This is a question that I had for the longest time until I took my first political science class that was focused on international politics. The conflict between Israel and Palestine goes back farther than I realized, and when I did the research, I realized how important this issue was that it be resolved.

The conflict began in the late 1800s when a group in Europe wanted to colonize the Palestinian land. They were known as Zionists, and they represented the Jewish population that was an extreme minority. They wanted to create a Jewish homeland and considered Africa and the Americas but settled in Palestine. In the beginning, their immigration wasn’t causing any problems, but with Hitler’s rise to power and an effort to get Jewish refugees to western countries, there was an increased Jewish immigration to Palestine. Because of this increased Jewish population, there was growing conflict.

In 1947, the United Nations got involved and recommended giving 55% of Palestine to a Jewish state, even though this group only represented roughly 30% of the total population. There was a war between 1947-1949 where the Zionist military outnumbered the Palestinian army and the Arab armies involved. These Zionist forces committed 33 massacres in total. By the end of this war, Israel took 78 percent of Palestine. Israel went so far as to deny that Palestine even existed for decades.

There was another war in 1967, known as the “Six-Day War,” where Israeli forces executed a hugely successful surprise attack on Egypt; it resulted in Israel occupying the final 22% of Palestine – the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Also during this war, Israel attacked a US Navy ship, the USS Liberty, killing as well as injuring over 200 Americans. President Johnson recalled rescue flights, although it could be viewed as an act of war against the United States (which you can read more about this scandalous event and why the mainstream media didn't cover it here).

The biggest issue that this conflict brings is that there is a destabilizing effect when trying to maintain an efficient state when the population is made largely of foreign origin. It's hard for a nation to find its identity when most of the population wasn’t originally from Palestine, especially when Palestinians can no longer return home because of the now self-acclaimed Jewish state.

My next article I’ll be focusing more on the U.S. involvement in this conflict and why you, the tax payer, should care about international affairs such as these.