Logbook

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
International management and culture
DSR 4700
UQAM
Professor: Hanan Smidi

Javier Grez A.
GREJ08089205
This work is based on the fighting between Palestinians and Israelis of this year. It
is necessary to explain the conflict in depth, because it started many years ago,

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Grez, Javier

therefore, to do the work I felt that understanding the origin of the issue was highly
relevant. In this case, the history is essential to understand and identify national
character.
For centuries, the land that we know as Israel, had been the home of
Palestinians and Jews, but for more than fifty years, this small land has seen
several bloody wars. Two cultures who claim a no mans land, disposed to appeal
the violence in order to demand what each believes to be their own. What are the
roots of the conflict? Can peace reign in this divided land?
It was on this land where Judaism and Christianity were born, and Muslims also
believe this land to be sacred. The Jews consider that land as their own since the
biblical moment when God promised this ground to Abraham, so from that moment,
Israel is the home of everyone who belong to the religion.
In 930 b.C. the Jewish state was separated into two kingdoms: Judah and Israel.
The first one was conquered by the Assyrians and the second by the Babylonians.
In the next few years, the land was taken by Persians, Greeks and Romans, until
the year 70 b.C, the last ones expelled the Jews from Palestine, starting their
dispersion over the world. This is called Diaspora.1
At the end of the 19th century, the Zionist movement was born. Founded by
Theodor Herzl, its purpose was to gather together all the Jews scattered for the
world, choosing Palestine as the place of regrouping. In 1882, began to settle the
first Jewish villages coming from Europe. The Jews asked the Palestinians to rebel
against the Ottoman Empire in exchange for promises of Independence. 2
During the Second World War, the British took control of the zone, in order to
support the Jewish immigration (see map 1). England tried to split the terrain on
two sides, one for the Arabs and another for the Jewish, but unfortunately it did not
happen. After the war, the United Nations took care of the problem, and decided to
give an own state for the Jews as payment for the suffering on the holocaust. On
1 Mara Paz Salas, Te explicamos la historia del conflicto palestino-israel, El Definido, 2014-0724
2 No author found, Cul es el origen del conflicto palestino-israel?, Europa Press, 2014-06-29
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May 14th 1948 the Israel state was created (see map 2). The Jewish would occupy
55% of Palestine, with half a million of Jews and 400.000 Arabs, and the Arab
state, the rest with 700.000 Arabs and a few millions of Jews. Jerusalem stands
apart with a population of 200.000 people 3. The Israel state was recognized by
world potencies as United States and the Soviet Union, but one day after, the
alliance of Arab countries formed by Egypt, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon begin the
offensive as repudiation to the new-formed state.

Map 1 UN Partition Plan, BBC News, 2001-11-21

Map 2 UN Partition Plan, BBC News, 2001-11-21

What came after is an innumerable count of rivalry between both fronts. During
1948, the Israel Army achieved the control of 78% of the territory in conflict and
expelled from their borders at least 700.000 Palestinians, at the end of that year
the Jews were a significantly higher number than the Palestinians.
In the next two decades the Palestinians tried to attack the frontiers with the help of
Egypt, Jordan and Syria, but the Israelite force was bigger and Palestine every
time lost more and more power in the area.
The next important confrontation was on 1967 when Israel was faced with the UAR
(Unet Arab Republic), formed by the listed above countries plus the presence of
Egypt. This fight is known worldwide as the Six-day War, were Israel conquered
Sinai, Gaza, East Jerusalem and Golan Heights (see map 3). This meant the
3 Francisco Javier Herrero, Palestina, una mirada al origen del conflicto, El Pas, 2014-06-31
4 Mara Torrens Tillack, Israel-Palestina, historia de un conflicto interminable, La informacin,
2012-08-23
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getaway of thousand of Arabs, who took refuge in Lebanon (400.000) and Jordan
(250.000). Six years later, the Arabs countries launched an attack against the Jew
State in the Yom Kippur (October 6 th of 1973), an important date for the Jew
religion, whereby the Arabs took advantage of the Jews concentration to assault.
The Arabs get victories on Golan and Sinai, but the Israelites conducted successful
counterattacks. The most import consequence of this conflict was the fact that
Egypt and Israel signed a peace agreement that stunned the whole world. 5

