How Did We Get Here?
Something I don’t think a lot of people know, is that Israel is fairly new. In fact Elie Wiesel even mentions in his nobel peace prize winning book, “Night”, that people were still buying emigration certificates to palestine during the holocaust.
During the 1920s and 1940s, many Jews were coming to Palestine, fleeing persecution in Europe during World War 2. It wasn’t until 1947 when the UN voted to split Palestine and separate Arab and Jewish states. This was accepted by Jewish leaders but not Arab leaders. In 1948, Israel was created as a safe haven for Jewish people and was declared a homeland for them. However, because nobody could agree, fighting between states only grew worse. The day after Israel declared statehood, five Arab countries attacked them. Soon after, Palestinians either fled or were forcefully removed from their homes and Israel had gained control of most of their territory.
In 1967, during a war, Israel occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank. They then took over most of Gaza where many Palestinians lived. Despite a called ceasefire, Israel still would not allow them to return to their homes. Israel still inhabits the West Bank and claims Jerusalem as a capital. Palestinians still have East Jerusalem in hopes for it to become a Palestinian state.
For the past 50 years, Israel has built settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem where over 700,000 Jewish people live. However, settlements are illegal under international law, but of course, Israel rejects this fact.
Due to a lack of land army in Palestine, a group named Hamas was elected in 2006. The militant group was formed as armed resistance against Israel. Since their election, Hamas has fought many wars with Israel, 2023 being the deadliest on record for Palestine.
On October 7th, 2023, Hamas fought back killing 1,200 Israelis and took around 200 hostage. Israel has since killed over 32,000 Palestinians, over 12,000 of them being children.