What are the roots of the Arab-Israeli Conflict - Essay Example

ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT: A BRIEF OVERVIEW Introduction The middle-east crisis is thousands of years old conflict from where three oldest and major religions of Christianity, Islam and Zionism originated. The land with an area of about 10,000 square miles east of Mediterranean Sea has been the most crucial factor affecting foreign policies of all major countries of the world. The ownership, demography and area have greatly fluctuated during this long history. Present Israel extends from Jordan river to the Mediterranean, with Egypt in the south, Lebanon in the north and Jordan in the east. The identified borders are about 78% while the rest is land occupied during operations like 6-day war of 1967 and some autonomous Palestinian regions. Gaza strip is another stretch of 141 square miles south of Israel controlled by Palestinian Authority. (Iseroff, 2008) Historical Background Historically speaking, Israel came into existence starting from Abraham, 1272 BC and Jews claim their dominion over the land for about 1000 years randomly while continuous presence during past 3300 years. Romans conquered Jerusalem over 2000 years back and expelled the Jewish to Diaspora. The land has thereafter been ruled by the Romans, Islamic and Christian campaigners, by the Ottomans and British Empires. . Retrieved from: Arab-Israeli Conflict: Basic Facts The present crisis involving small land of Israel as described above involves Israel and 24 Arab nations as shown in the map below. The genesis of this modern history can be traced back to massive immigration of Jews from Arab countries and Europe during first 3-4 decades of the 20th century As per Jewish people, myth of Palestine nation was created during this phase of immigration from across the world. Historically, there has never been any Palestine nation. Palestine initially included territories of Israel and Jordan. Turkey transferred all claims to Palestine under Lausanne agreement of 1923 to mandatory power Britain while Britain allocated nearly 80% Palestine to Transjordan. After turbulent phases of first and second world wars, UN partitioned remaining land into Palestine and Israel. Arabs in the area began identifying as Palestinians only in 1967. (Retrieved:http://www.science.co.il/arab-israeli-conflict.asp). On the other hand, Iseroff, 2008, mentions that Sykes Picot Agreement of 1916 planned to divide Ottomans holdings between France and Britain after the war. The revolt by Arabs led by T.E. Lawrence led to partial Arab self-determination. However, many feel that Arabs had been short-changed by British promise to give Syria to French and Palestine as Jewish homeland. British denied any such promise that included Palestine in the area promised to Arabs. The conflict thus began. In November 1917, The Balfour Declaration highlighted British support for creation of Jewish homeland in Palestine without disturbing civil and religious rights of non-Jewish communities in the region. The Arabs opposed the idea for fear of dispossession by Zionists or the fear of living under Jewish rules. The British wanted to establish regions of self governing Palestine as well as Israel. However, while Israel feared Arab majority in such councils, Arabs displayed their displeasure by non-participation and instigating pogroms and rioting during 1920s. The violence led to formation of Hagannah Jewish self defence organisation in 1920. Future immigration of Jews into these territories led to protests from the Arabs against Jewish settlers despite direct benefit due to investment and infrastructural development in the region. Religious aspects like false rumours of synagogue on Wailing Wall or Jewish encroachment of Muslim rule over temple mount compound further fuelled rioting leading to evacuation of Jewish people from Hebron. An attempt to resolve situation through 1929 Passfield white paper to stop further immigration by British was however opposed vehemently and immigration of Jewish people continued unabated and in fact swelled during 1930s due to Jewish persecution well before Nazism came into existence. (Iseroff, 2008) Arab revolt of 1936 led to widespread killing of Jews and Arabs opposed to Husseini family and immigration of Jews out of Hebron. The 1939 British response in the form of a white paper to riots was restricting immigration to 15000 Jews per year for five years into Palestine. Simultaneously, the rioters were dealt with cruelly leading to Husseini fleeing to Iraq and subsequently joining Axis forces during II world war. Holocaust. During World War II, holocaust by Nazis to exterminate Jews from Europe led to large scale Illegal immigration of Nazis from Europe to Palestine. Attempts by British to implement white paper and Nazis to exterminate led to both being