Origins of the IsraeliPalestinian Conflict

On the 29th January 2020, the hashtag 'Free Palestine' went viral on Twitter, with an estimated 60,000 tweets per hour being written about the subject, according to The New York Times. We are all aware about the ongoing conflict between Palestine and Israel- but did you know that the war has been exacerbated by Zionism, settler colonialism, and Westernimperialism?

Zionism, as it is defined presently, is the belief that the state of Israel has a right to exist. Deceptively simple, this view is actually rooted in the oppression of Palestinians. The first Zionist congress met in Basel in 1897, and called for the establishing a Jewish state in Palestine. This is what is currently happening: a phenomenon titled settler colonialism, which seeks to replace the native population of a land with a new society of settlers. It differs from our preconceived meaning of classic colonialism, as it only initially and temporarily relies on an empire for their existence. As of 2021, this conflict is responsible for the displacement of over 7.2 million Palestinian refugees, desperately fleeing due to the threat of military occupation, police brutality, and ethnic cleansing - with the Jerusalem authority publicly stating in the 'Jerusalem Master Plan' that they want to keep the Palestinian population of the city below 30%.

SohowdidtheWestbecomeinvolved?

During World War I, Britain occupied Palestine, Iraq, and Transjordan, whilst its ally, France, occupied Syria and Lebanon. Their inveterate diplomatic aim was to ensure the safety of both the overland trade route to India as well as the sea route via the Suez Canal. The Ottoman Empire had formerly been endorsed by Britain - but when it allied with Germany, they were forced to re-consider. By the conclusion of the war in 1918, Britain had signed multiple treaties and declarations - all contradictory - and thus neglected to integrate the competing insistences of both Jewish and Arab communities - leading to the escalating conflict that still exists today.

It began with the McMahon-Hussein Correspondence, in which the British High Commissioner of Egypt, Henry McMahon, exchanged a series of ten letters between July 1915 and March 1916 with Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca. It agreed that the Government of the United Kingdom would recognise Arab independence and control over Islamic holy sites (including Jerusalem) in order for the Sharif of Mecca to launch an Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire. The motivation was to alleviate pressure of the Suez Canal by creating instability among the Muslims in the British Empire; purely self-centred in Britain's own interests.

BY RHEA CHERRINGTON

What followed was the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916, caused by Britain's re-evaluation of the importance of Palestine as simply a 'buffer zone' to the Suez. It defined both France and Britain's mutually agreed spheres of influences and control in an eventual partition of the Ottoman Empire. Thus, the treaty allocated what is today Palestine, Jordan and southern Iraq to the UK, and Turkey, Syria and Lebanon to France. This severely contradicted the previous McMahon-Hussein Correspondence which had promised Arab independence, hence reinforcing that the Allies' foreign policy was dictated by their colonialism, and that the countries of the Middle East were subject to the control and dominance of the West's selfpromoting motivations.

Arguably the most important and impactful was the Balfour Declaration, a public statement made by the UK Government on the 2nd November 1917. It announced its support for the establishment of a 'national home for Jewish people' in Palestine. Inspired by the hope that the outspoken backing of Zionism would attract more support from the USA in the war, since the President at the time, Woodrow Wilson, also believed in the self-determination of Jewish people. However, this meant another antithetical agreement was thrown into the foreign policy of the Middle East, resulting in the ongoing war today that has so far killed 63,543 people.

The government of Israel is now persecuting Palestinians socially, legally and economically. So what is being done?

Not enough.

The Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement is a nonviolent human rights campaign formed in 2005 by over 170 Palestinian non-governmental organisations, unions and civil society groups. The aim of the movement is to campaign for and protect the rights of Palestinians through the application of international pressure on Israel until it complies with international law.

In the meantime, we can all spread awareness through social media, sign petitions, and educate ourselves regarding this conflict, as well as others currently taking place in the world.

Slavery in the Middle East has been around before the Islamic rule of the Middle East. In 1842, the British Consul General in Morocco asked the Sultan if had taken any measures to stop slavery or the slave trade. The Sultan replied that he didn't do anything about it, as it was the ‘norm since the sons of Adam and that Islam does not prohibit it.’ This reveals how deeply normalised the slave trade was in the Middle East culture. The slave trade was justified in the Middle East due to the belief that Islam did not directly condemn it and is thus fine and justifiable. Slavery was practiced in areas conquered in the seventh and eighth century. Slavery existed before Islam, became the law of land, but continued after the widespread influence of Islam. After Prophet Muhammad died in 632 CE, Islam spread rapidly and the areas under the Islamic rule became known as the Caliphate. The Caliphate encompassed the areas of North Africa, Southwest Asia and Spain. As previously discussed, slavery was rampant in these areas.

There were multiple ways one could become enslaved such as: if one was born into slavery and thus inherited their parent's status as a slave, if someone was captured in a jihad, and people could also be purchased as a slave or given as a tribute. There were also different ranks with enslaved people from high ranking, known as emirs, to lower classes called manual labourers. Theoretically, slavery in Islamic law was not based on race, but in practice, was very different. Moreover, Muslims could not be enslaved according to the law: but again, the reality was very different. The ruler of Bornu, who was of a darker complexion, wrote to the Sultan in Egypt in 1852 about how the slave trades were enslaving freemen and even capturing some of his family and Muslims. This shows how black Muslims were also enslaved and thus religion was not the determining factor. Enslaved people were also excluded from partaking in religious ceremonies.

In 869 CE, there was a rebellion from the black enslaved people towards their Arab masters. It began in southern Iraq, led by enslaved Bantu people, who had been forced into strenuous manual labour. The rebellion spread throughout the Abbasside Caliphate. Their leader was an Arab man called Ali Ibn Muhammad. He himself claimed to be the son in law of prophet Muhammed. However, this was never confirmed and there were rumours speculating around his identity. Abbasid Caliphate was a dynasty that originated from Prophet Muhammed’s Uncle, Abbas, hence the name. During their Golden Age from 775 to 861, they ruled over an expansive area from modern day Algeria to Iran. In 1861, their empire broke down, the power was decentralised, and individual dynasties began to hold more power. This caused political instability in the Caliphate.