The Israel Palestine onflict - Essay Example

INTRODUCTION The Israel Palestine conflict is one of the most complex issues of 20th century. It is concerned with human lives, their culture and moreover with their social status. This issue should not be taken as the one related only to the demarcation of boundaries, rather the restoration of peace and security. The dispute needs to be resolved by developing consensus between the parties. Violence in both the countries needs to be brought to an end because it costs nothing but innocent human lives. In order to make the world safer and free from terrorism, the role of big powers and UNO is inevitable. This paper delineates the root causes of Israel Palestine conflict, which includes the historical, political and socio-economic aspects of the dispute. It also delivers the reasons as to why this issue has not yet been resolved. Historical Conflict Since 1948 this dispute between the Jews and the Arabs over Palestine has largely been transformed into a fight between the states. Palestine vanished from the map after Israel occupation and as a result the Arab nationalists begun to stress on reoccupation of the land of Palestine, making it the topmost priority of every Arab nation. The Palestinian refugees which were the last living remnants of Palestine had also become permanent citizens of their respective states and many of them also became the Jordanian citizens in 1967. This conflict has become more intense over the time with the emergence of new world order and reticulation of relationships among the regions as well as great powers. Soon after the Britain's withdrawal from the Middle East, especially from Palestine after the end of the Second World War, the United States, the Soviet Union and the neighboring Arab countries entered into this conflict. This dispute between Israel and Palestine, apparently of political nature, has now turned out to be religious and ideological. It has not just remained a bone of contention between Israel and Palestine, but also between the Jews and the Arabs. Portugali asserts that "the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is thus not only political, but also very personal" (1993, p. xi). The current issue between Israel and Palestine is deeply rooted into the historical relationship between Muslims and Jews. The religious and social differences between both the communities have remained at the heart of the existing Israel-Palestine issue. Jews and Arabs both have their historical, social and moral claims over the land of Palestine. Even today, they have their religious and holy places in this land therefore none is willing to withdraw its claim over Palestine. They both need to work for the improvement of land in terms of peace, security and socio-economic growth. No one can deprive the right of others to live. There is only one way out, which is to live and let the other do the same. Neumann says that " it really does not matter who inhabited Palestine in the distant past; it would never give as a basis for deciding who should live there in the present" (2005, p69). It is because Israelis and Palestinians are not in the position to prove as to whom this land belongs to. The historical background of Israeli and Palestinians has badly affected both sides and now they aggressively tend to blame each other for what happened in the past as well as what is going on in the present. The history shows that they have reasonable claims over each other. Most important thing that needs to be known to both sides is that they both have a right to live. Palestinians must accept the existence of Israel and the Israelis must give the right of self-determination to the Palestinians in order to move forward in the peace negotiation process (Artz, 1997). Political Conflict Political aspect of the Israel-Palestine conflict is rather evident to the whole world. Politics seems to be something that has been encompassing this conflict for the last several decades. Israel wants its supremacy in the region and does not want its neighboring countries to become powerful. Its policy is to keep others in the position of restlessness and operates in the region on the basis of divide and rule policy, wherever it deems fit. It provides back up and support to different cultural and religious groups to challenge their environment and it has also been practicing the same in Lebanon with Maronites and in Iraq with Kurds. It has also resorted to threatening actions to get what it wanted in Iraq for its nuclear reactors in 1981. Similarly, Israel also wants the armed supremacy and its domination over the land of Palestine and does not want it to become an emergent state because considers it a big challenge for its own undisputed existence (Dowall, 1990). The political leadership of both Israel and Palestine has never focused entirely on mediation and resolution of dispute through peaceful measures. The point underlying the delay in conflict resolution is that both the sides have not yet been able to get at the main problem or the core issue. Whenever they are given the opportunity to resolve the issue bilaterally, they have failed to address the main issue and this is reason behind the failure of Accord I, Accord II, the Paris Protocol and Whe River Memorandum. They need to realize and resolve the core issues first rather than delaying them for the future. Any dialogue will not yield desired results until and unless they come to the real issue which is the only way this historical rivalry can come to an end and Israel and Palestine can attain the economic prosperity (Naqib, 2003). An important point in mentioning the political aspect of the conflict is that the direction of issue resolution apparently determines the success or failure of a political party in both the countries. The Palestinian and Israeli people prefer to vote for the parties that opt for aggressive actions against the acts of terrorism or oppression on the part of Palestine and Israel (Berrebi and Klor, 2006). Political parties in both the countries capitalize on the aggressive sentiments of masses for each other. This is the major reason as to why the political leadership in both the countries is mostly unconcerned with the resolution of conflict through peaceful negotiations. Although the Israel-Palestine conflict has its roots in the history of both the nations and communities, yet the major reason for non-resolution of the issue for such a long period of time has largely been political. Socio-Economic Conflict Apart from the fact that historical and political factors have had profound impact on the Israel-Palestine issue, it is also important to note that the aspect which aggravates the dispute happens to be the social differences between these two nations. Palestinians live as minority in the occupied region while the Israelis enjoy majority. The Israeli Palestinian conflict is based on social clash between the minority and majority. Generally speaking, majority exercises more rights, power, dominance, power to direct and control over public and private