What are Israel and Palestine fighting about?

Answer 1

Israeli Demands of Palestinians and other Arabs:

1) Hallowed Land: The Jews consider the Land of Israel (which is not necessarily all in the borders of the State of Israel) to be a holy piece of land in that God promised it to the Jewish people as an eternal inheritance. Thus, some Jews, especially Religious Zionists see resettlement of the Land of Israel by Jews to be part of God's plan and mandate and therefore do everything in their power to settle it. In addition, it contains specific religious and historical sites such as the Western Wall and the Old City of Jerusalem, the Cave of Machpelah, the Old City of Jaffa, and the Sanctuary of Shiloh among others. Jews want to ensure maintenance and access to the sites which they feel have been limited by the other. Jews claim that Jordanians used the Western Wall as a landfill.

2) Zionism: A number of Jews in Europe began to feel that they were being permanently and deliberately excluded from parts of European society because of the prevalent racial and pseudo-scientific forms of Anti-Semitism. They believed that there was no possible equality between European nationals and their Jewish residents and were disinterested in the Andalucian Solution because they did not want to be second-class citizens. They believed that the Jewish people needed to form a political apparatus (an Independent State) to defend themselves and their civil rights. Zionism originally had purely secular connotations, but with the advent of Religious Zionism, the powerful secular cause of Zionism joined with the Hallowed Land idea to provoke conflict. Jews want the Palestinians to accept the result of Zionism: a Jewish State. Many Arabs, like those behind the Arab Peace Initiative of 2007 and Qaddafi's "Isratine" are willing to accept an Israel that is democratic and majority Arab. This would defeat the purpose of a Jewish State, because that State would not have a Jewish character.

3) Security: This is paramount for most Israelis. They want to be able to go asleep every night and worry more about whether they bought the right baby formula than whether their baby is going to live another day. Israel has been attacked unceasingly since its Declaration of Independence and is extremely skeptical of armistices and other treaties for security guarantees. Israelis are thus hesitant to withdraw from a number of positions until it can be made clear that Israel will not have lost a strategic advantage in protecting itself for naught.

Palestinian and Arab Demands of Israelis:

1) Hallowed Land: Palestinian Muslims consider Jerusalem holy because of Mohammed ascending to Heaven on the Buraq over Jerusalem's Temple Mount. The Arabs want to ensure maintenance and access to the sites which they feel have been limited by the Israelis who arbitrarily close off access to Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. The City of the Jerusalem is considered by many Palestinians to be their city and representative of their historical identity.

2) End of the Palestinian Exodus & UNRWA:This is probably the most thorny issue between Israel and Palestine. During the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-9 (in which Palestinian militias also participated), many Palestinians were forced out of their homes by Israeli soldiers due to brutal atrocities. In addition, many left because they feared similar outcomes. Also Arab leaders encouraged the exodus, because they believed that they could destroy Israel and safely return all of the Palestinians after the conflict. However, this did not happen and a large number of Palestinians (some estimate four million) are in UNRWA Refugee Camps and there is a large Palestinian Diaspora. They have not forgiven Israel for not allowing them to return after the War and greatly desire the Right for Palestinians to return to what is now Israel.

3) End of the Occupation of the West Bank & Gaza: In 1967, Israel fought the Six-Day War against the Arab States and took over control of the West Bank and Gaza. These territories did not come under Israeli Civil Authority and have been instead militarily controlled. Palestinians who live in these territories have to contend with Israeli checkpoints, military provisions, and incoming settlers (from the Hallowed Land section). This occupation is perceived by Palestinians to be a repression of their Right to a State and their ability to lead normal productive lives. Settlers in the territories act in a very cavalier fashion (similar to cowboys in the Wild West) and steal property owned by Palestinian families for generations in the name of Religious Zionism. Zionist Squatters are a huge problem in cities like Hebron where these individuals have "liberated" over a quarter of the city from its Palestinian inhabitants and begun to drive a wedge into those communities.

4) End of the Blockade of Gaza & Dependence of the West Bank: Due to the militancy of Hamas, Israel has found it necessary for defense to form a blockade around Gaza and to only allow certain materials into the territory. This has resulted in a Human Relief Crisis in the Gaza where the average Palestinian caught in the struggle barely has enough food, heat, and light to adequately survive. On a different token, the West Bank (as controlled by the Palestine Authority) is a patchwork of separate unconnected jurisdictions. As a result, the West Bank leaders depend on Israel for defense coordination, tax collection, and assurances of safety from settlers. This creates a secondary occupation-dynamic where the Palestinian government is bound to the desires and wishes of the Israeli people in addition to its actual constituency. Palestinians in both cases want governments that are able to make their own decisions without an Israeli say-so to lift a finger.

Answer 2

Palestine is not Israel. Israel is Israel and Palestine is Palestine. Confusion occurs because both things refer to an extant piece of land with people living on it, a nationality, an ethnicity, and a prior piece of land which no longer exists.

Israel is a Jewish State that contains territory from the former British Mandate of Palestine. The remainder of the British Mandate of Palestine belongs to the modern Palestinian State. Israel is a majority Jewish population who returned from their Exile in Europe and the Middle East. Palestinians are a majority Arab population whose families lived in the region for centuries. Palestinians did not simply become Israelis (except for those who did not flee during the Israeli-Arab War of 1948-9) or vice versa.

If the question is asking why Israel exists where Palestine formerly existed, the premise is faulty. Palestine was the name that the British assigned to that piece of land regardless of its history. Prior to the British, the Ottomans administered Palestine as three distinct regions: Vilayet of Beirut (which included Lebanon and northern Israel), the Vilayet of Damascus (which included Syria, Jordan, and southern Israel), and the Mutasaffirat of Jerusalem (which included central Israel and the Palestinian Territories). The name had nothing to do with the previous administration or the indigenous peoples.

As a result, when the Palestinian Jews declared independence, they chose to call their country according to how they see themselves. This is no different than how the British colony of Rhodesia in Africa became independent as Zambia in the north and Zimbabwe in the south. Since the British name was unconnected to the people on that land, the people reasserted their own identity. Since the Palestinian Arabs did not have a unique identity prior to Israeli independence, they continued to use the term Palestinian to describe their experience.

Answer 3

The two sides are not currently fighting. They are currently in secret negotiations.