HHC-4 Palestine

Representatives: Please post your opening statements here before class on Thursday
CNs: Please post your opening statements here before class on Friday

To post, click on comment, and then copy and paste your statements in to the space provided and click on "post."

Comments

[Liz Rappaport]

Opening Statement
Elizabeth Rappaport
October 27, 2005
Justin Reich HHC

Introduction:
The Palestinian and Israeli Peace Conference is based on four underlying principles: Territorial Sovereignty, Status of Jerusalem, Security around violence and the history of refugees. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), firmly believes that borders need to be set, refugees need to be allowed back to their homeland, Palestinians and Israeli’s need to share their religious sites and we need a permanent end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which will end terror and violence and normalize Palestinian life. (Bush Road Map to Peace p.113) This process is a difficult and almost impossible task because of the animosity of almost 60 years that the Palestinians have been in exile.

Territorial Sovereignty:
It is the position of the PLO that once borders are set, each country should be self-governed without interference. Once the boundary lines are determined it will be necessary for some outside- United Nations interference regarding regional peace and security and to create mechanisms for ongoing cooperation’s. As of yet there is no effective way to structure disputes between Israel and Palestine. Historically the 1947 British Mandate and the United Nations Partition Plan has displaced nearly 300,000 Christian and Muslim Palestinians, to make room for a Jewish state. The state of Israel was declared in 1948 and the next day Six Arab armies attempted to stop the creation of Israel. The Israel superior military power stops the armed Arab armies and as a result Israel increased its territory. The West Bank became under Jordanian control, and the Gaza Strip was under Egyptian control, leaving the Palestinians with nothing. During this war Israel forced the expulsion of 75% of the Palestinian population who to this day, were never permitted to return home. “After 1948 more than 400 Palestinian villages were destroyed or de-populated in an effort to erase any trace of a Palestinian or Arab presence.” (“Fact Sheets”) Clearly showing that the Israeli’s had no respect for the original occupants and their homes. In June 1967 Israel in an act of territorial expansion annexed the West Bank including East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and Syria’s Golan Heights. Since that time it has permitted a 1.5 Israeli settlers to live illegally in the occupied West Bank and in occupied East Jerusalem.
(“Fact Sheets”)

Final Status of Jerusalem:
The PLO has approved that the “Green Line” will be the boundary between Israel and Palestine. With 22% of the former historic Palestinian homeland will be used to make the new Palestinian state. Israel will then keep the remaining 78% for themselves. Israel is therefore not allowed to expand by use of Military force and should withdraw current armed forces from areas that have been occupying since the 1967 6-day-war. Israel will now have no access to East Jerusalem and it will now be the providence of the Palestinian’s only. The remaining parts of Jerusalem should be open to all. Both Palestine and Israel will guarantee freedom of access and worship at all of the religious sites within Jerusalem.
(“Fact Sheets”)

Security:
The PLO has approved that the “Green Line,” as an international border for the states of Israel and Palestine. While the goal of the “Security Wall” is to take land from the occupied Palestinian territory and will force the Palestinians, who are currently living in this territory, to relocate. This is a major compromise on account of the Palestinian leaders. (“Fact Sheets”)
This has come to be known as a “separation barrier,” and “In June 2002, the government of Israel decided to erect a physical barrier to separate Israel and the West Bank in order to prevent the uncontrolled entry of Palestinians into Israel.” Which clearly proves that the Jews are doing anything possible to exclude Palestinians from their legal post-war right of return.
(“Separation barrier”)

Refugees:
The 1948 refugees consist of 800,000 Christians and Muslims, who after 1848 were forced to evacuate to make room for the new British Mandate that formed the “new” Jewish state called Jerusalem. In 1967 200,000 more Palestinian refugees were created when the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip were taken by Israel- during the six-day war. Currently the number of Palestinian refugees stands at an unfathomable amount of 6.5 million worldwide. Presently 1.3 million Palestinians are still in the Refugees camps.
Refugees in the right of return: Under the international law civilians are entitled to return to their homes. In the “UN resolution 194 (1948), The Universal declaration of human rights (Article 13(2)), International Convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination (Article 5(d)(ii)), International covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 12 (4)),” all clearly state that the Palestinians have a post-war right to return to their homes. (“Fact Sheets”)

Conclusion:
In conclusion, the PLO’s views on the Israeli and Palestinian Peace conference actions need to be taken appropriately to end further violence and to return the Palestinians to their rightful homeland. This harmony can only be achieved by Ariel Sharon and Abbas coming to an agreement on territorial sovereignty, security, refugee status and the right of return and by providing access to all religious groups to Jerusalem.

