HOME | DD

#alternatehistory #israel #levant #palestine #alternatehistorymap #timeline31 #incomingflamebait
Published: 2018-12-24 05:38:37 +0000 UTC; Views: 5950; Favourites: 56; Downloads: 26
Redirect to original
Description
Post-colonial conflicts are the bane of many nations throughout the world, most commonly attributed to poorly-drawn boundaries, favoring one ethnicity over another, or perhaps uniquely in the case of the Levant, making promises that couldn't reasonably be settled easily. In the wake of the end of the Ottoman Empire, Britain and France eagerly threw out any promises they had made to the Arabs about a unified Arab kingdom so that they could slice up the region in their favor. The aftereffects have been resounding throughout the whole of the 20th and 21st centuries so far, and one problem must be brought up in particular: that of the debate between the State of Israel and the State of Palestine. It should be noted that the term de facto, referring to a situation that does not legally exist but exists in practice, will be used a fair deal here.In the waning days of WWI, as the British were desperate to mobilize Jewish support for the Entente, Lord Arthur Balfour, the British Foreign Secretary, issued a declaration stating that the United Kingdom was in support of creating a Jewish state in what was then simply called Palestine, a region that at that time only had a small Jewish minority but had in the past been the Jewish homeland before the "Diaspora" period set in during the early days of the Roman Empire. Naturally, this only made the Arab tribes in the region that much more angry during the colonial period, leading to a lot of smaller tribal uprisings that took a fair deal of effort from the British to quell.
Skipping ahead to the relevant dates, by 1951 there had been a considerable number of Jewish people from all over the world migrating to Israel, especially after WWII and the harsh treatment many had dealt with under the idea that communism was a "Jewish conspiracy" as a popular narrative at the time went. As the Palestinians grew more and more upset with the British, the British had attempted to restrict immigration, but then the Jews got upset and the British had to allow it again, until finally 1951 came and the United Nations stepped in to say "Look, the age of Empires is over, you need to let it go and figure something out here." So, the United Nations came together and proposed a plan for partition that created a territory for Israel and a territory for the Palestinians. The Palestinians and Israelis both tentatively accepted the agreement, but neighboring Arab countries (particularly Egypt and Saudi Arabia) agitated violence on the Palestinian side until they themselves declared war, resulting in an Israeli victory and the expansion of Israel to roughly the borders that exist today.
Skipping again over a history involving wars between Israel and the Arabs flaring up no less than 3 further times, border disputes all over the place with virtually every neighbor, terrorism, and both anti-Islamism and antisemitism, we arrive at the current state of the Levant, which has been in this current situation since the Good Friday Ceasefire on 10 April 1998, leaving the world with the following problem: the majority of nations recognize both the State of Israel and the State of Palestine as legitimate nations, as per the 1951 UN Resolution on the Partition of the Levant. However, the world is deeply divided over the nature of the borders. For reference, the current de facto borders are the Israeli claims shown above.
Israel's claim is fairly recent, referred to as the "Good Friday Line". Their stance is that as of the Good Friday Ceasefire, Israel had come to a border that they found to be satisfactory to their state's existence, which they also see the UN as de facto supporting given the existence of the UN Buffer Zone that currently separates the two. Palestine, by contrast, maintains that the legitimate border is the "United Nations Line" created in 1951, which is shown under their claim. This claim quite notably divides the city of Jerusalem into an eastern and western portion, with Palestine claiming "East Jerusalem" as their capital (while their current de facto capital remains in Ramallah), and at the same time Israel declares the single unified city of Jerusalem to be its capital, although the bulk of its administrative offices and organizations are centered in the coastal city of Tel Aviv.
The reality of the situation is that it's going nowhere, and the whole thing remains an uncomfortable stalemate. The Good Friday Ceasefire was a ceasefire, yes, but it was not a "peace", meaning that technically, the two nations are still at war and kept from attacking only by a fence and UN soldiers. Jerusalem, the claimed capital of both nations and sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims, is currently regarded as one of the poorest major cities in the Middle East, patrolled by UN soldiers while occasionally having to deal with a suicide bomber or a package bomb or even just a plain drive-by shooting of one of the many gangs that riddle the city. And even with this, with both nations having remarkably low GDPs, qualities of life, and international standings; in an informal NAU poll, 64% of respondents across 29 member nations (of a total of about 100,000 people) stated that they had a negative view of both countries.
There are two things that everyone can agree on in respect to the situation in the Levant. The first is that both Israel and Palestine are countries. The second is that they are both going nowhere quickly.
