Colonization and consolidation

Over the past 75 years, the boarders between Palestine and Israel have changed drastically and in some areas the boarders still are not defined. According to the BBC, “Israel has had a de facto border with Gaza since it pulled its troops and settlers out in 2005, but Gaza and the West Bank are considered a single occupied entity by the UN, and the official borders have not yet been determined.” (Photo Credit: Flickr created by Marita Cosma )

A rise in tensions

Gaza received many of them after the forced removal, which explains its high population density today. From then on, Israel would continue to enforce its ethnostate with The Law of Return in 1950. The law stated that every Jew is an Israeli citizen by right, and would be assisted in settling in Israel. The Absentee Property Law was also passed, declaring property left from ethnically cleansed Palestinians as legitimate for Israelis to acquire. This violates the Right of Return, a UN resolution upholding the right of refugees to return to their homes. Despite thinking of itself as champions of peace, the UN does not want to start an operation to enforce this resolution in Palestine.

The ethnostate would also fulfill its role as a Western outpost in Asia, just as Herzl wanted. It invaded Egypt in 1956, occupied Gaza and the West Bank from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria in the Six-Day War in 1967. Sinai, conquered from Egypt after the 1967 war, was completely returned by 1982 as a result of the Yom Kippur War of 1973.
Its role as an ally

Israel has committed many more crimes, but throughout history it has always been a key Western ally, checking anti-West sentiment in its region. Its role is vital because the Middle East is important for many reasons. Geographically, it’s between Asia, Africa, and Europe, giving whoever controls it strong geopolitical power. It’s also oil-rich, with some of its nations even causing an economic crisis in 1973 by cutting off their supply to Israel-aligned nations. Unfortunately, Israel has largely succeeded, maintaining Western influence and enjoying diplomacy with some Arab states. Egypt, a former socialist and Pan-Arabist enemy of Israel, is one of them. The West would lose out on many of the benefits it extracts from the region if Palestine became liberated.

The Declaration

The Declaration

The Declaration

The Declaration