Israeli–Palestinian conflict

Israel, with the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Golan Heights

See also: Arab-Israeli conflict

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an ongoing dispute between two peoples: Jewish Israelis and Arab Palestinians, both of whom claim the sovereignty over the whole or in a part of the Land of Israel/Palestine. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is part of the wider Arab-Israeli conflict though some say that the Arab-Israeli conflict arises as a result of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The conflict can be traced to the late 19th century, when Zionist Jews expressed their desire to create a modern state in the ancient land of the Israelites, which they considered to be their rightful homeland. To further that objective, the World Zionist Organization encouraged immigration to the land and purchasing land, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire.

After decades of the British Mandate, numerous attempts to partition the land and hostilities, the State of Israel was established. Local Arab nations started the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, in which Israel prevailed, and won control over borders which remained in place until the Six Day War. For decades after 1948, Arab governments refused to recognize Israel. They contended that Israel had engaged in unfair practices towards local Arabs, and that its creation was based on unfair diplomatic decisions.

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was founded in 1964, before Israel occupied any of the lands of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the Six Day War. The PLO's central original tenet was complete non-recognition of Israel.

In 1988, Yasser Arafat stated that he recognized Israel's right to exist, thus providing the first step needed to enable negotiations between Israel and the PLO. During the Oslo Peace Process which began in 1993, the Palestine Liberation Organization was permitted autonomy to run Palestinian affairs in the Gaza Strip and West Bank in the form of the Palestinian National Authority with the understanding that it would uphold recognition of and mutual co-existence with Israel. However there was continual contention over whether actual events and conditions proved that there was greater acceptance of Israel's existence by Palestinian leaders.

In 2006, Hamas won a majority in the Palestinian Legislative Council, where it remains the majority party. Its charter openly calls for the destruction of Israel, and seeks to create a Palestinian state encompassing all of Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip. This has greatly impeded any diplomatic progress, as Israel declines any contact with Hamas, as long as the latter calls for the destruction of Israel.

Most Palestinians accept the West Bank and Gaza Strip as at least a part of the territory of their future state. Most Israelis also accept this solution. An attempt to achieve this solution was seen in the Oslo peace process, where Israel and the PLO negotiated, unsuccessfully, to come to a mutual agreement. Vocal minorities on both sides advocate other solutions, most of which contradict the goal of 'two states for two peoples.' In both communities, some individuals and groups advocate total removal or transfer of the other community. A small minority advocates a one state solution, where all of Israel, the Gaza Strip, and West Bank would become a bi-national state, providing equal citizenship to all of its current residents.

One central question of this conflict is the degree to which Palestinians are willing and able to accept the right of Israel to exist, and are willing to uphold acceptance of this principle. Similarly, another central question is the degree to which Israel feels conditions exist in which it is possible to allow Palestinians to achieve sovereignty.

Israel asserts that one major condition of Palestinian sovereignty must be acceptance of mutual co-existence and elimination of terrorism. Some Palestinian groups, notably Fatah, a political party founded by PLO leaders, claim they are willing to foster co-existence if Palestinians are steadily given more political rights and autonomy. However, Hamas, which is currently the majority ruling party in the Palestinian Legislative Council, openly states that it completely opposes Israel's right to exist.

History

Main article: History of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

1945-1948

After World War II, the continuing tension between Arabs and Jews in the British mandate of Palestine was a major international concern. In an endeavour to resolve the conflict in the Palestinian territory, the United Nations proposed a two-state solution. The 1947 UN Partition Plan was to come into effect on 15 May 1948. However, the Plan was rejected by the Arab League representing the Palestinians and the other Arab states.

Israel declared its independence on May 14, 1948. Almost immediately, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Transjordan, Saudi Arabia and Iraq declared war on the nascent nation. By the conclusion of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Israel had greatly expanded its borders, and signed ceasefire agreements with all its Arab neighbors.

A significant exodus of Palestinians from Israel occurred during this time, coupled with an even greater Jewish exodus from Arab lands. These changes in demographics helped lay the long-term groundwork for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, since it drastically increased the size of the Jewish population of Israel, and created a problem of Palestinian refugees.

