I. IntroductionThere has been a long tradition of conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, although religion and ethnic differences have not been the ultimate causes of the conflict, like most civil unrest. The fight was mainly for a religiously, historically and economically important piece of land. Until 1949, the territory that brought much conflict between the groups was known internationally as Palestine. However, Jews and Palestinians went to war in 1948, the result was the division of the territory into three parts: the state of Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Jewish claims to the land are based on a biblical promise made to Abraham and his descendants that the land was a historic site of the Jewish kingdom of Israel. Palestinians would disagree that they are the true custodians of the land, based on continuous residence in the territory, for hundreds of years. When the Zionist movement began to spread rapidly, many Jews decided that Palestine would be a great and suitable place for their homeland. Zionism is the belief that Jews should have a homeland of their own, and in 1917 the British decided to support Zionism with the Balfour Declaration. The Balfour Declaration was a letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Lord Rothschild in which he made public that the British supported a Jewish homeland in Palestine. After the Balfour Declaration the Jewish people began massive immigration to Palestine and the Arabs living in Palestine strongly opposed this Jewish immigration. Although both sides have been going through a tough peace process for some time, neither state has agreed to a final peace agreement that would end the conflict. Violence resulting from the conflict...... middle of paper ......lation of approximately 2.3 million. Israel's water consumption has declined since the occupation of the West Bank, yet it continues to consume the majority of available water. In 1995, Israel consumed 95 percent of the water produced by the Western Aquifer and 82 percent of that produced by the Northeastern Aquifer. The water comes from shared aquifers located in both Palestinian and Israeli territory. In the Oslo II Agreement each party agreed to maintain "existing quantities of resource use". The Palestinian Authority has established the legality of Israeli water production in the West Bank. Israel would commit in an agreement to integrate water into Palestinian production, as well as allow further drilling in the eastern aquifer. However, many Palestinians are unhappy with the scope of Oslo II, arguing that it does not go far enough to solve long-term problems...