A Jewish State in the Middle East - Assignment Example

1 A Jewish in the Middle East remains a divisive and controversial 2008 is the 60 year anniversary of the establishment of the modernIsraeli state and while Jews around the world celebrate its birth, others not only decry the policies of the Israeli government but also challenge the very existence of the state itself. Condemned by its neighbors as an unnatural colonial implant, Israel is frequently subject to international sanction and scrutiny. The status of the Palestinian people, seemingly on the cusp of statehood not long ago, remains increasingly complex and forever unresolved. The Palestinian community has also recently been fractured by the Fatah/Hamas split, adding a new and potentially explosive dynamic to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Despite decades of attempts at resolving this conflict, the protagonists are at an impasse and without a resolution in sight. The Arab-Israeli conflict remains one of the most enduring and complex disputes of modern times. The origins of the dispute between Israelis and Palestinians are important today because two key issues between the warring parties remain largely unchanged since the late ninetieth century. For more than one hundred years these two fundamental issues have driven, contributed to, and exacerbated the protracted nature of this conflict. The first major issue is territorial and the question of land. At its very core, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a conflict over land; a tiny sliver of land, semi arid and dry, bordering the Mediterranean Sea and roughly the size of New Jersey (Central Intelligence Agency 2008). The second major issue is the juxtaposition of Israeli and Palestinian identities; competing nationalisms which were at odds decades before the establishment of the modern state of Israel. It is these two core issues, disputed land and competing nationalisms, which are fundamental to the conflict and which must be tackled with vigor if one seeks to resolve the crisis. Any solution aimed at resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict must address the issues of land, competing nationalisms (a Palestinian state must be established), the status of Jerusalem must be resolved and Israel must be guaranteed an existence of peace and security. Only when each of these highly complex issues is addressed will we see a resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict (Gelvin 2005). #2 The origins of US involvement in the Middle East predate the Second World War and go as far back as the Paris Peace Accords and Treaty of Versailles in 1919, following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Motivated by an understanding of the geopolitical and strategic significance of the region, motivations for US involvement over the years have changed significantly. Safeguarding the Suez Canal was an early motivating factor for American involvement; oil and ensuring a plentiful supply of it was also an important early concern for US involvement. Protecting the interests of Israel, especially after the Six Day War in 1967, has motivated US foreign policy for more than four decades while containing Iran and the spread of Shi’a fundamentalism has been an overarching concern of various American Administrations since the Iranian revolution in 1979 and ensuing US hostage crisis. Despite a desire to contain Iranian ambitions and the spread of dogmatic Shi’a fundamentalism, the United States has made a conscious decision to cozy up to the ideologically extreme Wahhabi (Sunni) state of Saudi Arabia. Understanding the importance of the region to the world, economically and politically, yes the United States made the right decision in getting involved in the region (Khater 2004; Gelvin 2005). Despite this, the United States has made a variety of basic mistakes including involvement in the overthrow of the democratically elected Mohammed Mosaddeq in Iran and installation of the autocratic Shah – a rallying point for extremists today – and the decision to become allies with countries who commit gross human rights violations (Saudi Arabia naturally comes to mind). Additionally, unyielding support for the state of Israel is perhaps also another basic mistake in the predominately Arab Middle East (Khater 2004). #3 The modern Turkish state was based on the principles of secularization and a firm separation between church and state. A revolutionary statesman and founder of the modern Turkish state, Ataturk, envisioned a modern republic in the lands of the former Ottoman Empire and looked towards the West for his inspiration. As a predominately Muslim society which has resisted temptation to allow Islam into public life, Turkey is presently vying for European Union citizenship based upon the joint principles of modernization, westernization and entrenched secularization (Khater 2004). As a developing country with consistent economic growth, a secular tradition which has become entrenched since the days of the Ottoman collapse and a focus towards progress and engagement with the West, Turkey is a model for developing nations