Bibliography:

Websites

Main: http://www.nad-plo.org/index.php
“Fact Sheets.” PLO Negotiations Affairs Department. 25 October 2005.

Refugees: http://www.nad-plo.org/inner.php?view=facts_refugees_faq2p

Terriotiral Sovereignty: (http://www.nad-plo.org/inner.php?view=nego_permanent_borders_hbordersp)
(http://www.nad-plo.org/inner.php?view=nego_permanent_borders_hbordersp)

Security:
“Separation Barrier” The Israeli Information Center for HUMAN RIGHTS in the occupied territories
(http://www.btselem.org/english/separation_barrier/index.asp)
(http://www.nad-plo.org/inner.php?view=nego_permanent_security_hsecurityp)

Jerusalem: (http://www.nad-plo.org/inner.php?view=nego_permanent_jerusalem_howjerusalemp)

Main: http://www.nad-plo.org/index.php

"The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict." WashingtonPost.com. 2005. Washington Post. 25 October 2005.

Text
Reader- “Bush’s Road Map to Peace” page 113

[Meghan Palmer]

Meghan Palmer
October 29, 2005

Israeli-Palestinian Peace Plan:
League of Arab States

Jerusalem:
The Palestinians should have full control over all of Jerusalem, and it shall be the capital of their future independent state. In its history, Jerusalem was controlled by Muslims for the majority of the time. The city flourished under Muslim leaders from 638-1009 and from 1187-1917. In 1917, Jerusalem became a British mandate and the Balfour Declaration made Palestine a homeland for the Jews, though it assured Palestinians that their way of life would not be affected. Then, in 1947, the UN proposed an international city for Jerusalem. The Jews accepted the plan, but the Palestinians did not because this should not be necessary. Their way of life, according to the Balfour Declaration, should not change from how it was up until 1917. Jerusalem should be Palestinian, because it is very historically and religiously important to their people. It is the third holiest city to Islam, and contains many very sacred Islamic sites, such as the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock. However it is also very important to the Jews. It is where the West Wall is, among many things. Therefore on their important religious holidays (such as Yom Kippur and Passover), the Jews shall be allowed into the city of Jerusalem, highly supervised. As said by the League of Arab States, “The Arab leaders affirm that a just and comprehensive peace can only ever be achieved with the return of [Jerusalem] to full Palestinian sovereignty, and the acceptance of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including the right to establish an independent state with its capital at [Jerusalem]…” illustrating the necessity of Jerusalem being under full Palestinian control in order for peace in Israel. However, a change this dramatic takes times to occur. To begin this transfer of sovereignty in Jerusalem, first the Jews in the Old City should move, because this is the part of Jerusalem that is the most sacred to the Palestinians. Over a period of time, all Jews should eventually be completely gone from Jerusalem so it can become the capital of the independent Palestinian state.

Territorial Sovereignty:
The Palestinians should have territorial sovereignty over the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. This will be the independent Palestinian state with its capital at Jerusalem. Ideally the Palestinians would be given all of Israel, but this is not possible if peace is to be attained. Therefore Israelis must vacate all land attained after the six day war, and must abandon all of the settlements it has constructed in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (Iseroff). The aim of these settlements is to “divide any future Palestinian state into noncontiguous portions…” (Mideast). Therefore, in order for peaceful coexistence between the Israelis and the Palestinians these settlements have to be evacuated. Although recently the Israelis withdrew from Gaza, there are still many Jewish settlements in the West Bank. These are the settlements from which the Israelis need to move, into the land outside of the West Bank and Gaza that will be designated as Israel. Once again, a dramatic change such as this takes time to come about. To begin this change, first the Palestinians should gain total power of all of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Then Jews should vacate Jerusalem and then slowly Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza should be abandoned. Eventually all of the Israelis will be out of the future independent Palesitnian state.

