Abstract
The area of Israel, including the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, is 21,946 square kilometres (8,473 square miles) with a population estimated in 1997 of 5.53 m. On 14 May 1948 the British Government terminated its mandate, and the Jewish leaders proclaimed the State of Israel. The West Bank has an area of 5,879 square kilometres (2,270 square miles) and a population of about 1.12 m. The Gaza Strip has an area of 363 square kilometres (140 square miles) and a population of around 748,400. The precarious state of the ongoing peace process needs to be viewed in the historical context of relations and attitudes between Israelis and Palestinians. This chapter will attempt to unravel the dynamics and origins of this ‘prime and tragic example of the way two nations, competing over the same territory, approach a political conflict not only with conflicting interests but with conflicting mythologies, cultures and histories’ (Rothman, 1992: 10).
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