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Ok, there's been a lot of speculation on how the Human-Covenant war began. Some think that they hate us becuase we are descendants of the Forerunner or just because we've colonized former Forerunner worlds. However, I think the answer is probably much simpler than that. Harvest, the first world to be lost, was one of the Outer Colonies. The Outer Colonies were where pirates set up operations. So, here's my theory: Space pirates wandered out to the furthest edge of Human-held space. There, they found a Covenant ship or fleet that had been studying humans (in the novels, it's obvious that the Covenant had studied us for awhile before attacking). Being pirates, they would have most likely seen it as a source of ultimate wealth, to bring back an alien spacecraft. So they most likely attempted to communicate an ultimatum to it, and when that failed, they attacked. It is possible that one of the ships they attacked was carrying a Prophet of extreme status to the Covenant. So, having been attacked by a human vessel, this Prophet would have been outraged, along with all the other Covies around. It would basically have been seen as an attack on all they held holy, due to the status of the Prophets in general and this one in particular. After destroying the rogue vessel, the fleet moved inwards toward the Harvest system. By now, the whole of the body of Prophets at least would have been notified and been extremely suspicious of humans. Later, when UNSC ships attempted to hail the Covenant fleet, because the pirates had done the same, this would have been seen as a threat and final confirmation of how evil humans are. So they annihlated the fleet, glassed the planet, and announced to all their worlds the evils of humanity and began a holy war, made such because of the attack on a high Prophet and a perceived second attempt on his life. It makes more sense to me than any previous theory, but I expect feedback.
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