1949-1967

PLO	Fatah	Hamas	PIJ	PFLP
	File:Fateh-logo.jpg	File:HamasLogo.jpg		File:PFLP-logo.png
The emblems of major Palestinian organizations include a map of present-day Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. (Significant populations of Palestinians and Israelis alike claim a right to the entire region).

By the end of 1949, only 150,123 Palestinians remained within Israel. For this reason, the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict took a back seat to the broader Arab-Israeli Conflict during this time.

Palestinians played a crucial role in the Egyptian-Israeli conflict during this time. Beginning in 1950, Egypt began using fedayeen to conduct a war of proxy against Israel. These units of Palestinians—often trained and equipped by Egypt—would infiltrate across what was then the Israeli-Egyptian border at Gaza, and conduct guerilla raids against Israeli targets (mostly civilian in nature). In the first five years of the 1950s, "884 Israelis were wounded or killed by" Palestinian fedayin trained and sent into Israel by the Egyptians. The fedyain attacks was cited as being among the factors leading up to the Israeli decision to participate in the Sinai Campaign in 1956.

The scope of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict again broadened after Israel conquered the West Bank from Jordan and the Gaza Strip from Egypt during the Six-Day War.

Oslo peace process (1993-2000)

A peace movement poster: Israeli and Palestinian flags and the words peace in Arabic and Hebrew. Similar images have been used by several groups proposing a two-state solution to the conflict.

In 1993, Israeli and Palestinian leaders from the Palestine Liberation Organization strove to find a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict known as the Oslo peace process. Perhaps the most important milestone of this period was Yasser Arafat's letter of recognition of Israel's right to exist. The crux of the Oslo agreement was that Israel would gradually cede control of the Palestinian territories over to the Palestinians in exchange for peace. The Oslo process was delicate and progressed in fits and starts, but finally came to a close when Arafat and Barak failed to reach agreement. Robert Malley, special assistant to President Clinton for Arab-Israeli Affairs, has confirmed that Barak made no formal written offer to Arafat. Consequently, there are different accounts of the proposals considered. However, the main obstacle to agreement appears to have been the status of Jerusalem.

Map of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, showing areas of formal Palestinian authority in dark green and Israeli-administered areas in light green.

2001-present

One peace proposal, presented by the Quartet of the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States on September 17, 2002, was the Road map for peace. Israel has also accepted the road map but with 14 "reservations" . The current Palestinian government rejected the proposal because of these 14 reservations. Israel implemented a controversial disengagement plan proposed by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2005, when Israel removed all of its civilian and military presence in the Gaza Strip, (namely 21 Jewish settlements there, and four in the West Bank), but continued to supervise and guard the external envelope on land excepting a border crossing with Egypt, which is jointly run by the Palestinian National Authority in conjunction with the European Union. Israel also maintained exclusive control in the air space of Gaza, and continued to conduct military activities, including incursions, in the territory. The Israeli government argues that "as a result, there will be no basis for the claim that the Gaza Strip is occupied territory," while others argue that the only effect would be that Israel "would be permitted to complete the wall (that is, the Israeli West Bank Barrier) and to maintain the situation in the West Bank as is" . Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has stated that further unilateral withdrawals from some West Bank settlements may be undertaken if the peace process continues to be stalled.

After repeated Qassam rocket attacks against Israeli civilian populations and the kidnapping of the 19-year-old Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, Israel launched Operation Summer Rains which effectively reinstituted Israeli dominance over the Gaza Strip. Although some Israelis interpret the 2006 Israel-Gaza conflict as proof that the Palestinians are not able or willing to govern themselves without resorting to terrorism and kidnappings and therefore the disengagement was a serious miscalculation, key members of the Knesset including Prime Minister Olmert said "that Israel has no intention of recapturing the Gaza Strip and that IDF forces will eventually retreat."

Hamas's victory in the 2006 elections for Palestinian Legislative Council, and Ismail Haniyeh’s ascension to the post of Prime Minister further complicated the peace process. Hamas openly states that it does not recognize Israel's right to exist, although they have expressed openness to a hudna.

In early 2007, Hamas and Fatah met in Saudi Arabia, and reached agreement to form a new unity government. Haniyeh later resigned, and a new unity coalition government of both Fatah and Hamas took office in March 2007. Various foreign governments and organizations continued to debate as to whether the PNA had become a credible negotiating authority, and whether economic and diplomatic sanctions should be lifted.

