FREE ESSAY ON MIDDLE EAST

MIDDLE EAST

Arab-Israeli Conflict The Arab-Israeli conflict came about from the notion of Political
Zionism. Zionism is the belief that Jews constitute a nation (or a people) and that they
deserve the right to return to what they consider to be their ancestral home, land of
Israel (or Palestine). Political Zionism, the belief that Jews should establish a state
for themselves in Palestine, was a revolutionary idea for the 19th Century. During World
War I, Jews supported countries that constituted the Central Powers because they detested
the tyranny of czarist Russia. Both the Allies and Central Powers needed Jewish support,
but Germany could not espouse Zionism due to its ties with the Ottoman Empire, which
still controlled Palestine. British Prime Minister Lloyd George & Foreign Secretary Lord
Balfour, favored Zionism and supported their cause in a letter that became known as the
Balfour Declaration, ensuring that the British government would control Palestine after
the war with a commitment to build the Jewish national home there, promising only to work
for the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine and not harm the civil and religious
rights of Palestine's existing non-Jewish communities. After the Great War, Britain's
Forces jointly occupied the area known as Palestine with Faysal's (Iraq) Arab army. The
British set up a provisional military government in Jerusalem that soon became a struggle
between Jewish settlers and the Arab inhabitants. In April 1920, the Palestinian Arabs
revolted, killing Jews and damaging property, opening the Arab nationalist revolution in
Palestine. The League of Nations awarded the Palestine mandate in 1922, charging Britain
with carrying out the Balfour Declaration, encouraging Jewish migration to Palestine and
help create the Jewish national home. But the Arabs suspected the British mandate would
hold them in colonial bondage until the Jews achieved a majority in Palestine. Winston
Churchill issued a white paper denying that the British government meant to give
preferential treatment to Jews with a proviso for restricting Jewish immigration to
conform to Palestine's absorptive capacity. Another action that seemed to violate the
mandate was the creation of the Emirate of Transjordan, removing two-thirds of Palestine
that lay east of the Jordan River from the area in which Jews could develop their
national home, claiming the partition was only temporary. During the first civilian
governor of Palestine, it looked as if Jewish-Arab differences would be resolved when
more Jews emigrated out of Palestine than immigrated and with the presence of a
complementary relationship among the two peoples, but the hopes dissipated during the
1929 Wailing Wall Incident. The Wailing Wall (a.k.a. the Western Wall) is a remnant of
the second Jewish Temple, symbolizing the hope that one day the Temple will be rebuilt
and the ancient Jewish rituals revived; but the Wall also forms a part of the enclosure
surrounding the Temple Mount, which the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa mosque stand atop;
Muslims feared that Jewish actions before the Western Wall could lead to their pressing a
claim to the historic site. In 1928, Jewish worshipers brought some benches to sit on.
The police took them away several times, but the Jews kept putting them back. To Muslims,
this activity was an attempt by the Jews to strengthen their claims to the Wall and
retaliated by running a highway past it to distract the worshipers. Several fights broke
out that escalated into a small civil war. Arabs perpetrated massacres in other places in
Palestine. The British constabulary was inadequate and Britain sent a commission of
inquiry; later issuing a report that justified the Arab position. The colonial secretary,
Lord Passfield, placed blame on the Jewish Agency and the Zionists, and Britain tightened
restrictions on Jewish immigration. Due to domestic embarrassment, the British government
issued a letter explaining away the Passfield condemnation, hardly appeasing the
Zionists, but angering the Arabs. As Arab animosity increased, the Arab Higher Committee
in Palestine called for a general strike, paralyzing the country for several months. The
British sent another commission of inquiry, headed by Lord Peel, which recommended
partition, giving a small area of northern and central Palestine to the Jews, while
leaving the most to Arabs. But the Palestine Arabs opposed the partition, fearing its'
acceptance would be a step toward their loss of Palestine. Britain scaled down the offer
and eventually retracted it. Seeking a peace plan that would satisfy all parties, Britain
called a conference of Jewish and Arab leaders in 1939; but no agreement was reached.
