Israel-Palestine Peace Talk

                                             Israel-Palestine

History-

Palestine is an ancient land in southern Asia on the eastern end of Mediterranean Sea. It is known as the holy city of the Jews, Christians and Muslims. During World War I British troops occupied Palestine ending 400 years Turkish rule.

Immediately after occupation the British Government issued the Balfour Declaration in 1917 pledging its support for Jewish state. League of Nations made Palestine a British mandate in 1922. After Balfour declaration 300,000 Jews migrated to Palestine and they bought Arab owned land. The Arab majority feared a Zionist plan to dispossess them and make Palestine a Jewish state. This unprecedented immigration resulted in bloody clashes between Jews and Arabs.

During second World War as Nazi destruction of European Jews proceeded, Zionist leaders pressed for a Jewish state and unrestricted immigration to Palestine.

In 1947 the UN voted to partition of Palestine between the Arabs and Jews with Jerusalem located in an International Zone. Arab leaders rejected the plan and fighting broke out. In May 1948 as British mandate ended, Jewish leaders proclaimed the state of Israel

The focal point behind the Israeli-Arab (Israeli-Palestinian) conflict is a radical dispute over land and borders. The Palestinian territories consist of the so-called West Bank (which includes East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. Since Israel gained sovereignty over the Gaza Strip and the so-called West Bank from Jordan and Egypt, respectively, following the Six Day War in 1967, the international community, the United Nations, and, of course, Jimmy Carter, refer to these areas as occupied Palestinian territories

Peace talk between Israel and Palestine: key issues between Israel and Palestinians

PALESTINIAN STATE AND POWERS

The Palestinians want an independent and fully sovereign state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.Israel wants a demilitarised Palestinian state and to retain control over its airspace and foreign borders.

PALESTINIAN BORDERS AND JEWISH SETTLEMENTS:

The Palestinians want Israel to withdraw from all land occupied since the 1967 war and to dismantle all Jewish settlements, although they have accepted the principle of land swaps.

Current position in Israel

Israel rules out a full return to pre-1967 borders but is ready to pull out of some parts of the West Bank while annexing its largest settlements.The Palestinians want a freeze on all settlement building during the talks. Israel's partial 10-month moratorium on building is set to expire at the end of September.

JERUSALEM

Israel captured Arab east Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it. It considers the city its "eternal and indivisible" capital.The Palestinian Authority wants to make east Jerusalem, home to some 260,000 Palestinians and more than 200,000 Israelis, the capital of its future state.

At the 2000 Camp David peace talks, Israel offered to share sovereignty over the Arab sector. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not reiterated the offer.

REFUGEES

The Palestinians want Israel to recognise the "right of return" of the Palestinians who fled or were expelled when the Jewish state was created in 1948. With their descendants, they number 4.7 million refugees. Israel rejects the demand.

WATER

Israel controls 80 per cent of underground water resources in the West Bank. The Palestinians want a more equitable share.

'JEWISH CHARACTER' OF ISRAEL: Mr Netanyahu wants the Palestinians to accept Israel as "the state of the Jewish people". The Palestinians reject this, saying it implies an implicit renunciation of the right of return for refugees