Major issues between the two sides

Since the Oslo Accords, finalized in 1993, the government of Israel and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) have been officially committed to an eventual two-state solution. However, there are many major issues which remained unresolved between the two parties.

The status of the disputed territories

Further information: Israeli-occupied territories, West_bank § Status, and Positions on Jerusalem

The West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem—territories which Israel conquered from Egypt and Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War—are the subject of contentious legal, ethical and political dispute between Israelis and Palestinians.

In 1980, Israel outright annexed East Jerusalem. The United Nations rejected this annexation on August 20 of that year. Israel has never annexed the West Bank or Gaza Strip, and the United Nations has demanded the "[t]ermination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgement of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force" and that Israeli forces withdraw "from territories occupied in the recent conflict" - the meaning and intent of the latter phrase is disputed. See United Nations Security Council Resolution 242#Semantic dispute.

It has been the position of Israel that the most Arab-populated parts of West Bank (without major Jewish settlements), and the entire Gaza Strip must eventually be part of an independent Palestinian State. However, the precise borders of this state are in question. In 2000, for example, Ehud Barak offered Yasser Arafat an opportunity to establish an independent Palestinian State composed of the entire Gaza Strip and 92% of the West Bank. Due to security restrictions, and Barak's opposition to a broad right of return, Arafat refused this proposal.

Some Palestinians claim they are entitled to all of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem. Israel says it is justified in not ceding all this land, due to security concerns, and also because the lack of any valid diplomatic agreement at the time means that ownership and boundaries of this land is open for discussion. Palestinians claim any reduction of this claim is a severe deprivation of their rights. In negotiations, they claim that any moves to reduce the boundaries of this land is a hostile move against their key interests. Israel considers this land to be in dispute, and feels the purpose of negotiations is to define what the final borders will be.

Other Palestinian groups, such as Hamas, insist that Palestinians must control not only the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem, but also all of Israel proper. For this reason, Hamas views the peace process "as religiously forbidden and politically inconceivable."

Mutual recognition

The Oslo peace process was based upon Israel ceding authority to the Palestinians to run their own political and economic affairs. In return, it was agreed that Palestinians would promote peaceful co-existence, renounce violence and promote recognition of Israel among their own people. Despite Yasser Arafat's official renouncement of terrorism and recognition of Israel, many Palestinians today continue to practice and advocate violence against civilians and do not recognize Israel as a legitimate political entity.

It is widely felt among Israelis that Palestinians did not in fact promote acceptance of Israel's right to exist. There is much documentary and empirical evidence that Palestinian leaders engaged in ongoing, concerted promotion and support for terrorist activities. Furthermore, many official Palestinian media outlets air footage inciting hatred of Israel.

Palestinians respond that their ability to spread acceptance of Israel was greatly hampered by Israeli restrictions on Palestinian political and economic freedoms. Many feel that their own opposition to Israel was justified by Israel's apparent stifling of any genuine Palestinian political and economic development.

Israel cites past concessions, which have been heralded as victories by terrorist groups, and have only lead to further violence. For example, Israel’s disengagement from the Gaza Strip in August, 2005 did not lead to a reduction of attacks and rocket fire against Israel.

The question of Palestinian refugees

See also: Palestinian Right of Return, Palestinian refugee, and Palestinian Exodus

The number of Palestinians who fled Israel following its creation and their descendants now stands at around four million.

Left-wing Israelis are open to compromise on the issue, by means such as the monetary reparations and family reunification initiatives offered by Ehud Barak at the Camp David 2000 summit. However, the majority of Israelis find a comprehensive right of return for Palestinian refugees to be unacceptable. The HonestReporting organization listed the following grounds for this opposition:

• Palestinian flight from Israel was not compelled, but voluntary. After seven Arab nations declared war on Israel in 1948, many Arab leaders encouraged Palestinians to flee, in order to make it easier to rout the Jewish state. This point, however, is a matter of some contention. Certain actions on the part of Jewish militias were considered to provoke Palestinians to leave Israel. Eye witness accounts from Ain al-Zeitoum and Er-Rama, for example, record that the Palmach assembled all of their residents following the villages' surrender. The Jewish militia then demanded that all Muslim residents depart for Lebanon, and leave their possessions behind, under pain of death. Still, such cases were relatively rare, and the vast majority of Palestinians fled of their own accord. Since most Palestinians chose their status as refugees themselves, some argue that Israel is therefore absolved of responsibility. In fact, a 1952 memorandum submitted to the League of Arab States by the Higher Arab Committee reveals that Arab states officially agreed to take responsibility for these refugees at the height of the Palestinian exodus, until such time as Israel would be destroyed:

Arab leaders and their ministries in Arab capitals ... declared that they welcomed the immigration of Palestinian Arabs into the Arab countries until they saved Palestine.

