Why won't the Palestinians leave Israel and the Gaza Strip?

Dear Jewels, 

I wish it was that simple. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict goes back
for at least a century now, but even before that, the sentiments that
led to the conflict existed.

The answer, in short, for your question, is: "because they feel it is
*their* territory, and not the Israelis'". This is also, in a
nutshell, the nature of the problem: two people, who have claims for
the same territory.

Political domination of the territory, by Israelis, made the
Palestinians bitter, as I guess anyone would have felt, if they saw
something they considered their own administered by others. Given the
fact that the Israeli occupation has also been repressive towards
Palestinians or their national asirations, it is easy to see that the
Palestinians, as a collective, feel as a victim. On the other hand,
Israelis have felt that the Palestinians are threatening them, wanting
the whole territory to themselves. As ridiculuos as it may sound, the
Israelis, too, feel like a victim, trying to set a homeland and a
refuge for Jews, a nation persecuted around the world, and getting so
much hostility in their own homeland, by another group.

In both sides, you could find many extremists. On the Palestinian
side, you can find Palestinians who claims that the whole territory
belongs to them, and that the State of Israel, as aa Jewish homeland,
should cease to exist (this was/is also part of the Palestinian
National Charter, <http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/PLO_Covenant_commentary.html>).
Some of the extremists would like to institute an Shari'a state (based
on the Islamic law) in "Palestine" (what they define as Palestine
includes, the occupied territories, Israel and sometimes also the
Hasemite Kingdom of Jordan).

On the Israeli side, there are extremist who believe that the
Palestinians should be either driven out of the territory, or accept
the deminish of their national aspirations. Some of them believe in
religious, rather than political reasons, for the Jewish domination on
the territories, namely that the territory is a holly Jewish
territory, as mentioned in the Bible. They, too, would like to see
Israel turning into a religious state.

For knowing more on the religious extremists of both sides, let me recommend  : 
Terror in the Name of God, by Mark Juergensmeyer

He has a chapter about Palestinians and Israelis, and his interviews
there are very interesting, and would be a good introduction on the
issue of religious extremism.

The Palestinian extremists commit terror attacks, where many have been
killed in the past few years. The Israeli extremists try to influence
their government, already right wing, to hit the Palestinians harder.

They are the minority, but it seems as if they have much impact on the
rest of the population. The Palestinians view the extremists as
representing "real" Israeli aspirations; the Israelis, tierd and
afraid of terror attacks, are responding likewise emotionally when
something happens.

Both sides have also a peace camp - people willing to share the
country between the two people, to reach some kind of peaceful
sollution. They are, in my opinion, not a small minority, but at least
half of the population - despite what both sides have been through,
this large percentage of the population is willing to try to solve the
situation on a peaceful basis.

Trying to solve the situation on a peaceful basis would also require
nations of the world to acknowledge the comlexity of the situation, to
respect the rights and fears of both sides, to support peaceful
solutions and not to hide behind empty slogans and shallow solutions.

Here are several further answers (from Google Answers) on the
complexity of the conflict, and how can anyone help:

U.S. Economic Support of Israel
<http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=279639> 

What might happen if US gave funds to build infrastructure in Palestine?
<http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=177044>

Palestinian End Game
<http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=335456> 

Arabs and Jews - for shared humanity
<http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=142058> - a list of
organisations trying to promote mutual understanding.

 Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel
<http://www.vtjp.org/> 

IsraelBlog
<http://www.israelblog.org/> - Aaron is fighting for peace. 
You could read more links to his activities here:
<http://www.shtull-trauring.org/aron/IsraelBlog/community.html>

Blues for Peace
<http://www.bluesforpeace.com/> 

Veterans for Peace
<http://www.veteransforpeace.org/about.htm> 

Gush Shalom
<http://www.gush-shalom.org/english/> 

Ariga
<http://www.ariga.com/> 

I hope this answered your question. Please contact me if you need any
clarification on this answer before you rate it.

Why wont the Jews give back the land they took from the Palestinians.

Dear jewels04,

Your question reminds me of a question a tourist to Israel once posed
to a Palestinian Christian. "When did your family convert?" The
answer, "At Pentecost. How about yours?" The tourist's assumption
overlooked the fact that the Palestinian and his family had lived in
the Holy Land for thousands of years. You may find interesting this
attempt at a joint historical narrative from the peace group, Gush
Shalom:
* http://www.gush-shalom.org/Docs/Truth_Eng.pdf

With that thinking, why not give America back to the Indians?  The
Palestians are mostly citizens of Jordan and should leave the West
Bank and Gaza.  The area that is now Israel was created like all other
countries are created.  Some of the land was won in a war, some given
by the colonial government when it left the area.  But all of Israel
is given to the Jewish people by G-d.  The bible states that once G-d
gives the land to the Jewish people, the dessert with bloom and grow. 
Clearly Israel has made something out of what used to be a dry
nothing.  G-d has the last word in this conflict.  Those who curse
Israel will be cursed and those who bless Israel will be blessed. 
What I find surprising is that with all that the Israelis have been
through, they are still WILLING to make peace with the Palestinians. 
They could just wipe the Palestinians off the face of the earth and be
done with the homicide bombings and murder of innocent Israelis.  Lord
knows that if it were possible, the Palestinians would remove every
last Jew from the middle east.  Don't ever believe that this conflict
is about land.  Even if given their own country, the Palestinians
would still attack and kill Jews.  The Palestinians were offered a
homeland by the British back in the 1940's and refused to share the
land with Jews.  This is about hate that has no boundaries or reason. 
When Israel makes peace with the Palestinians, it will be the strat of
the seven year tribulation.

Expert Law, 

In fact, most of the Christian Palestinian are not the "oroginal"
Christians and have converted in the 18th  and the 19th centuries,
after various missionary organisations began to operate in the region.
It is also quiet obvious, because there are some Anglican Paestinians;
Russian or Greek Orthodox ones, and in fact, very few have an
inigeneous Church, as you would have found among the Syriac or the
Copts (two of the older Churches in the region). Most of the
population converted to Islam throughout the centuries of Islamic
occupation. Of course, being convertees and not "original" Christians
does not reduce their claim for the territory.

================

Der Kaiser, 

Most Palestinians are NOT Jordanian citizens as Jordan lifted its
claim for the its part in the territory in 1988; most fo them are
"stateless", because they have never applied for a Jordanian/Egyptian
passport (if they could, in Gazah they couldn't anyway); and now
cannot apply for this passpost. What *is* true, is that the majority
of the current Jordan population is Palestinian. Jordan should be
distinguished from other Arab countries because of its policies
towards the Palestinians. Most of those who live in Jordan are
Jordanian citizens, and enjoy - as much as this country is not a
democracy - equal rights; this is unlike those who have fled to
Lebanon, for example, where they are continuously discriminated upon
and have no rights whatsoever. This is not to say thta Jordan did not
have its hsare of problems with the Palestinian population - I
recommend that you'll read my answer on Black September and the
attempt on the life of the Jordanian PM:
Jordanian Politics
<http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=60494>