Conflicts in the Middle East are nothing new, as fighting between Palestine and the Jews has been going on for almost a century. After World War I and the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Great Britain took control of the territory of the Middle East, including the area that constitutes present-day Israel. In 1936, the Palestinians began a rebellion against the British and against the Jews in neighboring countries. As a result, the British formed the Peel Commission with the aim of investigating the causes of the rebellion, and soon concluded that Jews and Arabs wanted to rule the same land. The Peel Commission believed that the best solution was a two-state solution, that is, the creation of two independent states, one for the Jews and one for the Palestinians. The division was heavily in favor of the Arabs, with the British offering 80% of the disputed territory to Palestine, while the Jews would get the remaining 20%. Despite the significantly smaller portion of land offered, the Jews voted to accept the offer. However the Arabs rejected the offer and resumed the fight. This was just the beginning of Palestine's rejected offers. About ten years later, in 1947, the British turned to the newly founded United Nations in the hope of finding a solution to the rising violence and tensions. Just like ten years earlier, the UN decided that dividing the lands was the best solution. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In November 1947, the United Nations voted to create two states. And once again the Jews accepted the offer. And once again the Arabs refused, but this time as a result the Arabs launched a war. Soon Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria joined the conflict. But they all failed. Israel miraculously wins the war and the Jews begin to form a new nation. In 1949 most of the territory reserved for the Arabs became occupied territory; occupied not by Israel, but by Jordan. This land was the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Twenty years later, in 1967, the Arabs, this time led by Egypt and followed by Syria and Jordan, once again attempted to destroy the Jewish state. This conflict is known as the Six Day War, and once again, against all odds, Israel wins the war. As a result, Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip ended up becoming Israeli land. In the hope of peace, debate over what to do with the land spread across Israel. About half wanted to give the Gaza Strip to Egypt and the West Bank to Jordan, in the hope that this would in turn bring peace. The other half wanted to return the land to the Arabs. Arabs had begun calling themselves Palestinians in an attempt to unify and build their own Arab nation there. A few months later the Arab League met in Sudan where the infamous “Three Nos” were issued stating: No peace with Israel, No recognition of Israel and No negotiations with Israel. And for the third time, the two-state solution was rejected by the Arabs. In 2000, just eighteen years ago, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak met at Camp David with Palestine Liberation Organization President Yasser Arafat. The Camp David Accords were intended to form a new two-state plan. Barak offered Arafat all of Gaza and about 94 percent of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as a capital. Arafat and Palestine again rejected an offer. US President Bill Clinton said Arafat was "here 14 days and said 'no' to everything". Arafat, like leaders before him, rejected any offer of granting land to Israel. And how it has.
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