Then, Britain issued the White Paper, announcing that the mandate would end in ten years,
providing Palestine with full independence. Jewish immigration would be limited until
1944, after which it could continue only with Arab consent. The White Paper seemed to
sell out Britain's commitment to help build the Jewish national home. The Arabs also
rejected the White Paper, stating it postponed their independence and did not stop Jewish
immigration. As World War II came to a close, Zionist terrorist groups, such as the Irgun
Tzvei Le'umi and the Stern Gang, blew up buildings and British installations in
Palestine. The British went before the UN General Assembly in 1947, admitting that it
could no longer maintain the mandate. The UN created the Special Committee on Palestine,
who recommended partitioning Palestine [again!] into seven sections: three for Arabs,
three for Jews and one for both. Neither the Palestinians nor the Arab countries welcomed
the plan. The Zionists did not like the plan completely, but accepted it as a step toward
forming the Jewish State. But Jewish paramilitary groups soon seized lands not allotted
to them, while Arab commandos retaliated against Jewish targets. Both sides committed
acts of terrorism against civilians. Large numbers of Palestinians panicked and fled to
nearby countries. In May 1948, the Jewish Agency Executive Committee declared those parts
of Palestine under Jewish control were now part of the State of Israel and that the
provisions of the White Paper limiting Jewish immigration were null and void. Zionists
urged the Arab inhabitants of Israel to play their part in the development of the state,
on the basis of full and equal citizenship. But many Palestinians distrusted the Zionists
and looked to their Arab neighbors for help. In 1947-48, a war ensued between the Israel
and the Arab nations. The Arab armies, underestimating the Israeli forces and
determination, were defeated. From the Arabs' perspective, their defeat in Palestine
humiliated their armies and discredited their regimes. The UN secured several
cease-fires, each time fighting resumed; finally an armistice between each Arab country
and Israel was agreed upon separately, after Israel had pushed Arab forces out of the
Gaza area. The UN Conciliation Commission had assembled a conference for both sides to
settle their outstanding differences, but negotiations broke down before they could even
meet. Israel wanted a comprehensive settlement, while the Arabs demanded Israel to
withdraw from the lands not allotted to the Jewish State in the 1947. The refugees
suffered the most. Some voluntarily left their homes before the conflict started, while
others had fled during the fighting. Israel claims that Arabs had broadcast orders to
Palestinians to leave in order for their armies could easier move against Israelis, but
no evidence has been found to prove Israel's allegations; Arabs claim Jewish extremists
terrorized Palestinians until May 1948 and the Israel Defense Force drove out other Arabs
during the later phases of the war. The Palestinians ended up in camps near Israel's
borders with no state of their own. Arab countries could not absorb them; those who did,
found it economically difficult. Palestinians rejected assimilation [resistance is
futile] because they wanted to return home and Israel refused to re-admit all the
refugees. The Palestine disaster uprooted more than half a million Arabs and they would
support any leader who returned their homes and dignity, particularly the Ba'th party,
which called for militant resistance against Israel. The growing frequency of Arab
fidaiyin (commando) raids caused Israel to take stronger military measures. When Britain
and France prepared to attack Egypt for nationalizing the Suez Canal, Israel wanted to
take an active role in the offensive, hoping to teach the Arabs a lesson. Israel wiped
out the fidaiyin bases in Gaza and broke Egypt's blockade of the Gulf of Aqaba; but due
to US pressure, Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip. In 1964, the
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was formed, with the objective of regaining the
Palestinian homeland and the destruction of Israel. The PLO sabotaged part of Israel's
national water- carrier system and engaged in guerrilla campaigns against Israel, causing
serious casualties and property damage. Israel retaliated by striking commando bases
within the Jordanian West Bank. Then in June 1967, Israel had a preemptive strike on the
airfields of surrounding Arab nations, causing the Six-Day War, breaking the blockade at
the Gulf of Aqaba (Egypt), captured the West Bank and the Old City (Jordan), and took the
Golan Heights (Syria). The strike was initially for defensive purposes, but Israel
decided to keep the spoils of war as bargaining chips, fueling Arab fears of Israeli
expansion. The UN Security Council devised a plan - Resolution 242 - for all members to
accept. The resolution called for the withdraw of Israeli forces from territories
recently occupied, in return for the recognition of Israel's right to exist, ignoring the
rights and interests of the Palestinians. With the resolution so ambiguous, the parties
read into the resolution, seeing different viewpoints, it is amazing that they agreed to
abide to the resolution. But international rivalry continued as the US and the USSR
secretly supplied arms into the region. In 1973, Egypt and Syria planned a surprise
attack on Israel, known as the Yom Kippur War. Egypt went into the Sinai and Syrians went
down the Golan Heights. The first week of fighting, Israel concentrated on the north,
leaving Egypt to successfully take back parts of Sinai. Israeli forces eventually drove
out most of the Egyptian forces with the exception of the Third Army, which was still
trapped in the peninsula and could have been crushed. But the diplomatic virtuoso of
Kissinger reasoned that the Egyptians were more willing to talk peace if Egypt could keep
some of its initial gains and peace talks ensued between the two nations. And without
Egypt's anti-Jew activities, many of the other Arab nations followed. However, the debate
over where the Palestinians should reside is still an important issue concerning peace in
the Middle East. Does Israel want to give up their claims to Jerusalem and will they have
security should they decide to share the historic city? It seems that distrust and
suspicion are very much alive in the world, particularly in the region. I am not an
expert in such a delicate diplomatic situation, but not even an expert could say what the
formula for peace is when both sides are not willing to trust one another. But I think
the ingredient for peace requires some economic diplomacy...well, a lot of it! The
Israeli government seems to be taking the hard-line stance in dealing with Palestinian
demands of a common capital city. And negotiations between the US and Israel does not
seem to be anymore productive. The US has to do a little economic arm-twisting, such as
withholding foreign aid; to persuade Israel to cease erecting housing projects in
disputed areas. But how politically viable is withholding foreign aid from Israel when
there is a strong Jewish lobby in DC? Don't think good ol' Bubba will want to risk losing
anymore political support. The most feasible plan for peace and stability in the Israeli-
West Bank area is to give as much foreign aid to the Palestinians as is given to the
Israelis, so that Palestinians can build the economy in the West Bank, giving them a
future to look forward to, while waiting for a peace plan to be ironed out. Third party
military presence on the border area of the West Bank and Israel seems acceptable, too.
Works Cited