Israel and the Arab nations have been conflicting with each other for decades and the violence seem to not stop. Why do these nations conflict with each other in this desert environment? This question would be answer and explained in this paper. The analysis will also show how it was seen from the world and how it influence other nations, including the super powers, during the Cold War Era.
There was a rise in Zionism in the area of Palestine and abroad from Jewish who wanted a state. Zionism is, because on the one hand it concerns one of the oldest peoples with a clear connection to a specific land, and on the other hand most of that people had been physically separated from that land for many centuries. Zionism saw a creation of a State as a protection from anti-Semitisms and persecution. (mideastweb.org, N.p.. Web. 1 Dec 2013. /zionism.htm>.)
The British controlled the land that is known toady known as Israel, West Bank, Gaza Strip, parts of Syria and Jordan, back then it was known as Palestine and Trans-Jordan. The British acquired these parts through the Ottoman Empire, after defeating them during the First World War. The British government restricted Jews immigration to Palestine. After the 1936-1939 Revolt, which killed hundreds of Arabs and Jews. The British government decided to limit immigration to Palestine, this caused even more tenacity for the Jews to create their own nation. (
A partition plan was adopted by the United Nations after the British government gave control over the area to the U.N. The partition plan was not supported by the Arab, only by the Jews. The plan went had on November 1947. Violence escalated after the plan was announced. The Arab League had declared that it aim ...
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...that Soviets were supplying the Arab nations. The Israeli began to reverse the Arab gains, after the Golan Heights victory and a daring helicopter assault on Egyptians air defense. A cease fire was agreed on October 24. It was worked on secretly by American and the Soviets. It was headed by Nixon’s Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger. . (Grant, R.G. Battles. 1st ed. Hudson St, New York: D.K Publishing, 2005. 344-345. Print.)
The Peace process were a series of negotiation. The Camp David Accord was when Egyptian President Anwar Sadat recognizes Israel, the first Arab nation to officially recognize Israel as a state. After, Israel gave back the Sinai Peninsula to them. There were many treaties that Israel and the Arab nations signed but were little in magnitude. The Middle East is plagued by extremist and other factors that will always hamper peace in this region.
The ideas of David, Reuven and other reform Jews sparked new interest in the notion of a Hebrew state in Palestine. Zionism was an idea with a long history, but it starts to involve the characters of The Chosen and picks up intensity after the Holocaust.
Imperialism, Colonialism, and war had a huge impact on the Middle East, and it can also be thought of as the source of conflict. According to the map in Document A, it shows that the size of the Ottoman Empire grew smaller after the first world war, along with this change came new boundaries. These borders were created by the victorious European countries that won World War I, and made different ethnic and religious groups separated and grouped together with others. Great Britain's took over Palestine mandate and developed the Balfour Declaration that promised Jews support in making a home in Palestine. Most of the Palestine land was populated with Arabs. As soon as Jewish immigration increased, so did the tension between the two groups because each felt like they deserved the Palestine land. Zionism began early in the history of Judiasm and it was the movement for the Jews to establish a home in Palestine, and return to their holy land. During the Holocaust, six million Jews were killed and the deep-seeded hatre against them increased
...Palestine. The main points of the White Paper put the plans for partition as impractical and enforced restrictions on Jewish immigration and the transfer of land. The White Paper said that with the Jewish population at 450,000 having been settled in the mandate, the points in the Balfour Declaration have been met. “His Majesty’s Government therefore now declare unequivocally that it is not part of their policy that Palestine should become a Jewish State.” Even though much hope seemed to be lost at this point, faced with the impending Nazism in Europe, Zionist Jews and non-Zionist Jews had felt the pressure to unite and thus led to the Biltmore Conference.
In the novel War and Peace In the Middle East, author Avi Shlaim argues that Arab nations have been unable to escape the post-Ottoman syndrome. In particular he describes how the various powers inside and outside the region have failed to produce peace. While some of Shlaim's arguments hinder the message, I agree with his overall thesis that the Middle East problems were caused and prolonged by the failure of both powers and superpowers to take into account the regional interests of the local states.
In pursuing the Camp David Accords, Sadat was aiming to achieve certain strategic goals for Egypt, including a new alignment with America, improved bargaining power for Egypt in relation to Israel in the region, foreign capital for its new economic initiatives, and regional independence. While Sadat succeeded in achieving some of these goals with the accords, others he did not. I will examine the years leading up to, during, and after the Camp David accords, and how internal and external pressures pushed Sadat to accept that particular course on which he set Egypt. In particular, I will examine superpower relations, Egypt’s economic circumstances, and its relations with the Arab world as principal factors which led to Egypt’s bilateral agreement with Israel. In addition, I will examine the major political decisions of Sdat, and how they increased or decreased his bargaining power in Camp David, and the eventual terms. These include Sadat’s decision to break off relations with the Soviet Union, the start (and end) of the 1973 war with Israel, his trip to Jerusalem, and his behavior in negotiations with Israel. Finally, I will examine how Sadat’s political maneuvers have translated to Egypt’s international standing to this day.
The Middle East has since time immemorial been on the global scope because of its explosive disposition. The Arab Israeli conflict has not been an exception as it has stood out to be one of the major endless conflicts not only in the region but also in the world. Its impact continues to be felt all over the world while a satisfying solution still remains intangible. A lot has also been said and written on the conflict, both factual and fallacious with some allegations being obviously evocative. All these allegations offer an array of disparate views on the conflict. This essay presents an overview of some of the major literature on the controversial conflict by offering precise and clear insights into the cause, nature, evolution and future of the Israel Arab conflict.