Map 3 UN Partition Plan, BBC News, 2001-11-21

The conflict belonged during the years with highs and lows, and was on 1987 when
it is created the Islamic Resistant Movement, better know as Hamas, whose
objective was, on one hand, the revolution against the Israel state, and on the
other, being an active political entity who worries about Palestinians, building
schools and hospitals in order to help the community in social and religious issues.
For USA, Canada, Japan, EU and Egypt, the Islamic group is a terrorist
organization, because of his long history of attacks against Israelis targets and for
their commitment to destroy the Israel state, declared legitimate nation on 1948. 6
From the start of the Intifada on 2000, the Israel army performed numerous
incursions into Gaza, installing control stations and restricting the movements of
5 Mara Paz Salas, op. cit.
6 No author found, Qu es Hamas, el enemigo ms obstinado de Israel, BBC Mundo, 2014-06-16
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Grez, Javier

the Palestinians. In the area were built 21 Jews settlements were more than 8.000
people used to live until the evacuation on September of 2005 and the Palestinian
authority took the control of Gaza. The next year Hamas won the parliamentary
elections and they formed a government on Gaza and the Palestinian territories in
West Bank.7
Between 2008 and 2009 the conflict intensifies, Israel launched the Cast Lead
..

70 b.C

1882

19931945

1948

1967

1973

1987

2000

2005

Beginning
of Jews
Diaspora

Born
of
the Zionist
movement

British
took
the
control

Creation
of Israel

Sixday
War

Yom
Kippur

Hamas

Intifada

Hamas
took
the
control
of
Gaza

2008
2009
Op.
Cast
Lead

..

Operation,
a series of
air

strikes

against
Hamas
targets,

in

reprisal for constant bombarding in the south of Israel. More than 200 Palestinians
died in the first 24 hours. Hamas promises revenge in order to defend their people
and land. The UN Security Council vote in favour of an instant resolution in order to
stop to fire permanently. Israel and Hamas refuses the resolution. 8

In June of this year, the failure of the peace conversations sponsored by US, three
young Israelites were kidnapped in West Bank and a few days after there were
found dead. Israel blamed Hamas of this action and arrested hundred of members.
After the arrests, Hamas launched rockets over Israel territory and Israel launched
air attacks over Gaza. In July, one day after the bury of the Israelites, a 16 years7 Lluis Torrent, El conflicto de Israel y Gaza explicado en 6 puntos clave, United Explanations,
2012-11-19
8 Bryony Jones, Cronologa: El enfrentamiento entre Israel y Gaza desde 2008, CNN Mexico,
2012-11-22
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old Palestinian was kidnapped and murdered in East Jerusalem. A few days next,
the 7th, Hamas attributed the rocket launching for first time in more than two years,
after a series of Israel air attacks where died a group of members of their armed
wing. The day after, the Israel Defense Forces gave way to the Operation
Protective Edge against the Hamas supports in Gaza. 9
This is the new beginning of the conflict, in which the following weeks were
horrible, marked by the excessive violence, leaving behind a large number of
victims.
Chronology10
Date
8

July

13
15
17
23

tgusAu

26
1
3
5
22
24
26
4
16

Event
Operation Protective Edge: Israel
wants to stop the rocket launching from
Gaza.
Mahmud Abs, president of the
Palestine Authority, asked for UN
international protection11
Egypt presents a proposal of truce.
Hamas rejects it.
Israel attacks Hamas tunnels.
UN started an investigation about war
crimes.
First truce: 12 hours.
Israel drops bombs over Rafah
Israel stops the terrestrial operation
and retires from Gaza. Hamas accept
72 hours of trace.
Hamas executed 18 Israelites for
collaborate with the Jew state.
Israel counterattack and drop bombs.
Ceasefire after 50 days of violence12
Palestine Gaza reconstruction
estimated to 8,000 US milions
UN Announces Agreement with Israelis
and Palestinians to rebuild Gaza13

