The Causes Of The Palestinian Israeli Conflict - Essay Example

Lecturer: What are the causes of the Palestinian Israeli conflict? Arguably, the long lasting Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the most salient conflict in the past 50 years. The conflict not only affects political processes in Israel and Palestine but also it affects political situation all over in the Middle East and has a huge impact on foreign policy strategies for the US, EU and other developing and developed countries across the globe. The conflict thus received considerable attention from scholars studying conflict and terrorism between the two countries (Caruso and Esteban 1; Ross 6). The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is mainly a dispute regarding the possession and control of territory referred to as the holy land, Palestine and Eretz Israel. Territory control evokes the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with powerful passion that involves identity, propriety of cultural together with religious claims and honor (Kapitan 494). Elements in both sides of the conflict consider control of the region as a way of securing cultural identities as well as the human rights of their own individual members, their continuous presence in the land, room for cultural appreciation and development and survival of their people as a distinct population (Waxman 76). Both sides of the conflict seek autonomy and the fact that they seek it in the same territory results in the conflict, a struggle that often turns deadly killing even the unarmed and innocent people (Allegra and Paolo 263). Majority of Israeli Jews together with their supporters are determined to create and uphold a Jewish state in Palestine with their dominant leaders endeavoring to extend the state to most of the territory. Therefore, after 1967, expansion into west bank ensured that either the Palestinian Arab population in the west bank moved to other parts or it was confined in isolated enclaves (Hallward 262). Violence in terms of overt physical assault, settlement building, expulsion, economic restrictions and structural violence of land confiscation have been the predominant ways of securing the Jewish end while Arab civilians are the principal victims (Kapitan 495). On the other hand, Palestinian Arabs retain deep desire to maintain or return to the territory where they were the predominant community in at least the past 1300 years. Therefore, Palestinian Arabs seek self-rule to protect their human rights and ensure they continue living in their land. After continuous diplomatic ideas and peaceful resistance failed to progress their quest, since they were the weak party, the Palestinians availed themselves to their strategies of violence in order to publicize their quest and enhance their community’s tenacity to resist (Yvroux and Jean-Paul 94). This brought the intervention of external parties making Israel to change its policies in the face of casualties among its civilians (Kapitan 495-6). The principle of self-determination has become a diplomatic stage for both Arabs and Jews who claim autonomy in Palestine. Zionists argue the 1917 Belfour declaration together with 1922 League of Nations permission for recognizing Palestine constitute appreciation of the Jewish right to autonomy in Palestine, a right which moreover grounds in historical and cultural links of Jews to the land. Arabs counter by arguing that those who actually owned and inhabited a territory for a long period have the right to self-determination in the land and in Palestine, thus this only means the Arab majority. Despite assurances before 1947 from Zionist leaders that Jews never had the intention of evicting Arabs out of their land and homes, Zionist political rhetoric in streets and exclusive policies regarding Jewish owned land brought to the surface other intentions. On the other hand, Palestinian Arabs requested for the establishment of democratically elected council and eventually establishment of an Arab state that emulated the successful countries across the borders (Kapitan 497). Expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians during the 1947-1949 war is a basis for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since the refugees never got the chance to return. Some Israelis argue that Palestinians should get help from Arab states instead of getting it from Israel, which is a Jewish state because fellow Arabs can easily absorb the refugees into their countries thus ending their livelihood as refugees; nevertheless, the Palestinians argue they possess the right of returning to their land (Nets-Zehngut 257). The divided Israeli society is another cause of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; for instance, Palestinian Arabs in Israel feel they are considered as second-class citizens since 100 Arab villages are never recognized; thus, they get few services, though pay taxes. Moreover, Arab Children get educated in separate schools that receive fewer funds compared to schools attended by Jewish-Israeli children; in addition, though Arabs can vote, their political parties are always left out of Israeli governments (Senker 4-7). Since Palestinians renewed their struggle for autonomy, things got tough for them since Israel used collective punishment to crash the resistance and punishing the community if Israel believed Palestinians attacked Israelis. Checkpoints and roadblocks split west Bank into separate clusters together with Gaza strip, which allows cutting off cities at will. Palestinian economy has been ruined and is another factor that contributes to the Israeli-Palestinian, since most of the Palestinians are refugees lining in cramped shacks and