History of Grade Three: Can you tell us the ins and outs of the Palestinian issue?

After the First World War, with the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire in Turkey, the Palestinian issue became an international issue. According to Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations adopted by the League of Nations, Palestine, together with several other Arab regions under the former Ottoman Empire, was handed over to British trusteeship. Except for one mandated territory, all other mandated territories were independent according to the earliest idea. Palestine has become an exception. The Palestinian mandate is not limited to "assisting in management and providing advice". Its primary task is to implement the Balfour Declaration issued by Britain in 19 17 in support of "establishing a Jewish state in Palestinian areas".

During the period from 1922 to 1947 when Palestine was appointed, a large number of Jewish immigrants poured in from other places, especially Eastern Europe. The brutal persecution of Jews by Nazis in 1930s led to the rapid expansion of Jewish population in this area. Palestinians' demands for independence and their resistance to Jewish immigrants led to the resistance of the Palestinian people in 1937. Since then, during and after World War II, intimidation and violence from both sides have never stopped. Britain tried different ways to make this land ravaged by violence independent, but all failed. 1947 Britain handed over the question of Palestine to the United Nations.

1947 - 1977

After considering different options, the United Nations proposed to establish two independent States in Palestine, one Arab and the other Jewish, and to establish a special international regime in the city of Jerusalem (General Assembly resolution 18 1 2). One of the two countries envisaged in the partition plan became Israel. In the 1948 war, Israel occupied 77% of Palestinian land and most of Jerusalem. More than half of the local Palestinian residents either fled or were expelled from Palestine. Jordan and Egypt occupied other parts of the territory originally allocated to the Palestinian Arab countries by the partition resolution, and the country was never formally established.

In the 1967 war, Israel occupied other Palestinian areas controlled by Jordan and Egypt at that time (that is, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip), including the remaining areas of Jerusalem that were not occupied by Israel before, which were later annexed by Israel. The war led to the second outflow of Palestinians, with an estimated number of 500,000. 1On 22 October, the Security Council adopted resolution 242, urging Israel to withdraw from the areas it occupied in the 1967 conflict.

1974, the United Nations General Assembly reaffirmed the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-government, national and sovereign independence and return to their homeland. The following year, the United Nations General Assembly established the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. The United Nations General Assembly granted the Palestine Liberation Organization observer status in the General Assembly and other meetings sponsored by the United Nations.

1977 - 1990

However, things continue to develop in the opposite direction. 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon, claiming to destroy the PLO. Later the two sides reached a ceasefire agreement. Convinced that the tens of millions of Palestinian refugees left behind after its withdrawal had security, the PLO troops withdrew from Beirut and moved to other neighboring countries. Then there were mass killings of refugees in Sabra and Shatila.

The International Conference on the Question of Palestine was held in September with a large number of participants. Among other things, the meeting adopted the Geneva Declaration, which includes the following principles: Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and all Israeli actions to change the status of Jerusalem must be opposed and rejected; All countries in the region have the right to live within safe and internationally recognized borders, and all people have the right to enjoy fair treatment and live a stable life; Recognize and realize the inalienable legal rights of the Palestinian people.

1987, 12 In February, collective anti-violence actions against the Israeli occupation took place in the occupied Palestinian areas. The Israeli army's suppression of this riot operation caused a large number of injuries and caused a large number of Palestinian civilian casualties.

199 1 year to date (peace process)

1973 after the Arab-Israeli war, all parties made unremitting efforts in different forums to achieve comprehensive peace in the Middle East based on Security Council resolutions 242 and 338 throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Global changes such as the end of the Cold War and the Gulf War and their effects have had an impact on the situation in the Middle East. 199 1 10 In June, the Arab-Israeli negotiations resumed in earnest, and a Middle East peace conference was held in Madrid under the joint auspices of the United States and the Soviet Union. Representatives of the Secretary-General of the United Nations attended the meeting as observers. But by the middle of 1993, the negotiations seemed to be deadlocked on several political and security issues. These public diplomatic efforts were accompanied by secret talks between Israel and the PLO in Norway. The news that the two sides ended their talks and reached an agreement at the end of August, 1993, aroused surprise and hope in the international community.

10 September 10, Israel and the plo exchanged letters on the issue of mutual recognition, and representatives of both sides signed the declaration of principles on interim self-government arrangements at a ceremony held at the white house on September 13, attended by us president bill Clinton and Russian foreign minister andrey kozyrev. After the signing of the statement, Israeli Prime Minister Rabin shook hands with PLO Chairman Arafat. This historic agreement has opened the way for the Palestinian people to achieve self-government in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. It marks the beginning of the process of negotiating a solution to the permanent status issue.