• There is no legal basis to demand repatriation of Palestinian refugees and their descendents. No international legislation, UN resolutions or agreements between Israel and the Palestinians require this.
• Historical legal precedent from the Middle East supports this contention. Since none of the 900,000 Jewish refugees who fled anti-Semitic violence in the Arab world were ever compensated or repatriated by their former countries of residence—to no objection on the part of Arab leaders—a precedent has been set whereby it is the responsibility of the nation which accepts the refugees to assimilate them.
• An influx of Palestinian refugees would lead to the destruction of the state of Israel. Because a right of return would make Arabs the majority within Israel, this would essentially seal the fate of the Jewish state. As Fatah explains: “To us, the refugees issue is the winning card which means the end of the Israeli state.”

Palestinian and international authors have justified the right of return of the Palestinian refugees on several grounds:

• Several authors included in the broader New Historians assert that the Palestinian refugees were chased out or expelled by the actions of the Haganah, Lehi and Irgun. A report from the military intelligence SHAI of the Haganah entitled "The emigration of Palestinian Arabs in the period 1/12/1947-1/6/1948", dated 30 June 1948 affirms that:

"At least 55% of the total of the exodus was caused by our (Haganah/IDF) operations." To this figure, the report’s compilers add the operations of the Irgun and Lehi, which "directly (caused) some 15%... of the emigration". A further 2% was attributed to explicit expulsion orders issued by Israeli troops, and 1% to their psychological warfare. This leads to a figure of 73% for departures caused directly by the Israelis. In addition, the report attributes 22% of the departures to "fears" and "a crisis of confidence" affecting the Palestinian population. As for Arab calls for flight, these were reckoned to be significant in only 5% of cases...

• The traditional israeli point of view arguing that arab leaders encouraged palestinian arabs to flee has also been disputed by the New Historians, which instead have shown evidence indicating Arab leaders' will for the palestinian arab population to stay put .
• The Israeli Law of Return that grants citizenship to any Jew from anywhere in the world is viewed by some as discrimination towards non-Jews and especially to Palestinians that cannot apply for such citizenship nor return to the territory from which they were displaced or left.
• The strongest legal basis on the issue is UN Resolution 194, adopted in 1948. It states that, "the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible." UN Resolution 3236 "reaffirms also the inalienable right of the Palestinians to return to their homes and property from which they have been displaced and uprooted, and calls for their return". Resolution 242 from the UN affirms the necessity for "achieving a just settlement of the refugee problem," however, Resolution 242 does not specify that the "just settlement" must or should be in the form of a literal Palestinian right of return.

Israeli settlements

Main article: Israeli settlements

The issue of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, until 2005, the Gaza Strip has been described as an obstacle to a peaceful resolution of the conflict, by international media, the international community, which in some occasions has called the settlements illegal under international law, the EU, which has opposed the settlements and considered them illegal, the US and the UK the ICJ which has considered them illegal under international law, international and Israeli human rights organizations. However, several scholars and commentators disagree, and cite recent historical trends to back up their argument, although this has not changed the view of the international community and the human rights organizations.

As of 2006, 267,163 Israelis lived within the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Much of the international community considers all of these Israeli settlements as illegal under international law, however Israel disputes this. The establishment and expansion of these settlements in the West Bank and (at the time, the) Gaza Strip have been described as violations of the fourth Geneva Convention by the UN Security Council in several resolutions. The European Union and the General Assembly of the United Nations consider the settlements to be illegal. Proponents of the settlements justify their legality using arguments based upon Article 2 and 49 of the fourth Geneva Convention, as well as UN Security Council Resolution 242. On a practical level, some objections voiced by Palestinians are that settlements divert resources needed by Palestinian towns, such as arable land, water, and other resources; and, that settlements reduce Palestinians' ability to travel freely via local roads, owing to security considerations.

