There are many problems present in the Middle East today. Examining these immediate issues and exploring possible future ones can provide a proper understanding of the diverse set of issues, actors, and ambitions that abound in the region. This understanding can then be the necessary foundation to examine current policy in the area and adjust it accordingly to better support US goals. One of the most important and well-know issues affecting the Middle East today is the plight of the Palestinians. Far from being confined to just an Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Palestinian refugees have made it an issue that impacts the surrounding countries of Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. Furthermore, the feeling of Arab and Islamic brotherhood has transformed the Palestinian issue into a region-wide problem which impacts U.S. policy and actions throughout the Middle East.
Since the 1948 conflict with the newly formed state of Israel, the Palestinians have been a displaced population. When the Arab forces were defeated, thousands of Palestinians were either evacuated by Israeli forces or fled fearfully to neighboring countries. The end result was that “seven hundred thousand people, sixty percent of an entire society, were homeless.” With the Israelis disinclined to let the Palestinians return and the neighboring countries reluctant to take responsibility for resettling them, the Palestinians were forced to endure life in refugee camps. These hastily built shelters would house them for the next 60 years.
Despite the passage of years, the Palestinians have never forgotten their homeland and the desire to reclaim it has not been extinguished. Today the number of displaced Palestinians numbers over 4 million and their presence and nati...
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...secure Israel. Something needs to be done about the root of the cause and it can be argued that Israel would be more secure once Palestine is formed.
The Palestinian dilemma affects more than just the Israelis and Palestinians. The refugee camps and militant organizations have impacted the surrounding nations and the Arab’s defeat is an emotional, memorable humiliation to Arabs everywhere in the region. The United States needs to aggressively change its position in the region, adapting to the situation on the ground, even if this means reducing support of Israel and pressuring them to make concessions in order to form a Palestinian state.
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MacFarquhar, Neil, The Media Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday. (New York: PublicAffairs)
...r remains faithful to the memory of his peaceful childhood when Jews and Palestinians lived together in peace, and the prospect of a better future. Despite the political wrongs his people have suffered, he is proud of his heritage and intends to “restore race relations between Jews and Palestinians, (by restoring) human dignity” (146). To do this, Chocour implements innovative techniques: he has Palestinians visit the Kibbutzim, and has Jews spend time with Palestinian families. Chocour’s message is quite honorable, “to change hearts not institutions” (222). Chocour remembers that “Jews and Palestinians are brothers, the(y) have the same father, Abraham, and believe in the same God” (34). It is sad that peoples in this region need to be remnded that they are brothers, but it is comforting that there are men like Chocour, who valiantly assume this task as their own.
Bob Hawke once said; “Unless and until something concrete is done about addressing the Israeli-Palestinian issue you won't get a real start on the war against terrorism.” Perhaps Hawke put into a few simple words one of the most complicated issues within our world today, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As Israel continues to strip the Palestinians of their land and fears it’s very existence because of the Palestinians terrorist acts, there seems to be no solution in sight. The world appears to be split and all over the place when it comes to this matter. According to The Middle East Institute for Understanding approximately 129 countries recognize Palestine as a state while many others do not. Over all the political matters within this issue not only affect Palestine and Israel but the world as a whole, as the Middle East and the West seem to disagree. This has had and will continue to have an enormous impact on many political affairs all over the world particularly in the current fight against terrorism. Personally I feel that the Israeli Palestinian conflict while being a very complicated matter has a simple solution. Within this issue I am a firm believer that the occupation of the West Bank by Israeli forces is extremely unjust and must come to an end. Once this is achieved a two state solution will be the most effective way to bring peace to the area. The occupation of the West Bank violates political and legal rights, human rights, and illegally forces Palestinians who have lived in the area for hundreds of years from their land. This conflict is at the height of its importance and a solution is of dire need as nuclear issues arise in the Middle East due to the tension between Israel and it’s surrounding neighbors, and the...
Morris, B. (2008). 1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press.
This marked the beginning of the Palestine armed conflict, one of its kinds to be witnessed in centuries since the fall of the Ottoman Empire and World War 1. Characterized by a chronology of endless confrontations, this conflict has since affected not only the Middle East relations, but also the gl...
“There is no such thing as a Palestinian.” Stated former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir after three fourths of one million Palestinians had been made refugees, over five hundred towns and cities had been obliterated, and a new regional map was drawn. Every vestige of the Palestinian culture was to be erased. Resolution 181, adopted in 1947 by the United Nations declared the end of British rule over Palestine (the region between the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River) and it divided the area into two parts; a state for the Jewish and one for the Arab people, Palestine. While Israel was given statehood, Palestine was not. Since 1947, one of the most controversial issues in the Middle East, and of course the world, is the question of a Palestinian state. Because of what seems a simple question, there have been regional wars among Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq, terrorist attacks that happen, sometimes daily, displacement of families from their homes, and growing numbers of people living in poverty. Granting Palestinian statehood would significantly reduce, or alleviate, tensions in the Middle East by defining, once and for all, the area that should be Palestine and eliminating the bloodshed and battles that has been going on for many years over this land.