institutions, where as the minority has limited potency and confronts with more restrictions. Majority can also enforce its opinion over minority and bears the ability to change its views on various issues. The difference between these two groups of people may easily reflect that the individuals belonging to such groups will definitely have different manners of conflict-oriented behavior. The Palestinians who are in minority have fewer rights than the Israelis who are in majority (Suleiman, 2004). This is the fact that both these nations have never come closer to each other despite living together for a long time. The social, cultural and moral differences between both the societies have also led to aggravation of this issue. A study of these two communities demonstrates distinctiveness with respect to social behavior, traditions, customs and moral values. Israelis and Palestinians react differently to different situations. These differences between people have led to the uncompromising nature of Israel-Palestine conflict. It is because of these social and moral differences that people in both the countries have never been able to negotiate peacefully. The social dimension of Israel-Palestine issue suggests unwillingness on both the sides to accept each others' rights to live on the land of Palestine. The historical, political and social aspects of this conflict have badly affected the economies of both sides. Israel blames Palestinian Authority (PA) for the economic declination and considers that Palestinians are the biggest hurdle in the way of its economic prosperity. PA has failed to stop Hamas from attacking Israel which is still determined to keep Israelis out of their territories. It has been showing significant aggression towards Israel due to the fact that Israel has closed its border with Palestine, the effects of which is definitely appearing in the form of unemployment, unstable economy and trade deficit. Palestinian Authority even though condemns the Hamas activities, nevertheless throws the responsibility of its economic backwardness on the shoulders of Israel. The agreements and accords so far signed by the Israel and PA have been useless and shown no significant results. Palestine has been facing the massive economic declination; the unemployment rate has been rising day by day and has now reached up to 50 per cent. The rate of the people living below poverty line is also above 50% which is the grass root of terrorism (Naqib, 2003). The fact that is evident from the current scenario is that this territorial dispute is no longer political, rather, it is taking the form of religious rivalry and a cultural dispute, which seems far away from getting over. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is considered to be a mere territorial dispute, but in a larger sense it also lets in the other bigger issues including the elements of identity, community and nationhood etc. This is not a battle between two nations fighting over a piece of land but is also for their separate identity and survival in the world as independent nations. Jewish and Arabs are two different nations. Their history shows that they have never been in agreement at any point of time because they both are very keen about their religions and have zero tolerance for each other. Palestinians living in Israel as its citizen should be given equal opportunities and the same applies to the Jews living in Palestine. There should be same number of opportunities for everyone, irrespective of their religion and cast, the same jobs and health opportunities. Hulsman also points out that "the Israelis must grant full equality of citizenship to the Palestinian Arab minority with in Israel, and the Palestinians must move to create a genuine modern democratic state"(2006, p48). Though in Israel the Palestinians are in minority, they should be treated equally and discrimination should not be shown in any way to make them realize that are also the same part of the society. On the other hand, the Palestinians should move towards the real democracy and should reject the extremist forces by using the power to vote. Palestinians require sincere leaders who could take them in the right direction because corrupt administration can lead a country toward socio-economic crises whereas sincere and devoting leadership can take a country towards development and prosperity. CONCLUSION Israel Palestine is one of the devastating conflicts that put a question mark on the world peace. This paper illuminates the major historical, political and social aspects of this dispute and presents the major reasons as to why the conflict has seen no ultimate resolution over such a long time. This conflict can be resolved if the core issues are taken as the priority of the talks. The economic growth of both sides can only be possible if appropriate and relevant peace measures are taken to settle the core issues. The Israel Palestine conflict is political as well as historical and social which has been going on for last eight or nine decades and these are the factors which have proved to be hurdles in the way of getting a solution. The religious and political extremist parties in both the countries are the barriers in the way of resolution of this conflict. The powerful countries can play a central role in solving this issue by developing consensus between them rather favoring one party. Apparently both sides are at fault; Palestinians through terrorism (may be the freedom fighting for them), whereas Israelis through oppression. Therefore, proper mediation should go a long way in bringing both the parties to an agreeable solution. History proves that war is not the ultimate solution of any dispute but it gives birth to other complex issues and many times takes the countries towards deadlock. Thus, dialogues and peace negotiations are the only ways to resolve the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Reference List Artz, D.E. (1997). Refugees into Citizens: Palestinians and the End of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Council on Foreign Relations Press: New York Berrebi, C. and Klor, E.F. (2006). On Terrorism and Electoral Outcome: Theory and Evidence from the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Journal of conflict resolution, 50(6), pp. 899-925 Dowall, M. (1990). Palestine and Israel: The Uprising and Beyond. University of California Press: Los Angeles Hulsman, J.C. (2006). Grasping the Nettle: An Ethical Realist Approach to the Middle East. National Interest, 86, pp. 43-49 Naqib, F.M. (2003). Economic Aspects of the Palestinian--Israeli Conflict: the Collapse of the Oslo Accord. Journal of International Development, 15(4), pp. 499-512 Neumann, M. (2005). The Case against Israel. M. AK Press: California Portugali, J. (1993). Implicate Relations Society and Space in Israeli - Palestinian Conflict. Kluwer Academic Pub: New York Suleiman, R. (2004). Planned Encounter between Jewish and Palestinian Israelis: A social- Psychological Perspective. Journal of Social Issues, 60(2), pp. 323-337 Read More