viewed as foes by the Zionists. Biltmore Declaration of 1942 confirmed this aspect and led to murder of Lord Moyne by Jew undergrounds in Cairo, who forcefully tried to implement anti-immigration white paper. This also led to Churchill's disapproval and associated hardening of stand by the British against immigration, who now had overt support from the USA. Some underground operatives were turned over to British for interrogation to prevent British action against their interests after the war. The holocaust had cost lives of 6 million Jews essentially due to no country giving them shelter. Zionists prevailed upon world community for easing immigration norms and with assistance from USA in particular, prevailed upon the British for immediate immigration of 1,00,000 Jews into Palestine. Arabs opposed any such move vehemently. Trapped in a quagmire, the British found the situation going out of hands and sought mandate of the United Nations on the subject. Division. The United Nations Special Commission on Palestine divided the country into two parts, Arab state of Palestine and Israel on Nov 29, 1947 as UN Resolution (GA 471). The Jewish accepted the resolution but Arabs rejected it. The Arab league declared a war to free Palestinians from the Jews. They declared a Jihad, the holy war against Jews and vowed to purge out all the Jews from these regions. Violence, pogroms and underground operations against Israel formed essential part of the 1948 Israel's war of independence and subsequent periods. About a million Jews from Arab countries fled into Israel during 40s and 50s to avoid persecution and extermination. The fighting in the region took place on territory which was to be Palestine or Jerusalem. Thus Israel was not fighting for survival but to safeguard invasion and expand its borders into Palestine. Since Israeli Army was better equipped due to its alliance with Allies during the war and Arabs were fighting an uncoordinated, cross-purposed and disorganised war leading to serious setbacks to Arabs and territorial gains for Israel. Finally, during Armistice treaty in 1949, the Palestinian state had virtually disappeared, with Israel and Jordan occupying its territory and Egypt controlling the Gaza strip. Jerusalem was shared by Israel and Jordan and Israel controlled 78% of Palestine and 7 million Palestinians became refugees. Various theories have emanated about such refugee status with Israel claiming Palestinians leaving the region voluntarily due to instigation of Arabs while no such evidence is claimed by Palestinians and Arabs. Only 133,000 Arabs remained in Palestine while 470,000 moved into West Bank refugee camps (Jordan) or Gaza strip (Egypt) while rest dispersed to Lebanon, Syria and other countries. (Shalom, 2002) Future economic development of Israel under UN and British mandate led to job opportunities in the region and Arabs returning back to Palestine. No restrictions were placed by the British on Arab settlers with a simple criterion of having spent two years in Palestine. This influx swelled the Arab refugees population considerably. The seven Arab countries did not absorb them into their own countries in the hope of throwing out Jews from Israel some day. Only Jordan allowed citizenship to immigrants. Most did not want to leave refugee camps due to fear of losing all rights to their properties and land in Palestine. Even UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 194 to rehabilitate returning Palestinians and compensate the non-returning ones which has been rejected by Israel vehemently claiming their departure as voluntary and not forced one. Several opportunities existed for peace, which were scuttled due to intransigence on both sides. In 1951, a UN peace plan was ratified by the Arabs but rejected by Israel. Egyptian President Nasser's overtures too were snubbed. An end to British control over Suez Canal zone brought about by Nasser was thwarted by Israel's intelligence agencies through bombings of many targets in Western Egypt. The plot was foiled by Egypt and plotters were executed by them leading supposedly to the war of 1956. (Shalon, 2002) 1956 Sinai Campaign. Serious security problems overshadowed state building process of Israel too. Israeli shipments were refused passage through Suez canal, Straits of Tiran blockade was tightened further, militant squads entered Israel with increased frequency and Sinai became a virtual Egyptian military base. A tripartite military alliance of Egypt, Syria and Jordan was formed during Oct 1956 threatening existence of Israel. This led to an intense but short battle for survival in Sinai Peninsula for eight days leading to Israeli capture of Gaza strip and entire Sinai Peninsula east of Suez Canal. (History: the State of Israel, 2008) During this period, an organisation called Palestine Liberation organisation was established with the sole aim of freedom of Palestine from the clutches of Israel with support from the Arab world. During intervening decades, many terrorist attacks were organised by the PLO with the most notorious being murder of 11 Israeli athletes during 1972 Munich Olympics. 