Battle of Palestine
The Battle of Palestine
The Battle of Palestine was the culmination of a two-month occupation of the region by Great Britain and Ireland. GB&I's stated aim was to revitalise and build up the region, which they claimed had been completely inactive and littered with anti-Semitic slogans. They had created regional forums and there had been approval of their presence by some Palestinian natives, but little actual progress had been made. Defenders, in particular USK, were unwilling to allow any sort of invasion for any reason, and were intent on liberation. A history of bad blood between GB&I and USK from their time together in the fractious Allied British Isles added a very personal feel to the conflict.
The battle broke out in April 2005 when forces from USK and their allies invaded the colony. This sparked the largest NS conflict of recent times. With the GB&I delegate, Refarus, inactive and most likely a spy, GB&I were unable to immediately eject the invading USK and allied forces. However, a communications breakdown between the defenders meant that their forces arrived slightly after the update. This meant that a long 24 hours were spent by both sides garnering every endorsement they possibly could in order to ensure victory. GB&I was struggling to retain her colony and install a new, active delegate with the help of the Union of Sovereigns, of which she was the a protectorate, and USK and her allies, including Ireland, the ADN, the RLA and other smaller organisations, were trying to oust them and stave off an embarrassing defeat against a garrison originally of 11 men endorsing an inactive delegate.
In the end USK and her allies won, with over 100 endorsements against 84 on the side of GB&I. At one point the RMB had a turnover time of only two minutes, making it more akin to a chatroom. The fallout was wide-reaching. GB&I left the ABI, angry that many of its members had tacitly (or otherwise) supported USK against their fellow ABI state. USK had left immediately prior to the battle. The alliance, which had also recently lost Ireland, disintegrated, ending the last attempt to unite the disparate British regions. Meanwhile the Union decided to end GB&I's status as a protectorate because they felt that they had not been kept fully in the picture about the situation. Tensions flared between the Union and the defender groups. A week after the end of hostilities, The Pacific denounced a covert ADN invasion of the Pacific, associated to the fallout from the battle.
The battle will be remembered for being one of the largest battles in NS history, though its real importance in military terms should not be overstated. Only one small corner of NS, Palestine itself, saw a long-term material change. Whether that was for the better or for the worse depends entirely on which side one takes. The result was that a Palestinian native, Qadia, who had been friendly to GB&I during the occupation was installed as delegate, and good relations between Palestine and GB&I resumed, though with Palestine now independent. Though attempts were made to build the region by Qadia they were half-hearted, and the region now bubbles along at a low key.
