1. The Developing World Final Project Model Presentation
Israel and Palestine
The Developing World
Final Project
Model Presentation

2. Past Challenges
Israel and Palestine were established by the United Nations in 1948 in the territory known as Palestine.
The majority of the land was given to the Jews of Israel and not the Arabs of Palestine
The Palestinians living in Jewish land were given fewer rights and were subject to Jewish law. Jews in Palestinian land were seen as invaders.
Neighboring Arab countries did not treat Israel as a real country, and sought to invade and return it to Arab rule.
Israel was established in 1948 by the United Nations to give the Jewish people back their homeland and establish a Jewish state.
This came with some difficulties: While the Jews claimed the land, the Palestinians have been living there for thousands of years, since the spread of Islam kicked the Jews out. Jews moving into the area faced violence from the Palestinians.
After WW2 the United Nations came up with a plan to create separate Jewish and Palestinian nations, but the Palestinians (and their Arab country allies) rejected this, because the Jews got much more out of the deal. (The europeans who drew up the deal were very sympathetic to the Jews because of the Holocaust). Eventually, Israel was created anyway, on May 14th of 1948.
The day after it was declared a state, Israel was invaded by 6 neighboring Arab countries. This would happen many times, and every time Israel emerged the victor.
While these wars were going on, the Palestinian people within Israel were trying to gain recognition. The UN had granted the Palestinians control over their own land, but the Israeli’s were invading most of it. Israel said they did it for the sake of national security.
The palestinians established their own governing organization calle dthe Palestinian Liberation Organization or PLO. Originally there were many different types of people, but over time it came to be dominated by guerilla fighters working against the Israeli’s using violent methods.
There was a lot of violence between Jews and Palestinians.

3. Past Challenges
Jews continued to move in to areas that were technically Palestine and establish ‘colonies’
This angered the Palestinians and they launched terrorist campaigns in response to the lack of changes by the Israeli government
Israel has received support from several western countries in fighting against both the terrorist efforts of the Palestinians and hostility from the Arab nations.

4. Successes
Over the years, there have been many movements towards peace.
In 1993, peace talks were held in Oslo, Norway, and the two sides were able to reach an agreement. This agreement granted Palestinians self-government in 2 areas: the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The agreement was unfortunately, difficult to keep and the two nations and their leaders are still often embattled today

5. Current Challenges
Local Arab states are still opposed to Israel and consider it a threat.
People living in the Palestinian territories face a desperate lack of resources, especially in Gaza.
There are several possible solutions:
One state (Israel)
Two states (Israel and Palestine)
Three states (the West bank becomes part of neighboring Jordan, and Gaza part of Egypt)
Unfortunately, there has yet to be any kind of agreement, and the situation continues to change every day.
Israel and Palestine are still in open, violent conflict.
Israelis continue to move into Palestinian territory in the West Bank, despite UN resolutions to condemn this movement
Palestinian leadership is still often radical, especially in the Gaza Strip, efforts against the Israeli blockade are often violent.
Israel’s official position is that there should not be a Palestinian country, only Israel. Palestine’s official position is that there should be both Palestine and Israel.

6. Works Cited
Beck, Roger B., et al. Modern World History: Patterns of Interaction. McDougal Littell, 2006.
Tiersky, Ronald. “Rethinking Israeli-Palestinian Deadlock.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 28 Jan. 2018,
“United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334.” 23 Dec
“Israeli Palestinian Conflict.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, conflict.