A timeline of the conflict which has its roots in the late 19th century.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has its roots in the late 19th century when Jews fleeing anti-Semitism in Russia and central Europe began emigrating to Palestine.
Here is a timeline:
A Jewish homeland promised
In 1917, during World War I, the British capture Palestine from the Ottomans and, in the Balfour Declaration of November 2, promise the Jews a “national home” there.
Opposition from the Palestinians first emerges at a congress in Jerusalem in 1919.
In 1922, the League of Nations sets out the obligations of a British mandate in Palestine, including securing “establishment of the Jewish national home”, the future Israel.
Britain crushes the great Arab revolt in Palestine of 1936-1939.
Palestine split
Palestine is partitioned into Jewish and Arab states under United Nations Resolution 181, approved in November 1947. Jerusalem is put under international control.
In the split, the West Bank including east Jerusalem goes to Jordan and the Gaza Strip to Egypt.
The state of Israel is finally created on May 14, 1948, provoking an eight-month war with Arab states.
More than 400 Palestinian villages are razed by Israeli forces and around 760,000 Palestinian refugees flee to the West Bank, Gaza and neighbouring Arab countries.
The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) is created in 1964.
Occupation and war
In the Six-Day War in June 1967, Israel defeats Egypt, Jordan and Syria and occupies east Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights.
Jewish settlement of the occupied territories starts shortly afterwards and continues in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Golan Heights today.
Arab states attack Israel on October 6, 1973, the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur. Israel repels the attack.
Israel invades civil war-wracked Lebanon on June 6, 1982, to attack Palestinian militants after initially sending in its forces in 1978. Israeli-backed Lebanese militias kill hundreds in Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut. Israeli troops remain in southern Lebanon until May 2000.
The first intifada, or Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule, rages from 1987 to 1993.
Abortive peace process
In 1993, Israel and the PLO sign a declaration on principles for Palestinian autonomy after six months of secret negotiations in Oslo, launching an abortive peace process.
PLO leader Yasser Arafat returns to Gaza in July 1994 to create the Palestinian Authority. Self-rule is established for the first time in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank town of Jericho.
In September 2000, right-wing Israeli opposition leader and future prime minister Ariel Sharon visits the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in east Jerusalem, a site holy to Muslims and Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount, sparking the first clashes of the second intifada.
Responding to a wave of suicide bombings, Israel in 2002 invades the West Bank in its largest operation there since the 1967 war.
Moderate Mahmud Abbas takes over the leadership of the Palestinian Authority in January 2005, after the death of Arafat.
The last Israeli forces leave Gaza after a 38-year occupation in September 2005.
Palestinian factions
In June 2007, Islamist movement Hamas seizes control of the Gaza Strip after ferocious fighting with its rivals in the Fatah faction led by Abbas, who remains in power in the West Bank.
In 2014, Israel launches a new operation against Gaza in an attempt to stop rocket fire and to destroy tunnels from the Palestinian territory.
Hamas and Fatah sign a reconciliation accord in October 2017 aimed at ending a decade of discord.
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[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]2021 WEF Global Gender Gap report, which confirmed its 2016 finding of a decline in worldwide progress towards gender parity.
Over 2.8 billion women are legally restricted from having the same choice of jobs as men. As many as 104 countries still have laws preventing women from working in specific jobs, 59 countries have no laws on sexual harassment in the workplace, and it is astonishing that a handful of countries still allow husbands to legally stop their wives from working.
Globally, women’s participation in the labour force is estimated at 63% (as against 94% of men who participate), but India’s is at a dismal 25% or so currently. Most women are in informal and vulnerable employment—domestic help, agriculture, etc—and are always paid less than men.
Recent reports from Assam suggest that women workers in plantations are paid much less than men and never promoted to supervisory roles. The gender wage gap is about 24% globally, and women have lost far more jobs than men during lockdowns.
The problem of gender disparity is compounded by hurdles put up by governments, society and businesses: unequal access to social security schemes, banking services, education, digital services and so on, even as a glass ceiling has kept leadership roles out of women’s reach.
Yes, many governments and businesses had been working on parity before the pandemic struck. But the global gender gap, defined by differences reflected in the social, political, intellectual, cultural and economic attainments or attitudes of men and women, will not narrow in the near future without all major stakeholders working together on a clear agenda—that of economic growth by inclusion.
The WEF report estimates 135 years to close the gap at our current rate of progress based on four pillars: educational attainment, health, economic participation and political empowerment.
India has slipped from rank 112 to 140 in a single year, confirming how hard women were hit by the pandemic. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two Asian countries that fared worse.
Here are a few things we must do:
One, frame policies for equal-opportunity employment. Use technology and artificial intelligence to eliminate biases of gender, caste, etc, and select candidates at all levels on merit. Numerous surveys indicate that women in general have a better chance of landing jobs if their gender is not known to recruiters.
Two, foster a culture of gender sensitivity. Take a review of current policies and move from gender-neutral to gender-sensitive. Encourage and insist on diversity and inclusion at all levels, and promote more women internally to leadership roles. Demolish silos to let women grab potential opportunities in hitherto male-dominant roles. Work-from-home has taught us how efficiently women can manage flex-timings and productivity.
Three, deploy corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds for the education and skilling of women and girls at the bottom of the pyramid. CSR allocations to toilet building, the PM-Cares fund and firms’ own trusts could be re-channelled for this.
Four, get more women into research and development (R&D) roles. A study of over 4,000 companies found that more women in R&D jobs resulted in radical innovation. It appears women score far higher than men in championing change. If you seek growth from affordable products and services for low-income groups, women often have the best ideas.
Five, break barriers to allow progress. Cultural and structural issues must be fixed. Unconscious biases and discrimination are rampant even in highly-esteemed organizations. Establish fair and transparent human resource policies.
Six, get involved in local communities to engage them. As Michael Porter said, it is not possible for businesses to sustain long-term shareholder value without ensuring the welfare of the communities they exist in. It is in the best interest of enterprises to engage with local communities to understand and work towards lowering cultural and other barriers in society. It will also help connect with potential customers, employees and special interest groups driving the gender-equity agenda and achieve better diversity.