Refugees:
Israel is entirely at fault for the current refugees problem (League of Arab States), and needs to recognize the right of them to return to their homeland. Surrounding Arab states have been forced to provide for the refugees driven from their homes after the six day war. Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and even other Arab countries have spent many resources providing for the Palestinian refugees. People have a right to live in their homeland, and therefore the Palestinian refugees should be able to return to their homes in Israel (Mideast). The Israelis need to acknowledge the suffering and wrongs they have caused to Palestinians, and allow them to return to their former homes (Mideast). The refugees should return to Palestine as soon as the Palestinians have gained territorial sovereignty over the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Security:
The “apartheid wall” (Conflict) in the West Bank needs to come down, as it “cuts off Palestinians from their lands and from other towns, and destroys olive groves and other property…” (Iseroff). However the wall did serve a useful purpose because "Israeli casualties decreased dramatically" (Iseroff), and so the wall should simply be moved to a new location along the border between the West Bank and Israel, also known as the “1967 cease-fire line”. The wall should move to this location because this could be the border between a future Palestinian state and Israel (Conflict). When the Palestinians have established an independent state and a democracy, their leadership will act strongly against terrorism, per the Bush Roadmap to Peace. Regarding a military, it would be acceptable for the Palestinians to temporarily have no military, though in the future this issue should be readdressed. Israel would be fully responsible for defense against external threats, and the Palestinians would construct a police force to deal with internal problems (Israeli-PLO). Regarding terrorists, the police force would be responsible for regulating this. Also, a specifically non-violent government would help the problem of violence. And especially with a wall dividing Israel and Palestine, this problem will lessen.

Bibliography

League of Arab States. “Jerusalem” 25 October 2005. http://www.arableagueonline.org/arableague/english/level2_en.jsp?level_id=277

Isseroff, Ami. “In a Nutshell, Israeli Palestinian Conflict.” Mideast Web. 2005. 22 August 2005. [ http://www.mideastweb.org/nutshell.htm ]http://www.mideastweb.org/nutshell.htm

Mideast: Land of Conflict. 2005. Cable News Network. 25 October 2005. [ http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/mideast/stories/issues.borders/index.html ]http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/mideast/

"The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict." WashingtonPost.com. 2005. Washington Post. 25 October 2005.

Bush Road Map to Peace. Ian Bickerton and Carla Klausner. A Concise History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hallo, 2004.

The Israeli-PLO Declaration of Principles [Excerpts]. Ian Bickerton and Carla Klausner. A Concise History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2004.

[Juliana Cusack]

Simulation Opening Statements:
Palestinian Refugees
Juliana Cusack 11/3/05

Territorial Sovereignty:

The refugees of Palestine are the product of the long disputed conflict over territorial sovereignty. To solve the refugee issue, it is necessary to make hasty, steadfast, decisions over control and the divisions of territory. “In 1947, the UN partitioned the land into Arab and Jewish states. The Arabs did not accept the partition and war broke out” (“Nutshell”, Iseroff). This war unnecessarily displaced close to 726,000 Arabs. The war was unjust and the people that were displaced because of it should be compensated and returned to their homes. If the land that belonged to Palestine before that time were given to Palestinian control, many of these Arabs would be enabled to return to their homes. The recent gift of the West Bank and Gaza territories should remain a gift and stay under complete Palestinian control. As a neighbor seeking peace, we will do our part to continue taking steps to achieve peaceful coexistence and tolerance of each other.

Jerusalem:

The land of Jerusalem is considered very holy by both Judaism and Islam. The Jews were the original habitants yet conquered by the Romans and in turn, conquered by the Arabs. Jerusalem belongs to the Arabs because they won it in the battles against Rome. Although Jerusalem is a major aspect of Judaism, that does not give them the right to oppose the code that was followed between colonies in terms of conquering other colonies. Although this code is not accepted any more, it was entirely legitimate switch of power. The war that ignited in the aftermath of the United Nations partitioning Jerusalem and surrounding territories as well as the expansion of Jewish territories was entirely un-called for and unnecessarily displaced many Arabs. The Zionist movement has no basis or defendable argument to return the Jews to Jerusalem.