In 2005, Israel's unilateral disengagement plan, a proposal put forward by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, was enacted. All Jewish residents in the Gaza strip were evacuated, and all residential buildings were demolished.

Various mediators and various proposed agreements have shown some degree of openness to Israel retaining some fraction of the settlements which currently exist in the West Bank; this openness is based on a variety of considerations, such as: the desire to find real compromise between Israeli and Palestinian territorial claims, Israel's position that it needs to retain some West Bank land and settlements as a buffer in case of future aggression, and Israel's position that some settlements are legitimate, as they took shape when there was no operative diplomatic arrangement, and thus they did not violate any agreement.

President George Bush has stated that he does not expect Israel to return entirely to the 1949 armistice lines, due to "new realities on the ground. One of the main compromise plans put forth by the Clinton Administration would have allowed Israel to keep some settlements in the West Bank, especially those which were in large blocs near the pre-1967 borders of Israel. In return, Palestinians would have received some concessions of land in other parts of the country.

Israeli security

Without the West Bank, Israel would be only nine miles across at its narrowest point, close to its greatest population center. Many fear that this would leave it vulnerable to any future attacks by an Arab alliance. Moreover, such an army would be fighting from the higher ground of the West Bank, and would find its invasion made easier, since it would not have to cross the Jordan River.

The threat of Qassam rockets fired from the Palestinian Territories into Israel is also of great concern. In 2006--the year following Israel's disengagement from the Gaza Strip--the Israeli government recorded 1,726 such launches, more than four times the total rockets fired in 2005. Many Israelis see this as evidence that greater Palestinian autonomy necessarily comes at the expense of Israel's ability to defend itself against threats from the Palestinian territories.

Contrarily, many maintain that Israeli concessions will result in reduced friction between Israelis and Palestinians, and that this will in turn bring about a reduction of violence.

The division of resources

Further information: [[:Water Politics in the Middle East]]

Palestinians note, as one of their most central concerns, that their society must be given land and resources with enough contiguity to give them a viable society, and that they must therefore not be forced to give up too many resources to Israel, as this may cause economic collapse.

In the Middle East, water is a resource of great political concern. Since Israel receives much of its water from two large aquifers which are sprawled across Green Line, the use of this water has been contentious in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Since some of the wells used to draw this water lie within the Palestinian Authority areas, there are many who question the legality of using their water for Israeli needs.

But critics of this argument point out that even though Israel withdraws some water from these areas, it also supplies the West Bank with 40 MCMs--77% of its consumption. Moreover, they point out that Israel's consumption of this water has actually decreased since it began its occupation of the West Bank. In the 1950s, Israel consumed 95% of the water output of the Western Aquifer, and 82% of that produced by the Northeastern Aquifer. This water was drawn entirely on Israel's own side of the pre-1967 border. By 1999, these numbers had declined to 82% and 80%, respectively.

Finally, Israel cites the Oslo II Accord. In this treaty, both sides agreed to maintain "existing quantities of utilization from the resources." In so doing, the Palestinian Authority established unequivocally the legality of Israeli water production in the West Bank. Moreover, Israel obligated itself in this agreement to provide water to supplement Palestinian production, and further agreed to allow additional Palestinian drilling in the Eastern Aquifer. Many Palestinians counter that the Oslo II agreement was intended to be a temporary resolution, and that it was not intended to remain in effect more than a decade later. Indeed its name is "The Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement."

This agreement also established the right of the Palestinian Authority to explore and drill for natural gas, fuel and petroleum within its territory and territorial waters. It also delineated the major terms of conduct regarding regulations on the parties' facilities.

Current status

The Oslo peace process obligated both sides to work towards a two-state solution, as noted above. However, during the process itself, there were numerous acts of violence by both sides. Israelis claimed they were acting only in response to Palestinian acts of terrorism. Palestinians claimed they were only carrying out legitimate resistance, against numerous violations by Israel of Palestinian rights, and political sovereignty.

In addition, during this process, both sides expressed dissatisfaction and grievances with the other side. The main Israeli allegation was that Palestinians were actively inciting and funding terrorism against Israel. The main Palestinian complaint was that Israel was repeatedly violating Palestinian rights, which made it pointless to attempt to persuade ordinary Palestinians to accept Israel.

