The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been going on for over a century now; it has been five wars since 1948. Not counting the dozen battles, raids and skirmishes that have taken place, all over a piece of land. The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians was a struggle for territory and they believed they had a claim to the territory for an extremely long time. The territory is located in Western Asia between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea and is surrounded by Arabia, Syria and Egypt. This land has been in the hands of several people; however, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict began with the British Mandate government from 1922-1947. While both Israelis and Palestinians claim the land of Palestine based on historical claims of geography and culture, growing religious intolerance on both sides prevents the two from living peacefully side by side. Demographics: In 1947 a plan to form two separate countries states one Jewish and the other Arab: this occurred with the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine. While the Jews accepted the partition plan apparently with little disturbance, the Arabs rejected it. With the refusal of the Arabs, a civil war broke out later in 1947, and a year later the State of Israel was founded. “Palestinians have become dispossessed refugees across the Middle East since the establishment of the State of Israel.” This means that Palestinians were forced to leave their homes; therefore, practically making them exiles. (Emadi) The remaining areas of Palestine were divided between Jordan and Egypt. Between 1950 and 1967, most Palestinians lived in refugee camps, and unemployment and poverty were high in the Gaza Strip. "The Arabs opposed the Israeli occupation of Palestine and... middle of the paper... slope, 15 May 1948" Palestine... is the place where the Palestinian Arab people were born, on which they grew up, became developed and excelled…. [Its] voluntary expropriation and expulsion… was achieved through organized terror. In Palestine and in exile, the Palestinian Arab people have never wavered and never abandoned their belief in their right to return and independence… and their right to sovereignty over their territory and homeland…. The Palestinian National Council... hereby declares the establishment of the State of Palestine on our Palestinian territory...--Palestinian Declaration of Independence, November 15, 1988 (Yiftached) Conclusion: Although the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was initially based on both having historical claims of geography and culture, it eventually turned into a conflict of religion; thus, it almost makes you live side by side in peaceful coexistence.