Home » Politics & Society » Middle East Politics » Interesting Reading: The Historical Documents at the Heart of the Arab-Israeli Conflict

Interesting Reading: The Historical Documents at the Heart of the Arab-Israeli Conflict

© lawhawk

In the last editorial, I spoke of the bias found in the media. This editorial will focus on what documents are central to the Arab-Israeli conflict and the current peace process. Often, you will find that one group or another will justify their actions by citing one or more of these documents, and it can be illuminating to see that the documents and the actions do not coincide.

The earliest document referred to is the Balfour Declaration, written by the British during their mandate rule of Palestine, calling for the creation of a Jewish State in Palestine. This document was very helpful in getting the United Nations to agree to the partition of Palestine in 1947, creating the State of Israel.

United Nations resolutions have played a role in shaping the conflict. The US and former Soviet Union used the UN to play out their power struggles in the region with resolutions denouncing the other's actions. The UN Resolution 242 and 338 were the first steps in creating the framework for peace in the region calling for recognition of Israel in exchange for return of lands captured during wars.

Following the UN Resolutions is the Camp David Accords that became the framework for peace between Israel and Egypt. Many Israelis would like to forget one specific clause of this document since it leaves the status of Jerusalem open for negotiation with a Palestinian delegation. Palestinians look to this document as an Israeli admission that they must deal with Palestinians on the status of Jerusalem which the Palestinians want to see made their capital.

The PLO charter is another document that should be perused when looking at the current Palestinian-Israeli negotiations since it calls for the destruction of Israel and declares that Jerusalem is the capital of the Palestinian state. These statements were supposed to be removed and denounced by the Palestinian Authority following the signature of the Oslo Accords, (another key document), but so far the Palestinian Authority has not kept this agreement, slowing the peace process tremendously.

Finally, there are some documents which may be mentioned as official statements of positions, but in fact is only propaganda or hate speech. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is one such document and has been referred to by anti-Semites and those who want to see the destruction of Israel and world Jewry. This document claims Jews are secretly conspiring to rule the world and will buy influence and seek world domination. It is nothing more than a complete HOAX and FRAUD created to instill fear and hatred toward Jews and has led to much suffering. Notwithstanding the falsehood of its claims, there are those on the Internet who continue to spread this misinformation and hatred, undermining efforts toward peace.

The copyright of the article Interesting Reading: The Historical Documents at the Heart of the Arab-Israeli Conflict in Middle East Politics is owned by . Permission to republish Interesting Reading: The Historical Documents at the Heart of the Arab-Israeli Conflict in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.