Political Science: The Conflict in The Middle East - Coursework Example

Political Science: The Conflict in The Middle East This paper is developed in order to appraise the degree of compliance with human rights as far as it concerns Israel as one of the belligerent sides in the recent conflict in the Middle East. The paper argues that due to many reasons, including historical ones and such that have its roots in the hostile environment as well, the State of Israel has repeatedly abused the human rights of the other nationalities living within its territory. 1. From King David to UN Partition Plan The roots of the conflict in the Middle East must be sought long before the dawn of modern Israel. The coexistence of two monotheistic religions, both of which had been built on the principle of the chosen people, either staking a claim to some narrow piece of soil crammed with holy of holies to both of them, but frequently conquered and governed for too long by a third power equally alien to each side – it should sound to anyone unbiased like a recipe for disaster. There are some key characteristics of the aforesaid situation. On the one hand, the long and painful years of victimization during the World War II, some Arab’s sympathy to the Germans, and the British colonial interests as well, have logically created considerable mistrust between the Jewish and the Arab. On the other hand, the birth of the State of Israel as a result of the British withdrawal from commitment to the Mandate of Palestine, as well as the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan, was considered to add insult to injury, from Arab’s perspective. So, once triggered the conflict (by the way, the first act of aggression was of an Arab origin – see the 1948 Arab – Israeli War) gathered speed throughout the decades to come, with the diligent assistance from the Cold War rivals, who added much fuel to the fire; and despite the numerous attempts a peaceful decision to be set up, the conflict is still devastating the region sowing the seeds of its own cancerous growth. 2. Violations of the human rights and humanitarian law Under the permanent threat to national security and to personal security of the Israeli citizens as well, either external or internal, the State of Israel had been transformed into a state under siege. In order to protect the well-being of the state and the people of Israel, the Israeli government and authorities have repeatedly overstepped the mark (which policy is not alien to any government under the circumstances – remember 9/11), imposing increasingly heavy restrictions on the basic human rights as far as it concerned the Palestinian population. The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) calculated that ‘The occupied Palestinian territory has lost at least one fifth of its economic base over the past four years as a consequence of war and occupation’ (UNCTAD, UNCTAD report on Palestinian economy, 29 September 2004, ) The Israeli information center for human rights in the occupied territories – B’TSELEM, stated that during the period from 1967 to the end of 2007, Israel have established 121 settlements in the West Bank, built on an expropriated Palestinian land. (B’TSELEM, Land expropriation & Settlements, retrieved on 4 April 2009, ) The Israeli Defense Forces have practiced a controversial tactic of house demolition, opposed by the human rights organizations and whose effectiveness have been considered of questionable value. Even the Israel Army agreed that the damage caused by this punitive action exceeded its usefulness. There is much to be said about the civilian casualties of the war. According to Amnesty International ‘Some 1,300 Palestinians, most of them civilians, including more than 300 children, and 13 Israelis, three of them civilians, were killed during the recent three-week conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel. Israeli military operations also devastated Gaza’s infrastructure and created a humanitarian catastrophe.’(Amnesty International, Time for accountability for human rights abuses in Gaza and Southern Israel, 17 February 2009, ) The last proof of disproportionate use of force and heavy violation of the humanitarian law is made known in the report of Human Rights Watch named ‘Rain of fire/ Israel’s unlawful use of white phosphorus in Gaza’, concerning the IDF operation ‘Cast Lead’ that took place from December 27, 2008 to January 18, 2009. According to the report ‘… the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) repeatedly exploded white phosphorus munitions in the air over populated areas, killing and injuring civilians, and damaging civilian structures, including a school, a market, a humanitarian aid warehouse and a hospital.’(Human Rights Watch, Rain of fire/ Israel’s Unlawful Use of White Phosphorus in Gaza, March 25, 2009,) All these facts argue for the conclusion that there are many examples of violation of the basic human rights and humanitarian law that have been perpetrated by the Israeli authorities (especially IDF) against the Palestinian population of the occupied territories, but… It’s an elementary true that there is also another side of the coin. And this side is the ugly face of the Palestinian (and recently not only Palestinian) terrorism. In the report of Amnesty International cited above, is clearly stated that during the same period of Israeli military operation in Gaza, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups fired hundred of rockets towards civilian population centers in southern Israel. (Amnesty International, Time for accountability for human rights abuses in Gaza and Southern Israel, 17 February 2009, ) The widespread up-to-date guerrilla tactic to transform the civilian population centers into a battleground, and thus, taking an advantage of its complexity, to deteriorate the adversary’s morale, presents another factor, more or less omitted from the overall picture. Given that one action couldn’t be taken up in isolation and out of the context, as well as the fact that the State of Israel is surrounded by a neighbors who wouldn’t lose any sleep over a possibility of thousands of Israeli casualties, it isn’t easy to be made of a simple appraisal. 3. Conclusion Modern Israel is a secular society, which maintains a parliamentary democracy according the standards of the Western world. This feature is being given grade B. The above listed violations of the human rights, either in wartime or not, have quite a reasonable explanation, but that doesn’t mean exoneration as well. Thus, as far as the human rights of the Palestinian population in the occupied territories are concerned, Israel is given grade D (not F by the only reason of the principle of a necessary evil). There could be many arguments about what is considered civilized behavior of a regional superpower, which is actually Israel like in the region of Middle East (the possession of nukes has always to be taken into account), but no one could argue against the right of an endangered state or people to respond, even though when the response overstepped the mark of the above said behavior. However, according to the level of secularization and democratization of the society, women rights, rights of the minorities, etc., the overall appraisal of Israel’s compliance with human rights in author’s opinion is ‘C or average’. References {1} Amnesty International, Time for accountability for human rights abuses in Gaza and Southern Israel, 17 February 2009 {2} United Nations Conference on Trade And Development, UNCTAD report on Palestinian economy, 29 September 2004, ) http://www.cit.cornell.edu/computer/robohelp/cpmm/Project_Roles_and_Responsibilities.htm {3} B’TSELEM, Land expropriation & Settlements, retrieved on 4 April 2009, {4} Human Rights Watch, Rain of fire/ Israel’s Unlawful Use of White Phosphorus in Gaza, March 25, 2009, ) {5} (Amnesty International, Time for accountability for human rights abuses in Gaza and Southern Israel, 17 February 2009, ) Read More