Religion Peace and Conflict Religious Radicalism in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a territorial war between two peoples: To the Arabs: Palestine was an Arab land whose soil they had cultivate for generations; as such it was entitled to independence as any Arab country; To the Jews: Israel was the Jewish Land that had been their inspiration throughout 18 centuries of dispersion and persecutions; as such, its destiny was to be the fulfillment of their dream of statehood.

Whose Land? 1937: Peel Commission awarded to the proposed Jewish State about 20% of Palestine (northern region of Galilee and the coast) 1947: UNSCOP (United Nations Special Committee on Palestine) proposed a three- way partition of Palestine into a Jewish State, an Arab State and a small internationally administered zone that would have included Jerusalem.

UN Partition Recommendation November 29, 1947 Map 1947 Palestine Population (1,845,000): 67% non-Jewish (1,237,000) 33% Jewish (608,000) UN Partition Plan Proposal: 43.53% Arab Palestinian State (excluding Jerusalem) 56.47% Jewish State (excluding Jerusalem)

Israeli-Palestinian conflict in numbers: 14 May 1948: Israel declared independence. 1948-1949 First Arab war: -750, 000 Palestinians became refugees, -Gaza under the Egyptian control (200,000 Palestinians) West Bank and East Jerusalem under the Jordan control (350,000 Palestinians) 1949-1952 : Jewish immigrants doubled: (666, 500).

Six Days War (1967) : Israel occupied West Bank and Gaza, During the war, Palestinians had fled mainly from West Bank,(350,000 and 400,000 people) By the end of 1967, few Palestinians had returned home (14,000 people)

“How did Religion radicalize the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?”

The Fathers of Israeli religious settlement movements: Rabbi Yehuda Kook stated that West Bank and Gaza Strip were holy parts of Israel not to be handed over to non Jewish sovereignty in any circumstance. He became the spiritual guide for religious settlements. Rabbi Moshe Levinger founded in 1974 the Gush Emunim movement (Bloc of faithful): they committed themselves to create illegal settlements in the heart of Arab territories and forcing the Government to accept them. Rabbi Kahane claimed that the conditions for a redemption of the Jewish nation was to transform Israel into a “kingdom of priests and holy people”. Jews are the Chosen people and they belong to an undemocratic holy community.

The enterprise of religious settlement: “Redemption ideology” : Religious settlers started to occupy the land in the Palestinian territories. Settlement movement : - by the 1970s encouraged by the Israeli Government. - by 1972 Israeli settlers confiscated 28% of the West Bank. -by 2000 Israeli settlers occupied 42% of the Palestinian territories.

The rise of Political Islam in West Bank and Gaza: Hamas

Ideology of Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement): Sheik Ahmad Yassin (1937-2004) Palestine is an Islamic Land: (from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea) Liberation of Palestine from foreign occupation: (British and Zionists) Armed resistance: (military wing Al-Qassam) Islam: (ideological and educational framework of reference)

2006 democratic election for the Palestinian legislative Council 2006 democratic election for the Palestinian legislative Council. Hamas victory reasons: Cumulative failure of peace negotiations carried out by Fatah (from the late 1980s until the Oslo Agreement 1993), Increase of Israeli settlements (Palestinians lost 78% of their land), Worsening of socio-economic conditions in West Bank and Gaza, Hamas cultural and education activities (It had reaped the benefits of acting as a cultural infrastructure since its establishment in 1987), Hamas has been the most cohesive movement for the past 60 years (due to its religious values)

Fatah: 1959 Yasser Arafat founded Fatah, the Palestinian National Movement for 40 years, Secular and influenced by leftist ideology , 1964 under the umbrella of Fatah, the PLO (Palestinian liberation Organization) was established, 1960s- 1980s armed struggle for the liberation of Palestine, 1994 head of the Palestinian Authority, the administrative organization to govern Gaza and West Bank,

Hamas versus Fatah after 2006: January 2007 civil war between Hamas and Fatah, February 2007 Mecca Agreement that paved for the formation of a Palestinian national unity Government that took place in March 2007, June 2007 Hamas military takeover of Gaza Strip, 2011: Gaza under Hamas: Ismail Haniyeh is the Prime Minister, West Bank is under Fatah: Muhammad Abbas is the president.

“Has religion further radicalized the conflict and vanish any possibility of peace between Palestinians and Israelis?” “Will religion play a role in the future peace negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis?”