Cultural Awareness of Israel - Coursework Example

Cultural Awareness of Israel Introduction In the world of today where societies are no longer demarcated on the basis of their geographical location, culture is still an important aspect of a human’s life. Though globalization has brought the world together and it seems like a world has turned into a global village, but there still exists a difference in the actions, thoughts and opinions of the people based on their background. This difference is what forms the culture of a society. Every country and its people have a unique culture that may have taken on elements from other culture but still remains essentially unique. Similarly, the culture of Israel is unique in the sense that it is the only country in the world with a majority of Jewish community. This paper will consider the State of Israel in more detail, focusing on the conflict, people, society and weather of Israel among other aspects. Culture Culture, as defined by Anderson and Taylor, is ‘a complex system of meanings and behavior that defines the way of life for a given group or society. It includes beliefs, values, knowledge, art, morals, law, customs, habits, language and dress’ (Anderson and Taylor, pp. 54). There are different characteristics of culture. These include: 1. Culture is shared: the culture of people living as part of a group is similar with each other to a great extent. The values and belief of the group have been developed through an agreement or principles defined through decades or even centuries; 2. Culture is learned: Culture is not a birth acquired part of a human; but is rather inbred in the person through his parents, guardian, friends and family. A person is taught the way of the society by people around him to such an extent that his thought process is also aligned with the other people in a similar culture; 3. Culture is taken for granted: Since the culture is inbred in a person since his birth, he accepts it as a part of life without questioning the rationality behind the continuance of certain traditions or laws. A person is aware of his cultural differences but most do not usually deviate from their cultural makeup; 4. Culture is composed of symbols: There are always symbols in a society that are unique from other society. A symbol may hold special reverence for one community but may mean nothing for another. The meaning that people give to certain symbols is actually what makes them unique from others. 5. Culture is dynamic: As people migrate from one area to another, they take their cultural belongings with them. Their thoughts, ideas and opinions travel with them and infuse in the thoughts, ideas and opinions of the people they meet. In this manner, cultures continue evolving and are dynamic in nature (Anderson and Taylor, pp. 54-48). State of Israel and its Geography Israel, officially names as the State of Israel, is a country in the Middle East with the majority of Jewish people living in the state. The country borders Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt; states that do not have friendly ties with the country owing to their treatment of Palestinian Muslims habituating the country. Military Conflict History Israel has been known to be in a state of conflict since a long time. The conflict stems from the fact that Israel is a majorly Jewish community surrounded by Muslim countries with Muslims residing in the country wanting equal rights over the land as the Jewish. Also the does not exist a clear demarcation of the boundaries of Israel and the surrounding Arab states. The Muslim countries constantly in conflict with Israel are Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon. In the 1960s, these countries aimed to gain power over the Israel by blocking the residents from gaining access to the Jordan River by diverting it to other channels. The six day war between the Arabs and Israel showed that Israel had an impressive military strength as Israel managed to capture a strategic point from the Arabs, the Gaza Strip. While Israel faces enemies from outside the state, their also exists internal conflict because of the presence of the Palestinian Muslims residing in the country who have joined forced to create the Palestine Liberation Army (PLO), currently under the leadership of Yasser Arafat. The purpose of PLO is to gain independence from the Israelis through any means possible including armed conflict. This stance of the PLO results in constant strife within the state as raids, bombings and assassinations continue to occur. The PLO has been supported and even funded by neighboring Arab states including Lebanon and Syria who believe that the Palestinians deserve freedom. The PLO thus remains active as it fights for its freedom and through the leadership of Arafat, has gained the attention of the international media and UN who are working for a peace treaty between the Palestinians and the Israelis. As a result of the turmoil in the state, the State of Israel does not enjoy a peaceful lifestyle even though it is ranked as the country enjoying the highest standard of living within the Middle East (Human Development Report). According to 2012 Global Peace Index, Israel ranked as the 150th most peaceful country from among 158 countries. Considering that Israel is a developed nation with a high GDP, this ranks is a red area for Israel who is unable to resolve its internal strife despite having good amount of reserves, which are spent on the military budget rather than any other constructive aspect of the economy. ASCOPE Analysis of Israel Area Though Israel is a small country, it has been gifted with a complex terrain that contains a mix of different natural landscapes. Most of Israel is divided into two broad landscapes; the desert of Negev and the mountain ranges of Carmel and Galilee. Israel also borders the Mediterranean Sea that allows the state to draw benefit from the Israeli Coastal Plain where most of the Israeli population now