Israel And The Palestinians

Israel and the Palestinians

Israel is situated at the connection of Africa and Asia. It is 20,000 square kilometres and unlike its neighbour Arab states it lacks natural resources. Lebanon and Syria border it in the north, Jordan in the east and Egypt to the south. Israel has also been holding Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank of the River Jordan since 1967.

It has an extremely varied geography and climate. Most of the coastline lies on the Mediterranean Sea. In the south are the valleys of Jezreel and Hulveh. There is the lake Tiberias and in the east the hills of Samaria ad Judea on the west bank. There is also the Negev desert to the south, which makes up sixty percent of the total land area. Coastal inhabitants face a hot but temperate climate with more rain relative to the north. Inland temperatures are cooler with seldom snow.

Tel Aviv is the largest city and the centre of industry. Jerusalem has been declared the capital but has not been recognised as such by the international community. Major towns in the West Bank include Nablus, Hebron, Bethlehem, Ramallah and Jericho.

Agriculture and industry employ millions of Israelis. Today Israel is a leading fruit exporter. The industry is mainly based on military. Service industries account for more than half the employment in Israel. Tourism is another source of income.

Politically Israel is a multiparty democracy. A President elected by parliament for a five-year term, a government under a Prime Minister and a 120-member Parliament (Knesset). The people of Israel are extremely diverse. Jews in Israel consist of East European Jews, Moroccans, and Ethiopian Jews. More Jews and Palestinians live outside their “common land” than in it.

Judaism is essentially the religion of ethical monotheism, which means that one God made the world and created the human beings to help complete his plan. In the Bible it is stated that Abraham found Judaism. The land promised to the Jewish was then called Canaan. They were probably a Semitic people made up of nomadic tribes and speaking a language called Hebrew. Under Moses the Jews founded the Judaean State.

Later because it was a small force Israel was invaded by the super powers of the day – Egypt, Assyrian, the Hittites, Greece and finally Rome. In 636 Jerusalem fell to the Arabs. Fallowing in 1557 Ottomans invaded the city. Until the Ottoman collapse ...

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Interpretation of the Book

This book is written in 1988, and the book includes the historical development of the Israel State and the Palestinian conflicts until the year 1987. It is a highly descriptive book, involving information but lacking of personal views of the writer’s.

Meanwhile, the description of the conflict with detailed examples of events, helps the reader to understand the issue more clearly and easily.

In my opinion this conflict between the two states affects the neighbouring countries in the region as well as the other states that have strategic interests in the Middle East. Therefore it is not a two-player game, instead it is a multi player game, and with each player having own goals and own rules.

Also in the Middle East, religion becomes an obstacle in the solution of the conflicts. The observation of the conflict by taking the religion in to consideration is not well mentioned in the book.

As it is well seen in this book too, like in almost all the countries of the Middle East, these two countries have strong impact of military on their policies, and also their foreign affairs are too much dependent to their internal political structures.