War and Peace in the Middle East - Essay Example

War and Peace in the Middle East" The conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis is deeply rooted. The current conflict can be d back a century when the Zionist movement was established. Even before the formation of the Israel state, immigrating Jews had a policy towards the native Palestinians. Israeli policy towards the Palestinians has changed over the years for a variety of reasons. War with bordering Arab countries, terrorism, the emergence of the PLO as a rallying point for Palestinians, and most importantly the views of the Israeli Prime Minister at different points in history are some of the more obvious reasons for the varying Israeli policy. The various wars and terrorism has made Israel adopt harsh security and military measures against the Palestinians. The emergence of the PLO as a rallying point for Palestinians gave Israel a chance to change their policy toward negotiations, instead of harsh security and military measures. Different Israeli Prime Ministers have created and implemented policy towards the Palestinians. Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin, and Ariel Sharon have all had unique views and policies toward the Palestinians. The Palestinians react to the policies, then the Israelis respond to their reactions through their elections of Prime Ministers. This paper will describe and evaluate Israeli policy towards Palestinians. It will also discuss why the PLO was an important factor in these policies changing, the reason for recognizing the PLO, and if recognizing and negotiating with the PLO changed the situation in Israel and the Occupied Territories. Before World War I, most of the Middle East, including Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire for around five hundred years. Due to the oppression of the Ottomans towards the residents of Palestine, the Palestinians fought for the Allies in World War I in the hopes of liberation (Fraser, 1980, p. 2). At the end of World War I, the British occupied Palestine under the British Mandate of Palestine. During the British Mandate of Palestine, Jews started immigrating into Palestine rapidly. From the beginning, the Jews had a policy against the native Palestinians. When the Jews started coming to Palestine, they began buying land and forming communities. However, due to persecution in their former countries, the Jews created close communities. This resulted in farms, industries, and businesses for Jews only. The Jews prohibited the employment of the Arabs, which upset the local population (Lesch, and Tschirgi, 1980, p. 51). The policy of “Jew only” communities in Palestine has continued to this day. Jews and Palestinians cannot marry, unless the Palestinian converts. Many Israelis feel that a “Jew only” nation is the only way for Israel to proceed. This leads to an official and unofficial policy of segregation toward the Palestinians. Arab and Israeli Wars 1948-1973 The British Mandate of Palestine ended after World War II on 15 May 1948. Israel declared its independence the day before. The British had planned for a two state solution, with a portion of Palestine going to the Palestinians and the other going to the Jews. The surrounding Arab countries did not feel that this was fair. In response, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt invaded the territory partitioned for the Arab state. This was the beginning of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) repelled their Arab neighbours. The results ended up with Israel extended its borders and ended up controlling all of the former British Palestine, except the West Bank and Gaza Strip (Smith, 2004, 198). This border is called the green line and is recognized internationally as Israel’s borders to this day. In 1956, Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal, closing it to Israeli shipping. Israel invaded Egypt all the way to the Canal. During the Suez Canal Crisis, Israel captured the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula. An uneasy truce was broken when Jordan signed a mutual defence pact with Egypt and Syria (The Jordanian Government (N.D.)). In 30 May 1967 the IDF launched a massive air strike on Jordan, Egypt, and Syria starting the Six Day War. In response to the Six Day War, Arab leaders met in Khartoum. These leaders decided to implement the following No recognition of the State of Israel. No peace with Israel. No negotiations with Israel. (The Jordanian Government (N.D.)). The Arab and Israeli leaders’ attitudes led to the War of Attrition and the Yom Kippur War in 1973. David Ben-Gurion was Prime Minister during 1948-1954 and then again in 1955-1963. 