A look back throughout Palestine’s history and how the Israel-Palestine conflict began.
Yasmine Modaresi (she/her) // Crew Writer
Palestine, Judea, Israel… three distinct entities with a long, complex, intertwined history and names charged enough to evoke strong emotions in most people over this past year.
Judea and its surrounding lands have been central to religious conflicts, colonization, and violence and tales of beauty for thousands of years, dating back to antiquity. Diverse populations have migrated in and out of the region rhythmically with the changing seasons, while others were forcibly removed. Regardless of its name or the era, colonial violence has left an indelible mark on the land. Today, the people whose ancestry has been tied to this land for millennia remain threatened as Palestine continues to be a battleground.
As early as 1185 BCE, Egypt’s records referred to “Peleset” in battles involving the “Sea Peoples.” Judea was central to the region known later as Palestine, a name given by non-natives like the Greeks and Romans in the 5th century BCE. Despite a long and diverse history, the modern Zionist movement in Europe sought to erase the deep-rooted Palestinian presence by claiming Israel from Biblical texts.
In 19th-century Europe, widespread anti-Semitism led many Jews to believe their legacy depended on establishing a nation of their own. Political Zionism, led by figures like Theodor Herzl, proposed the creation of a Jewish state as a solution to the “Jewish Question.” Herzl’s work, *Der Judenstaat* (The Jewish State), outlined the case for a Jewish homeland, which the 1897 First Zionist Congress proposed to be in Palestine, then part of the Ottoman Empire. However, Palestine was not the only option considered—Uganda, Argentina, and other locations were also discussed—undermining modern claims that Israel is a birthright for all Jewish people.
After World War I and the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the League of Nations granted Britain the Mandate for Palestine, allowing them to establish a Jewish national home. This laid the foundation for the eventual creation of Israel in 1948 after World War II.
The occupation of Palestine has persisted for nearly a century. Efforts to broker peace have failed repeatedly, with Palestinians resisting negotiations, and viewing the settlers as illegitimate colonizers. Warfare and violence have become endemic. The conflict escalated dramatically on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel. Over 1,200 Israelis were killed, and numerous civilians were taken hostage. In response, Israel initiated widespread airstrikes on Gaza. By early 2024, over 25,000 people had been killed, most of them civilians. Israel’s bombing campaigns targeted hospitals, homes, and refugee camps. The blockade on Gaza was tightened, restricting food, water, fuel and medical supplies, leaving 1.9 million Palestinians displaced, creating a humanitarian crisis.
Both Hamas and the Israeli government have been accused of war crimes. Hamas is charged with violating the Principles of Distinction and Proportionality by killing civilians on October 7, 2023, taking hostages, and launching rockets into civilian areas. Israel is accused of indiscriminate bombings in densely populated regions and committing human rights violations through collective punishment and disproportionate retaliation, which violates international humanitarian law, specifically the Geneva Conventions.
One year after the escalation, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is investigating the alleged war crimes committed by Israel, while South Africa has brought Israel to the International Court of Justice, accusing it of violating the Genocide Convention. Beyond legal proceedings, the conflict continues to spark debates about the relationship between oppression and the necessity of violence. Some argue that Israel has the right to defend itself, while others support the Palestinian people, who have endured what many call genocidal acts at the hands of the well-trained, heavily funded Israeli military. Still, some praise Hamas’s initial strike as an act of liberation, reflecting the idea that acts of terror are terrorism only in the eyes of the oppressor but acts of liberty in the eyes of the oppressed.