Topic:
Country: France
Delegate Name: Anna Crum
The Israel-Palestine conflict has been taking place for over a hundred years but the history between the places goes back to before the current era. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire after World War One, the British Mandate period started. Britain took control of its Palestinian territories in this period. The British created Muslim, Christian, and Jewish institutions, this divided the groups more than they had been. The British later facilitated the immigration of European Jewish people to Palestine as laid out in the Balfour Declaration. This caused a large change in relations between these two groups. Between 1920-1939 the Jewish population increased by over 320,000. In 1967 after the 6-Day War the Israeli government and military began their occupation of the Palestinian Territories. This became a status quo in the region. Currently the West Bank is divided into three sections varying in degree of Israeli occupation. Some areas are under full control of Palestinian Authority and areas fully under Israeli control and Israeli residents. The internal governing was left to Hamas after 2005 but all borders, airspace, and courses are controlled and monitored by Israel. Two intifadas which were popular anti-occupation movements by Palestinians in the territories took place in the 1990s and early 2000s. Spring of 2021 is the most recent burst of violence but there is a lack of stability between these countries. The violence started after the Israeli Supreme Court ruled on the eviction of six Palestinian families from their homes in the historically Arab East Jerusalem. The situation escalated with rocket attacks from Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and IDF. After the UN Security Council resolution proposal took place a ceasefire came into effect on May 21. The escalation resulted in over 250 Palestinian deaths and 13 Israeli deaths along with roughly two thousand casualties, mostly among Palestinians. In June violence broke out again after Hamas launched incendiary balloons into Israel from the Gaza Strip which the IDF responded to with airstrikes on Gaza. France’s goal is peace. France proposed a draft UN security Council resolution to end hostilities between Israel and Palestinians. France also wants more humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip. France is focused on the safety of all people in the area and focuses on the end of conflict.
As previously stated, France proposed a draft UN security Council resolution. France wishes to end hostels with this and wants to increase Humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip. The UN Security Council made a resolution proposal that caused a ceasefire. France was not necessarily directly affected by this but supported the actions of the Security Council, and approved of the ceasefire. Activist Ghada Karmi summed up the rising tensions between the new Jewish people who moved to Israel and the Muslim people there with this quote “We knew they were different from ‘our Jews’… We saw them as foreigners who came from Europe more than as Jews.”
France is open to negotiation and discussion. We have heard a lot of thoughts about one-state and two-state plans and although some of these have much potential, France would like to propose another solution, a three-state solution. The solution would involve Israel, Palestine, and the Old City of Jerusalem. the Old City of Jerusalem would become an independent city-state. France would be open to different ideas on how to split the land of Palestine so that it was not a split country, which France thinks would be better for all countries. Land could be arranged so that Israel could give up a strip of land to connect the Gaza strip and the West Bank or the West Bank could be made larger and the Gaza strip could be given to Israel. France would support this “land for peace” plan, finding the sacrifices of each area to be equal and fair. For this plan to work France asks that International commitment take place. France would ask that the UN commit to a peaceful transition and for the UN to hold the line. All of the Security Council, at least, would need to sign off. France understands that currently Palestine is not in a good position to become an independent country so France would ask for a pan-Arab economic guarantee. France would ask that supporters of an independent Palestine would help build and invest in the country becoming a country. The countries would include Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and the UAE. There should also be UN presence to make sure the transition goes as smoothly as possible. France asks that this presence does not contain US or British troops due to the history between the US, Britain, Israel, and Palestine. As for the Old City of Jerusalem becoming a city-state, it would function similarly to the Vatican. The city-state could get money from donations, making museums, etc.. France is open to discussion and would like to communicate it’s ideas for peace between Israel and Palestine.
Sources:
https://www.historyhit.com/facts-about-the-israeli-palestinian-conflict/
https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20210519-tensions-rage-between-france-and-us-at-united-nations-over-conflict-in-middle-east
https://mfa.gov.il/MFA/AboutIsrael/Maps/Pages/Old-City-of-Jerusalem.aspx
