Palestinian independence still a far cry

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin-Salman'sz comment that Israel has the 'right' to live in peace on 'its land' has added a new element to the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Before the First World War, Palestine was part of the Ottoman empire of Turkey. Palestine had a population of 700,000 with a land size of 10,500 square miles. In 1917, during the first World War, the Ottoman empire, which was then against the allied forces, fell in the hands of the British, who captured Palestine and kept it under its control until 1948. It was during this time that the British government thought of a separate homeland for the Israelis on Palestinian land. Then British Foreign Secretary Lord Arthur Balfour wrote an idea in a letter to Lord Walter Rothschild, a leading member of the Jewish Community in Britain, suggesting how Palestinian land can be used for Jewish settlement. This letter is historically known as the 'Balfour Declaration', which promised the Jewish community a separate homeland at the earliest.

Around 1933, when Adolf Hitler moved against the Jewish community, hundreds and thousands of Jews began to pour into Palestine. This made the Palestinians feel that their existence on their ancestral land was at stake and so they started attacking Jewish and British soldiers. However, the British army responded with an iron fist.

Around mid-1939, the British government published a white paper that said that within the next five years, 75,000 Jewish immigrants would be settled in Palestine in phases. Furthermore, the British government enrolled 32,000 Jews into its army and trained them to fight the Arabs and Palestinians. During WWII, Hitler's Nazi forces killed six million Jewish people, raising questions about the future destination of the holocaust survivors. As a follow-up to the British plan, it was decided that there would be an independent homeland for the Jewish community on Palestinian soil.

Around that time, US President Harry Truman also very strongly raised his voice in favour of Jewish homeland in Palestine for 100,000 Jews, who survived the WWII. Truman's support gave strength to the Jewish community to create pressure on the British government to put forward the Jewish homeland issue at the United Nations (UN). In 1947, the UN took 'Resolution 181' to create two independent nations (Israel and Palestine) for Jews and Palestinians in Palestine. In terms of population size, the Jewish community deserved only 10 per cent of Palestine. But it was decided by the UN, apparently propped up by the UK and the US, that Palestine would be divided into two equal parts for Jews and Muslims. The Palestinian Muslims rejected the UN resolution denoting it as an aggressive occupation of their birthplace.

Consequently, violence erupted between the Jews and the Muslims. The Muslim demonstrators besieged Jews in Jerusalem, which Muslims claimed as their part. In March 1948, the Jews struck back on Muslims and took control of Jerusalem. On May 14, 1948, when British mandate ended in Palestine, the Jewish leaders decided to declare an independent Israel immediately. Interestingly, the US and the UK recognised an 'independent' Israel within very short time.

On the other hand, within an hour of the declaration, five Arab countries-- including Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria-- jointly attacked Israel to take control of Arab Muslims' holy land, Jerusalem. The strong blow from the Muslims forced Israelis to retreat. Apprehending impending defeat, Israel called for a ceasefire through the UN.

During the ceasefire, Israel bought huge amount of weapon from Czechoslovakia and began capturing a number of important places of Palestine. Heavy fighting between the Jews and the Muslims continued. In 1949, there was another ceasefire before which 6,000 Jewish people were already killed.

Afterwards, Israel grew up economically, politically and militarily with huge support from the US and Western world. At one stage, they became a superpower, engaged in another war with the Arab countries and captured Jerusalem and West Bank.

Since then, Palestine has become a territory of chronic contention, violence and war between the Israeli Jewish and Muslim communities. The unjust arrangement of the UN actually created major global disorder and conflict between Muslims and western nations supporting Israel.

 The recent violence relating to the observance of Land Day is another example of Israeli aggression on Palestinians. Unless an independent Palestine is firmly in place through the release of occupied land and a rightful authority is given to the Muslim community in Jerusalem, this saga of bloodbath may never cease.

Shazzad Khan is a development worker at Manusher Jonno Foundation.

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