Since the inception of an Israeli nation-state in 1948, violence and conflict has played a major role in Israel’s brief history. In the Sixty-One year’s Israel has been a recognized nation-state, they have fought in 6 interstate wars, 2 civil wars, and over 144 dyadic militarized interstate disputes (MIDs) with some display of military force against other states (Maoz 5). Israel has been involved in constant conflict throughout the past half century. Israel’s tension against other states within the Middle East has spurred vast economic, social, and political unity that has fostered a sense of nationalism and unity in Israel not seen in most other states. Over the next several pages I will try and dissect the reasons for why the nation state of Israel has been emerged in constant conflict and how this conflict has helped foster national unity and identity among the people of Israel.
Considering that the Palestinians and Israelis both had Jews in their populous it is hard to understand why they did not seek to coincide and pursue a more practical unified state. This would allow them to pool their resources together and resolve issues that neither community could do on their own. Nonetheless, this was not the case, as time goes on it appears that neither side is no longer seeking out peace as the resources required to attain it seemed too hard to acquire. After the negotiations seemed to be going nowhere, it became obvious that both sides just resorted to what they know best: violence. Most of the conflicts still rage on today. While both sides still make efforts in order to finally establish peace, they are constantly impeded by radicals inciting violence, destroying what little progress they made towards ever reaching an
The Middle East has historically rebuked Western influence during their process of establishing independence. When Britain and France left the Middle East after World War II, the region saw an unprecedented opportunity to establish independent and self-sufficient states free from the Western influence they had felt for hundreds of years. In an attempt to promote nationalistic independence, the states of the region immediately formed the League of Arab States in 1945. The League recognized and promoted the autonomy of its members and collaborated in regional opposition against the West until 1948 when Israel declared independence. Israel represented then and now an intrusive Western presence in the Arab world. The ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict typifies this cultural antagonism. The Cold War refocused attention to the Middle East as a site of economic and strategic importance for both sides, yet the two hegemons of the Cold War now needed to recognize the sovereignty of the Middle Eastern states. With their statehood and power cemented, the Middle Easte...
“Many Jews were fleeing Europe from Hitler so that they can reclaim the land they believed was their Biblical birthright, (Document 4 Excepts from the Israeli Declaration of Independence). Leaders were petitioning Great Britain to allow Jewish people to begin migrating into Palestine, then in 194 8the formal state of Israel was formed. “The Balfour Declaration Britain promised a national home for the Jewish people as seen in” (document 2). However, people were already living there so the natives felt like they were getting there home taken away from
Is peace possible in the Middle East? This question weighs heavy on the minds of many individuals and international players. Turmoil and conflict in the Middle East not only affects the people inhabiting this region, but also has global consequences. To answer this question, one must analyze the sources of conflict in the Middle East, historically, currently, and in the future. The limited amount of natural resources in this region has arguably served as the most major source of conflict in the Middle East. Other contributing factors to conflict are the leadership styles of the key players in positions of power, and religious strife. History is often the best indicator for the future. Unfortunately, the Middle East has had a history of much violence and conflict. Just in the past 50 years, it has been engaged in numerous serious conflicts such as the Israel-Palestinian issues, Iraq-Iran war, and Iraq invasion of Kuwait. It may be possible for peace in the Middle East, but given it’s history, and considering the sources behind the conflict, I think it is a bleak future as far as peace goes for this region.
The pro-Israel intervention represented the US foreign policy reaction when the violation to regional stability was committed by Israel. The cases discussed above were evaluated against the US reaction to Israel’s regional behaviour; in terms of whether the Israeli behaviour served or hampered US interest in maintaining regional stability and whether or not the US opposed Israel when it acted in ways that the United States deemed undesirable. It was concluded that, as a general rule, Washington was ready to intervene to address any violation to the status quo in the Middle East system except when this violation was committed by its regional surrogate. Israel had contributed directly in destabilizing the Middle East system (pushing the system out of its equilibrium point) in several cases, four of which have been discussed above. These crises, in spite of their negative effect on regional stability, witnessed minimal US reaction.
For many centuries, Judaic and Arabian societies have engaged in one of the most complicated and lengthy conflicts known to mankind, the makings of a highly difficult peace process. Unfortunately for all the world’s peacemakers the Arab-Israeli conflict, particularly the war between Israel and the Palestinian Territories, is rooted in far more then ethnic tensions. Instead of drawing attention towards high-ranking officials of the Israeli government and Hamas, focus needs to be diverted towards the more suspect and subtle international relations theory of realism which, has imposed more problems than solutions.
These territories in the Middle East were and still are major influences on the contention in the Arab-Israeli conflict. The conflicts leading up to the events during the Six-Day War was caused by the severe increase in tension between Israel and the neighboring Arab states during the mid 1960s.
...on by revolting against British authority and Jewish immigrants. The subsequent White Papers of 1937 and 1939 that the British released were to pacify both sides but sufficiently proved to both the Arabs and the Zionists that the British were unwilling to support just one side and their policies, including the Balfour Declaration, proved to be conflicting ideas. Furthermore the British could not balance the two opposing national movements forever as both were growing with the increase of Jewish immigration and land sales. Eventually the Arabs and Zionists rebelled against the British who in never supporting one side wholeheartedly lost its hold over the entire of Palestine. In the years to come many British leaders “soon reached the conclusion that the Balfour Declaration had been a colossal blunder, unfair to the Arabs and detrimental to the empire’s interests”