At its 1993 session, the General Assembly adopted a resolution entitled "Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine", expressing its support for the Declaration of Principles and reaffirming some principles put forward by the General Assembly itself to guide the final settlement. In addition, the General Assembly reaffirmed that the United Nations will continue to shoulder its due responsibilities towards the question of Palestine until it is comprehensively resolved.

1In July 1994, Yasser Arafat returned to Palestine and established the Palestinian Authority in Gaza and Jericho in the West Bank. Several agreements reached since then have placed more areas under the control of the Palestinian Authority.

In order to end the conflict, negotiations on an agreement on "final status issues" have begun. The difficult issues to be negotiated include Israel's withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories, final borders, refugees, settlements and the status of Jerusalem. The Middle East has ushered in a new era.

1On September 28th, 1995, the historic Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, namely the Oslo II Agreement, was signed, which replaced the 1993 Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements. Oslo II Agreement provides for the dissolution of the Israeli Civil Administration, the abolition of the Israeli military government, and the division of the West Bank into three regions, each of which is divided by Israel and Palestine to varying degrees.

The United Nations General Assembly fully supports the achievements of the peace process so far.

In Palestine, the first general election was held in 1996 65438+ 10. President Arafat was elected President of the Palestinian Authority. He then appointed the Executive Committee of the Palestinian Council consisting of 265,438+0 members. The Security Council warmly welcomed the election, calling it "an important step in the Middle East peace process".

From the mid-1990s to the end of the 20th century, peace talks came to a standstill. Afterwards, Israeli ehud barak and Yasser Arafat signed the Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum on1September 4, 1999. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan warmly welcomed the agreement.

The peace process once again came to a standstill after settlement construction and continued violence caused problems to the negotiations.

In July 2000, President Clinton held the Middle East Peace Summit at Camp David. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed the meeting and hoped to establish "peace for the brave" between Israelis and Palestinians. However, Israeli Prime Minister Barak and Palestinian Authority President Arafat failed to bridge their differences and reach an agreement.

In September 2000, the second Palestinian uprising broke out.

/kloc-in early October, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met in Taba, Egypt, and made another effort. The two sides said in a joint statement that they were closer to reaching a final solution than ever before. However, the upcoming elections in Israel led Prime Minister Barak to suspend the talks. Ariel Sharon was elected as the new Prime Minister of Israel.

Since September 2000, the political, socio-economic and humanitarian situation has been deteriorating. In 2002, the Security Council adopted a series of resolutions, expressing serious concern about the deteriorating situation and calling for an end to violence and terrorism, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian cities and respect for international humanitarian law. In a landmark resolution adopted in March 2002, the Security Council affirmed the idea of two States-Israel and Palestine-living side by side within secure and recognized borders in a region.

The Quartet (the United States, the European Union, the Russian Federation and the United Nations) has drawn up a "road map" to turn this vision into reality. The road map envisages that Israelis and Palestinians will take parallel steps to reach a final and comprehensive peace settlement by the end of 2005 at the latest. At the Aqaba Summit in June 2003, the two sides made a firm commitment to implement the "road map". The Security Council approved the "road map" in June 2003.

Despite some signs of progress, the cycle of violence, tit-for-tat and revenge continues, and the peace process is at a standstill.

Israel has decided to build a separation wall in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem and its surrounding areas. In response, in February 2003, the General Assembly requested the International Court of Justice to give an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of the construction of the separation wall. In July 2004, the International Court of Justice found that the route of building the wall in the occupied Palestinian territory violated international law, saying that Israel must stop building the wall, dismantle part of the wall already built and compensate all the losses suffered by Palestinian property.

At the beginning of 2004, Israel announced plans to withdraw its troops from most parts of Gaza and a small part of the West Bank. In May 2004, the Quartet laid down some principles for this evacuation plan, indicating that the evacuation must be complete and similar steps should be taken in the West Bank. The Quartet also pointed out that all final status issues, such as borders and refugees, should be negotiated by the two sides in accordance with the internationally recognized framework of the peace process.

At the same time, the humanitarian situation in the occupied Palestinian territory continues to deteriorate. The Secretary-General has repeatedly called on the international community to do its utmost to alleviate the plight of the Palestinian people and urged Israelis and Palestinians to take the necessary steps to reach a peaceful settlement without delay.

look into the future

During the reporting period, the crisis in the occupied Palestinian territory deepened and continued to claim lives. The persistent conflict, blockade, financial crisis and the Israeli government's withholding of Palestinian income have had the following practical effects: income has decreased, poverty and food shortage have intensified. Law and order in Gaza has actually collapsed. Without the timely intervention of the United Nations system, non-governmental organizations and temporary international mechanisms, coupled with up to $800 million in emergency food, economic and budgetary support, the situation would be even worse.

