Israel Palestine Conflict - Who is Wrong?

Amid the conflict between Palestine and Israel, there is a small three-paragraph letter that was written on November 2, 1917 by the British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to the head of a British Jewish community leader Walter Rothschild.

What was written in this letter would eventually contribute to a conflict that would continue for the next 100 years—something the British government probably never imagined.

Who is right and who is wrong between Israel and Palestine?

What is the conflict really about?

And what role did the British government play in it?

Before World War I, there was no major conflict in Palestine. The population was mostly Muslim, but Jews and Christians also lived there peacefully. At that time, the entire region was under the control of the Ottoman Empire, which stretched from Europe to North Africa and much of the Middle East.

Some Arab leaders were unhappy with Ottoman rule and wanted independence. To achieve this, they secretly approached the British, who were enemies of the Ottoman Empire. The British promised that if the Arabs helped them defeat the Ottomans in the war, they would give them an independent country afterward.

At the same time, the British made a similar promise to Jews in Europe. Historically, Jews had no permanent homeland and lived as minorities in different countries. In Europe they faced discrimination and violence, partly due to religious conflicts where some Christians believed Jews were responsible for the death of Jesus Christ.

Because of this persecution, a movement called Zionism began. Its goal was to create a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Over time, Jews from different parts of the world started migrating there, supported financially by their global community to build businesses and settlements.

In 1917, during World War I, Britain issued what became known as the Balfour Declaration. It stated that Britain supported the creation of a Jewish national home in Palestine, while also claiming that the rights of existing non-Jewish communities would not be harmed.

Soon after, British forces captured Palestine from the Ottoman Empire, ending 400 years of Ottoman rule.

However, Arabs living in Palestine believed Britain had betrayed them. They argued that Britain had promised them independence but instead was allowing Jewish immigration and settlement on their land.

Over the following decades, Jewish immigration increased, new schools and businesses were built, and Jewish defense groups such as the Haganah formed. This created tension with the Arab population.

In 1939, Britain issued a policy known as the White Paper of 1939, limiting Jewish immigration and land purchases. This angered Zionist groups, who then began attacking British authorities.

Then came World War II. During the war, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime killed about six million Jews in the The Holocaust. After the war, many surviving Jews migrated to Palestine because it was considered their historic homeland.

By 1947, Britain decided to withdraw and handed the issue to the United Nations. The UN proposed dividing Palestine into two states—one Jewish and one Arab—giving about 55% of the land to the Jewish state.

Arab countries rejected this plan.

On May 14, 1948, David Ben‑Gurion declared the creation of the state of Israel. Soon after, neighboring Arab countries attacked Israel, starting the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Israel won the war and gained more territory than originally allocated.

Later wars and conflicts followed, including the Six-Day War in 1967, after which Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and the Sinai Peninsula.

Palestinians formed the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to fight for their own state. Over time, different Palestinian groups emerged, including Hamas, which opposed peace agreements with Israel.

Today, Gaza is controlled by Hamas, while parts of the West Bank are governed by the Palestinian Authority. The conflict continues with periodic wars and violence. For example, on October 7, 2023, Hamas launched thousands of rockets into Israel, escalating the conflict again.