Security:

There are many issues regarding the protection of refugees during their return and their re-settling into Palestinian territories. Although “returnees to Israel would be screened to preclude any who have previously engaged in terrorism and be required to demonstrate proof of original residence there, as well as agree to live in peace” (“into Citizens”, Artz), extensive precautions should be taken considering the Israeli fear that “If these people find themselves resettled once again in miserable refugee camps in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, gazing out from them upon their towns and the remains of their former villages, the tension and anger will be enormous” (“Peace Ambush”, Sharon). Since Palestine’s recent turn over of the West Bank and Gaza territories, different negotiations have been made considering the split up of those territories. This includes the territories being run independently by Palestinians but separated by narrow strips of Israeli control. Because almost all Israeli and Palestinian towns are in artillery range of each other, it is also necessary to impose additional preventive laws such as curfews, checks, and minor disruptions of daily life until things have settled. Israel and Palestine need to work together independent of whether a one or two state solution is agreed upon. The organization of Palestinian refugees encourages and will try to propel this process forward in any way possible.

Refugees:

Because the land has so many different political and religious bodies that feel kinship and claim on, it is necessary to look to history for the answer to solve the problem of displaced refugees. The land of Palestine originally belonged to the Jews, followed by Rome. The Arabs conquered it from Rome and that has been the most recent switch of power. The Arabs had no control over the Romans displacing the Jews of Israel yet they feel they can punish them accordingly and take away our right to the land as earned in the battles they won against the Romans. The UN has allowed Jews to return to Palestine but that should be up to the Arabs. The war that broke out as a product of these treaties, in 1948, has displaced many Arabs, possibly close to 726,000 and more in the 1967 six-day war. There is no reason for these Arabs to not be allowed to return to their homes. Because of the Jewish people’s concern of the creation of an unbalanced ratio of Jews and Arabs that democratically, would create an Arab state, people are suffering. It is not right to make people suffer to fill a political ratio. If there is a majority of Arabs, let it be an Arab state. These refugees are currently living in "crowded refugee camps in poor conditions in the West Bank and Gaza, in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq" ("Nutshell", Iseroff). Refugees deserve the right to return though there is an issue to how many we can accept back. Although “returnees to Israel would be screened to preclude any who have previously engaged in terrorism and be required to demonstrate proof of original residence there, as well as agree to live in peace” (“into Citizens”, Artz), there are still precautions to be taken in regards to safety and violence following the return of refugees. Considerations to only accept refugees of 1948 or possibly only those with relatives within the state currently. To try and minimize the number of Arab living in the Diaspora choosing to return to Palestine, “Shlomo Gazit also suggests that the refugee issue be resolved through the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza” that could offer citizenship to those who are currently state-less. In the realm of compensation, a higher compensation offered to those returning to Palestinian territories might be effective. (“Final Status”, “Right of Return”).

Bibliography

~ Isseroff, Ami. “In a Nutshell, Israeli Palestinian Conflict.” Mideast Web. 2005. 22 Aug 2005. http://www.mideastweb.org/nutshell.htm
~ UNGAR 194 [Excerpts]. Ian Bickerton and Carla Klausner. A Concise History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2004
~ UNSCR 242 [Excerpts]. Ian Bickerton and Carla Klausner. A Concise History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2004
~ “Palestinian Refugees and Final Status: Key Issues.” Palestinian refugee ResearchNet, 25 October 2005.

[Richie McCormack]