Political, economic and social challenges

The establishment of the Palestinian national unity government has changed the political prospects of Palestinians and created more but still limited opportunities for contacts between the international community and the Palestinian Authority.

The living conditions of most Palestinians are still very difficult. Although intra-Palestinian sectarian violence decreased in early 2007, the situation in Gaza remained tense. How to control internal violence seems to be a big test for the new government. Another test is to take effective actions to prevent military attacks on Israeli targets. The economic situation is still seriously depressed, and it seems destined to continue to bear great pressure in view of the continuous closure of enterprises.

The financial crisis of the Palestinian Authority was very serious at the end of 2005, and in the first half of 2007, it encountered the risk of threatening its survival. Even if the transfer of customs duties and value-added tax is resumed, Palestine's monthly budget deficit will be about $80 million.

Ensuring the resumption of negotiations to reach a permanent solution to the conflict remains a major challenge for both sides. In order to make sustained progress on the political track, the Palestinian government must make progress in reducing violence against Israel. For its part, the Israeli Government must stop building settlements and dismantle outposts. The Israeli and Palestinian governments are also facing internal difficulties. The international community, including countries in the region, can make useful contributions, such as injecting new vitality into the Quartet Initiative and the Arab Peace Initiative.

Humanitarian access

Although United Nations agencies continue to negotiate on barrier-free access to humanitarian assistance, Palestinians are facing increasingly strict blockade regulations, which directly weakens their ability to engage in economic activities. Increased humanitarian assistance cannot reverse the effects of these blockades. It is expected that the impact of efforts to improve Palestinian economic development will be limited in an environment where access is strictly restricted. During the reporting period, despite the substantial increase in aid, socio-economic indicators deteriorated. If the movement of people and goods into and out of Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank cannot be normalized, poverty and unemployment are expected to increase, and dependence on foreign aid will also increase.

Youth and education

For many years, the enrollment rate of Palestinian students has been the best in the region. During the reporting period, the education sector was under considerable pressure, which aroused people's concern about the quality of education services. Due to the increasing population pressure, more classrooms are needed to speed up teacher training. In remote areas such as the Jordan Valley, school buildings are still dilapidated and lack basic water supply and sanitation facilities. Especially in the most blocked areas, there is an urgent need to carry out remedial education and pay more attention to girls' enrollment.

woman

In addition to external restrictions on economy and mobility, social pressures faced by women often further hinder their mobility and access to information, resources and services. Palestinian women are often underutilized human resources in employment creation programs, although they are also under increasing pressure to help increase family income. The community approach provides an opportunity to help create employment opportunities for women through local initiatives. In addition, it is necessary to solve the mental health problems of women, not only as caregivers, but also as groups with special needs and greater pressure.

keep fit

There is growing concern that the financial crisis of the Palestinian Authority will seriously affect the long-term operation of the health sector. In the past, about half of the budget of the Ministry of Health was paid by the budget support and assistance provided by the international community through projects implemented by the Ministry. During the reporting period, continued restrictions on such budgets put health services and reforms at real risk of deterioration.

human rights

The occupied Palestinian territory is particularly important for the future of human rights all over the world. The question of Palestinian human rights has been on the agenda of the United Nations for 60 years; Especially in the 40 years since the occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. Over the years, the occupation of Palestine and apartheid in South Africa have attracted the attention of the international community. With the end of apartheid in 1994, Palestine has become the only developing country in the world occupied by western subordinate regimes. Therefore, it concerns the future of human rights. There is more than one system to suppress human rights, especially in the developing world, but this is the only regime subordinate to the West that has deprived people in developing countries of their right to self-determination and human rights for so long. This explains why the occupied Palestinian territory has become a touchstone for the West, which can fully explain whether the West is really committed to safeguarding human rights. If the west can't stand this test, it is hard to imagine that the developing world can seriously correct its own human rights violations, but in fact, the west seems to be unable to stand this test. The EU pays conscience money to the Palestinian people through the temporary international mechanism, but despite this, like other western countries such as the United States, Australia and Canada, it has not put pressure on Israel to accept the Palestinian people's right to self-determination and stop violating human rights. The Quartet consisting of the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and the Russian Federation also failed. If the West, which advocates safeguarding human rights all over the world, fails to show real responsibility and commitment to the human rights of the Palestinian people, then the international human rights movement that the international community is most proud of in the past 60 years will fall into crisis and predicament.

References:

http://www.un.org/chinese/peace/palestine/index.htm