The quickest explanation of the conflict

Can the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ever be resolved?

The history
In 1947, after WWII, the newly formed United Nations seeing itself as the new arbiter of world order, launched its first “potential war” conflict ruling. As a solution to finding a home for the hundreds of thousands of dislocated Jews escaping the holocaust, the UN gave the refugees the British colony of Palestine, creating the new Jewish state of Israel.

The Palestinian Arabs were never consulted and never had any say in the creation of this new state. Therefore, they opposed the agreement and refused to recognize its legitimacy. They felt the agreement establishing Israel was too favourable to the Jews at the expense of the Arabs who had been living in the region for generations.

A clash was inevitable. War broke out almost immediately. The war intensified in 1948 when Israel declared independence and displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs from the region.

Might does not legitimize right
The land ownership as dictated by the UN was reinforced by the actions and declarations of Israel. The inevitable fighting has been on and off ever since with the Israelis always victorious because of greater funding, more equipment and better technology. The only strength the Palestinians had was the power of numbers which simply meant more cannon fodder.

Squatters’ rights
The Israeli settlement of the land has increasingly eroded the number of Palestinians in the area and the size of the land on which they live. Today, the Palestinian occupied territory is a decimation compared to the land they occupied in 1946. In terms of percentages, the estimated 90+ % of occupied Arab territory has shrunk to about 8%, the coastal thumbnail known as the Gaza strip and the scattered eastern settlements known as the West Bank.

Peace talks fail continuously
The UN, the US and international groups have tried to bring peace to the territory and maintain it with no luck. John Kerry, in his first year as Secretary of State, made 14 trips to the region trying to broker a peace settlement, to no avail.

Why a peace is impossible
There are three factions at play in this middle east conflict: the moderate Arabs, the Jews, and the militant Hamas. The latter two groups will never see eye to eye. No compromise of any kind is possible between these to factions as each aims to obliterate the other. The Jews know that the major goal of the extremely militant Hamas is the complete destruction of Israel to be replaced by a Palestinian state. Israel reiterates that this is the Hamas extremists’ dedicated aim. Caught in the crossfire are the moderate Arabs led by Mahmoud Abbas who hopes for some sort of compromise agreeable to all the concerned parties. His dreaming continues.

Hamas rejects the moderate objectives completely and have dedicated themselves to terrorist methodologies against the Jews. Hamas cannot permit the moderate Arabs from ever achieving their goals. If their objectives were ever achieved, Hamas would be made totally irrelevant.

Squatters’ rights
On the other hand, Israelis see their only recourse to securing a Jewish state is by the complete eradication of all Palestinians. The Israelis believe squatters’ rights will prevail, by building on the land and working it, proprietary legitimacy will be established without need for judicial or international validation.

Why warfare continues
Hamas continually launch rockets into Israeli territory. The retaliation by the Israelis plays right into the hands of the Hamas. Israelis use very modern and sophisticated technology to defend against the rocket assaults. Then, in turn, the Israelis launch their own retaliatory rockets against dense concentrations of Palestinians living in squalor and very poorly built homes. Many Arabs are injured or killed. The Israelis on the other hand, with more money and much better built homes, and with their Iron Dome anti rocket defense system, suffer fewer injuries and deaths. In fact, since the conflict has been ramped up in the last few years, there hasn’t been a single casualty on the Israeli side.

Hamas stokes these fires of flaming fear and heated hatred on both sides. For the Jews, it ensures that they will retaliate militarily. For the Arabs, particularly the young men, they will become angrier and more hateful and join the ranks of the radicalized terrorists.

It may never end
Hamas will not rest until Israel is crushed. Israel has access to tremendous financial support and very advanced military technology. Hence, it will not be defeated by Hamas. Guerrilla warfare has no chance of success no matter how long Hamas may try using it.

The conflict will end only if one of these things happens: Hamas is wholly eliminated or Israel is completely defeated by them. The Arab moderates are an impotent force, not able to affect any meaningful change, nor able to cause an end to the military conflict.

What do you think? Can Hamas be defeated? Can Hamas ever defeat Israel?