1967 Six-Day War. Considerable economic, infrastructural and diplomatic development of the country took place during the following decade despite frequent incidents of violence and considerable escalation of Arab terrorist raids across Egyptian and Jordanian borders, persistent Syrian bombings and massive military build-ups with Egypt ordering UN peacekeeping forces out of Sinai areas. In self-defence, Israel launched a pre-emptive strike against the alliance in a war lasting six days. New cease-fire lines were drawn with Judea, Samaria, Gaza, Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights coming fully under Israel's control. A UNSC Resolution 242 required sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every state in the area to be established through diplomatic initiatives. However, Arab position at Khartoum summit (1967) called for no peace with Israel, no negotiations with Israel and no recognition with Israel. Egypt initiated a war of attrition in 1968 leading to heavy casualties on both sides of Suez Canal. Hostilities finally ended in 1970 with renewed ease-fire along the Suez Canal. (History: the State of Israel, 2008) 1973 Yom Kippur War. The symbolic peace was again devastated on Israel's holiest day of Yom Kippur with Egypt and Syria launching a coordinated attack on Israel surprising the world. The war lasting three weeks turned the tide in favour of Israel again with the IDF crossing the Suez Canal into Egypt by over 30 kms. The negotiations lasting two difficult years led to withdrawal of IDF from Egyptian territories. In 1976, a resolution was introduced in the UN Security Council by the Arabs and Soviet Union leading to Camp David agreement of 1979 to establish peace along Israel- Egyptian borders. 1982 Operation Peace for Galilee. With Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) shifting its base into Lebanon after being expelled from Jordan, Israel moved into Lebanon for combing operations and destroyed organisational and military infrastructure of the PLO from the area. The organisation suffered critical loss of support from many countries owing to its terrorist network. Small security zone was enforced in the region by the IDF to combat terrorist operations emanating from the region. However, an Intifada or politico-religious uprising, launched by Palestinians during December 1987 with local mass support led to massive anti-terrorist action by the IDF against the protesters. (Cobban, 1984) In spite of Palestinian commitment made in 1993, terrorism continued unabated derailing Palestinian- Israeli peace process and strongly increased since September 2000 leading to over thousand Israeli civilian deaths and thousands of injured ones. Oslo Accord. The accord essentially led to mutual recognition of each other and a declaration of principles. Arafat accepted Israel's right to exist and various UN resolutions, condemned terrorism and armed conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Rabin recognised PLO as representative of Palestinian people and agreed to negotiations with it. Signed in 1993 at White House lawns, Israel accepted redeployment of troops from Gaza strip and West Bank and allow self governance in the regions through Palestine Authority. Permanent status talks on Jerusalem, refugees, settlements and borders were to be dealt with in a phased manner after 2-3 years. September 1995 brought out Oslo-2 which divided occupied territories into three zones, A, B and C Areas while Jerusalem was ignored. In Area A, PA would have civil and security control though no sovereignty, in B civil control but no security control while in C all control would rest with Israel. Palestinians essentially got limited autonomy over some densely populated areas of Gaza strip and West Bank as Area A and B with many areas remaining as Area C under Israel. (Shalom, 2002) Permanent status talks commenced in July 2000 at Camp David where Israeli PM Barak reportedly generously offered for resolution and peace but it was turned down by Arafat in favour of violence. Second Intifada. The second phase of violence commenced with Ariel Sharon's provocative visit to Al Aqsa mosque followed by Barak's stern action at violent protestors. Sharon ordered the assassination of Hamas leader Mahmoud Abu Hanoud in 2001 which led to many terror bombings. Suicide bombings targeted civilians, and retaliatory action by Israelis has killed scores of Palestinians in a vicious cycle during past decade. Arafat was denounced for not controlling the terror bombings till his death US Role. After the wars, the