Israel_Palestine

Ethnicity is subjective, symbolic use of some part of culture by a group to distinguish itself from other groups and to mobilize the members to act in some way
--no one-to-one correspondence between culture and ethnicity or nationalism
--"usable past/culture"-group can choose any part of culture to emphasize and rally around
--no simple relation between cultural difference and degree of ethnicity or nationalism: small cultural differences can lead to big distinctions/ conflicts, or big differences can lead to small or no distinction
--contestation of group's identity and destiny: competing leaders and "elites" can attempt to define and move group in different ways
--using "past" to contest some issue/interest in the present: groups do not fight about culture, they fight with culture to win land/wealth/power/resources/respect?.

Ethnicity is about remembering, forgetting, interpreting, and inventing "the past."

Case: Israel/Palestine
Religion and history are "charters" or claims for Jews on land of Palestine
According to Judeo-Christian Bible, Abraham promised land of Canaan by God ("covenant") around 1800 BC-land already occupied by various groups (Canaanites, Moabites, Amorites, etc.). No doubt Canaanites, etc. did not know about or approve of this covenant.
~1250 BC Moses/Joshua begin invasion of Canaan/Palestine-fight and destroy existing peoples and cities with God's approval/assistance
~1000 BC kingdom of "Israel" created by David (Israel was old historical name for patriarch-Hebrew people became known as "people of Israel" or "house of Israel" (patrilineal ancestor)
922 kingdom of Israel split in two (Israel and Judah). 722 Israel conquered and destroyed. 700's-500's age of the prophets-tell Israelites not to forsake their god, since he is punishing/testing them
597 BC Judah and Jerusalem fall to Babylon, 25% of population deported ("Babylonian captivity")
538 BC Jews returned to Jerusalem by Persians (fulfillment of God's promise?), but not independent
300's BC Greek control
65 BC Roman control
70 AD after rebellions and various "messiah" claims, Romans destroy temple in Jerusalem
135 Judaea renamed Syria Palestina by Rome; Jews forbidden to enter Jerusalem under penalty of death (beginning of "diaspora" or dispersion of Jews around the world

610 Muhammad receives first revelations of what will become Islam
622 "Hijra"-Muhammad flees Mecca to take political control of Medina: beginning of Islamic age
638 Palestine under Muslim rule (with a few exceptions, until 1918)
1099 first "Crusade" succeeds in taking Jerusalem for Christian Europe
1244-1918-succession of Muslim rulers (Arabs, Mongols, Egyptians, Ottoman Turks) control Palestine, Jews are small but tolerated minority

Most Jews living outside Palestine, especially Europe.
By 1400's, anti-semitism becoming prevalent (1492 Spain expels Jews, 1555 Pope forces Jews to live in segregated "ghetto"-must wear identifying insignia, cannot own property, business opportunities limited, ghetto walled and locked at night)
By 1800's Muslim world (under Ottoman Turkish control) weakening, Europe exercising power in the region. Also century of nationalist movements.
1896 Theodor Herzl publishes The Jewish State, advocating nation-state for Jews. Organized World Zionist Congress to raise money to settle Jews in Palestine.
By 1914 43 Jewish colonies in Palestine, but only about 80,000 Jews of 650,000 population, half immigrants since 1860.
1914 World War I starts-British promise Arab nationalities independence after the war if they join fight against Ottoman Empire. But 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement-secret pact between England/France to divide Middle East between them and 1917 Balfour Declaration-England supports national homeland for Jews in Palestine.
1918 WWI ends, England and France take control, create colonial boundaries of what will become Arab states. David Ben-Gurion, future leader of Israel, says: "There is no solution to the question of relations between Arabs and Jews?.We as a nation want this country to be ours; the Arabs, as a nation, want this country to be theirs."

