Israel/Palestine conflict.

[BurnTheOliveTree]

Hey guys, not sure if this belongs in politics, but here goes:

I am part of a school club called MUN (Model United Nations) and I am writing a resolution on the Israel/Palestine conflict.

Now, I myself am reasonably comfortable with the subject. However, I'm not very good at explaining these things to my friends and fellow MUNers.

So, if anyone has the time, I would really like a brief synopsis of the situation, say a paragraph or two. Preferably in layman's terms, but that's not essential.

Merci beaucoup in advance. :)

-Alex

[Janus]

There have been plenty of discussions on this topic recently. Just search for them in Politics.

[BurnTheOliveTree]

:huh: I didn't want to start a discussion Janus. I just wanted like, one post to summarise it and then I'm done. Searching only throws up debates about it.

-Alex

[The Grey Blur]

Many working people around the world will now be asking if there can ever be a lasting solution to the Palestine/Israel question.

Socialists believe there is an alternative to war and national oppression, but this can only come about as part of a united struggle by the working class of the region against capitalism and imperialism, as the history of the conflict has amply illustrated.

The modern state of Israel was created in 1948, when Jews fled the Nazi Holocaust and persecution to a new ‘homeland’ on what was then Palestine. The right wing Zionist leaders carried out the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, using brutal paramilitary methods and ‘terrorism’.

Initially, socialists opposed the formation of the Israeli state, pointing out that it would only be realised through the oppression of other peoples. Furthermore, as Leon Trotsky prophetically pointed out, it would be a "bloody trap" for the Israeli Jews themselves. The Israeli ruling class promised a "land of milk and honey" for its people, but have only delivered decades of crisis and wars, and in recent years, also economic decline.

One of the main reasons Israel has been able to survive is because of enormous economic and military aid from US imperialism, which sees Israel as its key client state in the strategically vital region.

Socialists call for the expulsion of imperialism out of the region, and for the right of self-determination of Palestinians

That's just something I copied and pasted from one of our Socialist publications, I can probably get something more general and in deep in a while. Also remember that British Imperialism and it's machinations are a major reason for the current conflict - the Balfour declaration etc.

I'll try and find a more in-depth article on the roots of the conflict, I remember a speaker at our annual conference giving a good summary of Israeli history, maybe I can find that.

[BurnTheOliveTree]

Permanent Revolution - Thanks for making the effort. I'm not sure the socialist tone would go down too well, but i'll edit that and use it. :)

-Alex

[manic expression]

Try this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/midd...tml/default.stm (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/middle_east/03/v3_ip_timeline/html/default.stm)