resides. Another part of Israel includes the Jezreel Valley that this is the only inland fertile area in the state. The complex terrain of Israel and specifically its mountain ranges and severe desert spread allows the state to develop an advantage over neighboring and enemy states. The biggest conflict within Israel stems from the fact that there is no clear demarcation of the Israeli borders. The Israelis have their own notion of the boundaries of the state while the neighboring Arab states have another. The Palestinians in Israel including those residing in the Gaza Strip demand their own land and independence. Structure Since Israel is a developed country, it invests a lot in improving and developing its infrastructure. Israel is one of the first countries to have developed a digital telecommunication system and has the world’s highest mobile phone penetration rate. Israel is connected with the rest of the world through underwater fiber-optic lines and satellite link-ups. In terms of its road and rail network, Israel has developed and expanded its infrastructure by developing the Trans-Israel Highway and the Israeli Railway. The rail and road department have Israel have joined hands in order to improve the issue of traffic congestion in urbanized areas including Tel Aviv and Haifa. The government of Israel is working on developing an integrated transportation system that relies on a network controlled through automated systems. Since Israel enjoys a coast, it is feasible for the country to have a port for which it renovated its old port includes Haifa Port and Ashdod Port. These ports serve the purpose of shipment of goods (Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs). Organizations Prominent organization in the country includes the PLO and the Israeli Defense forces. The Israeli Defense force is one of the highest funded military organizations in the world under the hands of the Israeli security forces. This organization was founded in 1948 after the Arab conflicts and since then has been active in various conflicts and wars involving the State of Israel. As a result of this the organization, that makes military service mandatory on almost all citizens, has been able to ensure a strong military position. The PLO, on the other hand, represents the Palestinians who have adopted an aggressive approach through this organization to gain their independence. People As stated before, Israel is the only country in the world having a majorly Jewish population. 75 percent of the population is Jewish, while 20 percent comprises of Muslims and the rest of the population mainly consists of immigrants from African states. These three groups in the country do not socialize well as the Jews and the Muslims are in constant conflict with each other. Israel is also known for its abnormal population growth rate in comparison with other developed countries. The population of Israel, currently 7.4 Million, has increased to ten times its original size as a result of immigrants of Jews from the world over. Since immigration in the country is quite high, the state has evolved into one of the most diverse population in terms of culture and languages. While Hebrew and Arabic are the official language of the state, most of the population communicated in English and Russian. Another popular languages in Israel include Spanish, German, Persian, French, Georgian, and diverse others. The majority of the population in Israel is young that is, the average age of the people is 29.5 years. In comparison with the OECD average, Israel’s population is younger than other developed nations and the state also has a higher life expectancy (Jewish Virtual Library). Weather Analysis of Israel The weather of Israel, like any other country, is dependant greatly on their physical regions and location. Since Israel has different topographical landscape in the state, the weather various. In the mountainous areas, the temperatures fluctuate a great deal with winter having snowfalls. The coastal areas of Israel including Tel Aviv have hot extended summers while the winters are cool and raining on account of the Mediterranean climate. The coastal areas of Israel house the largest amount of residents as 70 percent of the Israeli population resides in the region. This is because the coastal regions offer a better lifestyle. Similarly, the desert areas of Israel including the Negev Desert have long summers and cool winters with less rainfall when compared with the coastal area. In the desert regions, the people have to depend on drip irrigation method since water is a scarce resource in the region. In the desert areas, the people of Israel have developed solar panels that take advantage of the considerable amount of sunlight through solar panels. Since fertile land is quite uncommon in Israel, therefore agriculture is not the mainstay of the economy and the economy strived by focusing on developing a industrial infrastructure. Conclusion Though Israel is ranked among the developed nations of the world but its internal conflict has reduced the international ranking of the State. Israel has progressed towards peace reconciliation in the last few years but severe conflicts in the region make the process difficult. There seems to be no apparent solution to the problem in the near future. Work Cited Anderson, Margaret and Taylor, Howard, Sociology: Understanding a Diverse Society, Ohio: Cengage Learning, 2007, Print Human Development Report, 2010 Human Development Report, 2010, Retrieved from http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2010_EN_Table1.pdf [Accessed 28 January, 2013] Web Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Land: Infrastructure, 2010, Retrieved from http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts+About+Israel/Land/THE+LAND-+Infrastructure.htm [Accessed 28 January, 2013] Web Jewish Virtual Library, Latest Population Statistics for Israel, 2012, Retrieved from , [Accessed 28 January, 2013] Web Read More