HAMAS Opening Statements

The HAMAS is the biggest militant group against Israel in Palestine. The name HAMAS is short for the Islamic Resistance Movement. We are trying to help Palestine win this conflict by doing everything that we can to stop the Israelis. The main groups of Israelis that we, the HAMAS, dislike the most are the Zionists, “The Zionist invasion is a vicious invasion. It does not refrain from resorting to all methods, using all evil and contemptible ways to achieve its end” (Charter). Even though we are considered part of the Palestinian Authority, we aren’t. In fact, the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, has no control over what we as a group do. In some cases the Palestinian Authority does not approve of our actions, “The Palestinian Authority criticized HAMAS after it began firing rockets into Israel on Friday night” (Myre, “Hamas Ends It”). Instead of having peace with Israel and settling an agreement that both sides benefit from, we want everything that we can get for the Palestinians.
One of the most important points of this conflict is territorial sovereignty or who will rule what land. Since we, the HAMAS, are extremists we want everything for the Palestinians. Therefore, we want all of Palestine returned to us. The Palestinians lost their parts of Palestine to the Israelis in the Six Day War. Ever since the Palestinians lost the War, we have wanted our land back. This is one of the reasons we want to be in control of all of Palestine. We also want Palestine returned to us because of our beliefs and the Muslim religion; “The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgment Day” (Charter). We are very diligent practitioners of the Muslim religion and we want Palestine for Allah, “The Islamic Resistance Movement is a distinguished Palestinian movement, whose allegiance is to Allah, and whose way of life is Islam. It strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine” (Charter). On the other side of this argument, according to HAMAS the Zionists are trying “through a studied plan and an intelligent strategy to remove one Arab state after another from the circle of struggle against Zionism, in order to have it finally face the Palestinian people only” (Charter). This is against our beliefs and our will and we will make sure that their plan does not happen.
Another very important point in this conflict is the final status of Jerusalem. Our thoughts on this issue are if we take over Palestine then we will be in control of Jerusalem. Since it is one of our main goals to take Palestine back then we just assume Jerusalem will be ours. It is our desire to make Jerusalem our future capital city and we will reach this goal sooner or later.
We, the HAMAS, have been known for our violence against the Israelis. That is why security, violence, and the Security Fence are a huge issue in this conflict. First of all, we are violent against the Israelis only when they are against us because this is part of our religion, “Whoso commits aggression against you, do you commit aggression against him like as he has committed against you” (Koran). We need to defend ourselves or the Israelis will walk all over us. We think that violence is a good way to get a point across and is the only way this conflict will be solved in the end. We are not looking to make peace with the Israelis, “Initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences, are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement,” (Charter) we are looking to take back what is ours. Again, we will do anything we can to capture Palestine. Therefore, we do not care how we do it or how many people we fight and kill. We think the Israeli Security Fence is just slowing us down from getting Jerusalem. This Fence is fueling the fire of this conflict because it is shutting us out of where we belong and it makes us feel that the Israelis are taunting us by showing that they are not going to give up and they are going to defend Palestine by all means. One of these days we will try to break that wall down and we will fight and capture what we deserve.
Our views on the refugees that have been forced out of Palestine are they will be returned once we take over Palestine. Again, our first objective is to get Palestine. Right now we do not have that much concern for the refugees. Once we get Palestine our plan is to safely bring back all of the refugees and return them to their homes. We need the refugees to help defend Palestine after we take it. We are almost positive that the Israelis will always try to have Palestine in their possession and if we take it they will most definitely try to take it back.
In conclusion to these views, I believe that they all relate back to the first one of territorial sovereignty. If they capture Palestine then they will have captured Jerusalem as well. Also, if they capture Palestine the refugees will return because it will be their land. The HAMAS are one of the main reasons why this conflict will not be solved in peace. Either they will win this war and Palestine will belong to the Palestinians or the war will keep on going on for a very long time.

Bibiliography

Andrea, Alfred J., and James H. Overfield, eds. “Islam: Universal Submission to God.” The Human Record. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998, 225-233.

http://www.mideastweb.org/hamas.htm

Myre, Greg, “Islam Sends Army to Quell Rocket Fire; Hamas Ends It,” September 26, 2005

[Tucker Johnson!]

