Arab-Israeli War of 1948 - Essay Example

? Arab-Israel war of 1948 Arab-Israeli War of 1948 The Arab-Israel war was the first in a sequence of wars fought between the Jewish state and the Arab states since 1947. Avi (1998) observes that the Israelites refer to it as the war of independence. Avi further states that on November 29 1947, immediately after the United Nations announced its approval of a partition plan to resolve the Jewish-Arab conflicts, an uproar of violence escalated in the Middle East. Observers claim that the Arab nations were not satisfied with the UN ruling, which they criticized greatly on the basis of great imbalance on the partition. Most Arabs claimed that the partition plan did not adequately balance the two groups. More so the Arabs, whom they claimed to, have been the majority. The UN voted in favor of the partition, ruling that the British were to terminate their mandate in Palestine in order to pave way for the partition to be implemented. Avi (1998) continue to argue that by the beginning of the Second World War; most Arab countries were under the strong influence of their colonial masters. Most notably were British and the French groups. He point out that Jordan in particular remained under the strong influence of the British thus acquired arms supply and military training. The Arabs countries joined hand to form the Arab league, which was mandated to coordinate the policies between their states after independence. According to Gelber (2006), the UN partition plan was unanimously rejected by the Arab League of Nations. They declared holy war (jihad) upon all the Jews both in the Arab states and those living in Israel. He further claims that by 1940, most Jews had flown back to Israel from the Arab states fearing being persecuted. Consequently, he adds that the Arabs in Israel were encouraged to leave the country with a promise of returning after they purge the Jews land. Gelber (2006) estimates the number of Jews refugees running from the Arab states to be around one million (1,000,000), and that of Arabs from Israel to have been around three hundred and forty three thousand (343,000). War triggered a mass exodus from the Arab states. It is claimed that the Jews easily integrated in their mother country thus the claims that most Jews today are descendants of the Jews from the Arabic countries. However, it is also argued that, intentionally, the Arabs did not integrate their fellow Arabs who had escaped from Israel following war outbreak. During the initial stages of the Arab-Israel war, Avi (1998) observes that the British who were in control of Palestine, denied the Jews a chance to defend themselves. He further argues that this was done in many ways some of which were blocking those coming from other countries and denying them entry into Israel. Second, they outlawed Israel’s militia men as terrorists groups and denied them a chance to import weapons. In the mean time, it is argued that the British were supplying arms to the Arab countries and freely allowed them into Palestine. This is argued to have greatly compromised the Jewish ability to defend themselves against the Arabs. This continued until the British mandate was terminated. By February Benny (2008) observes that the Palestinian informed the UN Security Council that the partition plan could not be carried out without military aid. Because of the long process to come up with a defense force, the situation in Palestine got out of control. Benny claims that this resulted as disagreements raged the formation of the military forces without incorporating the support of the major powers. Consequently, war broke out in Palestine. He further states that the UN council blamed the Arabs for the war outbreak, with most of the western and European countries condemned Israel’s’ invasion by the Arabs. The British and the Palestine denied the UN Palestine Commission access to resolve the war crisis. Avi (1998) points out that, despite all the mounting pressure in Palestine, the UN did not suspend the partition plan. As a result, Israel declared her independence on 14 may 1948. This declaration as he further elaborates did not impress the Arabs league for they were opposed to the whole Palestine partitioning arguing that instead, Palestine be declared a United State. Through their secretary general, the Arab league was arguing that the state would facilitate a peaceful coexistence between the Jews and the Arabs, and would give them the freedom to exercise their Jewish cultural, social, and religious practices freely. British opposed the partition in favor of the Arabs fearing that Israel would become a communist state and the latter were opposed to communism. Gelber (2006) point out that, the UN finally resolved that Jerusalem would be an international city apart from both