Page 70 - Social Science.docx

Elusive Peace: Hamas, Palestine, and Israel in the Modern Middle East
Joshua Messinger
Hamas is a militant Islamic Palestinian nationalist movement in the West Bank and Gaza Strip dedicated to the establishment of an independent Islamic state in historical Palestine. Founded in 1987, Hamas opposed the secular approach of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and rejected attempts to cede any part of Palestine.1 Hamas have been terrorizing Israeli citizens since their takeover of the Palestinian government and has blocked any potential peace agreements between the two countries. The relationship between Israel and Palestine is one that was created long before the creation of Israel. During World War II, when European Jews fled to Palestine, the Jewish-Arab conflict intensified, ending in the United Nations partitioning the disputed region and creating Israel as an independent nation. Israel officially became a state in 1993, but has been plagued by many attacks and wars due to jealousy and hatred. Any small signs of de-escalation, like the 1993 Oslo Accords, ended in the peace process being undermined and interrupted. The main barrier to peace in the Israeli region is the political power Hamas has in Palestine and the Israeli settlements being constructed outside of Israel’s borders in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.2 The creation of settlements beyond their border is considered
Joshua Messinger ‘21, will study sports management at the University of Florida.
1 Zack Beauchamp, "What Is Hamas?" Vox. November 20, 2018.
2Arab-Israeli Conflict Resources - HIST 338/538: The Arab ..." Arab-Israeli Conflict. https://libraryguides.uwsp.edu/hist338.
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