Mahoud Abbas (Tucker Johnson)
Palestinian Prime Minister
November, 3rd, 2005

Israeli-Palestinian Peace Plan

It is important to create a two state policy where our people get certain land, and the Israelis get the rest. The borders should be practical and easy to follow, and hopefully please everybody. The land in question includes Palestine, Israel, especially the West Bank and Gaza. (Guardian) Just like the Israelis gave up Gaza, they should give up all of the West Bank as well. ("Nutshell", Iseroff) The coexistence between the Israelis and the Palestinians in this area only causes problems and should be dealt with by clarifying the borders. It belongs to us and was taken in 1967 during the 6 Day War. ("Nutshell", Iseroff) Also, in order to make the borders more practical, more land should be allotted to the Palestinians south of the West Bank, and around the Gaza Strip. There should be no Israelis living in this area. In order to insure this after the Palestinians receive their land, they will provide up to three years for the Israelis to vacate the area. If this goal is not met in the appointed time, force will be used. The land should also be ruled without interference except from the United Nations, in order to maintain the local peace. In addition to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, all land taken from the Palestinians in the year 1948 should be returned. “In 1947, the UN partitioned the land into Arab and Jewish states. The Arabs did not accept the partition and war broke out” (“Nutshell”, Iseroff). Technically, this land still belongs to the Arab nation, and should be returned. Each group should also be able to control their own land, borders, water, and air space as these are important factors to both states.
Jerusalem is the Muslim’s 3rd most holy city, and we will not give it up. However, it is also the birth place of the Jewish religion, and they want it equally. In a trial time it should be shared equally, and the people will follow the government that they choose to. Both parties will share all of Jerusalem, including Eastern Jerusalem, all previous seized land in this area will be given up. If it is successful, then this coexistence will continue, but after a certain amount of time it is not, the people who caused the malfunction will lose the land. The UN will make this decision. This will ensure that the both states will work to maintain the holy city. A year after this period, the state that faulted will be given a second and final chance. Although many Palestinians would like all of Jerusalem, this is not possible. The Israelis want it just as much, and this would only create problems. If the idea of sharing the city equally is not accepted, then the Palestinians should control the land of Jerusalem, but allow anybody to visit as often as they want. The Palestinians have the right to control the land because they rightfully claimed it from the Romans, not the Israeli’s, meaning we didn’t steal their land. The Balfour Declaration, in promising the Jews land, including Jerusalem, said that the Jewish people would not affect the “existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine.” (Balfour) Since this is obviously false, the Palestinians should either get full control of Jerusalem, or since we are also ready to compromise, at least share it with the Israelis. This solution will hopefully end the problem of Jerusalem.
The security wall should be taken down. It “destroys olive groves and other property,” ("Nutshell", Iseroff). This is unacceptable, as it is ruining homes and resources. The security wall is unnecessary. The Palestinian people will promise not to let an army invade Israel if the wall is taken down. As collateral to this promise, the Palestinians will use Jerusalem. The only loophole to this is if Palestine declares war on Israel for any reason which hopefully will not happen. In areas where interaction between the two nations is necessary, such as around the borders, there will be a heightened amount of military or police to ensure there is no rowdiness or terror. The militia will be a 3rd party, not biased towards other sides. Once again, as collateral the permanent status of Jerusalem will rely on whether or not both groups of people can withdraw from acts of terror. This plan will work and hopefully end the reign of terror in this part of the world. The building of the barrier was accelerated by terrorist attacks. ("Brief History", Iseroff) If the wall was taken down, terrorist attacks would resume, unless something else was preventing them, in this case it is Jerusalem. However, “IDF claims that it is vital to preventing terror attacks.” (“Nutshell”, Iseroff) Hopefully terror will end with the new plan, however if a new wall must be added it should be out of the way of where people live, in a place like the 1967 cease fire line. (“Land of Conflict”) The UN will help determine whether or not Jerusalem will be seized, and this is plausible because members of the UN have helped Jerusalem already. ("Brief History", Iseroff)
All refugees should be able to return to their homes or wherever they want to return. “About 726,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled their homes in 1948.” ("Nutshell", Iseroff) The cause of this was the Israeli people, and now decades later they should be allowed to return. With the proposed matters in place, the Right of Return should not frighten or be a burden to Israel. The Israelis may fear that the Refugees may revolt, however under the new plan, for up to three years after the refugees return, they will have strict curfews, checkpoints, and supervision. This gives no reason why the Israelis should not let the refugees back. Not only is the return acceptable it is necessary for these people to leave their poor living conditions. ("Nutshell", Iseroff)

Bibliography

1. Mideast: Land of Conflict. 2005. Cable News Network. 25 October 2005.
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/mideast/stories/issues.borders/index.html ]http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/mideast/
2. Balfour, Arthur. “The Balfour Declaration (November 2, 1917). The Israel-Arab Reader. Walter Laquer and Barry Rubin, eds. New York: Penguin, 2001. 16
3. Isseroff, Ami. “In a Nutshell, Israeli Palestinian Conflict.” Mideast Web. 2005. 22 Aug 2005. http://www.mideastweb.org/nutshell.htm

4. Iseroff, Ami. “Israel and Palestine: A Brief History” Mideast Web. 2001-2005.
http://www.mideastweb.org/briefhistory.htm

5. “The Arab-Israeli Conflict” Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/flash/0,5860,720353,00.html

[Maddy C.]

