I-Search+by+Emma

by Emma I have some background information about the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict because both my parents grew up in Israel and most of my family live there too. Basically, I know that both the Palestinian people and Jewish people, considered Jerusalem a holy place and they both wanted control over it. In the 1800s, Jewish people began to go Israel. After World War II, many Jewish people from Europe fled to Israel. My own grand-parents fled there during or after the Holocaust. There was a lot of fighting between the Jewish and Palestinian people, and the United Nations split the land into two states, a Jewish state (Israel) and a Palestinian State (Palestine). In 1948, the Palestine and other neighboring Arab countries attacked Israel and Israel won the war and took over Palestine. This is how Israel became a country. Ever since, they has been major fighting between the Israelis and the Palestinians. For example, In the 1972 Olympics, 11 Israeli athletes were held hostage by a group of Palestinians and killed. This type of killings have been going on for a long time.
 * The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict **
 * Part I--What I already know about my topic **

This conflict is between the Palestinians and Israelis, so how do both sides think about the situation? Do they all hate each other, or is it only the extremists who do? Also, how do they want this conflict to be solved? This conflict has been going on for thousands of years and what are they doing to stop violence and killing from the other side? What are the Palestinians and Israelis actually fighting for now? Other questions that I want answered is: What types of terrorsit acts are going on right now in Israel, what is the current situation in Gaza, and are there any peace negotiations talking place in the near future?
 * Part II--What I Want to Find Out **

I found this book called "Teach Yourself the Israeli- Palestinian Conflict" and decided to buy it because it only gave you the facts, no biases. All the other books I saw there where memoirs about the conflict and people's views on it, which can be biased. Though people's views on the conflict are important to learn about, I though that first I should learn about the topic in an unbiased book so that I can form my own opinions on the topic. Since this book is based purely on fact, there is less of a chance that it will have a biased point of view, which is important when learning. This book is very factual and has a chapter dedicated to every major event in this conflict. By reading this book, I think that I will gain a lot of knowledge that will help me to create a game on this topic.I also liked how to book was set up. It wasn't just blocks of writing, it was broken into sections and time periods to make it easier to understand and to refer back to later on. Also, this book tells you about the root of the conflict in biblical times up till current issues today. The title of the book also drew me in because the point of this assignment is to "teach yourself" about a current issue (Ross) I also did some research online and found a time line on the Israeli- Palestinian Conflict On the Council of Foreign Relations Website. This time line stretches from 1914 to present times and, at times, can be hard to understand. This time line is useful because I can see when each event happened and how one thing led to another. The problem is that it only reaches till 2009, so it does not have the most recent news on the topics. Recently, I saw a newspaper article on the New York Times Website that related to the Israeli- Palestinian Conflict and decided to take a look at it. This shows the most current situation in Israel and how tense the dispute over land still is today. The article is about a plan to build Jewish housing in a mostly Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem. Though technically, Israel got the land after the 1967 war, the Palestinians see it as the home of a future- state and do not want Israel to meddle with it. There is still some dispute as to what land belongs to who (Kershner). Another Article I found in the New York Times is about Palestinians who are peacefully protesting Israel occupation of the land on the West Bank. Some people, including the Palestinian president, went to plant trees there to show that the land would be part of their state. There have also been boycotts and burning of Israeli goods and marches on the West Bank (Bronner). I have also found another article that has opinions from people on both sides of the conflicts. Some people say that the wall that separates the Gaza Strip from Israel is wrong because Israel want to get rid of the Arabs in the country, but other people say that this is not true because Israel uses the wall to protect its people from terrorists attacks (Ho) After reading some of the information that I have gathered, I know that I want to create a game that involves getting and losing land. There will be two teams: the Israelis and the Palestinians, who are trying to get the land and push the other one out. I recently did an interview with my expert on the Israeli- Palestinian Conflict. I asked questions factual questions as well as questions about how people in Israel felt about what is going on. I learned more about the history of the conflict as well as current events in Israel. This interview helped me to understand not only the facts, but also how the conflict affected people and how the palestinians and Israeli interact. The last part of my research for the I-Search was to do an interview. I chose to interview my dad because he was born and raised in Israel, so he saw first hand the conflict, and he also is very knowlegable about the topic. I asked questions such "What is the history of the conflict?" and "How do Isralies and Palestinians want the conflcit to be solved?". I also asked the questions that I wrote in the second part of the I-Search and other questions that might be relevent for my game.
 * Part III--The Search **

**Part IV--What I Learned ** While doing the research for my I-Search, I learned many things about the conflict that I had not previously known. For example, I learned many things about how the conflict began. It all started thousands of years ago because both the Jewish people and the Palestinians considered Jerusalem to be their holy land and they both wanted control over it. Modern Israel used to be mostly Palestinian before World War II, but after the war, many Jews went to Israel. At this time Britain controlled the land. This was when the modern conflcit began. In 1947, the United Nations created two states from that land: Palestine and Israel. Literally the next day, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and Jordan started fighting with Israel. After many months of fighting, Israel had fought them off, and conquered most of the land that makes up modern day Israel. The Palestinians had to run away to refugee camps such as in Gaza. When I asked in my interview, about whether there was any peace negotiations going on right now, I learned that the Palestinians were not talking with the Israel because Israel is building settlements in East Jerusalem, a place that Palestinians consider to be the capital of a future state. Palestinians mainly want to get back Jerusalem, including the West Bank. Also, I learned about Hamas and Fatah. Hamas and the Fatah are government parties that are also involved in terrorist activity. I also learned about a very important war called the 6 day war. This was was fought in 1967 by Israel against Syria, Egypt, and Jordan. By the end of the war, had conquered Sinai, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights. What I learned about the process of the I-Search is that it is based mostly on what you, the researcher, wants to know about. For example, you get to pick the topic and the questions for the i-search. You also develope a lot of your own opinions because in the third part of the i-search, you have to write about how you feel about the books and articles you have found. What I learned about myself through out this entire process is that I enjoy doing research reports. I learn things from doing research projects that I would have probably never known if it had not been assigned to me.I really love to learn about issues around the world and what is being done to solve it. Bronner, Ethan. "Palestinians Try a Less Violent Path to Resistance - NYTimes.com." //NYTimes.com//. N.p., 6 April 2010. Web. 4 May 2010. [].
 * Part V- Works Cited:**

Ho, Vivian. "Israel-Palestine | Students debate The Wall." //Global Post//. N.p., 20 March 2010. Web. 4 May 2010. [].

Kershner, Isabel. "Israel Confirms New Building in East Jerusalem - NYTimes.com." //NYTimes.com//. N.p., 24 March 2010. Web. 4 May 2010. .

Ross, Stewart. //Teach Yourself the Israeli- Palestinian Conflict//. England: Hodders Education, 2007. 224. Print.

"The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict - Council on Foreign Relations." //Council on Foreign Relations//. MediaStorm, 2010. Web. 4 May 2010. [].