---
I expect a friendly and thoughtful debate in the comments.
Related content
Comments: 17
chaotic-nipple [2020-12-20 22:54:50 +0000 UTC]
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
PersephoneEosopoulou [2019-05-29 03:20:37 +0000 UTC]
More excellent world building and also a good way fo showing that even in alternate history the same political conflicts in our world can still happen and be just as much of a complicated mess or even more so potentially.
Btw I think I might have found an error that or I'm just confused. "Skipping ahead to the relevant dates, by 1951 there had been a considerable number of Jewish people from all over the world migrating to Europe, especially after WWII and the harsh treatment many had dealt with under the idea that communism was a "Jewish conspiracy" as a popular narrative at the time went". Shouldn't this be Jews migrating from Europe not to Europe?
👍: 1 ⏩: 1
Mobiyuz In reply to PersephoneEosopoulou [2019-05-29 03:33:11 +0000 UTC]
I sometimes write these very early in the morning and typos are inevitable. Thank you.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
PersephoneEosopoulou In reply to Mobiyuz [2019-05-29 03:35:26 +0000 UTC]
No problem , I make tons of them myself whenever I type something, being a naturally quick typer plus mild dyslexia is an annoying combo.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
WogofJog [2019-03-29 19:22:47 +0000 UTC]
My favorite Post-Colonial subject and an in-depth breakdown, I like it.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Mobiyuz In reply to naji2004 [2018-12-26 17:21:59 +0000 UTC]
Initially a relatively unpopulated area that would keep their territory in one piece rather than two pieces. Of course, Israel building settlements throughout the Negev has complicated this.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
maxeemkonrardy [2018-12-24 22:59:33 +0000 UTC]
Hello, I have friends and family on both "sides" of this issue IRL and I do not consider this post trolling at all. On the contrary, it's really thoughtful (dare I say important?) art you are doing.
It's cool to see a "parallel dimension" fiction that also has powers interested in ending their "age of empires". I am writing a faerie story with a much more fantastical notion where there is a stratification between conventional gender identification because I think it's really important that we look at the ways we divide one another to work to a place where we can live in harmony and without so much trauma to our beautiful species.
Whether that time will ever come remains to be seen, but I absolutely plan on spending my energy making art that means to inspire us to get there. I think this kind of story you are working out can do similar work on "the soul" of humanity. I am curious to learn more about your narrative. Is there a character-driven story connected to this piece?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Mobiyuz In reply to maxeemkonrardy [2018-12-24 23:09:19 +0000 UTC]
Well, there's no real "narrative" to any of this, nor is there a character-driven story. This is just one part of a larger project I've been working on that started focus on an independent California Republic starting from the 1860s and moving outward from there, which eventually took in more and more of the world to talk about things like the alternate history of WWII in this world, to international organizations, to how African nations are faring, and so on and so forth. It's all just one big project I've been working on for more than a year now called "Timeline 31".
👍: 1 ⏩: 1
maxeemkonrardy In reply to Mobiyuz [2018-12-24 23:18:46 +0000 UTC]
Neat! Is there a specific post I can see that critical Cali Republic at? I am wondering if it addresses Cascadia and Jefferson proposals
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Koshej [2018-12-24 14:28:18 +0000 UTC]
Oops, I kinda took it for a REAL argument, lol.
You should make it MORE clear that this is AU, ya know.
I only got that point from tags - and I bet not everyone bothers to look into them in the first place.
What I'm saying, is that you are unintentionally creating a Fake History source for dumb ignoramuses to "rely" upon.
Like I said - not everyone actually CHECKS the TAGS.
Please, FIX that somehow.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Mobiyuz In reply to Koshej [2018-12-24 22:01:18 +0000 UTC]
I think your comment will do just fine.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Koshej In reply to Mobiyuz [2018-12-24 22:10:52 +0000 UTC]
I disagree.
My point is that you shouldn't drop such potentially "politically problematic" posts without clarifying that those are actually AU to begin with, not REAL OPINIONS.
people shouldn't be required to use their BRAINS to get it, loool.
Way too few DO that, after all, ya know.
You proved my point:
You are a troll who likes inciting strife.
FUCK YOU.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Mobiyuz In reply to Koshej [2018-12-24 22:15:56 +0000 UTC]
I mean, it's already been prefixed with TL31, something I've been using to mark my alternate history stuff. ALSO, I've never really thought that people who use THIS kind of emphasis when they're just MAKING A POST are really worth listening to. So to the block list with you, have a nice day.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0