and more Semitic people moved in. After World War II, holocaust survivors also immigrated to Palestine. After that, the United Nations declared Palestine to be Israel, the new official Jewish homeland. Arabs fled the area as Israeli forces moved in and forced them out. The refugees set up camps and new villages in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The new nation of Israel decided that was also within their jurisdiction and forced them out, leaving the Palestinians with no home or country to call their own.
The Jewish consensus was that Palestine rightfully...