1948 Arab-Israeli War and Suez Canal Crisis, Ben-Gurion was Prime Minister. One of the policy Ben-Gurion created was that of expulsions of Palestinian after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War in communities considered a security risk toward the sovereignty of Israel (Flapan, 1987, p. 5). Ben-Gurion also created the policy of air lifting Jews from Arab countries, allowing them to become citizens of Israel. Jews from around the world are always welcomed into Israel to become citizens. This policy has caused the Israelis to dispute the “right of return” by Palestinians. The Israelis feel that if they can absorb numerous refugees, then their Arab neighbours should absorb the Palestinian refugee population. From Prime Minister Ben-Gurion to current Prime Minister Olmert, the policy has been to refuse Palestinians the right to return. The Arab and Israeli Wars caused more than casualties. The United Nations (1950) estimated border changes made around 711,000 Arab Palestinians refugees. Ben-Gurion’s policy also affected the refugee policy. This number has grown to over four million Palestinian refugees as of 31 December 2006 (UNRWA 2006). The following chart shows from which regions the refugees are from and the number of camps present in each area: Field of Operations Official Camps Registered families in camps Registered Refugees in Camps Registered Refugees Jordan 10 63,591 328,076 1,858,362 Lebanon 12 50,806 215,890 408,438 Syria 9 26,645 119,055 442,363 West Bank 19 39,895 186,479 722,302 Gaza Strip 8 93,074 478,272 1,016,964 Agency total 58 274,011 1,327,772 4,448,429 Figures as of 31 December 2006 (UNRWA 2006) Some refugees have lived in these refugee camps their whole lives. Their children and grandchildren are being raised in the refugee camps. The Palestinians are waiting for Israel to grant them the right of return to their homes. The problem is Israeli policy refuses the right of return. Terrorism In the 1970’s, realizing their Arab neighbours cannot defeat the IDF to liberate their homeland, the Palestinians began new tactics in the fight against the Israelis. Terrorism became a popular form of resistance that still exists today. Palestinian resistance is considered terrorism, because they target all Jews, not just the members of the IDF. The media also played a part in the effectiveness of terrorism. Every terrorist attack is shown worldwide through massive media attention. The horror of the depictions of terrorism gave the Palestinians the international attention they felt their cause needed to succeed. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) led by Yasser Arafat became the most popular Palestinian terrorist group. This group would evolve into much more than a mere terrorist group, however in the beginning the PLO was just a terrorist organization. In the 1970’s some of the PLO terrorists acts are as follows: The 1970 Avivim school bus massacre by Palestinian militants, killed nine children, three adults and crippled 19. In 1974 members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), another faction affiliated with the PLO, seized a school in Israel and killed a total of 26 students and adults and wounded over 70 in the Maalot massacre. (Ehrenfeld 2002) During these two attacks and the massacre of the 1974 Israeli Olympic wrestlers in Munich, the Prime Minster at the time, Golda Meir, had a policy of not recognizing or negotiation with terrorists. However, this tactic was not working. More and more Israelis were shedding their blood in terrorist attacks. As a result she lost the election in 1974 to Yitzhak Rabin. Prime Minister Rabin held office twice. During his first term in office, Rabin had a hard stance against terrorism. When a plane was hijacked by German and Palestinian terrorists and held in Entebbe, Rabin refused to negotiate. The terrorists let the entire group of hostages go, save for the Jews. Rabin had the IDF undertake Operation Thunderball. The IDF flew to Entebbe, killed the terrorists, and brought back all but a handful of the hostages alive. Despite this success, many other terrorist acts were killing Israelis. These terrorist acts led to Israel changing their minds about negotiation. Instead of military action alone, Israel decided to enact a policy of negotiation along with military action, not only with the Palestinians, but its Arab neighbours as well. When Rabin was elected Prime Minister for the second term in 1992, he was ready to negotiate with the Palestinians. Palestinian Authority With this new policy of negotiating, the Israelis agreed during the Camp David Accords to return the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt, with the exception of the Gaza Strip. The Gaza Strip would remain for a future Palestinian state. In 1994, Israel and Jordan signed a peace agreement (The Jordanian Government (N.D.)). In 1987, the First Intifada (uprising) began. The PLO was excluded from negotiations to resolve it unless it recognized Israel and renounced terrorism. In 1993, Israel and the PLO signed the Oslo Accords, and their Declaration of Principles, which, together with the Road Map for Peace, have been loosely used as the guidelines for Israeli-Palestinian relations. Yasser Arafat even recognized Israel’s right to exist. This was major change from