the Jewish and Arabs states as demarcated in the partition resolution. The Jewish state was fully surrounded by the Arabs hostility; there being no place to run to, they resolved to fight in defense of their beloved country to death. The outside world was outraged as Gelber (2006) argues, for they saw that the Jews-such a small vulnerable group- was poorly equipped and outrageously outnumbered to put up a reasonable defense against the Arabs autonomous and well equipped army. Observers point out that the Arabs planned to obliterate the Jews. Thus, Sayigh (2002) observes that the Arabs planned to dislodge the Israelites and return into their country some day. Gelber continues to argue that this reluctance by the Arabs states to intentionally fragment their Arabs refugees from Palestine was a result of the wrong hope their leaders gave them. He also points out that due to this predicament, the Arabs refugees generation started soaring; hence the current crisis of Arab refugees, totaling up to 4,000,000. As war broke out, a lot of blame game fueled the war. According to Gold (2007), lies about the Jews killing Arab civilian cropped up. Upon a close follow up, he further argues that the UN disputed these claims when male bodies disguised in women clothes were found among the victims. This was the extent into which the Arabs had planned to hit on the Jews. It was apparently agreed that the Jews were shooting back in self defense. Gold claims that the Arabs chose this strategy since they knew that the Jews would not harm women and children. Shortly after, the Arabs accused the Jews of massacre. Sayigh observes that four days after the Arabs outrageous accusation, they attacked a Jews convoy at Hadassah, killing medics, patients, and the director of the hospital on their way to the hospital. It is claimed that the number of casualties tallied 77 Jews. Observers claim that the Arabs were killing the Jews in discriminatively, even upon surrender. The Arabs merciless killings infuriated the Jews greatly. The Zionist leaders were deeply afraid of a Middle East re-enactment of the holocaust. In response, Rogan and Avi (2007) points out that they pursued enlarging their territories beyond the UN’s limits. This was to facilitate a comfortable settlement of the Jews from the neighboring Arab states. They also claim that the Jews aimed at adding more territories to their state thus giving it more defensible boundaries. It is also argued that they were targeting the Arabs in Israel, and expelling them; though they never necessarily killed them. On the other hand, the Arabs completely surrounded Palestine. They were getting much support from their fellow Arab community most notably from, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq. These oil rich country, were constantly receiving arms through the British government. They had the numbers and equipment to fight Israel to the ground. Rogan and Avi claims that, the element of strategy lacked on the Arabs side. This as opposed to the Jews better organization and proper prior planning they argue disadvantaged the Arabs thus the defeats. Avi argue that the Jordan battalion captured Jerusalem, ending over 200 years of Jewish continuous residence in the city. Observers argue that the town of Jerusalem was so significant to the Jews that they had to take it back whichever the cost. To achieve this, they argue that the Jews were to pass through numerous blockades set up by the Arab soldiers. Gold continues to support his claims that, in the mean time, both Hagannah and Yishuv coveted an arms acquisition campaign in the west. The response was positive, though, observers claims that, no country wanted to assume the responsibility. Rogan and Avi claims that the US supported the partition, but the state department refused to supply arms to either side for fear that the American weapons were going to kill either the Arabs or the Jews. Despite this, the Jews received arms via Czechoslovakia. They also argue that the Jews had homemade explosives that were so loud. It is argued that they used the latter to scare the Arabs as they awaited further shipments of more arms. Apart from the arms supply, Sayigh, states that, the Jews also received guerilla training from an American general with a Jewish ancestry. This was done with the authorization of the US defense department. He continues to strengthen his argument by stating that through the training that the Jewish solders received, they became much more organized and coordinated than their Arabs counter parts thus defeating them massively. These tactics helped them much as they were able to capture a number of cities back from the Arabs, thus preventing their captured colleagues from starving to death. Apart from Jordan, Sayigh claims that other Arab battalions lacked the