Topic:
Country: India
Delegate Name: Arjun Singh
Country: India
Committee: SPECPOL
Topic: Central African Republic
Delegate: Arjun Singh
School: Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy
In 1947 the United Nations passed Resolution 181, setting a plan to divide the British Mandate of Palestine into two nations Israel and Palestine. A year later, the State of Israel was created, and within days, the neighboring Arab nations declared war on them. Despite being heavily outnumbered, the Israelis managed to defeat the Arab coalition. After the war, nearly one million Palestinians were displaced. Through the 50s and 60s, the Israelis fought three separate wars with their neighbor achieving victory in all of them. Through all of this, Palestinian territory granted by UN Resolution 181 was slowly settled by Israelis, and Palestinian families were removed from their homes. Starting in the 80s Palestinian Jihadist groups started attacking Israeli civilians as retaliation for their mistreatment. Finally, increasing Palestinian terrorism and economic issues led Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain to normalize relations with Israel.
India recognized both Israel and Palestine and was one of three non-Arab countries to vote against Resolution 181. India has always done its best to represent its large Muslim population by supporting the heavily oppressed Palestinian population in the region. Israel and India are trading partners in military equipment and have a mutual ally in the United States. However, India prefers to view its Israeli relations and its Palestinian relations separately. India encourages other countries to view the issue in the same light as the all-or-nothing approach most countries have had for the last 70 years has not worked.
India would like to push for broader recognition of Israel and Palestine. It is crucial that we can at least agree that both countries exist before we argue about borders or whose fault the current situation is. Much of the suffering caused by this conflict is the fault of the international community’s lack of proactive solutions in the region. The delegation of India believes that the best solution is a two-State solution, a state for Israelis and a state for Palestinians. The issue of Hamas in Gaza must be addressed by the committee and the Jewish settlements in the West Bank, but for those issues to be addressed, the committee must accept the fact that Israel and Palestine are, in fact, separate states.