the previous decade’s violence. Arafat realized that Israel was a reality that had to be dealt with. Rubin (2002) relates: Arafat was acting out of necessity to save the PLO and Palestinian cause, he had also fully grasped—and even became an enthusiastic advocate for—the idea of a transitional solution taking several years and stages to build confidence. Israel found a negotiating partner. They believed that Arafat could control Palestinian affairs. With the action of negotiating with the Israelis, the PLO emerged as a legitimate governmental representative for the Palestinian people. As part of the Oslo Accords, the PLO created the Palestinian National Authority (PA) to govern territory turned over by the Israelis. The PA became the government for the Palestinians. Between 1994 and 2000, Israel turned over certain cities like Bethlehem and Jericho to the PA, Gaza, and most of the West Bank. Although the PA was supposed to work with the Israelis to better Palestinians’ lives, corruption and violence defeated the purpose. The PA’s main flaw was the inability to stop terrorism and keep law in their controlled area. An example of this would be the future Prime Minister Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Temple Mount is holy to Jews and Muslims. Sharon wanted to assert his and every Jews right to visit the Temple Mount (Hockstader, 2000, p. 22A). Even though Arafat had approved the visit, a mob of youths tried to get past the Israeli security and threw rocks. One author writes: Even after he came back near the Wailing Wall under the hail of rocks, he remained calm. ‘I came here as one who believes in coexistence between Jews and Arabs," Sharon told the waiting reporters. "I believe that we can build and develop together. This was a peaceful visit. Is it an instigation for Israeli Jews to come to the Jewish peoples holiest site?’ (Bodansky, 2002, pp. 353-354) Riots broke out the next day. This visit set off the Second Intifada, which despite several ceasefires is continuing today. On October 12, two Israeli reservists entered Ramallah only to be arrested by the PA police (Feldman 2000). A Palestinian mob stormed the police station and beat the soldiers to death. Then they threw their mutilated bodies into the street. The killings were captured on video by an Italian TV crew. When Israelis saw the footage, they were outraged. The IDF launched retaliatory air strikes against the PA, which would become a pattern that is repeated up to this day. Ariel Sharon was elected Prime Minister. Prime Minister Sharon was a career military man, who retired as a General. He also had experience being the Israel’s Defense Minister. Sharon took a hard line against the Palestinians. In response to suicide bombers, Sharon authorized more military action. Over a hundred Israelis, mainly civilians, were killed in April 2002. This led to Sharon to ordered Operation Defensive Shield. The IDF took over Palestinian areas between March and May 2002. After being unable to stop tunnels from Egypt to the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Sharon put forth the plane of removing all Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip, leaving it for the Palestinians. This sounded good from a security point of view, but it angered conservative settlers. Sharon felt “If it doesnt provide security for the state of Israel now and in the future, I dont regard it as peace” (Schmemann 1996). Sharon created a policy to segregate Palestinians from Israelis, either territorially, military, or through negotiations. Evaluation of the Israeli Policy Today Israel’s policy towards Palestinians today is one of distrust. Security has become a major issue for Israel. All malls, shops, and public places have security guards to check bags. Palestinians have been regulated to the Gaza Strip or the West Bank. To enter pre-1967 borders is a nightmare. A concrete wall is being built between the West Bank and Israel. Sometimes Palestinians can pass into Israel, but many days they stand in line all day only to be turned back. This creates poverty, since the Palestinians cannot work in Israel or sell their commodities. In addition, most checkpoints divide Palestinian cities and areas. Curfews are also imposed by the IDF. This makes life hard on ordinary Palestinian citizens. Israelis citizens also have a hard life, never knowing when a terrorist attack will occur. Another Israeli policy is the destruction of suicide bomber’s family homes. Since Palestinians are crowded into refugee camps, this means tearing down houses where several generations live. The IDF does this as a deterrent, but it has little or no effect. Some terrorist groups give a suicide bomber’s family thousands of dollars. In a poor economy, sometimes this is the only option for families to survive. The Palestinians also believe to die in a Jihad (holy war) will make them martyrs. Targeted assassinations are also part of the IDF deterrent policy. High level Hamas leaders, or any other high