Whose Land is it Anyways?

There has been an ongoing battle over a strip of land in the Middle East, between Palestinians and Israelis for nearly 70 years now. Both sides have their list of supporters, firmly believing that the land belongs to either Israel or Palestine. I strongly believe that the land belongs to Israel. This conflict stems out to a religious conflict between the Jewish religion and Islam. Between the years of 1299 and 1923, the Ottoman Empire ruled a huge part of the world, mostly what is known today as the Middle East. Part of the Ottoman Empire, was Palestinian territories. The Ottomans, or Turks followed Islam as Sunnis, a major sect of the religion. Under the rule of the Turkish Empire, there were a large number of people living in that territory identified as Arabs. Eventually this empire fell after World War I and as most territories became independent, but Palestine fell under the rule of the British. This was the turning point in history, which lead to the conflict that’s going on today. Throughout the years, that Palestinian territory has been ruled by a lot of different groups. What initially triggered this war was the Balfour Declaration, which granted a home to Jewish people, and in this case it was Palestine. However, the British designated a land to the Arabs under the Hashemite Family rule, which, in 1917 was known as Trans-Jordan. The designation of that Trans-Jordan land to specifically Arabs was found in the Transjordan memorandum, which the Council of the League of Nations mandated in 1922. There was a significant migration rate to that land of Palestine, and the Arabs didn’t take it too well. However, this is what is heavily debated. Arabs and their supporters believe that the Jewish people just invaded their land. However, they were given permission by the British Empire. Palestinians eventually spoke up and the British lost control in 1937, and handed the conflict over the United Nations. The U.N. divided the land between the Israelis and the Arabs, with Israel taking ownership of about three quarters of Palestine and the Arabs taking ownership of Jordan and Egypt. This was called the “Plan of Partition with Economic Union,” also known as U.N. Resolution 181. I think Israel should have ownership of the land because of an incredibly deep historical background. The main claim Palestinians put up is that they were apart of that Ottoman Empire, which had an Islamic majority to it. The Arabs are Muslims as well, and this is how the debate stems back to religion. But this is entirely wrong because, the Ottoman Empire clearly fell apart leading to ownership of Palestinian territories by the British Kingdom, who allowed the Jews to live in that part of the world. The Israelis were granted land through a series of Mandates and an institution, which exists today, the United Nation, replaced those mandates. The U.N. also put out a resolution, U.N. Resolution 242, which stated that Israel has the permission, “to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force.” Both Jordan and Egypt, the two countries set aside from Resolution 181 accepted this. Israel should by all means be living in peace through U.N. Resolution 242. Instead, Palestinians who have a miniscule understanding of the history are infiltrating its borders. My final point is that there Israelis and Palestinians will continue to fight for countless years, and in the process there will be many casualties. In reality though, no war should exist, simply because the Arabs own only Jordan and Egypt, while the Israelis own the rest of Palestine.