Conflicts in the Middle East are not new, as the fighting between Palestine and the Jews has been going on for almost a century. After World War I and the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Britain took control of lands in the Middle East, including the area that is now Israel. In 1936, Palestinians launched a rebellion against the British as well as Jews from neighboring countries. As a result, the British formed the Peel Commission with the aim of investigating the causes of the rebellion, and they quickly concluded that Jews and Arabs wanted to rule the same country. The Peel Commission believed that the best solution was a two-state solution, that is, the creation of two independent states, one for the Jews and one for the Palestinians. The division was largely in favor of the Arabs, with the British offering 80% of the disputed territory to Palestine, while the Jews would get the remaining 20%. Despite the significantly smaller portion of land offered, Jews voted to accept the offer. However, the Arabs rejected the offer and resumed fighting. This was only the beginning of offers rejected by Palestine. A decade later, in 1947, the British turned to the newly created United Nations in hopes of finding a solution to rising violence and tensions. Just like ten years earlier, the UN decided that land sharing was the best option. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay In November 1947, the UN voted for the creation of two states. And once again the Jews accepted the offer. And again the Arabs rejected, but this time they started a war. Soon, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria joined the conflict. But they all failed. Israel miraculously won the war and the Jews began to form a new nation. In 1949, most of the lands reserved for Arabs became occupied territories; occupied not by Israel, but by Jordan. This land was the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Twenty years later, in 1967, the Arabs, this time led by Egypt and followed by Syria and Jordan, attempted once again to destroy the Jewish state. This conflict became known as the Six Day War, and once again, against all odds, Israel won the war. As a result, Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip became Israeli lands. In hopes of peace, the debate over what to do with the land is spreading across Israel. About half wanted to cede the Gaza Strip to Egypt and the West Bank to Jordan, in the hope that this could in turn bring peace. The other half wanted to return the land to the Arabs. Arabs had begun calling themselves Palestinians in an attempt to unify and build their own Arab nation. A few months later, the Arab League met in Sudan where the famous “Three Noes” were issued, in which it declared: No peace with Israel, No recognition of Israel and No negotiations with Israel. And for the third time, a two-state solution has been rejected by the Arabs. In 2000, only eighteen years ago, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak met with Palestine Liberation Organization President Yasser Arafat at Camp David. The Camp David Accords were intended to form a new two-state plan. Barak offered Arafat all of Gaza and approximately 94 percent of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem as its capital. Arafat and Palestine again rejected this offer. US President Bill Clinton said Arafat had been "here for 14 days and said 'no' to everything.