In May of 2015, the Vatican officially recognized the State of Palestine.
They joined at least 135 UN members who also acknowledge Palestine’s independence.
However, a number of countries, Israel and the US in particular, have failed to recognize
the legitimacy of an independent Palestinian state, with it’s four million inhabitants.
So what’s the deal?
Why isn’t Palestine a state?
Among other important political and ideological factors, it really comes down to a lack of
definite borders and competing Palestinian governments.
It is important to note that this is a particularly controversial issue, and we’ll do our best
to stay neutral.
The easiest place to start is with the Ottoman Empire, which ruled over what is now Israel
and Palestine since the early 16th century.
But following the end of World War I, the Ottoman Empire was dissolved, and the British
received the now-disputed land.
Although there were many Arabs living in the area, the British were committed to establishing
a Jewish state.
However, attempts at negotiating borders within the area were unilaterally rejected by Arab
leaders, and the plans were dropped when World War II began.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Jews moved into the British controlled area as anti-Semitism
and the Holocaust flared throughout Europe.
After the war had ended, the UN partitioned the area into two Arab and Jewish territories
in 1947.
Jewish leaders agreed to the deal, but surrounding Arab leaders again rejected the proposal,
and responded by declaring war.
The Jews won that war, and on May 14, 1948, Jewish leaders announced that they were establishing
the State of Israel on the land they now controlled.
They were immediately recognized by the United States, the USSR, and dozens of other countries.
Meanwhile, Jordan and Egypt laid claim to the non-Jewish areas left over, and incorporated
the existing Arabs as Jordanian and Egyptian citizens.
For the next decade, tensions rose in the area.
In 1967, after a number of small border battles, Egypt kicked out UN peacekeepers and blocked
Israel’s access to the Red Sea.
In response, Israel began the Six-Day War.
The relatively powerful Israeli military ended up winning the war, claiming the West Bank,
Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula, and Golan Heights from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria.
Since then, the question of “who’s land is whose” has centered on these captured
territories versus the borders proposed by the UN in 1947.
Following peace talks throughout the 90s and mid 2000s, Israel ceded control of several
areas to a limited self government, the Palestinian Authority.
Israel also withdrew their military and Jewish settlers in the region.
Things seemed to be headed towards a peaceful resolution, and possibly even the establishment
of an official Palestinian state.
But in 2006, Palestinian residents voted Hamas, an organization widely considered a terrorist
group, into their parliament, and peace talks collapsed.
The new Palestinian government clashed heavily with the old one, and the two split, with
the Palestinian Authority governing the West Bank, and Hamas governing the Gaza Strip.
The ongoing instability between what Israel, Palestine, their populations, their governments,
and the surrounding Arab states all want has made it nearly impossible to agree on borders
or leadership.
Still, in 2012 Palestine was granted non-member observer status by the UN, essentially recognizing
the de facto status of the State of Palestine.
With more and more countries coming out to support Palestinian Statehood, it seems like
the only thing left is for Israel and Palestine to come to some sort of lasting agreement.
However, disputes about water rights, occupation of land, freedom of movement, and mutual security
suggest that reconciliation is unlikely to happen in the near future.
Jerusalem, arguably the most holy city in the world, is a focal point for this conflict.
To learn more about the city and how it fits into the debate, check out our video here.
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