US has been the main supplier of weapons to Israel. Its economic and military support has strengthened Israel beyond doubt. UN effort to deploy multinational force to contain violence in the region was vetoed by the US in 2001. It seems evident that US supports Israel as its ally, especially so after its need to operate in the middle-east for its war against terror. Current Crisis. During a meet of Arab league to endorse Saudi proposal, a Hamas bombing led to serious action by IDF to attack Arafat's compound and confine him to his rooms and invasion of Palestinian cities in the West Bank. This was severely criticised the world over, and reluctantly President Bush too called upon Israel to withdraw, but to no avail. Future Scenario PLO Chairman and President Arafat died in 2004 without realising his dream of an independent state for his countrymen. His successor and co-founder of Fatah movement Mahmoud Abbas was elected Palestinian President in 2005. A moderate voice of the PLO, he was also an architect of Oslo peace process and shared better relations with Israeli politicians. However, in 2006 elections Hamas swept the polls with 76 out of 132 Palestinian Parliamentary seats. This led to widespread withdrawal of support to Palestine by many countries including Israel, the US, The European Union, several western states and even Arab nations. Fatah and Hamas differences soon came out in open with several violent clashes. Mediation attempts by Saudi Arabia led to finally sharing of power and Palestinian Unity Government was sworn in on March 17, 2007. But the clashes didn't stop with Hamas storming Fatah's headquarters in Jun 07. These actions led to dissolution of Palestinian parliament by Abbas on June 14, 2007 and forming and declaring an emergency at Gaza strip. A new emergency cabinet was established by Abbas in Ramallah supported by Israel, the US and the Arab League. (Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. 2007) However, the situation remains same today and there seems no respite from violence, Israeli retaliation and peace nowhere in sight. Conclusion The situation in middle-east became disrupted with influx of Jews into middle-east from across the world. This immigration led to fear among the Arab nations regarding a possible Zionist rule and Palestine concept was mooted with assistance from the British. While both sides had seemingly legitimate grouse, indiscriminate Jew immigration into Palestine was opposed by the natives. However, with their technological advancement, military infrastructure and assistance from the US and other western nations, Israel has today become a formidable military power having decisively won at least four military campaigns and many smaller conflicts against its joint neighbours. With terrorist organisations flourishing at the behest of the PLO and support from neighbouring states, there has been escalation of civilian casualties leading to indiscriminate retaliatory action by the IDF. The situation has become more critical after death of Arafat and no clear leader to handle the outfits like Hamas effectively. In the current circumstances no immediate solution seems possible. President Mahmoud Abbas needs to consolidate his standing over all Palestinian people and bring them into confidence for peace. There is no military or terrorist solution to the crisis. Economic development of the region has been seen in the past to have a positive impact on the situation. All major countries and particularly UN have to play a supportive role to evolve a consensus. The solution can only be evolved by sitting across a table and talking to each other peacefully. "Most Jewish feel that if Arabs lay down weapons there would be no violence while if Israel did so, there would be no Israel." - (Charles Krauthammer in The Weekly Standard, May 11, 1998 as mentioned in Arab Israeli Conflict: Basic Facts) Bibliography Arab-Israeli Conflict: Basic facts. Retrieved on 26 Apr 08 from http://www.science.co.il/arab-israeli-conflict.asp Cobban, H: The Palestinian Liberation Organisation. Retrieved on 25 Apr 08 from http://books.google.co.in/books. Isseroff Ami. 2008. Israel and Palestine: A Brief History. Retrieved on 26 Apr 08 from http://www.mideastweb.org/briefhistory.htmGeographyand Earlyhistory. Palestine after Arafat. Retrieved on 27 Apr 08 from http://www.twq.com /autumn00/ robinson.pdf Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. 2007. Retrieved on 27 Apr 08 from http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3479383,00.html Robinson Glenn E. 2008. HISTORY: The State of Israel. Retrieved on 25 Apr 08 from http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts+About+Israel/History/ HISTORY-+The+State+of+Israel.htm Shalom Stephen. 2002. Arab-Israeli History 101. Retrieved on 25 Apr 08 from http://www.zmag.org/shalom-meqa.htm Read More