Place
Gaza

West Bank
El Cairo
Israel, Gaza
New York
Rafah
Gaza
Gaza
Gaza

New York

9 No author found, 10 preguntas para entender por qu pelean israeles y palestinos, BBC
Mundo, 2014-08-05
10 No author found, Cronologa de los 50 das de conflicto en la Franja de Gaza, Biobio Chile,
2014-08-25
11 No author found, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas asks UN for international protection in
Gaza as hostilities with Israel continue, ABC News, 2014-07-13
12 No author found, After 50 days of violence: Long term Gaza ceasefire goes into effect, ABC
News, 2014-08-27
13 No author, UN brokers agreement to start Gaza rebuilding, DailyMail, 2014-09-16
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November

October
September

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Grez, Javier

26

Palestine denounces genocide at the

UN

Gaza

Pope calls for Middle Eastern

ambassadors in search of peace

Vatican City

30

Sweden recognizes state of Palestine14

Hamas attacks Jerusalem: one person

died and at least 13 injuried.15

Jerusalem

War of Gaza16:
2,192Palestinians died in the conflict, according to the UN.

1,523civilians were killed during Israels war on Gaza.

18,000homes in the Gaza Strip were destroyed in 50 days.

64Israeli soldiers were killed during the ground incursion.

14 No author found, Sweden recognizes state of Palestine, CNN, 2014-30-10

15 No author found, Jerusaln: Hams se responsabiliza de ataque con un muerto, BBC, 201411-05
16 No author found, Amnesty berates Israel for civilian deaths in Gaza war, GulfNews 2014-11-5
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I chose this subject because I think that this is one of the most important
geopolitical challenges of our century. The creation of Israel and the conflict
between them and Palestinians is directly link to Second World War and the
holocaust, something that affected the whole world and changed its governance. I
was also very much interested in studying an event that implies others cultures
than mine, in another part of the word, even including other religions I dont know
very well. This subject was the opportunity for me to discover some part of the
Middle East and its history but also the Israelite culture and past. Moreover, I
wanted to understand why, in the 21 century people were still fighting for religions
that defend strong values about human being, peace, loving your own kind and
respecting others.
The Jews had recently emerged from a huge massacre after the Second World
War, being relocated in the territory that we know as Israel, from that moment
started the new conflict, and this meant that the Jews have been fighting about the
last one hundred years, struggling for their beliefs and values, an interesting point
who explain how the people constantly fight that which is proper and what they can
do to defend it. This is something that I support of the Jews community, because
they never have dropped their arms in order to protect what is theirs. On the side of
the Palestinians It is something similar, struggling everyday trying to defend their
land. The conflict in Gaza is so acute that the probability of losing a loved one is
very high. They are a much smaller force than the Israel Army, and despite that,
they stand in front of a giant and fight.

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Grez, Javier

Continuing the religious theme, I think is quite interesting how something

intangible, as love to God, may affect human behavior. I do not belong to any of the
two religions and that is why catches my attention deeply, the fact that they have to
reach extreme resources to resolve this conflict.
All these points were the reason to focus my work on this conflict, foreign to my
language, culture or religion, in which thousands of people are suffering every day
for being in the middle of war.
In the world we live in, we find all kinds of races, languages, cultures and
religions, every one different from the rest. This makes us raised on one or another
way, depending on which region we are. I'm talking about global diversity and all
the factors involved.
Landing this to the Palestinian-Israeli problem, I will focus on the following points:
culture and environment, religion and communication. I think they are the most
important and directly related to what we saw in class.
When I searched the cultural differences between Palestinians and Israelis, the
first thing I found was the fact that both coexist in the same territorial space called
Middle East. The Palestinians in his great majority belong to Islam, and share
characteristics with their near pairs like Jordan and Egypt. As a state that has been
in constant conflict over the years, and its displaced inhabitants again and again,
Palestinians lack a strong culture that identifies them, in addition, there is not much
information about what actually happens inside conflict zones.
Palestine is a state with limited recognition; this means that it is a territory whose
sovereignty is not recognized internationally despite being partially or fully
managed by a body potentially autonomous. With no recognition by the
international community it is not considered as a country, leaving out of all types of
analyzes by major institutions such as the UN, World Bank, World Health
Organization and even the Hofstede index.