war strategies to maneuver. This is claimed to have acted to the advantage of the Jewish solders. Jordan, he says, was only interested in certain areas of the Palestine, thus stuck to only those areas. It is claimed that Jordan’s army was well equipped and trained by the British soldiers. This is the reason they were able to successfully capture the heart of the Jewish people, Jerusalem. Apart from such disorganization, researcher also claims that the Arabs did not have superior weapons since; most of their arsenal had been captured by British during the world war two. All these factors played to the advantage of the Jews community. The Arabs states were significantly divided over the Palestine issue. Gelber (2006) informs that most of the Arab’s intention during the war was to take possession of the territories of Palestine into their own territories. The involved countries he informs, were, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. These conflicts of interests further weakened the Arabs countries. It is claimed that different Arabs countries sent different battalions. These battalions had divided loyalty, hence weakening the Arabs soldiers further. This played to the advantage of the Jewish solders. According to Rogan and Avi, the Arab League of Nations started accusing king Abdullah of negotiating with the Israelites. They further claim that the Arab league guided by Egypt plot to set up the all Gaza under the normal leadership of Mufti. This according to Avi, were attempts by the Arab league to frustrate king Abdullah’s ambition of federating the Arab regions with Jordan. Historians claim that king Farouk particularly feared that king Abdullah’s uprising might be perceived by the outside world as the de-facto Arab league leader thus, cloud his own leadership ambitions in the Arab world. Eventually, the UN intervened declaring a truce on May 29th, which lasted for a whole month. Folke Bernadotte and a team of military officers from some western countries were mandated to oversee the ceasefire. Sayigh observe that during that particular time, both the Arabs and the Israelite armies were positioning themselves for another bruising battle. Sayigh point out that, the Arabs were the first to violate the ceasefire agreement. He claims that they sent fresh units to the battle lines and occasionally attacking the Jews. The Jews also followed suit by also sending fresh unit to the battlefield. It is claimed that Bernadotte started addressing the issues of attaining a political settlement, which addressed issues like, Jews unwarranted expansion of their original boundaries and the issue of the Arab refugee. Bernadotte proposed having an Arab state alongside Israel state, then merging them to form a union between the two sovereign states. Sayigh claims that, the Arabs rejected both the proposal and the extension of the truce, while the Israelites rejected the proposal for fear of losing Jerusalem. War continued for the next 10 days before the second truce was declared on 18th, July to 15th, October 1948. Bernadotte second proposal to annex Palestine territories among the warring state was as well rejected. This time round, Bernadotte was assassinated by whom Gold claim to be the Israel Zionist militant group in Jerusalem, accusing him of being a British and Arabs puppet as well as threatening the existence of the emerging state of Israel. When diplomacy failed, the Arab-Israel war resumed. By then, Rogan and Avi state that, Israelite had acquired advanced weapons to counter the Arabs invasion. Their new advanced artillery included spit fire jet fighter and other superior guns from the Soviet Union to counter the Arab’s British weapons. Observers claim that, as war proceeded, most of the Arabic states surrendered. It is claimed that the British bases were severally assaulted by the Arabs thinking that they were under Israel’s control. They retaliated thus destroying a number of the Arabs’ jet fighters. The British solders eventually went back to their country. Observers claim that, that was a defining moment for the Jews, with many viewing it as the final blow to the Arab states. The Jews captured back most of their priory captured land from the Arabs. Scores of people were injured as war casualties swelled every time. By the end of the war, most historian estimate the death number of the Israelites to be around 6,373, amounting to one percent of the total Jewish population in Israel. Between, 8,000 to 15,000 Arabs also were reported dead. Economic wise, a rough estimate of about $500 million were spent by the Jewish new state, which was on a bleak prospect to a full recuperation following such an enormous economic loss. Benny points out that the war to destroy Israel failed as it ended with the Palestine having lesser territories than had earlier