In 2006, Hamas won a majority in the Palestinian Legislative Council, prompting the United States and many European countries to cut off all funds to the Palestinian Authority. The US cited three conditions that the Palestinian government would need to satisfy for a resumption of aid: an end to violence, recognition of Israel, and adherence to the Road Map for Peace. Palestinian critics stated that the US and Israel themselves complied with none of these conditions, and that Israel's support of the Road Map was accompanied by 14 reservations which, they say, drain it of its substance. Furthermore, they assert that Israeli violence against Palestinians continues without discussion. Israel states that its military actions are in response to Hamas's frequent rocket attacks from Gaza into Sderot, and on other Israeli cities.

In early 2007, Hamas and Fatah met in Saudi Arabia, and reached agreement to unite their respective parties, and a new unity coalition government of both Fatah and Hamas took office in March 2007. There remains much debate as to whether the PNA is now a credible negotiating authority, and whether sanctions should now be lifted.

In June 2007 Hamas militarily defeated Fatah in the Gaza Strip in response to an overthrow and possible coup attempt funded and assisted by the United States, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, engineered by US National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy Elliott Abrams and executed by Fatah militants, led by Mohammed Dalan. The various forces affiliated with Fatah engaged in combat with Hamas, in numerous gunbattles. Most Fatah leaders escaped to Egypt and the West Bank, and some were captured and killed. Fatah remained in control of the West Bank, and President Abbas formed a new governing coalition which subverts the Palestinian Constitution and excludes the majority government of Hamas.

The current policy of Israel, the United States, and several allied governments, is to censure Hamas for its non-recognition of Israel, and to assist and deal with President Abbas and Fatah, in support of their stance in favor of recognition of Israel. It is the position of the UN, the International Criminal Court, and a vast majority of the international community that Israel and the Palestinians should come to a peaceful resolution based on internaltional laws, UN Resolutions, reciprical recognition of self-determination and human rights.

Arab-Israeli peace diplomacy and treaties

• Paris Peace Conference, 1919
• Faisal-Weizmann Agreement (1919)
• 1949 Armistice Agreements
• Camp David Accords (1978)
• Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty (1979)
• Madrid Conference of 1991
• Oslo Accords (1993)
• Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace (1994)
• Camp David 2000 Summit
• History of the Arab-Israeli conflict
• Peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
• Projects working for peace among Israelis and Arabs
• List of Middle East peace proposals
• International law and the Arab-Israeli conflict

See also

Geography

• Palestine
• Geography of Israel
• Israeli Settlements

General background and information

• History of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
• Media coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Ideology and ideas

• Criticism of religion
• Islamism
• Jewish state
• Pan-Arabism
• Proposals for a Palestinian state
• Zionism

Elements of the conflict

• Children and minors in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
• Child suicide bombers in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
• Palestinian political violence
• Peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Peace organizations in Israel

• Peace Now (left wing)
• Seeds of Peace (left wing)
• Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (left wing)

Documentaries

• At the Green Line
• Death In Gaza
• Promises
• Relentless: The Struggle for Peace in the Middle East
• The Land of the Settlers

