The Palestinians are unfortunate. They have been beaten by the occupying Jews in their lands for almost a century. Blood flows from generation to generation. The mountain of corpses reached the sky. Palestinians are still dying today.
Palestine was under the Ottoman Empire. Arab Muslims were the majority population there. The Zionist movement emerged in the late 19th century. The eyes of the Jews fell on Arab lands. Jews scattered in different countries of the world came to Palestine and made their homes. Their number increases gradually. The purpose of everything is to occupy Arab territory and build a 'home'.
The Ottoman Empire weakened in the early 20th century. European powers increased their influence in this opportunity. The British government led the Arab Revolt against the Ottomans in World War I by promising to support the establishment of an independent state. The Jews were also secretly promised the establishment of a state in the Palestinian territories.
In 1917, the British government supported the establishment of a 'national home for the Jews' in Palestine in the Balfour Declaration. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the British got the Palestine Mandate. Immigrant Jews continued to arrive in Palestine in droves. Despite opposition, they settled there. Then in 1920, 21, 28, 29, and 36, Jews clashed with Arabs. It caused casualties.
When Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, persecution began. The Jews then fled to Palestine. Jewish activity in the Palestinian territories increased. The Arab Revolt took place between 1936 and 1939 against British rule and Jewish occupation. The rebellion was suppressed and five thousand Arabs were killed.
After World War II, hostility between Arabs and Jews over Palestine increased. The British government decided to give up the Mandate on Palestine. At the same time, the newly formed United Nations was requested to determine the fate of this land.
On November 29, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly voted to partition Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. The plan went ahead despite Arab opposition. The United Kingdom and the United States paved the way for the establishment of a Jewish state.
On May 14, 1948, the British government officially relinquished the Palestine Mandate. On that day, Jewish leaders announced Israel as a state. The next day Israel went to war with the Arab countries. The Arabs were defeated in the war. In addition, Israel occupied a large portion of the proposed Arab state resulting in seven and a half million Palestinians becoming refugees.
With the cooperation and openness of the allies, Israel became irresistible day by day. In the sixties, they became the owners of atomic bombs. The barometer of occupation and brutality continues to rise. The poison of the Middle East continues to bleed in Palestine due to the stubbornness and brutality of Israel. There were three more Arab-Israel wars in 1956, 1967, and 1973. These have brought nothing but misery to the fate of Palestine.
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was established in 1964 with the aim of the liberation struggle, chaired by Yasir Arafat from 1968 to 2004. He was also the leader of Fatah, the leading Palestinian political party.
Hamas was formed in 1987 to end the Israeli occupation and liberate Palestine. They have political, social, and military branches. The hard-line organization does not recognize Israel.
In August 2007, two parts of Palestine, the West Bank and Gaza, came under the control of two parties due to a conflict over power sharing. Since then, Fatah, led by Mahmoud Abbas, has ruled the West Bank, and Hamas, led by Khaled Meshaal, has ruled Gaza. In this situation, an agreement was reached between the two parties last April. Accordingly, a national government is expected by the end of this year after an election afresh. But Israel did not take the Hamas-Fatah deal well. According to them, Hamas is a terrorist organization. Israel has stated that it will not enter into peace talks with the Hamas-Fatah national unity government.
Various initiatives have been taken so far to establish peace in the Middle East, but in the end, they did not succeed. Instead, there have been new levels of conflict over the decades.
Israel's latest attack on the Palestinian territories began on July 8, 2023. The attack was sparked by the recent abduction and killing of three Israeli teenagers. Israel believes that Hamas caused the incident. But Hamas denied it. Tensions later reached new heights after a Palestinian teenager was similarly abducted and killed. Then Israel started 'Operation Protective Edge' claiming that rockets were being fired from Gaza.
More than 100,000 Palestinians have been displaced in the context of Israel's ongoing attacks, according to the United Nations. Various diplomatic efforts are underway to enforce a cease-fire in Gaza.
Before this, Israel launched an operation in Gaza in November 2012. Eight days later, a ceasefire agreement was signed through Egypt.
After a long wait, Palestine was recognized as an observer state by the United Nations on November 29, 2012. Earlier they attended UN General Assembly sessions as 'territory observers'. But now 'Non-Member Observer States'. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the ruling the "birth certificate" of sovereign Palestine.
Since the establishment of the state of Israel in the Palestinian territory, the Palestinians have been fighting for an independent state. How much blood will be spilled, how long the procession of corpses will be, and their territory will be recognized as the independent state of dreams - it is still unknown.
There is panic in the whole of Palestine around the holy Ramadan. Palestinians who go to pray at the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque are being persecuted in East Jerusalem alongside Israel's ongoing massacres in Gaza. Apart from this, mass arrests are also going on in the West Bank. Concerns have been voiced by ordinary Palestinians and Palestinian civil authorities about how difficult it is to fast in Ramadan in the end, amid the horrors of starvation, bloodshed, torture, and mass graves.
As Palestinians prepare for Ramadan (This year), many fear that Israeli authorities and radical Zionist Israelis could incite unrest. Discontent is growing among Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem. How can they fast in such a panic?
Al Jazeera spoke to Palestinians in East Jerusalem. In their words, they could not make any preparations for Ramadan. Many are just praying for a ceasefire in Gaza. The country has already killed 31,850 residents of Gaza in retaliation for the attack on Israel by the Qassam Brigades and other Palestinian armed fighters.
Others fear that Israeli authorities and illegal settler far-right Zionists will join forces to attack Palestinians during the holy month, as they have done in the past. They will incite violence and crush the Palestinians.
The writer is a Lecturer of Rajshahi Cantonment Public School & College