ranking Palestinian with Jewish blood on their hands, are subjected to air strikes, or targeted for assassination by any means possible. Most air strikes are carried out in Gaza, but the Mossad, Israel’s spy agency, has committed assassinations worldwide. Israeli jails are also filled with Palestinian prisoners. Some are arrested on suspicion, others for actual crimes. However, Israeli prisoners do have hope. While checkpoints, the wall, assassinations, military excursions all over Israel and the Occupied Territories, and demolishing of the suicide bombers homes, Israel continues to negotiate with the Palestinians. These negotiations release hundreds of prisoners a year, depending on the negotiations. Months have gone by with cease fires. The problem lies with the inability of the Palestinians to control their terrorists and Israel’s zeal to attempt control over the whole situation. The Palestinians do not take Israeli measures lying down. Qassam rockets are routinely fired into Israeli territory, damaging property and killing civilians. When they can reach Israeli territory, Palestinians also use suicide bombers. These bombers target public areas to kill as many Jews as possible. Buses, malls, and restaurants are frequent targets. Violence is not limited to large acts. Daily knife attacks, murders, sabotage, and other acts are carried out against the Israelis. Palestinians use women and children as tools or cover to hurt Israelis, so the Israelis must keep their guard up against all Palestinians. The Israeli policies over the years have not worked. These policies have created a poor Palestinian community, which has limited choices. Poverty breeds dissatisfaction. Dissatisfaction creates hatred, which fuels the terrorism. Saman Khoury, a member of the Palestinian National Congress and the chief of the Peace and Democracy Forum declares “How necessary are 500 road blocks in the West Bank and Gaza ... It hurts commerce and people cant sell what they grow” (Sheridan 2007). If Palestinians cannot work or build lives for their families, terrorism is the only way. On the other hand, Israeli harsh security and military policies can be justified. Palestinian leaders, PLO, PA, Fatah, Hamas, or Al Asqa Brigade, cannot control terrorism. Violence has become a way of life. The PA, or any government elected by the Palestinians, has no law and order. Arafat was one of the highly respected leaders, but he could not stop the terrorism. A two state policy is desirable, but how can Israel trust a government unable to control their people? For Israel the policies are based on what is best for their citizens. Conclusion In the end, the Israeli security policy towards the Palestinians creates a vicious cycle. A policy of oppressive security measures creates more hostility and violence in the Palestinians. This hostility and violence cause the Israelis to use harsher measures against the Palestinians. Negotiations are both sides do not provide a lasting peace, because both groups have opposite views and the unwillingness to compromise. Israel will always distrust Palestinians. This leads to a policy of segregation. Even thought Israel has negotiated peace with its Arab neighbours, it will always have a policy of military strength, just in case. Until Palestinians can control terrorism, Israel will have a policy of security against them. The Israeli policies will also change depending upon the current Prime Minister. A willing Prime Minister can allow the Palestinians concessions, but a stricter Prime Minister can create oppressive policies that make the Palestinians hostile. The reality is Israelis want a Jewish state without violence and terrorism. This dictates Israeli policy. The Palestinians want a state where they can live and prosper, but are unable to control their terrorists. These problems are not being addressed directly. Israel demands the Palestinians to control terrorists, knowing that the Palestinians cannot. Palestinians demand prisoners and land concessions, knowing that Israel might or might not grant their demands. Negotiations need to be based on realities, not what one side wants. Once these realities are addressed, maybe peace can be achieved. Bibliography Bodansky, Y. (2002) The High Cost of Peace. UK: Prima Publishing. Feldman, S. The October Violence: An Interim Assessment, Jaffes Center for Strategic Studies, Strategic Assessment, Vol. 3 No. 3, November 2000. Flapan, S. (1987) The Palestinian Exodus of 1948. J. Palestine Studies. 16 (4), pp.3-26. Fraser, T.G. (1980) The Middle East: 1914-1979. St. Martin’s Press: New York. Golan, G. (2007) Israel and Palestine; Peace Plans and Proposals from Oslo to Disengagement. USA: Markus Wiener Publishers. Hockstader, L. (2000) Israeli’s Tour of Holy Site Ignites Riot; Palestinians Angered By Test of Sovereignty in Jerusalem’s Old City. 29 September 2000, p. A22. Washington Post.  The Jordanian Government. (N.D.) The Disaster of 1967. 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