Territorial Sovereignty
A major conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis is concerning who governs what land. The Palestinian Government needs to be in charge of it's own people and what land they live on. When Britain was in control of modern day Israel, they had Palestinians living there with no Jews. After the Holocaust though, this all changed. "The UN partitioned the land into Arab and Jewish states" (Iseroff, "Nutshell") because of all the Jewish refugees. The Palestinians were not happy with this decision and war broke out between them. The Israelis charged into our territory and took over. Most of the land conquered was taken during the 6-day war in 1947. We demand that this land be returned to us, for it was taken unjustly and it is rightfully ours. We would like to have complete control over the West bank and Gaza Strip. For now these are our only primarily Palestinian areas, and we believe that they should be given fully to us. Once the sovereignty of this land is returned to the Palestinian government, the Israeli soldiers will be asked to leave. We would do all of this in a two step process. First, we would be given complete power over the two designated areas. Second the soldiers and most other Jews would be asked to leave, but it would not be necessary for civilians to evacuate immediately. Also, the land taken in 1948 by the Israelis should be returned to the Palestinians. This will create more space for the Palestinians to live in, for they are extremely cramped in only the West Bank and Gaza, and it may create space for Palestinian refugees to move into. Hopefully everyone will be able to abide by these new borders peacefully.

Security
The security of both the Israelis and the Palestinians is one of our main concerns. Israel put up a "security barrier," or a wall, that runs along the border of the West Bank. We would like to take this wall down and relocate it.This needs to happen because the wall was built on the inside of the border of the West Bank and interferes with olive groves and the Palestinians access to towns and lands outside the wall (Iseroff, "Nutshell"). The wall was a positive force in that it reduced terrorist attacks between the Israelis and Palestinians, so we feel that it should still be present, but now on the 1967 cease fire line. Then the wall could be the border of the Palestinian and Israeli states. This way the Israelis feel safer with the wall standing, and the Palestinians get a little more land. Because the Israeli and Palestinian people are in range of fire from each other, it is necessary to keep control of them. The Palestinian government will watch over the Palestinians, and the Israeli government will watch over the Israelis. We also believe that the Palestinians should not have to create their own military at present, but eventually when independent and thriving, one will be appointed. They should have their own police force to deal with issues inside the Palestinian State, but the Israeli military will be in charge of protecting all of the borders. We as Muslims are inclined by the Koran to strike back when provoked. We will not let ourselves be pushed around and taunted. Even though we may not have our own military, we have many willing Muslims to honor the Koran's teachings.

Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a particularly complicated area. It is a city that is at high demand by both Muslims and Jews, therefore they compete for it. Though "both sides have claims on eastern Jerusalem" (Iseroff, "Nutshell") we believe that it belongs to the Palestinians. The Romans took Jerusalem from the Israelis, not the Palestinians, so we should not be punished for the Israelis loss. They could not hold onto the city and the Romans conquered it, but we, the Arabs, came in and won it fairly, so it rightly belongs to us. We understand that there are holy sites for both Jews and Muslims, so we will give the Jews full access to those sites. We hope to one day have Jerusalem as our capital city in an independent Palestinian state.

Refugees
Currently there are about 4 million Palestinian refugees, many of which were created from the war in 1948. These refugees should be able to return to their homes in Israel that were taken from them. Israel is afraid that if the Palestinian refugees are allowed to return, there will be a majority of Palestinians in Israel, and it will become a Palestinian state (Iseroff, "Nutshell"). We feel that the refugees should be able to return, and if they are the majority, then Israel becomes primarily Palestinian. If that is the way that it would work out, so be it. We cannot deny these refugees their rightful homes any longer, for they are suffering in "crowded refugee camps in poor conditions in the West Bank and Gaza, in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq" (Iseroff, "Nutshell"). If we need to conquer more land from the Israelis to expand and allow the refugees to return, we will, for it is their right to live in their home country.

Bibliography
Isseroff, Ami. “In a Nutshell, Israeli Palestinian Conflict.” Mideast Web. 2005. 22 Aug 2005. http://www.mideastweb.org/nutshell.htm