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Grez, Javier

Palestine has inside the subculture of terrorism. Hamas was created in response to
the Jewish "invasion" after the Holocaust and settlement in the territory. War is their
main weapon of defense, Consider being a terrorist group for various reasons:
does not belong to any country, use the armed movement as a defense, does not
discriminate when attacks and does not respect ceasefires. These features, make
the Palestinian as a state frowned upon by the international community, even
thought not all Palestinians belong to this group. Globally, the international image
of Palestine is to be an unrecognized nation with terrorism as their way of solution.
On the other hand, we have Israel, a state that is recognized as autonomous by
international organizations. Formed in 1948 with less than 100-year history, its
population is mostly Jewish (from 7,821,850 habitants, 75.1% consider themselves
Jewish17) and quite strict when it is about religion. It is positioned as a culture that
superimpose their ideals no matter the cost, while maintaining Jewish traditions
despite the time.
According to the Hofstede index, Israel takes a unique position in the database of
countries with scores on the 6 dimensions. Israel is the only country in the world
where the size of the immigrant groups is so large that they influence the dominant
values to the extent that new citizens of Israel change the existing values. The
below mentioned scores might not reflect the values of the whole population of
Israel.

Further

research

should be done to express

the values of all of the
current Israelis.
A low score of 38 on
Pragmatism indicates that
Israeli

culture

has

preference for normative

thought. People in such
societies have a strong
17 CIA World Factbook
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concern with establishing the absolute Truth; they are normative in their thinking.
They exhibit great respect for traditions, a relatively small propensity to save for the
future, and a focus on achieving quick results.18
This means that for the Israelites, traditions are really important, and try to impose
them over its immigrants and even over his enemies: Palestine.
In the case of masculinity, the index says: With a score of 47 Israel is neither a
clear masculine nor feminine society. Some elements point at more masculine
features. Performance is highly valued. Managers are expected to be decisive and
assertive. Status is often shown, especially by cars, watches and technical
devices.
In the religious sphere, each one has its beliefs, Islam and Judaism are religions
with different interests, visions and characteristics. This is the place where the two
nations collide and where the fight is formed. Both religions are attached to their
sacred books, with interpretations that sometimes induce War.
On one side there are the Jews, who have a war vision based on the Old
Testament, where defensive wars are mandatory:
Genesis 9: 6 "Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed."
On the other hand, we have Islam, a religion that establishes clear guidelines of
the war, the Qur'an says explicitly:
Qur'an 2: 190 " Fight in the way of Allah those who fight you but do not transgress.
Indeed. Allah does not like transgressors.
These biblical interpretations are the keys at the time of analyze this conflict,
because in each side theyre a valid argumentative point in favor to fight. This
vicious cycle does not end until one side exterminates the other, because of to the
18 Hoftede index, http://geert-hofstede.com/israel.html
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intrinsic values in each of the fronts. Although the vast majority of religions are
based on values such as love of neighbor and respect, but, both Jews and
Islamists, are interpreting his writings in order to fight for something they consider
sacred.
It's clear that the communication between both countries has been the lowest point
of the conflict. With interrupted ceasefires by both sides, it was impossible to reach
an agreement in the last 70 years. It was in the 90's when we almost saw a peace
agreement. Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian nationalist leader, was able to observe
the matter with high-mindedness, accepting Israel as a state. Obviously that
generated a lot of controversy within the Palestinian subversive groups. In the
1993 Oslo agreement, in which peace between Palestinians and Israel was signed,
was enough to give him the Nobel Peace Prize a year later. But we all know what
came later, nationalist groups on both controls turned to reinstate fear.
Without going any further, this year there were several ceasefires, but somehow or
another, terror reigned in the territory. This problem will continue to exist as far one
of the two sides abandons the egoism and pride to make way for a peace
resolution.
Personally, I think it is very difficult to take part this war because both sides
of the conflict have something to fight for, motivated primarily by what their religion
says, with strong and clear arguments about their interest. I am not in favor of what
is happening, because there is a large number of people, who are in the middle of
the conflict, which have nothing to do with the matter, suffering daily horrors of this
war that we never know when it will end. I hope that this have a quick resolution,
where the peace ends this situation, in order to stop the suffering because of the
significant humanitarian losses. It's time to grow as human and stop the armed
rivalries to provide a better future for our children.

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