almost half of Palestinian workers are unemployed (Caruso and Evelina 1). A shocking 70% of Palestinians in Gaza and 55% in West Bank live below poverty line (Senker 8). Some groups in Palestine like Hamas and Islamic Jihad demand an Islamic state in Palestine, which present a challenge to Palestinian Authority, which does support their goals. A series of suicide bombing in 2002 involved Palestinians wearing explosives in crowded places in Israel thus blowing themselves up, which killed more than 100 Israelis and maimed others. In response, Israel attacked Palestinian cities in west bank shelling schools, clinics and offices with the objective of targeting terrorists who committed the atrocities in Israel; nevertheless, Palestinians considered it a crime against civilian population of Palestinians (Senker 8). After 1948 war between Israel and Arabs, the Palestinian aspect lost its perspective since Israel’s confrontation with neighboring Arab states took center stage. Palestinian largely became refugees in the Arab-Israeli conflict of what was known as anti-Israeli war. By late 1970s and early 1980s, a growing international consensus favored Palestinian right to statehood and in such circumstances Israeli settle with Palestinians would give way to the formation of separate Palestinian entity. With this stark reality, Israel resisted negotiations with the PLO and looked for alternative leadership willing to accept autonomy instead of statehood (Kumaraswamy and Kumaraswamyxiii). The signing of Oslo accords, the disintegration of Camp David II, the building of a separation barrier, unilateral Israeli withdrawal beyond the Gaza strip and the election and establishment of rival Palestinian government in West bank and Gaza strip are factors that contribute to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The recent changes affect possible and actual boundaries between Israel and Palestine political, geographical and social as well as the way the conflict is manifested. Moreover, the complex socio-political environment where both Israelis and Palestinians live is another factor in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The conflict is an international relations conflict; however, there is no Palestinian state and Israel never defined its borders. Subsets of both Israelis and Palestinians claim all of the land between river Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea and both seek to demonstrate their claim of the land by demography, history, renaming or religion (Abu-Nimer 556). Although West Bank often gets depicted as a coherent geographical entity, Oslo Accords created a system that divided west bank into areas A (controlled by Palestinians), B and C (controlled by Israeli military); which means majority of West bank remained in the control of Israel surrounding urban islands of Palestinian autonomy. Thus, this is a core issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Political, religious, ethnic and social diversity influences inter-communal relations both domestically and internationally with significant ramification on the on-going conflict; thus, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a result of social tension cause by diversity and uneven distribution of resources. Moreover, the construction of the separation barrier impoverished many Palestinians since the barrier prevented Palestinians from accessing their farms and market and the destruction of more than one million olive trees; thus, this contributes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Moreover, the partition of Palestine into two sovereign entities and the birth of Palestinian nation is widely disputed by Israel Jews. Works Cited Abu-Nimer, Mohammed. "Religious Leaders In The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: From Violent Incitement To Nonviolence Resistance." Peace & Change 36.4 (2011): 556-580. Allegra, Marco, and Paolo Napolitano. "Two States Or Not Two States? Leadership And Peace Making In The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict." Mediterranean Politics 16.2 (2011): 261-278. Caruso, Raul, and Esteban F. Klory. "Political Economy Studies On The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Introduction." Peace Economics, Peace Science, & Public Policy 18.2 (2012): 1-9. Caruso, Raul, and Evelina Gavrilovay. "Youth Unemployment, Terrorism And Political Violence, Evidence From The Israeli/Palestinian Conflict." Peace Economics, Peace Science, & Public Policy 18.2 (2012): 1-35. Hallward, Maia. "International Relations Scholarship, Academic Institutions And The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict." Cambridge Review Of International Affairs 23.2 (2010): 259-280. Kapitan, Tomis. "Violence And Self-Determination In The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict." Peace & Change 36.4 (2011): 494-526. Kumaraswamy, P R. The A to Z of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Lanham: Scarecrow Press, 2009. Print. Nets-Zehngut, Rafi. "The Passing Of Time And The Collective Memory Of Conflicts: The Case Of Israel And The 1948 Palestinian Exodus." Peace & Change 37.2 (2012): 253-285. Ross, Stewart. Causes and Consequences of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. London: Evans, 2004. Print. Senker, Cath. The Arab-Israeli Conflict. North Mankato, Minn: Smart Apple Media, 2004. Print. Waxman, Dov ‘From controversy to consensus: cultural conflict and the Israeli debate over territorial withdrawal’, Israel Studies, (2008) 13:2, 73 – 96 Yvroux, Chloe, and Jean-Paul Bord. "Representations Of The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict In France By Cognitive Mapping." Cartographic Journal 48.2 (2011): 92-99. Read More