Further reading

General History

• Bregman, Ahron (2002). Israel's Wars: A History Since 1947. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-28716-2
• Bregman, Ahron Elusive Peace: How the Holy Land Defeated America.
• Bard, Mitchell. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Middle East Conflict. 2nd ed. (Alpha, 2002), ISBN 0-02-864410-7
• Bickerton, Ian J. and Carla L. Klausner. A Concise History of the Arab–Israeli Conflict. 4th ed. (Prentice Hall, 2001), ISBN 0-13-090303-5
• Cohn-Sherbok, Dan. The Palestine-Israeli Conflict: A Beginner's Guide (Oneworld Publications, 2003), ISBN 1-85168-332-1
• David, Ron. Arabs & Israel for Beginners (Writers and Readers Publishing, Inc. 1996), ISBN 0-86316-161-8
• Dowty, Alan. Israel/Palestine (Polity, 2005), ISBN 0-7456-3202-5
• Fraser, T. G. The Arab–Israeli Conflict. 2nd ed. (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), ISBN 1-4039-1338-2
• Gelvin, James L. The Israel-Palestine Conflict: One Hundred Years of War (Cambridge University Press, 2005), 0521618045
• Harms, Gregory with Todd M. Ferry. The Palestine-Israel Conflict: A Basic Introduction (Pluto Press, 2005), ISBN 0-7453-2378-2
• Hirst, David. The Gun and the Olive Branch. 3rd ed. (Nation Books, 2003), ISBN 1-56025-483-1
• Hurewitz, J. C. The Struggle for Palestine (Shocken Books, 1976), [out of print]
• Khouri, Fred J. The Arab–Israeli Dilemma. 3rd ed. (Syracuse University Press, 1985), ISBN 0-8156-2340-2
• Morris, Benny. Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist–Arab Conflict, 1881–2001 (Vintage Books, 2001), ISBN 0-679-74475-4
• Mandel, Neville J. The Arabs and Zionism Before World War I (University of California Press, 1976), [out of print]
• Roraback, Amanda. Palestine in a Nutshell or Israel in a Nutshell (Enisen Publishing, 2004), ISBN 0-9702908-4-5
• Safran, Nadav. Israel: The Embattled Ally (The Belknap Press, Harvard, 1978), [out of print]
• Sela, Avraham. "Arab-Israeli Conflict." The Continuum Political Encyclopedia of the Middle East. Ed. Avraham Sela. New York: Continuum, 2002. pp. 58-121.
• Smith, Charles D. Palestine and the Arab–Israeli Conflict. 5th ed. (Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004), ISBN 0-312-40408-5
• Sykes, Christopher. Crossroads to Israel (Cleveland: The World Publishing Company, 1965), [out of print]
• Tessler, Mark. A History of the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict (Indiana University Press, 1994), ISBN 0-253-20873-4
• Thomas, Baylis. How Israel Was Won (Lexington Books, 1999), ISBN 0-7391-0064-5
• Wasserstein, Bernard. Israelis and Palestinians (Yale University Press, 2003), ISBN 0-300-10172-4

Analytical / Focused

• Carey, Roane, ed. The New Intifada: Resisting Israel's Apartheid (Verso, 2001), ISBN 1-85984-377-8
• Chomsky, Noam. The Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel and the Palestinians. Rev. ed. (South End Press, 1999), ISBN 0-89608-187-7.
• Dershowitz, Alan. The Case for Israel (John Wiley & Sons, 2004), ISBN 0-471-67952-6
• Enderlin, Charles. Shattered Dreams: The Failure of the Peace Process in the Middle East, 1995-2002 (Other Press, 2003), ISBN 1-59051-060-7
• Falk, Avner Fratricide in the Holy Land: A Psychoanalytic View of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. University of Wisconsin Press, 2004, ISBN 0-299-20250-X
• Finkelstein, Norman. Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict. 2nd ed. (Verso, 2003), ISBN 1-85984-442-1 2nd ed. introduction
• Flapan, Simha. The Birth of Israel: Myth and Realities (Pantheon Books, 1987),[out of print]
• Flapan, Simha. Zionism and the Palestinians (Croom Helm, 1979), [out of print]
• Green, Stephen. Taking Sides: America's Secret Relations with a Militant Israel (William Morrow and Co., Inc., 1984), [out of print]
• Maniscalco, Fabio. Protection, conservation and valorisation of Palestinian Cultural Patrimony (Massa Publisher, 2005), ISBN 88-87835-62-4
• Martin, Dom. COEXISTENCE: Humanity's Wailing Wall TransGalactic Publications, 2006, ISBN 0-9616078-8-2
• Pappe, Ilan, ed. The Israel/Palestine Question (Routledge, 1999), ISBN 0-415-16948-8
• Pearlman, Wendy. Occupied Voices: Stories of Everyday Life from the Second Intifada (Nation Books, 2003), ISBN 1-56025-530-7
• Quandt, William B. Peace Process. 3rd ed. (Brookings Institution Press, 2005), ISBN 0-520-24631-4
• Reinhart, Tanya. Israel/Palestine: How to End the War of 1948 (Seven Stories Press, 2002), ISBN 1-58322-538-2
• Ross, Dennis. The Missing Peace: The Inside Story of the Fight for Middle East Peace (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005), ISBN 0-374-19973-6
• Safran, Nadav. The United States and Israel, ISBN 0-674-92490-8 [out of print]
• Said, Edward W. The Question of Palestine (Vintage Books, 1992), ISBN 0-679-73988-2
• Salinas, Moises. Planting Hatred, Sowing Pain: The Psychology of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (Greenwood-Praeger Publishers, 2007), ISBN 0-275-99005-2
• Selby, Jan (2003). Water, Power and Politics in the Middle East: The Other Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 1860649343
• Shipler, David K. Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land. Rev. ed. (Penguin Books, 2002), ISBN 0-14-200229-1
• Swisher, Clayton E. The Truth About Camp David (Nation Books, 2004), ISBN 1-56025-623-0

