Israel Settlements and the Issue of Palestinian Restitution Essay

Israel Settlements and the Issue of Palestinian Restitution - Essay Example The rest of the area would have been linked to Transjordan but for smaller part that would have stayed under the control of the British. One of these parts would have been the city of Jerusalem. Another tenet of the recommendation called for removal of the entire Arab population in the Jewish area. This removal would be forcible if it had come to that. Looking ahead to forging a larger area of out this small offering, the Zionist leaders okayed the proposed state, while the Arabs immediately rejected it. Although two other plans for partition were take into consideration, eventually it all came to naught. Perhaps nothing involved in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is so controversial and difficult to achieve consensus on as restitution of land to the Palestinians. The question of Palestinian land restitution goes back to the moment it was decided to establish a Jewish state in Israel. That decision was in turn prompted by World War II. This claim to land has been made by the Palestinian Authority in the name of all those who were displaced from their homeland amidst the settlement of the nation of Israel in 1948 and the resulting wars that have marked the area ever since. Following WWI, even more Jews moved to Palestine and the rise of Hitler and his persecution policy upped the ante even more. Hitler alone cannot bear the full brunt of the problem, however. Many point to the restrictive British immigration policy has playing a major role in the development of the current day problem. In addition, one aspect of that policy was also found to be thoroughly unacceptable by the Arabs, t hat of partitioning. The immigration issue was further highlighted by when the World Zionist Congress demanded that one million Jews be admitted to Palestine after WWII. Obviously, this shook the Arab country to their very core. The formation of the Arab League of Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Jordan was overseen by Great Britain with a benevolent eye. It was the hope of England and other European countries that pan-Arabism could lead to a coordinated policy that would have a settling effect on the region. In February of 1947, the British took the problem of Palestine to the UN, resulting in the UN Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP). The result was exactly what was feared: recommendation of a country partitioned between Jews and Palestinians (Kimberling & Medal 146). The response of Great Britain was to swiftly get out of the region before it jeopardized its position among the Arab nations or got caught up in turmoil that was clearly on the horizon. That turmoil was expressed through acts of terrorism from both Israelis and Palestinians. Finally, Great Britain did withdraw, on the very day that Israel achieved its independence, May 14, 1948. The newly independent nation of Israel was recognized by the United States sixteen minutes after its foundation, and then quickly afterward by the USSR. Almost immediately, Israel was set upon by Egyptian armies. Meanwhile, Jordan and Iraq forces supported Palestinian Arabs in the territory in their calls for land reclamation. During this Israeli battle to retain its independence, on December 11, 1948, the United Nations addressed the refugee issue in Resolution 194, stating that "refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their