1FatahUSDiplomaticrelationshipinWestBank

Background

Thehistory of theIsraeliPalestinian conflicthas its roots in the late 19th century and

beginningof20thcenturyalongwiththehistoryofregionandcontinuestothepresentday.

Theendofthe19thcenturyandthebeginningofthe20thcenturyaremarkedbythebirth

of two major nationalist groupsas the Jews and the Arabs. In the 7th century, a new

influencewasgrowingintheWestAsiathatwasknownasIslam.TheIslamasapractice

startedwiththeprophetMuhammad.

ThePalestineIsrael conflict is theongoing strugglebetweenIsraelisandPalestiniansthat

began in the early 20th century. It is also important to look at the history of early 20th

century.Howtheseproblemswereshaped.MajorturningpointinthehistoryoftheWest

Asia came whenoilwas discovered, first in Persia in 1908 and later inSaudi Arabiain

1938and theotherPersianGulf states,andalso inLibyaandAlgeria. It isalsovery fact

thatcrudeoilwas themost importantcommodity in the20thcenturyof industrialworld.

However,theOttomanEmpirewasdefeatedbyBritishEmpireforcesin1918.Atthesame

time,theBritishpromisedtotheJewsthroughtheBalfourDeclaration(1917)increating

aJewishhomeland in Palestine. The rise to power of German dictatorAdolf Hitler

inGermanyhadcreatedanewurgencyintheZionistquest toimmigratetoPalestineand

createaJewishstatethere.TheimmigrationofJewishhasincreasedtotheLandofIsrael.

However, it is also important to see the key issues of conflict between PalestineIsrael.

Thesearethemutualrecognition,settlementofrefugees,borders,security,waterdisputes,

controloverJerusalem,Israelisettlements.Atfirst issue, theJerusalemismost important

forbothparties, social,politically, theologically, andchronologically. It is alsoholycity

forJudaism,IslamandChristianity.ForChristians,Jerusalemhasbeenaholycitysince,

even according to theNew Testament,Jesus was crucifiedthere. As well as, in Islam,

Jerusalemisthethirdholiestcity.InIslamictraditionin610CEitbecamethefirstQibla,

the focal point for Muslim prayer. Prophet Muhammadmade hisNight Journey over

there.Whereas,theWesternWallistheancientwallthatsurroundedtheJewishTemples

courtyardandisoneofthemostandlastsacredsitesinJudaism.Insumup,theOldCityis

2hometomanysitesoftremendousreligiousimportance,theTempleMountanditsWestern

Wall, theChurchof theHolyTomb, theDomeof theRockandAlAqsaMosque.These

religiousholysitescannotbeseparatedorcansayinseparablebecausetheirlocation.They

areattachedwithonetoothersbytheirwalls.

InApril,PalestinianPresidentMahmoudAbbasannouncedthatthePalestinianLiberation

Organization's (PLO) leading faction, Fatah, has agreed to a unity pact with its main

political rival,Hamas, endinga sevenyear riftbetween theparties.This led to thenews

immediatenegativereactionsfrombothIsraelandtheU.S.,whoconsiderHamasaterrorist

group. It is also a fact that Hamas and Fatah have long held fundamentally opposing

viewpointsonseveral issues,mostnotably, that statusof Israel,whichFatahhas tried to

workwith,butHamashasofficiallyvowedtodestroy.

US provide humanitarian assistance in West Bank. Although it is also a fact that

UNRWAs services encompass education, health care, relief, camp infrastructure and

improvement,communitysupport,microfinanceandemergencyresponsewiththesupport

ofUS.Hamas and Fatah have fundamentally different approaches to the state of Israel.

Hamas believes the state does not have the right to exist, and Fatah believes it does,

choosing to attemptpolitical solutions instead.Fatahhas anofficial stanceof nonviolent

resistance,whileHamashasconsistentlyusesterroristtacticsagainstIsrael.These(major)

disparities have kept the two from joining forces since 2006, whenHamas swept

PalestinianelectionsandunseatedFatahastherulingpartyinthePalestinianAuthorityfor

adecade.Abbashadjusttakenhisseataspresidentinanelectionthatfollowedthedeathof

longtimeleaderYasserArafat,andwasslatedtofinishouttheterm.

ReviewofLiterature

ElizabethMatthewa(2011),arguedthatEducationforpeaceisthebestwaytoensurethat

the next generations of Israelis and Palestinians have the skills, the knowledge, and the

motivation tocreatea trulypeacefulWestAsia.Hestressedalso that througheducation,

IsraelisandPalestinianchildrenmustbeprovidedwiththeskillsandknowledgetolivein

peaceandtocreatemutualrespectandunderstandingwhichwilltransformtheirlivesand

this region into cooperation, prosperity, and freedom.Asher Susser (2012) explores that

3withthefailureofthepeaceprocessunderthesigningoftheOsloAccords,thetwostate

solution lost much of its appeal, legitimacy, and practicality in the region. The Israeli

settlements and the successive Israeli governments is somewhere in contendingwith the

challenge of the settler movement across the region. In this literature, the author also

focusesthepoliticalconfusiononthenatureofPalestinewiththePAandHamas.

ResearchQuestion

xWhatwerethecoreissuesofPalestineIsraelConflict?xWhatexplainstheRelationofFatahandUSinWestAsianPolitics?xWhatdifferentformatsofassociationwithHamasFatahapplytoPalestineIsraelConflict?xWhatarechallengesandrestrictionsFatahUShumanitarianAid?

ResearchMethodology

This research will use both primary (official records and document of the states) and

secondary (books, journals and researchpapers etc.) sourcesofdata and adopt inductive

methods to analyze the subject of the research. This research will also use historical,

descriptive,andanalyticaltoolsofmethods.

TentativeChapters

Chapter1:Introduction

Chapter2:RootcausesofConflictbetweenPalestineIsrael

ThischapterwillexaminetherootcausesofPalestineIsraelconflict,howithaschanged

time to timeasmanifested in the regionandeffect regionalpolitics.Thediscussionwill

payalsoattentiontothecoreissuesofconflicts.

Chapter3:UnderstandingnatureofFatahUSDiplomacy

ThischapterwillexaminetheunderstandingnatureofPalestinianRefugee.Furtherwithit

willfollowthepoliticsoftheirRightsandintheregion.

Chapter5:Conclusion

4Thischapterwillhighlightthefindingsandtestthehypothesisofthestudy.

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