The Israeli-Palestine conflict is an event that has been well documented throughout the course of Middle-Eastern history. The conflict dates back as far as the nineteenth century where Palestine and Zionist, will later be known as Israel, are two communities each with different ideologies had the same overwhelming desire to acquire land. However, what makes this clash what it is, is the fact that both of these up and coming communities are after the same piece of land. The lengths that both sides went to in order obtain they believed was theirs has shaped the current relationship between the two nations today.
Bourke, Dale Hanson. The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Tough Questions, Direct Answers. Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity, 2013. N. pag. Print.
During the Israeli War of Independence in 1948 an Arab refugee crisis began, and there is still not a clear answer of what caused it. As inhabitants of Israel Arabs were greatly affected by the establishment of a Jewish State, because their home was governed by others. Nonetheless, the Palestinian Arabs contributed in the making of the refugee crisis. The Arabs were given the choice of becoming equal citizens of Israel and refused. The United Nations came up with Partition Plan for Palestine, but it was rejected. Therefore, instead of having their own country the Arabs fled to neighboring Arab countries to avoid the crossfire of impending war. Arabs were thrown out of their homes by the Haganah (pre-state army), and placed
The Middle East has historically rebuked Western influence during their process of establishing independence. When Britain and France left the Middle East after World War II, the region saw an unprecedented opportunity to establish independent and self-sufficient states free from the Western influence they had felt for hundreds of years. In an attempt to promote nationalistic independence, the states of the region immediately formed the League of Arab States in 1945. The League recognized and promoted the autonomy of its members and collaborated in regional opposition against the West until 1948 when Israel declared independence. Israel represented then and now an intrusive Western presence in the Arab world. The ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict typifies this cultural antagonism. The Cold War refocused attention to the Middle East as a site of economic and strategic importance for both sides, yet the two hegemons of the Cold War now needed to recognize the sovereignty of the Middle Eastern states. With their statehood and power cemented, the Middle Easte...
Andersen, Roy, Robert F. Seibert, and Jon G. Wagner. Politics and change in the Middle East: sources of conflict and accommodation. 9th ed. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1982. Print.
The beat-up Arab minivan slowed tentatively under the scrutinizing gaze of the Israeli soldier on duty. The routine was simple. About halfway between Damascus Gate in East Jerusalem and Ramallah, the West Bank commercial center, the driver, blaring Arabic music on his radio, maneuvered around the dusty slabs of concrete that composed the Beit Haninah Checkpoint. He waited for a once-over by the Hebrew-speaking 18-year-old and permission to continue. Checkpoints-usually just small tin huts with a prominent white and blue Israeli flag-have become an integral and accepted part of Palestinian existence under Israeli occupation. But for me, a silent passenger in the minivan, each time we entered the no man's land between Israeli territory and the West Bank, my hea...
Ibnouf, Fatma Osman. “Women And The Arab Spring.” Women & Environments International Magazine 92/93(2013): 18-21. MasterFILE Elite.Web.31 Mar. 2014.
Lawson, Fred H. "Syria." Politics & society in the contemporary Middle East. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2010. 411 - 434. Print.
The pro-Israel intervention represented the US foreign policy reaction when the violation to regional stability was committed by Israel. The cases discussed above were evaluated against the US reaction to Israel’s regional behaviour; in terms of whether the Israeli behaviour served or hampered US interest in maintaining regional stability and whether or not the US opposed Israel when it acted in ways that the United States deemed undesirable. It was concluded that, as a general rule, Washington was ready to intervene to address any violation to the status quo in the Middle East system except when this violation was committed by its regional surrogate. Israel had contributed directly in destabilizing the Middle East system (pushing the system out of its equilibrium point) in several cases, four of which have been discussed above. These crises, in spite of their negative effect on regional stability, witnessed minimal US reaction.
For many centuries, Judaic and Arabian societies have engaged in one of the most complicated and lengthy conflicts known to mankind, the makings of a highly difficult peace process. Unfortunately for all the world’s peacemakers the Arab-Israeli conflict, particularly the war between Israel and the Palestinian Territories, is rooted in far more then ethnic tensions. Instead of drawing attention towards high-ranking officials of the Israeli government and Hamas, focus needs to be diverted towards the more suspect and subtle international relations theory of realism which, has imposed more problems than solutions.