The conflict between Israeli and the Palestinians
The conflict between Israeli and the Palestinians is an ongoing conflict that began in the mid-20th century. The dispute originated with the immigrants Jewish and Arabs (Gavison 121). The conflict revolves around borders, water rights, mutual recognition, and control of Jerusalem, an Israeli settlement, as well as Palestinian movement and returns rights. This violence is significantly affecting the world rich historical, the religion, and cultural sites; thus, it has drawn the leading global watchdog the UN with the main aim of restoring lasting peace in this region. Nonetheless, it should be noted that the Israeli–Palestinian conflict is older than the UN itself (Magdalena and Lena 06). Despite not arriving at a lasting solution to the conflict, numerous international conferences on security issues, historic rights, and human rights have been held successfully to deliberate on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
Since the formation of the United Nations (UN) in 1948 to January 2010, the UN Security Council had adopted nearly 79 resolutions to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly recommended the adoption and implementation of a two-state resolution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict (Gavison 162).
Poland is a member state in the UN Security Council that cannot be regarded to offer a lasting solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Poland and Israel have a historical mistrust rooted in the Holocaust (The Jerusalem Post 01). To date, the Israeli leaders and diplomats still believe that the Polis helped the Nazi in slaughtering the Jewish. For instance, in 2018, Foreign Minister Israel Katz commented that “imbibe anti-Semitism with their mother’s milk” to allude that the Poles collaborated with Nazi (Tilles 01). However, according to the Poles, many Polish citizens lost their lives during the Nazi war as they helped the Jew. This historic ideological difference between Jews and Poles hinder Polis efforts to assist in resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
On the other hand, Poland enjoys a cordial relationship with Palestine dated back in the 1970s. Poland is a great aid and civil right supporter of Palestinians. In 2018, the Polish Foreign Minister, Jacek Czaputowicz, assured the Arab leaders that “his country’s position towards Palestinian rights is “fixed” and “unchangeable” (Rosenberg 01). Therefore, it is apparent that the relationship between Poland and these two countries. Additionally, its foreign policy hinders it from contributing effectively in the UN Security Council to conflict resolution between Israel and Palestine (Cordesman, and Moravitz 109).
- Past International Action
Poland just like the other European Union States, has shown minimum political involvement in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict resolution. Poland supported the UN’s two-state resolution in addressing the Israeli–Palestinian conflict (Gavison 144). Poland also supported the 37th UN General Assembly resolution ES‑10/L.22 of December 2017. It endorsed the resolution through abstention. The resolution ES‑10/L.22 resolved that Jerusalem must never be considered the capital city of Israel. The United States contested the decision very strongly, but it passed with 128 votes against 9. Notably, 21 UN member countries were absent while 35, including Poland, abstained from voting (Cordesman and Moravitz 132).
- Possible Solutions
Poland has maintained the policy of “equal distance” in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict (Magdalena and Lena 12). However, this policy will not help in resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Therefore, it should employ a proactive approach, including proposing possible solutions at the UN general assembly instead of playing safe. Most importantly, Poland should resolve its historical misunderstandings with Israel concerning the Holocaust and reduce its public partisan relationship between Israel and Palestine (The Jerusalem Post 01 & Cordesman and Moravitz 74).