Topic:
Country: Tunisia
Delegate Name: Braxton Orban
After over 100 years of conflict, the Israeli-Palestine conflict in the Middle East continues. The conflict began in 1917 with the Balfour Declaration, which proclaimed the need for a Jewish state in the British-occupied territory of Palestine. In 1947, UN Resolution 181 realized this aim by partitioning the territory into the Arab, predominantly Muslim state of Palestine, separated between the Gaza Strip and West Bank and the Jewish state of Israel, with the city of Jerusalem initially being declared as an international city. Since this partition, violence has become commonplace in the region. Warfare in the late 1940s partitioned Jerusalem. The borders set by the 6-Day War of 1967 between Israel and Palestine have mostly remained until today, despite continual encroaches by the Israeli government and military. In 2005, Israel left the Gaza Strip to the Hamas Palestinian government, while maintaining control over its borders, airspace, and coastline. The IDF has continued to advance into the West Bank; currently, this region is divided between three areas with varying degrees of Israeli control. Throughout the duration of the conflict, more than 7 million Palestinian refugees have fled the country and numerous human rights violations have occurred. In its solution to this century-long conflict, the Special Political Committee must alleviate tensions between the ethnic, political, and religious groups of the region as well as ensure the security of the civilians made vulnerable by the conflict.
The Republic of Tunisia is a key member to the Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and 99% of the population is Muslim. As such, Tunisia has been a supporter of Palestine since its independence from France in 1956. After being driven out of Lebanon by Israel in 1982, the Palestine Liberation Front (PLO) moved its headquarters to Tunisia. In 1985, in Operation Wooden Leg, the PLO headquarters were bombed by the Israeli Air Force, killing more than 60 people. After the PLO left Tunisia, Israel-Tunisia relations began to improve; however, all progress was quickly destroyed after the Second Intifada in 2000, which caused Tunisia to break all diplomatic ties with Israel. Tunisia officially does not recognize the state of Israel, and has officially recognized Palestine since 1988. Additionally, Tunisia has supported Palestine in its campaigns for international recognition in organizations such as UNESCO and non-member observer status in the UN.
The Republic of Tunisia would like to encourage the Special Political Committee to end the Israel-Palestine conflict by returning all disputed lands to Palestine. Recognizing that the Palestinian people are autochthonous to the currently divided lands, Tunisia believes that uniting the area solely under the Palestinian flag is the most just way to end the conflict. Additionally, the Republic of Tunisia advocates for strong protection of the human rights and well-being of all people involved in the conflict, including the accepting of refugees into other nations and rebuilding the destruction caused by the fighting. After decades of conflict and turmoil, Tunisia hopes that this solution will provide a firm solution to the conflict and restore peace in this region.