been partitioned under the initial UN plan. Critically looking at the two sides, one can draw a number of conclusions. The Arabs states were extremists who fought and killed the Jews indiscriminitively. As Avi argues, Arabs killed the Jews even upon surrender. This makes it clear that they were out to annihilate the Jews community just to gain territorial advantage. Unlike the Jews who were protecting their country, most of the Arab’s states lack a valid reason other than political score to engage the Jewish into a war. Looking at the way the Jews treated the Arabs, it becomes clear that, they wanted peace to prevail. Thus, they retreated from the Arabic cities they were conquering when the battle cooled off. They were also not killing the Arabs in their country but rather, expelled them. All these effort were to establish peace with the countries in the Middle East. Since then, numerous effort to foster peace, have been started. Starting with the Oslo peace process, this according to Avi has been broken numerously by the Palestine authority. According to Gelber, the anti Israel is a natural phenomena in the UN. He claims that 21 member states of the UN are the Arab countries; with 52 members representing the Islamic countries. He further points out that, following these huge representation figures, Israel lacked an opportunity for a just hearing in the UN. Historians claim that, UN was silent when the 58 Synagogues were destroyed in Jerusalem, and systematically desecrated the Israel cemetery at MT Olive. He also points out that the Jews were further prevented from accessing most of their temples and sacred places such the mountains. Historians warn that the PLOs charter calls for the destruction of the Israel. They also claim that in Fatah constitution that is adopted as the unofficial constitution of the Palestinian authority, also demands destruction of the Jewish state, in one of their clauses. The assumption of the Oslo peace accord bringing peace by improving the economy was like chasing a dream. Observers warn that the more economically empowered the Arabic countries become the more corrupt their leaders become, thus start funding terrorism networks, which hinders peace in the Middle East and between the Arabs and the Israelite. It is argued that economic empowerment of these countries can only make them powerful enemies, more so of the Israelites, thus encouraging them to pursue armed violence. It is argued that education can be used as a medium of promoting peace between nations. Sayigh points out that Israel teaches Arabic as one of the required languages in their education system. They teach about peaceful coexistence with their Arab neighbors. In contrast, he claims that, the Arabs textbooks portray the Jews in most derogatory terms. It is also claimed that they teach their children about suicide bombing, by planting seeds of hatred in them. It is also argued that most of the Arab states set up paramilitary camps to train their youths on how to fight Israel. All these efforts to undermine Israel are seen as the real obstacles towards attaining peace between the Arabs and the Israelites. Historians claim that every time Israel defends itself, they win; later withdrawing their troops from major cities they capture. This is argued as a sign of good faith in reaching peace in a war prone far east. Rogan and Avi argue that most of the Arab countries clinging to the monarchy system of governing, and with no democracy, peace is farfetched. The disintegration of the Arab states during the 1948 Arab-Israel war indicates their varied conflicting interests, which keeps them further disintegrated. Gelber argues that the Arabs have the capacity to address the Arab refugee crisis but, they like it to prevail, so that they can blame Israel over it. He also argues that the Arab’s refugee issue, lies entirely on the hands of the oil rich Arab countries, to either salvage or destroy the lives of their Muslim brothers. References Avi, S. (1988). The politics of partition. New York: Columbia University Press. Benny, M. (2008), 1948 A history of the first Arab-Israeli war. pg. 332 Gelber, Y. (2006). Palestine 1948. War, Escape and the Emergence of the Palestinian Refugee Problem. UK: Sussex Academic Press. Gold, D. (2007). The Fight for Jerusalem: Radical Islam, the West, and the Future of the Holy City. Washington D. C; Regnery Publishing. Rogan, E. L., & Avi, S. (2007). The War for Palestine: Rewriting the History of 1948. 2nd ed. USA: Cambridge University Press. Sadeh, E. (1997). Militarization and State Power in the Arab-Israeli Conflict: Case Study of Israel, 1948–1982. Australia: Universal Publishing. Sayigh, Y. (2000). Armed Struggle and the Search for State: The Palestinian National Movement, 1949–1993. New York: Oxford University Press. Read More