to follow. Established in the wake of the Ottoman collapse, Turkey firmly resolved to separate church (mosque) and state and has created a competitive democracy in a part of the world which was once ruled by autocratic sultans for centuries. For Turkey, modernization and Westernization have gone hand in hand and this country has successfully grown and resisted calls for the encroachment of Islam into public life. Additionally, Turkey may soon become the newest member of the European Union, thus providing another model for developing countries to follow (Khater 2004). #4 A variety of theoretical paradigms have grown out of the Middle East in recent times. Arab nationalism and Islamism are political and social theories which seek to address the particular concerns facing the Arab world. Islam is a world religion which is one of the three great monotheistic religions and has its heart in the Middle East. While each is important, Arab nationalism is waning and Islamism remains a potent force in the post-Cold War world (Khater 2004). Arab nationalism was an ideology which grew out of the new states of the Arab world following the demise of the Ottoman Empire and was articulated first by Gamel Abd Nasser in Egypt. The basic premise behind Arab nationalism is that the Middle East has been artificially divided and that the Arab people constitute one nation. In a modern context, Ba’athism is the last true Arab nationalist ideology and the Ba’th party under Saddam Hussein was in power in Iraq prior to his overthrow and remains the dominant political party in Syria under Bashar al Asad (Khater 2004). Islam began in the Middle East around 600 A.D. and was shepherded into this world by the Prophet Mohammad. Seeking to address the plight of the people of the Middle East around the seventh century A.D. and growing out of Judaism and Christianity, Islam has now become a world religion with more than 1 billion adherents worldwide. The three most important sites for Islam, Mecca, Medina and the Dome of the Rock, are all in the Middle East and understanding Islam is extremely important for understanding the Middle East today. There are two main streams or branches of Islam, Sunni and Shi’a, and the divisions between the two sects is centuries old. Sunni Islam is the more prominent sect while Shi’a account for between 15-20% of the total Muslim world (The Koran 2004; Gelvin 2005; Khater 2004). Islamism is an ideology which stresses Islam as a guiding political force. Islamism has frequently come into conflict with secular ideologies and regimes, including in Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian territories. Islamism has been tied to violence and terrorism and remains an important threat to the stability of the region. The present power in the semi-autonomous Gaza Strip Hamas, self-identifies as an Islamist organization (Khater 2004). #5 The Muslim resurgence in the past sixty years has been caused by persistent underdevelopment in the Middle East, a legacy of authoritarian rule and rising expectations in a global world. The West has many difficulties with Islam and many in the Western world, before 9/11 as well as after, have little understanding the faith and subsequently of its adherents. The result has been an upsurge in grievances in the Islamic world and the appropriation of terror as a tactic. Accordingly, Terrorism has been used a political tool by Islamists to enact change and the use of this option predates modern incantations of terror in the Western world (Huntington 2005). Islam is said to provide justification for terror and terrorist activities and many terrorists cite the Koran when committing acts of violence. In spite of the fact that Islam is inherently a peaceful religion which promotes the peaceful co-existence of people of different faiths (dhimmi status for example), people have manipulated Muslim doctrine and have reinterpreted the faith for their own political ambition. Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas and a variety of global organizations which espoused violence as a political tool justify their actions using Islam. The term jihad is now known universally as a call to arms to the Muslim faithful but this term has been misappropriated and corrupted by Islamic terrorists seeking to impose their will through force. Terrorism has been appropriated as a political tool and used by a variety of Islamist organizations globally and remains a potent threat to geopolitical security and world peace (Gelvin 2005; Khater 2004; Huntington 2005). References Central Intelligence Agency, 2008. Israel. Retrieved November 28, 2008, from The World Fact Book https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/is.html Gelvin, J.L. (2005). The modern middle east: a history. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516789-9 Huntington, S.P. (1996). The clash of civilizations and the remaking of world order. New York: Simon & Schuster. Khater, A.F. (Ed.) (2004). Sources in the history of the modern middle east. New York: Houghton-Mifflin. The Koran. (2004). (N.J. Dawood, Trans.).New York: Penguin Classics. ISBN 0-14-0449205 Read More