Bonaventura Model United Nations 26 th , 27 th and 28 th of September
2014
Forum: Security Council
Issue: The Sectarian Conflict in Mandatory Palestine
Student Officer: Jesper Kuppen
Position: President
After World War II and the Holocaust in which six million Jewish people were killed, more
Jewish people wanted their own country. They were given a large part of Palestine, which they considered their traditional home but the Arabs who already lived there and in neighbouring countries felt that was unfair and didn't accept the new country. In 1948, the two sides went to war. When it ended, Gaza was controlled by Egypt and another area, the
West Bank, by Jordan. They contained thousands of Palestinians who fled what was now the new Jewish home, Israel. But then, in 1967, after another war, Israel occupied these
Palestinian areas and Israeli troops stayed there for years. Israelis hoped they might exchange the land they won for Arab countries recognising Israel's right to exist and an end to the fighting. Israel finally left Gaza in 2005 but soon after, a group called Hamas won elections and took control there. Much of the world calls Hamas a terrorist organisation. It refuses to recognise Israel as a country and wants Palestinians to be able to return to their old home - and will use violence to achieve its aims. Since then, Israel has held Gaza under a blockade, which means it controls its borders and limits who can get in and out.
1
Both sides make use of propaganda, which only contributes to the mutual hostility. Since
2005, there have been various (very) serious confrontations and especially the Palestinians suffered a lot of losses. The most recent skirmish ended with a ceasefire in August 20014-
1
"Guide: Why Are Israel and the Palestinians Fighting over Gaza?" BBC News . BBC, 20 Feb. 2015. Web. 16 Sept. 2015. http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/20436092 .
1

Bonaventura Model United Nations 26 th , 27 th and 28 th of September
2014
Palestinian loss of land through time 2
Recognized by the UN as a non-member observer state since 2011, making it possible for
Palestine to attend General Assembly meetings of the UN.
Hamas – an acronym for Islamic Resistance Movement – emerged during the 1980s
Palestinian uprising and led a suicide bombing campaign over the next decade as part of its stated aim of destroying Israel. The Gaza-based group built popular support through a social welfare programme providing healthcare, education and social services to the Palestinian population.
Hamas gained increasing popularity among Palestinians due to a perception that, in
2
Dave. "Map of Israel and Palestine." Israel and Palestine . Father Dave, n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2015. http://israelandpalestine.org/map-of-israel-and-palestine/ .
2

Bonaventura Model United Nations 26 th , 27 th and 28 th of September
2014 contrast to its rival party Fatah, it was free of corruption. It won the Palestinian parliamentary elections in January 2006, taking 76 out of 132 seats, and became the lead player in a Palestinian national unity government. Hamas is considered a
"terrorist" organisation by the European Union and the United States, and its election victory triggered an aid boycott by western donor governments.
In June 2007, growing rivalry between Hamas and Fatah supporters in Gaza led to street fighting which killed around 100 people. Hamas won the power struggle, effectively taking over the government of Gaza. As a result, the Palestinian president and leading Fatah politician Mahmoud Abbas sacked the Hamas prime minister,
Ismail Haniyeh, and set up a separate administration in the West Bank.
Its militia, the Qassam Brigades, numbers about 25,000 people.
Hamas denounces the notion of direct talks with Israel and does not recognise Israel's right to exist.
3
Fatah, founded in 1965 by the late leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation,
Yasser Arafat, is the mainstream Palestinian nationalist movement. It has run the
Palestinian Authority since 1994, when it took control of the Palestinian areas following the Oslo accords.
Growing disenchantment with the leadership among ordinary Palestinians led to the party losing Palestinian elections to Hamas in January 2006 and becoming part of a coalition government. Since June 2007, its authority has been confined to the West
Bank.
Fatah, whose strongest support base lies in the West Bank, recognises Israel's right to exist and is formally committed to peace talks with Israel.
4
Israel evacuated its settlers from the Gaza Strip in 2005 and withdrew its forces, ending almost four decades of military occupation. However, after the militant Islamic group Hamas seized control of Gaza in June 2007, Israel intensified its economic blockade of the Strip. In
2008 and in 2014 it launched major military assaults on Gaza to halt cross-border rocket attacks.
In 1979 Egypt and Israel signed a peace agreement, but it wasn't until the early 1990s, after years of an uprising known as the intifada, that a peace process began with the Palestinians.
Despite the handover of Gaza and parts of the West Bank to Palestinian control, a final agreement has yet to be reached.
The main stumbling blocks include the status of Jerusalem, and the fate of Palestinian refugees and their descendants and Jewish settlements.
5
3
"Israeli-Palestinian Conflict." Israeli-Palestinian Conflict . Reuters, 23 July 2014. Web. 17 Sept. 2015.
4 http://www.trust.org/spotlight/Israeli-Palestinian-conflict/?tab=briefing .
ibidem.
5
"Israel Profile - Overview - BBC News." BBC News . BBC, 18 Mar. 2015. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14628835 .
3

