Arab-Israel Conflicts - Assignment Example

 Arab-Israel Conflicts Effects of Palestine Mandate and the Policies of the Mandatory Authorities on Arab-Israel Conflict The conflicts between Palestine Arabs and Israel began in 1936 when the Palestinian protested against colonial British and Yishuv (Jews) over the increase in "Jewish immigration to the British colony in Palestine" (Owen 43). Palestine in quest for freedom started demonstrations and left their jobs while others shut down their businesses. This action had severe adverse effects on the Arab economy and left many people dead and others with severe injuries. Some Arabs were opposed to demonstrations and advocated for diplomatic solutions, but this resulted to splitting of the Arab community into two factions. Those who supported demonstrations were led by Husayni while those who advocated diplomacy were headed by Nashishibi (Quandt 37). The consequences of the rift between the Arab communities were outbreak of civil that caused massive killings between Arabs. The Palestine economy suffered greatly when Arabs started radicalization of Islam to fight against Jews and Palestine Christians for not supporting them to fight against Jews. Even young children were recruited and trained as jihadists (Quandt 86). The Palestinian soldiers were disorganized and, as a result they lost the battle to the Jewish soldiers who were very well organized. Following the Palestine civil war the British government became reluctant to liberate Palestine and even started taking precautions against the Palestine. For example, they banned political parties, imprisoned revolvers and restricted the freedom of the press. In 1947, Arabs rejected the United Nations General Assembly partition plan that had assigned the Palestine a state at Gaza strip while at the same time Arabs invaded the new state set for Israel although they did not succeed in their conquest (Owen 74). The result was the lack of any state for the Palestine while Israel continued building their state. Furthermore, the civil war among the Palestinians weakened their community hence they had to reconstruct it afterwards. The second conflict began in 1987 when Palestine felt they had enough of the Israel rule in Gaza. Arabs had a feeling that they had prepared themselves enough to resist the Israelites. However, Israel started imposing economic sanctions on Palestine in Gaza where they earned their livelihood and even banned the import of citrus from Arabs in Gaza (Owen 142). The Arabs at Jordan were denied right to vote while the economy started deteriorating. Once again Palestine Arabs were on each other as they blamed their colleagues for betraying them to the Israelites. Many Arabs were killed by their colleagues for collaborating with Israelites. Arabs were not ready for a diplomatic solution of the matter, and instead they opted for “holy wars” on Israelites (Quandt 92). The attack left many Palestine Arabs dead and others with severe injuries. The society was in total conflicts as Muslims fought against secular and Christian Palestine and Israelites. The worst happened in the year 2000 when Yasar Arafat led Palestine against Israel. Arafat had taken that decision when Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon, a thing that encouraged Arafat to attack Gaza and West Bank. Israelites killed thousands of Arabs and wounded several others. The war disrupted the peaceful talk scheduled by the international community to reconcile the warring groups (Owen 212). The conflicts further subdivided the Arabs as they started pursuing their colleagues who betrayed them to Israelites. For several occasions, Palestine has rejected peaceful talk with Israel on how Palestine can acquire state. At first they declined what was offered by the British government and lost the battle with Israel over the state. In the subsequent battles, Palestine has been on the losing end and has refused to have a diplomatic solution (Quandt 207). In the battles between Israel and Palestine the Palestine is always left n civil war as they blame their colleagues for collaborating with Israel. The end result has been a declaration of jihad that is using any means including suicide bombing. The Palestine intention to attain freedom by force has dismantled the diplomatic approaches that could have resolved the conflicts between these two communities (Owen 237). The Palestine success can be attained through collaboration with an international community instead of engaging in a civil war and jihads that will intensify the conflicts. Impact of the Gap between the Israel and Palestinian Narratives in Perpetuating the Israel-Palestinian Conflict The solution to the conflicts between Israel and Palestine has failed to reach an amicable solution for various reasons (Thompson 7). First, Palestinians have imposed preconditions that they believe Israelites must adhere to in order to have a peaceful solution. As part of the conditions, Palestine is demanding that Israel should accept that they are accountable for the expulsion of Palestinians from the Palestine land. The second condition is that Israel should accept a fair solution and let Palestinian refugees get back to “their land.” On the other hand, Israel is not ready to accept these preconditions hence the situation has perpetuated the conflicts between the two communities (Kelman 289). This response aims to explore the narrative issues that may have continued the conflicts between Israel and Palestine. The case of conflict between Israel and Palestine caused by inability to justice peacefully. The two communities are blaming each other for causing injustice on each other. The historical narratives are essential in this situation in order to establish the cause of conflicts and how justice can be attained peacefully (Thompson, 21). The main challenge is that if Israel accepts Palestine conditions then there will be no Israel state, and if they continue rejecting it there will be no state for Palestine. Therefore, considering the historical narratives of the two communities it appears the drift between the two communities is extended by the demand for peaceful justice (Kelman 292). What Palestinians consider as peaceful and just is impossible to attain from Israel because Israel believes that Palestine is to blame for the conflicts. The historical narrative of Israel argues that Israel community was scattered by their enemies in the ancient time and moved away from their land of which they had to reclaim (Thompson 34). The justification of the argument is the holocaust in which numerous Jews were killed in Europe. Therefore, Israel had right for their land after attaining her independence. Furthermore, the land was unoccupied and undeveloped until 19th century when Palestinians invaded their land. Another argument is that Palestine decline partition plan of 1947 and failure to recognize Israel existence was unjust. Palestine used Arabs to fight Israel with the intention to eliminate them completely. Therefore, had the Palestinians accepted the partition plan the conflicts would have ended (Kelman 294). Israelites claim that the preconditions set by Palestinians for peaceful justice are unattainable because they are meant to extinguish Jewish state. The Palestinian narrative argues that the conflicts between Israelite and Palestine were caused by Britain for giving Arab land to Jews. They claim that the establishment of Jewish community in the Arab land as per the partition plan was illegal because it resulted to Arab refugees. The war of resisting partition plan as justified for safeguarding their land against grabbers (Thompson 63). After all, Israelites had used force to take Arab land. In addition, Palestinians claim that Israel is entirely to blame for the conflicts and is the cause of Palestinians sufferings including expulsion of Palestinians from their land. In conclusion, the narrative of peace and justice between Israel and Palestine conflicts, it is apparent that Israel is against Palestine because they are convinced that Palestinians are to blame for the conflicts and injustices. On the other hand, Palestinians are blaming for failing to Israel for hindering peaceful delivery of justice. Furthermore, previous attempts to restore peace between these two communities have been unsuccessful because none is willing to accept responsibility. The belief each community has on each other has intensified the conflicts between the communities thus making it extremely difficult for mediators to come up with an amicable solution. Therefore, Israel and Palestinians narratives have made it difficult to solve the issues between the two communities. Each side has justifiable argument and solving the issue of one community will undermine the other community. Works Cited Owen, Roger. “The State, Power and the Politics in the Making of Modern Middle East.” Routledge, (2004). 1-279. Quandt, William, B. “The Peace Process: The American Diplomacy and Arab-Israeli Conflict Since 1967.” The University of California Press, (2001): 1-488. Kelman, Herbert, C. “The Israel-Palestinian Peace Process and Its Vicissitudes: insights From Attitude theory, (2007): 287-303. Retrieved on 4th April 2014 from http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/hckelman/files/Vicissitudes.pdf Thompson, Lucinda, J. “Sites of Struggle: Space, Power and Conflict in Jerusalem.” Keele University, (2009): 1-89 Read More