The conflict in the Middle East - Essay Example

Teacher: due: One of the complex issues in the world today and of interest to both enemy and foe as well as the rest of the world is the conflict in the Middle East. This conflict pits two sovereign states and this is Israel and the Palestinian state. Of huge importance is this conflict that leaders of the major world economies have been for many years trying to see to it that a conclusive solution is found once and for all. But to date peace amongst these two neighbors seems elusive even though there are frequent attempts to bring the warring parties to a round table for negotiations. The American- Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (2013), puts the number of Jews killed at 24,841 and that of Palestinians killed at 90,785. This paper will thus be looking at the global position of the Middle East, the two warring states (Israel and Palestine), nature and history of the conflict, cost of the war, current state of the conflict, role of leaders, impact of the conflict, and that of religion in this conflict. The Middle East is a location in the east of the world map and it can also be said to comprise Western Asia. This is a region starting from the northeastern part of Africa to southwestern Asia and southeastern Europe (Mason 31).Several ethnic groups inhabit this area with the largest group being the Arab with Jews, Palestinians, Kurds, and Persians among others being the small ethnic groupings. In spite of being neighbors the two states are in a constant war mode that is detrimental to the populations in both states. Interestingly, part of the Palestinian state is located on the southwest of Israel (Gaza) and the other part is located east of Israel (west Bank). This therefore means that both Israel and Palestinian Gaza have access to the Mediterranean Sea and both share borders with Jordan and Egypt. Due to the severity of the conflict and the effect it has had on its neighbors the international community has become concerned and in some instances got sucked in the conflict. International relations then come into play here because the whole of humanity cannot sit down and watch while the situation gets out of hand. McGowan (2007 13) defines international relations as the study of how authority or influence, is used to plan and manage relations between the countries worldwide and how it is used to the creation, maintenance and changing of the world order system. Similarly, international relations are concerned with how countries in the world relate to each other and the impact of that relation and whether it is beneficial or destructive. In essence international relation is meant to bring mutual cooperation amongst countries. Before we go further we need to know in a nutshell the history and the nature of Israeli Palestinian conflict. This conflict began in the late 19th century, but the conflict turned into a nasty during the early 1990s with both sides employing the use of artillery that resulted in many deaths from both sides. Consequently as the aggression increased so did the human suffering and this definitely caught the attention of the world thus the need to find a lasting solution to the issue. Historical accounts indicate that the Jews were displaced from the land which they were occupying formerly known a Canaan through continuous conflict with its neighbors. During the 14th century, the Ottoman Empire had conquered the whole of the Middle East. Thus all the peoples of this region came under the Ottoman rule and during the First World War the Ottomans sided with the Germans while on the other hand the British supported an Arab uprising against the Ottomans. The British did this with the promise that they were then going to give the Arabs independence and thus self rule. Of importance to note at this point is that the British also promised to give the Jews who were scattered the world over a homeland in the Palestine. After the war, a declaration known as the Belfour declaration was signed by the British foreign secretary Arthur Balfour. The declaration stated its support for the creation in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. This was in November, 1917(American Documentary, 1). I 1918, the British gained control over the area of Palestine from the Ottoman rulers and the area was subsequently known as the British-mandate Palestine and the rulers now had control over the Arabs and Jews living in the land. On November 29, 1947, the United Nations general assembly resolution 181 recommended the partition of the British-mandate into a Jewish and an Arab state (American Documentary 2). Apparently the resolution was accepted by the Jews but rejected by Arabs in both the Palestine and the Arab states and as a result fighting broke out with the Palestinians claiming that the proposal was not in the best interest of both the Jews and Arabs and thus rejected it. Nevertheless, the two states were created and in 1948, Zionist leaders create the state of Israel and immediately the British troops left fighting erupted between the Jews and its Arab neighbors (Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2013). Therefore it can be safely said that conflict began immediately after the creation of the two states and there are a number of factors that led to the break out of this conflict and these reasons are there up to this day. The