Bonaventura Model United Nations 26 th , 27 th and 28 th of September
2014
The USA has been a major (indirect) party in this issue, for it almost always supports Israel in everything. Besides the $3 billion annual military and financial aid it gives Israel, it also supports Israel through means of diplomacy. It sometimes uses its veto right in the UN
Security Council (UNSC) to support Israel. The US has stated in the past that it is in favour of a peaceful two-state-solution between Israel and Palestine, however it will support Israel but also try to mediate when needed.
First Intifada
After the 1967 war, successive Israeli governments began building Jewish settlements on the newly occupied land. Generally built on high ground, many settlements overlook Palestinian towns and villages, and there are tensions between the two communities. U.N. Security
Council resolutions and the International Court of Justice have both declared the settlements illegal under international law, but Israel has rejected the rulings and continues to expand its settlements.
In 1987 a Palestinian Intifada, or uprising, broke out in protest against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Palestinians vented their anger by throwing rocks at soldiers and tanks near their camps and homes; there were also roadside shootings at Israeli vehicles and assaults on settlers.
The Israeli military retaliated harshly against the Palestinian population as a whole. They used a system of checkpoints to control the movement of people and goods around the
West Bank, imposed curfews at times of high security and detained many Palestinians, often without charge or trial. Although groups of prisoners are periodically released, large numbers remain in custody.
In 1993, following the Oslo Peace Accords, Israel agreed to establish limited Palestinian selfrule in parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Palestinian territories were divided into three zones: Area A under full Palestinian control; Area B under Palestinian civil authority and Israeli security control; and Area C under full Israeli control. About 60 percent of the
West Bank is in Area C. The Palestinian Authority, headed by Yasser Arafat, was set up to run the new autonomous areas.
6
6
"Israeli-Palestinian Conflict." Israeli-Palestinian Conflict . Reuters, 23 July 2014. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. http://www.trust.org/spotlight/Israeli-Palestinian-conflict/?tab=briefing .
4

Bonaventura Model United Nations 26 th , 27 th and 28 th of September
2014
A map of the Palestinian Territories after the Oslo Accords in 1993 7
Second Intifada
The second intifada was much more violent than the first. During the approximately fiveyear uprising, more than 4,300 fatalities were registered, and again the ratio of Palestinian to Israeli deaths was slightly more than 3 to 1.
In March 2002, following an especially horrific suicide bombing that killed 30 people, the
Israeli army launched Operation Defensive Shield to reoccupy the West Bank and parts of
Gaza. One year later Israel started building a separation barrier in the West Bank to match a similar barrier erected in Gaza in 1996. Also helping to suppress the uprising were more than
200 state-directed assassinations of Palestinian military operatives and political leaders.
Although the violence had nearly subsided by the end of 2005, the conditions causing it had in some respects worsened. Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank continued, and tight controls were placed on the movement of Palestinian goods and people, stifling economic growth. Negotiations were at a standstill. In addition, the Palestinian Authority lost support
7
"Political Geography Now: Is Palestine Really a Country?" Political Geography Now: Is Palestine Really a Country?
Policital Geography Now, 6 Dec. 2012. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. http://www.polgeonow.com/2012/12/is-palestine-reallycountry.html
.
5