Basis of claims to territory:
Jews
--religion (covenant)
--history (earlier state of Israel)
--occupation (more or less continuous Jewish presence for >3000 years)
Arabs
--history (control since 638)
--pre-Israelite occupation (were they the "Canaanites"?)
--current possession
--"national" sovereignty: outside countries have no right to control or decide future of area

So far, no such thing as "Palestinian" people or nation; they are simply the part of the Arab nation that lives in Palestine

1920-1948 British control of Palestine, both Jews and Arabs resist foreign domination, attack British and each other (for example, 1929 Arab-Jewish riot, 1946 Jewish terrorists bomb King David Hotel). Jewish terrorist groups include Irgun and Stern.
Due to World War II and "holocaust" world opinion favors creation of Jewish state
1947 UN proposes partition of Palestine: divided into 6 pieces, 3 Arab and 3 Jewish
--Jews are 33% of population but receive 56% of the land
--100,000 Jews inside Arab land, � million Arabs inside Jewish land
--each sides pieces are not contiguous
British pull, May 14 1948 state of Israel declared, Arab states attack, Israel wins
1956 Suez War: Israel takes most of Sinai and Gaza. � million Palestinians refugees move to Jordan
~1959 al-Fatah ("Conquest") formed to resist Israeli occupation
1964 Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) formed by Arab League as government-in-exile
1967 "Six Day War": Israel takes West Bank and Golan Heights (part of Syria)
1969 Yasir Arafat of al-Fatah becomes leader of PLO, increases attacks on Israel: used terrorism against military and civilian targets. Moshe Dayan, Israeli general, says: "We came to this country which was already populated by Arabs, and we are establishing a Hebrew, that is a Jewish state here?.There is not one place built in this country that did not have a former Arab population."

Since 1967, Israel has held and settled "occupied territories" of Gaza, West Bank, and Golan Heights (returned Sinai to Egypt 1978 as part of peace with Egypt). Palestinians live in refugee camps in occupied territories, some work in Israel.
By 1980's, Arafat talking about peaceful settlement. But 1987 "intifada" ("uprising" or "shaking off") begins in Gaza. By end of 1987, >600 Palestinians killed, 43 Israelis killed, 37,000 Palestinians arrested.
1988 Hamas formed by members of Muslim Brotherhood as alternative to PLO: want Muslim state in all of Palestine, no compromise with Israel. Meanwhile, Arafat renounced terrorism and accepted Israel's right to exist.
1993 Israel and PLO sign agreement (Oslo Accord) giving Gaza and West Bank to Palestinian control (creates proto-state known as "Palestinian Authority"
Since 1993, misunderstandings, broken promises, and extremism on both sides have ruined peace process and brought Palestine to latest violent impasse

Issues:
1. Each side has legitimate and exclusive claims to the area
2. Each side has recent and ancient grievances against the other (Palestinians consider themselves an occupied, refugee people; Israelis consider themselves victims of terrorism)
3. Each side contains extremists who do not want peace or co-existence (for example, Jewish extremist who killed prime minister Rabin)
4. Neither side trusts the other enough to make serious peace offering
5. Palestinians consider armed resistance to be a "liberation movement," Israelis consider such violence sheer terrorism, and cannot make deals with terrorists
6. Neither side-especially Palestinians-has a unified opinion or goal. Arafat does not even really control Palestinians: he is leader of one faction (al-Fatah/PLO), but other groups like Hamas and Hezbollah act independently. Asking Arafat to stop all terrorist activity is futile-like asking President Bush to stop the Oklahoma City bomber

Conclusion:
Both sides use history/culture/religion/etc. to make their claims on the land, and both sides ignore or reject the other side's claims.
Each side is a complex assortment of groups and interests, and no one person or faction speaks for all of them.
Violence pulls a group together against its enemies, and leads them to utterly discount their enemy's valid claims and grievances. However, today's violence will only be tomorrow's grievance.
Unless one group completely eradicates the other (not a nice or likely scenario), the two groups will have to live together eventually, so they must find a way to accept each other's claims and grievances and do things to reduce tensions. This is not easy or even very likely.
Hundreds/thousands of years of conflict/grievance will not be ended in one day or by one leader.