The Problems in the Middle East
The land of Israel once belonged to the Jews in 1948, but Diaspora,
the Arabs claimed the land. Since the return of the Jews to their
'homeland' the two races have fought over what they both claim to be
their Holy Land. The conflict between Arab and Jew still rages, with
suicide bombings and militia violence happening every day. Because of
the nature and age of the conflict, perhaps a lasting peace between
Arab and Jew is impossible.
Jews believe that their God promised the land to them, and Jerusalem,
the capital of Israel, is their Holy City. Apart from the holy shrines
and places of worship, the Arabs and Israelis are fighting over living
space. Since the creation of the Jewish state of Israel, Moslem Arabs
have waged many wars on the new territory. In every one of those wars,
the Arabs lost or signed an armistice, sometimes even losing more of
their territory to the Jews. Unfortunately because of all this, it is
hard to imagine that there will be a lasting peace between Jew and
Arab in the foresee
In 1948 the state of Israel was created out of the land Palestine.
Since then there has been almost continuous conflict between Israel
and its neighbour Arabs. The Middle East has hardly ever been out of
news. In the time of Jesus first century ad Palestine was ruled by the
Romans. In AD 70 again in AD 135 the Jews rebelled against their roman
rulers. Roman soldiers crushed both revolt, destroyed the city of
Jerusalem and expelled the Jews. Many thousands fled to neighbouring
countries and over the next 200 years they settled in almost every
part of the Roman Empire. Many become merchants, sand f...
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...ed the
partition of Palestine into two separate states, one Jewish and a
second Arab state. The Arabs rejected it and the fighting continued.
With the help of more troops better weapons and transport, the British
forces gradually regained control of Palestine.
By 1939, when the rebellion ended, the British government had given up
all further ideas of partition. It declared that Britain would
continue to rule Palestine. It also said that it would restrict Jewish
immigration. The British government adopted this policy because war
was approaching and it feared the growth of friendship between Arab
leaders and Germany. Britain needed to keep the friend ship of the
Arab countries so that oil supplies from the Middle East would
continue to reach Britain. The jews were furious. Thousands took the
streets to demonstrate.
Conflicts between people often have multiple causes and effects. A majority of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an argument that dates back to Biblical times. The Jewish argue Palestine was the historical site of all Jewish kingdoms, which was promised to Abraham and his descendants. The Arabs argue that Ishmael, forefather of Arabs, is the son of Abraham so God’s promise that the land should go to Abraham’s descendents includes Arabs as well . Some of the main causes which worsen the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are the disparity between Sykes-Picot agreement and Balfour Declaration, The United Nation Partition plan of 1947, which was the separation of the boundaries, and Hitler’s Final Solution. While these causes affected both sides
The Nation of Israel was founded out of the eastern area of a British occupied (former Ottoman Empire) section of western Asia known as the “Mandate of Palestine”. There was an attempt in November of 1947 by the United Nations (UN) to partition the region into Arab and Israeli states with the Holy City Jerusalem as an international city. (United Nations, 1949) The Jews accepted this proposal while the Arab League and other groups did not. (Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2006). What followed was an Arab strike that became violent and sent the Jews on the defensive. They rebounded and brought the civil war to an end, expelling over 250,000 Arabs. The day before the British mandate was set to expire; the region was invaded by four Arab States starting the yearlong 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Ultimately a cease fire and truce was reached with the establishment of bo...
The Israeli-Palestine conflict is an event that has been well documented throughout the course of Middle-Eastern history. The conflict dates back as far as the nineteenth century where Palestine and Zionist, will later be known as Israel, are two communities each with different ideologies had the same overwhelming desire to acquire land. However, what makes this clash what it is, is the fact that both of these up and coming communities are after the same piece of land. The lengths that both sides went to in order obtain they believed was theirs has shaped the current relationship between the two nations today.
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.
There is a relatively long history in Israel which is needed to know in order to begin to understand what is happening today. What Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza strip is today was called Palestine prior to 1948. They were part of the Ottoman Empire until near the end of World War One and were then occupied by Britain. The demographics in Palestine was 85% Muslim 9% Christian and 5% Jewish. The State of Israel was formed in May 14, 1948 after the end of the British Mandate. With the establishment of the State of Israel, as much as 170,000 Jewish displaced persons and refugees began streaming into the new sovereign state. On May 15, 1948 Israel was invaded by five Arab states and then began the War of Independence. The following year Armistice agreements were signed with Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. In 1967 Israel won the Six-Day War where Jerusalem and its holy sites came under Jewish control. In the 1979 Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty Isra...