Bonaventura Model United Nations 26 th , 27 th and 28 th of September
2014 amid charges of widespread corruption. Many Palestinians now turned to Hamas, which won the 2006 legislative elections and took power by force in Gaza in 2007.
8
Recent issues
The murders of three Israeli teenagers and one Palestinian teenager in the summer of 2014 ignited clashes in the Palestinian territories and precipitated a military confrontation between the Israeli military and Hamas, a Sunni Islamist group in Gaza. In August 2014, in violation of the November 2012 ceasefire, Hamas fired nearly three thousand rockets at
Israel. In retaliation, Israel launched airstrikes on rocket launchers and other suspected terrorist targets in Gaza. The recent skirmish ended in late August with a cease-fire deal brokered by Egypt.
After taking office in 2013, U.S. secretary of state John Kerry attempted to revive the peace process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank, in order to secure a two-state solution. However, peace talks were disrupted when the Fatah—the PA’s ruling body—formed a unity government with its rival faction, Hamas. A Palestinian insurgency—or a third intifada—could break out if the cease-fire does not hold.
In January, the PA decided to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) in order to gain international recognition for Palestinian statehood. The PA’s membership in the ICC, which officially began on April 1, allows it to pursue Israel for alleged war crimes. Israel responded by withholding more than $125 million in monthly tax revenues it collects on behalf of the
PA, placing the organization in an economic crisis.
9
A lot of Palestinians have fled their country and turned to refugee camps in the neighbouring
Arab countries. ‘Nearly one-third of the registered Palestine refugees, more than 1.5 million individuals, live in 58 recognized Palestine refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, the Syrian
Arab Republic, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.’ 10
Much effort has been made to resolve this very difficult conflict. As has been stated there were different peace- and ceasefire-agreements between Israel en Palestine but the issue has not been resolved fully yet. The UNSC has passed its last resolution on this matter in
2009. This resolution (Resolution 1860) called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza War and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. However, Hamas and Israel ignored this resolution. After this UNSC resolution, only the General Assembly in 2012 passed a
8
Brym, Robert J. "Intifadah | Palestinian-Israeli History." Encyclopedia Britannica Online . Encyclopedia Britannica, 16 June
9
2014. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. http://www.britannica.com/topic/intifadah .
"Escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict." Council on Foreign Relations . Council on Foreign Relations, n.d. Web. 17
Sept. 2015. http://www.cfr.org/global/global-conflict-tracker/p32137#!/?marker=34 .
10
"Palestine Refugees | UNRWA." UNRWA . UNRWA, n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. http://www.unrwa.org/palestine-refugees .
6

Bonaventura Model United Nations 26 th , 27 th and 28 th of September
2014 resolution on this matter. This resolution condemns Israel infringing the Palestinian authority’s rights and stressed that the wall and settlements being constructed by Israel within the Occupied Palestinian Territory are contrary to earlier ICJ findings and international law. The resolution reaffirmed the right for the PO to exploit their own land and resources within its own territories, and demanded Israel to cease natural resource exploitation in Palestine. Israel did not fully comply with this resolution.
 http://www.cfr.org/palestine/violent-uprising-west-bank/p36842 (possible solutions)
 http://www.cfr.org/israel/hamas/p8968
I.
Douglas-Bowers, Devon. "The U.S. Role In the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict." Foreign Policy
Journal. Foreign Policy Journal, 02 Dec. 2013. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2013/12/02/the-u-s-role-in-the-israeli-palestinianconflict/ .
II.
"Q&A: Palestinians' Upgraded UN Status - BBC News." BBC News. BBC, 30 Nov. 2012. Web.
17 Sept. 2015. <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-13701636>.
III.
"UN Documents for Israel/Palestine." UN Documents for Israel/Palestine. United Nations, n.d.
Web. 17 Sept. 2015. http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/un-documents/israelpalestine/ .
IV.
"Guide: Why Are Israel and the Palestinians Fighting over Gaza?" BBC News. BBC, 20 Feb.
2015. Web. 16 Sept. 2015 http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/20436092 .
V.
Dave. "Map of Israel and Palestine." Israel and Palestine. Father Dave, n.d. Web. 16 Sept.
2015. http://israelandpalestine.org/map-of-israel-and-palestine/ .
VI.
"Israeli-Palestinian Conflict." Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Reuters, 23 July 2014. Web. 17 Sept.
2015. http://www.trust.org/spotlight/Israeli-Palestinian-conflict/?tab=briefing .
VII.
"Israel Profile - Overview - BBC News." BBC News. BBC, 18 Mar. 2015. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14628835 .
VIII.
"Political Geography Now: Is Palestine Really a Country?" Political Geography Now: Is
Palestine Really a Country? Policital Geography Now, 6 Dec. 2012. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. http://www.polgeonow.com/2012/12/is-palestine-really-country.html
.
IX.
Brym, Robert J. "Intifadah | Palestinian-Israeli History." Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Encyclopedia Britannica, 16 June 2014. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. http://www.britannica.com/topic/intifadah .
X.
"Escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict." Council on Foreign Relations. Council on
Foreign Relations, n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. http://www.cfr.org/global/global-conflicttracker/p32137#!/?marker=34 .
XI.
"Palestine Refugees | UNRWA." UNRWA. UNRWA, n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. http://www.unrwa.org/palestine-refugees .
7