main reason as to the cause of the conflict is a dispute over the land in which the two states are settled. The two states believe that the land was given to them by God and the Jews back their claim by citing historical accounts from the bible. Thus several hardliners continue to fight because they do not want to abide by the UN resolution and want to remain in control of the whole land. Another reason as to the never ending conflict between the two states is the Israeli military occupation of the Gaza strip, west bank and east Jerusalem (Tabarani, 186-189). The Israeli state especially after the six-day war assumed a superior power in the Middle East because of their overwhelming success. They thus began acting like a bully and this was received with constant resistance by the Palestinians and other Arab states. As a result of the military occupation the Palestinians resorted to violence acts to express their discontent and attempt to drive the occupying forces out of their land. In reaction to this, Israel again responds in violence and in many instances the Palestinians are subdued by the Israeli military might. Other reasons for the conflict include, claims by Israel that Palestine is backing terrorists organizations against it, Israeli settlement policy, rocket attacks at Israel from Palestine, disputes concerning Jerusalem and water resources. There have been various attempts by world leaders at bringing the situation under control. Notable is the fact that the US has been the mediator of choice in the Israeli- Palestinian conflict (Crocker 483). The US presidents and their foreign secretaries have been at the fore front of negotiating for a peaceful end to these problems. Several attempts at negotiations have been done and in most cases they bear minimal fruit. There was the Oslo accord in 1993 and it involved the Palestine Liberation Leader Yasser Arafat and Israel’s Yitzhak Rabin who made an attempt at finding peace by agreeing to a framework to eventually lead to peace (Crocker 539. The main result of the accord was Arafat admitting the right of Israel to exist as a state and Israel committing itself to withdrawing from the Palestinian territories. The second attempt at sorting this issue was the Camp David Summit (20002), in which the then US president Bill Clinton brought together Israeli Prime minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat but it bore no fruit. Several organizations or parties having military capabilities have been formed and they front the cause of Palestine. Hamas is one of them and it was founded in 1987 sheikh Ahmed Yassin among others. Another is the Fatah (PLO) which is a political organization that also has military capabilities and was founded in the late 1950s by Yasser Arafat and Khalil al- Wazir. The impact of the Israeli – Palestinian conflict like in any other war is severe. Economic impact is that both countries are spending heavily on its military operations, and the war definitely impacts on the trade of both countries. The refugee issue is there and it also has a negative economic impact on both countries (Newman, 173-175). Social order is also disrupted as a result of constant bombardments on either side and this leads problems within the society as any efforts at progress are hampered. Death is also another impact and populations from both sides are affected. In conclusion, we note that the conflict among these two states is historical and started years back and continue to progress. There are several reasons that created this conflict which have had negative impacts on populations of both countries, their economies as well as the social order. Numerous attempts have been made by world leaders at bringing this situation under control but results have not as yet been positive Works Cited. American documentary, Inc. History of the Palestinian Israeli conflict. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/pov/pdf/promiese/promises-timeline.pdf on 11/5/2013 Crocker, Chester, A., Hampson, Fen , Osler,. Aal, Pamela, R. Herding Cats: Multiparty Mediation in a Complex World. Washington DC: US Institute of Peace Process, 1999 Crocker, Chester, A., Hampson, Fen , Osler,. Aal, Pamela, R. Leashing the Dogs of War: Conflict Management in a Divided World. Washington DC: US institute of Peace Process, 2007 Encyclopedia Britannica. Fatah. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/202423/Fatah on 11/5/2011 Jewish Virtual library. Total Casualties, Arab- Israeli Conflict retrieved from http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/casualtiestotal.html on 11/5/2013 Israel Ministry of Foreign ffairs. UN General Assembly Resolution 181. Retrieved from http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/foreignpolicy/peace/guide/pages/un%20general%20assembly%20resolution%20181.aspx on 11/5/2013 Mason, Paul. Israel and Palestine. Tarry town NY: Marshall Cavendish 2008 Mc Gowan, Patrick, J., Cornelissen, Scarlett, Nel, Philip. Power, Wealth and Global Equity: An International Relations Textbook for Africa. Landsowne:UCT Press,2007 Newman, David,. Peters, Joel. New York: routledge. Routledge Handbook on the Israeli- Palestine conflict,2013 Tabarani, Gabriel, G. Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: From Balfour Promise to Bush Declaration: The Complications And The Road for A Lasting Peace. Bloomington”AuthorHouse, 2008 Read More