The Middle East has been home to the Jewish people since early Biblical times. Throughout history they have been subjected to many invasions, until in the 500's BC when the invaders finally took over their homeland and forced them to migrate to other areas. Since then the Jewish people have had no home to call their own for many years. Nationali...
One of the major issues between Palestinians and the Israelis is the unresolved issue of Palestinians not having an independent homeland. The Palestinians will continue to resist Israel until they have obtained a land of their own separate from Israel. In 1947, the United Nation proposed a Partition Plan that would separate the land between the Jews and the Arabs. The Arabs turned the United Nation down, even though that would have resulted in them gaining their own land. In return the Jews decided to declare their own independent state, Israel. After declaring its self an independent state a war broke out between Israel and Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Palestinian, and Iraq. During the...
Erupting in 1987, a revolt called the Infitada began in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. This revolt was initially started by local Palestinians residents and was soon characterized by rock throwing as their only means of opposing the Israeli military forces. As images began to circulate of civilians armed with rocks fighting for their rights against the heavily armed Israeli forces in a one-sided conflict they began to win a substantial amount of sympathy for their struggle in the neighboring Islamic communities. A few years later in 1991, the Infitada had all but ended. Instead the increased Israeli repression during this epoch seemed to be laying the initial groundwork for future violence in the region. This time period between the end of the first Infitada and the beginning of the second contain key events that help explain why the outbreak of the second Infitada transpired.
Unlike most Europeans countries, the United States of America enjoyed a rather healthy relationship with Middle East nations during the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. Possibly, this was due to the fact that the US had little or no interest in colonizing countries in the region. On the contrary, it largely participated in philanthropic and educational activities therefore attracting positive perception among the Middle East people. However, after the world war II the situation begun to change. The US, after fully appreciating the strategic value of the region, opted to increase its interest there. Particular to ensure it does not lose control of the region’s natural resources (chiefly oil), protecting Israel (which was a newly established state and possibly are strategic America ally), and finally, prevent the Soviet Union from dominating the nation (Russel & Ghabra 2003).
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the most controversial conflicts in modern history. The expansion of Israel since 1947 is seen as the beginning of the conflict, although its origins go back to the end of the 19th century, when Jewish immigration to Palestine began to increase. Since the start of the conflict, several peace negotiations have been carried out, resulting in variable degrees of success.
The issue of Palestine and Israel is one that has been hotly contested for over a thousand years. The last fifty years have been especially important in the history of the Jewish people and Palestinians. Since the death of Yasser Arafat on the 11th of November 2004 , and the election of Mahmoud Abbas as his successor as leader of the Palestinian Authority, significant steps have been taken towards a lasting peace. This will hopefully lead to a conclusion of the second Palestinian intifada, which began in late September 2000, and to an end of the oppression of the Palestinian people by the Israeli Defense Forces. Both Jews and Arabs have suffered heavily from the conflict, thousands of innocent civilians have died on both sides, and peace is in the interests of all.
The Jews are still in constant conflict with their neighbors, the Palestinians, and once again this conflict is derived from Religion. Since the formation of the state of Israel the Jews were met with constant conflict from their neighbors, and this conflict was mostly based on intolerance and hatred for the Jews. The events in Israel illustrates why it is crucial to remember previous historical events and atrocities. These feelings expressed against the Jewish people in the Middle East resembles that of the Jews in Nazi Germany. Those unchecked feelings of hatred and intolerance were utilized by Hitler to systematically slaughter six million Jews and reshape Europe forever, and if left unchecked the same could happen in the Middle
In the Middle East, tensions between Jews and Arabs have been present since biblical times. When the Jewish state of Israel was created in 1948 in the Arab homeland of Palestine, severe unrest emerged between the two groups and the Palestinian War began.
Ethnic conflicts are well rooted in the world's history and perhaps inherent in human nature. This type of conflict is difficult to resolve as is evident in the situation in the Middle East. The ethnic conflict theory explains that it is not territory, politics, or economics that prevents the achievement of peace between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, instead, it is a deep-seated hatred of one another that neither group can overcome. The Camp David Summit in July 2000, the most recent attempt at fostering a lasting peace is a clear example of how ethnocentrism can prevents success.
...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”