Before I stepped into a class about Middle Eastern history and began reading and studying Professor William L. Cleveland's book A History of the Modern Middle East, I had some common misconceptions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Like most people, I gathered my information from reading newspapers and watching the news on television. Through reading and studying, I began to develop an informative opinion by learning the facts of the conflict rather than various opinions from biased sources as relates to both parties. I began to reflect on the various incidents that encompassed the conflict itself and develop an intelligent and educated opinion.
In 1948, the Arab and Jewish communities were struggling for control over territory after the British had left Haifa. The Jewish community emerged the victor in this struggle. After this occurrence, Ben-Gurion proclaimed that Israel was an independent state. The new state was immediately recognized by the United States and the Soviet Union. I believe that this occurrence was the beginning of the animosity as well as the conflict between Israel and Palestine. In winning the struggle between the two communities, Israel had managed to gain it's territory and became an independent state. By the U.S. recognizing Israel as an independent state, this also led to Arab animosity towards the U.S. The root of the problem is that Israel believes that it is their birthright to have the territory that they won in the war and the Palestinians believe that they were forced out of their homes and land and became refugees unjustly. I believe both sides have valid points. .
In the case of Israel, I disagree with the notion of the land is theirs because of birthright. Nevertheless, they got a lot of help from European nations, mainly from Britain in occupying what is now Israel. In the case of the Palestinians, lack of Arab unity, leadership, and refusal to accept that the state of Israel exists, despite the fact that it is supported by the strongest nations in the world, has consistently led to wars and conflicts between the Israeli's and Palestinians.
