ShmoopTube

00:00

how do you solve the problem like Maria. wait no that's Sound of Music.

00:08

sorry we got our notes they're jumbled. alright here we go. [nuns sing in front of a cathedral ]

00:11

well how do you solve a problem like the one between Israel and what's known as

00:15

Palestine. oh man that one's a bit harder. can we go back

00:19

to that Maria thing ?no all right fine. well in order to solve the conflict

00:23

there are some smaller problems that Israel and Palestinians and their

00:27

neighbors and the whole world would have to work through. maybe we can get some

00:32

kind of group discount price on therapy. what do you think? so first off the West

00:36

Bank settlements. well this acreage to the east of Israel with its population

00:41

of 2.5 million Palestinians was supposed to be the heart of the new Palestinian

00:45

state but it isn't and there are a whole bunch of reasons for that not being the

00:49

case. well since the six-day war of 1967 Israel has been hanging out in the West

00:54

Bank like a kind of a mother-in-law who won't take a hint and go home.

00:59

well to make matters worse Israeli settlers have spent the last 50 years [man folds arms, being stubborn]

01:02

building villages and homes and communities in and around the

01:06

Palestinian land. but good luck stopping settlers from moving into the West Bank.

01:10

they have manifest destiny and a history of violence on their side. well second

01:16

obstacle to solving the conundrum of Palestine what would an independent

01:20

Palestinian state look like? would there be a single state made up of Israel the

01:26

West Bank and Gaza that throws Israelis and Palestinians together under one

01:30

government? or should there be a mostly Jewish Israel in a mostly Muslim

01:35

Palestine? well whatever the answer to this particular piece of the puzzle what

01:39

we do know is that the current situation ain't working at all.

01:43

not even if you smashing that puzzle piece with your fist not that that's how [map representing Israel, Palestine and Gaza ]

01:47

we do puzzles. all right well a third issue that everybody would have to

01:51

handle is the Palestinian refugee problem. well over the years about 4

01:55

million Palestinians have left home for Jordan Lebanon Syria and other areas

02:01

around the Persian Gulf. well these countries would love for all

02:05

those refugees to go back whence they came.

02:08

but Israel has no idea what to do with 4 million Palestinians and it isn't

02:12

too hot on the idea of a right to return which would let Palestinians return to

02:17

Israel reclaim property and then become full citizens.

02:20

so there's fourth question to answer before the israeli-palestinian conflict

02:23

can be solved. Israel's a little country full of mostly Jewish people surrounded

02:28

by a lot of countries who who you know generally speaking love to see it wiped [hand wipes Israel off map with a cloth]

02:32

off the map permanently forever and ever. so to keep this from happening Israel

02:37

has turned itself into the Fort Knox of the Middle East. and what the Israelis

02:41

want to know now is well how they're supposed to maintain the security of

02:45

their state with an independent Palestine that hates them snuggled right

02:49

up there close next along the border. final question it's a doozy what about

02:54

Hamas? while Hamas depending on who you ask is either a political organization

02:59

or a supper club for a whole bunch of terrorists. either way since 2007 it's

03:04

controlled Gaza. well Israel has no interest in [map showing territory in question]

03:06

negotiating with Hamas and has actually spent a significant amount of time

03:10

fighting the group. well second Hamas doesn't represent all Palestinians. it

03:15

isn't even considered to be the primary representative of the Palestinian people.

03:20

okay so yeah this particular security problem is hard. has anyone tried Kumbaya

03:26

maybe it works. you never know let's hold hands come on

03:28

sing people. [man stands between two frowning maps representing Israel and Palestine]

Full Transcript