'For too long, the citizens of the Middle East have lived in the midst of death and fear. The hatred of a few holds the hopes of many hostage. The forces of extremism and terror are attempting to kill progress and peace by killing the innocent. And this casts a dark shadow over an entire region,' President George W. Bush in his June 24, 2002 address to the nation.
The conflict between Israel and Palestine is just one of the many facets that have shaped modern day politics in the Middle East. It is a conflict rooted in generations of violence, discrimination and prejudice that is complicated by a history older than any of the modern day superpowers. Ever since the creation of the state of Israel by the 1947 UN partition of Palestine the region has suffered invasions, occupations, and wars. There have been many efforts by both the United States and the greater international community to bring a viable solution about that will bring peace to the region, however any hope of obtaining a viable solution seems to have evaporated in the past five years. The implementation of the second Palestinian Infitatda and the failure of negations between Arafat and Barak have all but erased the optimism generated by the 1990's. A stalemate of sorts seems to have been created in the midst of the failed negations, further destroying the hope for the creation of a free and sovereign Palestinian state. However, in the past few weeks, recent developments in the region have seemingly given the peace process a renewed opportunity for peace. The death of Yassar Arafat not only brings an end to an era for the Palestinian people, but it also brings about the comings of a new era in politics, a chance for change, new leadership, and hopefully the c...
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Reich, Bernard. ?The United States and Israel: The Nature of a Special Relationship.? The Middle East and the United States, 2nd Ed
Rynhold, Jonathan. ?The View from Jerusalem: Israeli-American relations and the Peace Process.? Middle East Review of International Affairs. Vol. 4 No. 2. June 2000.
Said, Edward W. ?Archaeology of the Road Map? From Oslo to Iraq and the Road Map. Pantheon Books, 2004.
Satloff, Robert. ?The Road Not to be Taken: Assessing the Quartet Roadmap for Israeli Palestinian Peacemaking.? The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, October 23, 2002.
Talbot, Brent. Israel?, October 7, 2004, University of Denver Graduate School of International Studies
Weisman, Steven R. ?Israel Takes Quiet Steps to Bolster Palestinians.? The New York Times. Sunday, November 14, 2004
Ben-Gurion, David. “Status-Quo Agreement.” In Israel in the Middle East: Second Edition, edited by Itamar Rabinovich and Jehude Reinharz, 58-59. Waltham: Brandeis University Press, 2008.
Netanyahu, B. (2002). A Durable Peace: Israel and its Place Among the Nations. New York, NY: Grand Central Publishing.
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.
The Middle East has since time immemorial been on the global scope because of its explosive disposition. The Arab Israeli conflict has not been an exception as it has stood out to be one of the major endless conflicts not only in the region but also in the world. Its impact continues to be felt all over the world while a satisfying solution still remains intangible. A lot has also been said and written on the conflict, both factual and fallacious with some allegations being obviously evocative. All these allegations offer an array of disparate views on the conflict. This essay presents an overview of some of the major literature on the controversial conflict by offering precise and clear insights into the cause, nature, evolution and future of the Israel Arab conflict.
Since the inception of an Israeli nation-state in 1948, violence and conflict has played a major role in Israel’s brief history. In the Sixty-One year’s Israel has been a recognized nation-state, they have fought in 6 interstate wars, 2 civil wars, and over 144 dyadic militarized interstate disputes (MIDs) with some display of military force against other states (Maoz 5). Israel has been involved in constant conflict throughout the past half century. Israel’s tension against other states within the Middle East has spurred vast economic, social, and political unity that has fostered a sense of nationalism and unity in Israel not seen in most other states. Over the next several pages I will try and dissect the reasons for why the nation state of Israel has been emerged in constant conflict and how this conflict has helped foster national unity and identity among the people of Israel.
BIBLIOGRAPHYSachar, Howard M. A History of Israel From the Rise of Zionism to our Time.Yalowitz, Gerson, U.S. News and World Report, "How Bad Can it Get?" December 10, 1990, Vol. 109.____________, A Letter From Israel, Halva, Jerusalem (1992).__________________, Israel Today, Halva Press, Jerusalem (1992)._______________, U.S. News and World Report, "A Chilling Effect With Israel," (December 31, 1990), Vol. 109, p. 14.
Bourke, Dale Hanson. The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Tough Questions, Direct Answers. Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity, 2013. N. pag. Print.
...o the final status negotiations that were originally set to be completed in 1998 with the Oslo Accords; but this never happens. To make matters worse the territories ruled by the Palestinian Authority, in West Bank and Gaza Strip, largely get overrun by corrupt Palestinian rule, economic hardship, and the increased presence of the Israeli military. The areas they controlled included areas around Jericho, Hebron, Bethlehem, Ramallah, and Nablus in the north. The inadequate size of territory the Palestinian’s did have were, stricken with poverty controlled by corrupt authorities and had a increasing presence of the Israeli military. These factors all play a pivotal role into understanding why the events that occurred on September 28, 2000 when Ariel Sharon and a escort of Israeli police visited the Temple mount complex would lead to the start of the second Infitada.
Hahn, Peter L. Caught in the Middle East: U.S. Policy Toward the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1945-1961. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004. Print.
Mearsheimer, J. & Walt, S. (2006). The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy. In Middle East Policy. 13, 3, 29-87.
On the 28th of September, of the year 2000, the second Palestinian Intifada took place. The main reason that sparked this Intifada was the provocative visit of Ariel Sharon, the current Israeli Prime Minister, to the Haram Al Sharif. Even though the visit was what set the ground on fire, these feeling of hatred and desire to rebel had been stirring inside the Palestinians ever since the declaration of the Israeli State, on the Palestinian land, back in 1948. This Palestinian frustration is due to their lack of trust and hope in a peace process that did not yield meaningful results. After seven years of peace talks and six agreements, Palestinians realized that Israel is not serious about peace. Since 1993, Israel has doubled settlements on confiscated Palestinian land, continued to imprison Palestinian prisoners and has implemented only 8 percent of what it agreed to implement in all the signed agreements.
Maynes, Charles. "The Middle East in the Twenty-First Century." Middle East Journal 52.1 (1998): 9-16. JSTOR. Web. 6 June 2011.
Gerner, Deborah J., and Philip A. Schrodt. "Middle Eastern Politics." Understanding the contemporary Middle East. 3rd ed. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2008. 85 -136. Print.
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.
To begin with, this author should like to offer some brief background as to the content of "The Wounds Of Peace" prior to my assessment. "The Wounds Of Peace" is a label which the author has applied to attempts of leaders of various countries throughout the Middle East to come to terms and create, or forge a partnership. To this extent, the author cites a process that began in Oslo, and, as the author states "One that compelled fiercely reluctant men on both sides to forge some of the most unlikely and creative partnerships in the history of diplomacy." (Bruck, p.4) The chief players throughout this scenario include Benjamin Netanyahu, Yasir Arafat, Shimon Peres, as well as others. The author begins with a discussion of a visit with Shimon Peres, who had been succeeded by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Peres had expressed serious trepidation regarding his successor and his ability to handle the complex diplomatic aspects relating to the various strategies and tactics regarding the peace process and conflict management. To a large extent, it must be stated that the players, the respective geographical areas, and the positions they hold amongst each other(s) are highly complex. In fact, it is virtually impossible to define the role as well as its multidimensional ramifications in terms of diplomacy, and the many principles and theories of negotiation and conflict management as is the case.