Peace proposals

• A Comparison Of Three Drafts For An Israeli-Palestinian Peace Agreement

External links

Academic, news, and similar sites (excluding Israeli or Palestinian sources)

• Plan of Israeli—Palestinian Resolution. A Conclusive Arrangement.
• Israeli-Palestinian ProCon.org Pros and Cons of hundreds of issues related to the conflict.
• Global Politician - Middle-East Section
• Middle East Policy Council
• The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
• Aix Group - Joint Palestinian-Israeli-international economic working group.
• The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict--An overview of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians from 1948 through the present day. From the History Guy Website.
• The Media Line - A non-profit news agency which provides credible, unbiased content, background and context from across the Middle East.
• Inter Press Service - Israel-Palestine: Holy Land, Unholy War Independent coverage of the Middle East conflicts

Human rights groups

• Human Rights Watch: Israel/Palestine
• B'Tselem - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
• Al-Haq: Palestinian Human Rights Group: West Bank affiliate of the International Commission of Jurists
• Palestinian Centre for Human Rights: Gaza affiliate of the International Commission of Jurists

Jewish and Israeli academic, news, and similar sites

• Resources >Modern Period>20th Cent.>History of Israel>State of Israel The Jewish History Resource Center, Project of the Dinur Center for Research in Jewish History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• MidEastWeb.org
  • A Timeline of Israeli-Palestinian history and the conflict
  • A history of Israel, Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict
• Current breakdown of fatalities in conflict - Institute for Counter-Terrorism
• Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs, Jerusalem

Pro-Israel advocacy and watchdog sites

• Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Palestinian Violence and Terrorism
• Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America
• Palestine Facts
• Eretz Yisroel: A comprehensive collection of news, articles and book excerpts
• Jewish Virtual Library
  • Palestinian Maps Omitting Israel and Maps of "Palestine" as a means to instill fundamentally negative messages regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
  • Myths and facts online: a guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict
• Honest Reporting UK monitoring mideast media
• Gamla shall not fall again
• NAAMZ, Revisionist Zionist group
• True Peace - Chabad-Lubavitch site

Pro-Palestinian advocacy and watchdog sites

• UN Security Council Resolutions Against Israel 1955-1992
• International Solidarity Movement; includes an extensive collection of links to its affiliates and to other similar organizations
• Palestine Solidarity Campaign UK
• Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign
• Palestinian Campaign for the Cultural and Academic Boycott of Israel
• Palestine Media Watch
• Electronic Intifada

Jewish and Israeli "peace movement" news and advocacy sites

• The Other Israel, newsletter of the Israeli peace movement since 1983
  • http://israelipalestinianpeace.org The Other Israel, online archive under construction]
• "Barak's Generous offer" from Gush Shalom. Requires Macromedia Flash
• The Origin of the Palestine - Israel Conflict, Published by Jews for Justice in the Middle East
• Background to the Israel-Palestine Crisis--Q & A format overview by Stephen Shalom, who teaches political science at William Paterson University in New Jersey.
• Occupation Magazine

Other sites:

• Behind the 21st Century Intifada - an analysis of Israel/Palestine - a leftist, working-class history of the conflict
• axisglobe.com a Russian perspective site
• Arabs and Israelis held hostage by a common enemy Salom Now! And METalks are two experimental initiatives which sought to rewrite the script of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, such popular, grassroots action is held hostage by some common enemies: despair, hatred, antipathy and distrust. (Jan, 2007)
• Exchange of friendly fire Anat el-Hashahar, an Israeli and founder of METalks, debates the Arab-Israeli conflict – from Oslo to Lebanon – with Khaled Diab, an Egyptian journalist and writer.