Arabic Conflicts
Introduction
Over the years, conflicts have been experienced in the Arabic world mostly because of contrasting religious views and the need for democracy. Protesters in the Arabic world seek social justice, democracy, and the rule of law in their country. Many of the conflicts in the Arabic world originate from different religious backgrounds between the Islamic and Christian religion (Fathi 2003). Other reasons for conflicts in the Arabic world arise from the fact that most of these countries have dictatorship form of leadership, which makes them go to war to seek democracy. The effects of the conflicts in the Arabic world are adverse and they come with both financial and human life costs. A lot of money is spent in these conflicts and many lives are lost in the wars. Conflict resolution methods can be useful in bringing peace to the Arabic world. This paper discusses conflicts in the Arabic world, Israeli, Iraq and Iran, including the original effects of the war and ways to make peace in these countries.
Israeli
Israel is a country comprising of the Jewish community with a few Arab population. Conflict in the Israeli community began due to the hostilities between the Arab peoples and the Jewish people in Israeli. The conflict, which began as a political and national conflict has turned from a more generalized view of the whole Arab world to specific conflict between Israel and Palestine. However, the Arab world still clashes with Israeli because of the territorial lands. The conflict between the Arab world and Israeli originates from creation of a new independent Israeli state in 1948 (Gelvin 2005). The Arabic people and the Jewish community regard the same land as theirs and hence initiating conflict. The Jewish, Christian, and Muslim beliefs and their view of the chosen people are major causes of the conflict between the Arabic people and Israeli. The Jewish community claim that their present land is theirs from the Biblical concept of the ‘promised land’. Additionally, the Muslims also claim that they own the land, Israeli land, according to their Quran.
At the beginning of the conflict, the Arab leadership in Israel and leaders in other countries surrounding Israel asked Arabs to leave Israel as they were planning a Jihad, holy war, against Israel (Cirton 2006). The leaders promised their fellow Arabs that they would return to Israel after they conquered the Jewish land. However, the Israeli people overcame and defeated the Arab leaders as a result creating many Arab refugees in Arab countries. The situation of the conflict between the Arabic world and Israeli has changed since it began in the year 1948. Currently, the conflict is between Israeli and Palestine. The Palestinian militia groups are constantly disrupting negotiations and peace talks between the Israeli and Palestinian government. These militias have increased attacks on Israelis including the use of rocket attacks targeted at the Israelis. A recent case is on August 2010 when Palestinian militias killed four Israeli civilians and wounded others. This just shows the extent of the conflict between the two states. The effects of these conflicts are evident from the financial costs on the countries and the opportunity cost lost during times of war as compared during times of peace. Many lives are also lost during times of war.
Iraq
Iraq is one of the countries dominated by the Arabs who are majorly from the Muslim religion. Iraq has witnessed various wars and conflicts with other countries especially the United States. Conflict in Iraq began in 2003 when the United States and United Kingdom invaded the Iraqi territory (O’Connell 2008). The reason for the attack on Iraq by these countries was the suspicion that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, which threatened the security of other countries. Other reasons for the beginning of the Iraq war were the accusations made on the Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein, of supporting the al-Qaeda. The U.S. and UK also claimed that Iraq supported Palestinian suicide bombers financially hence risking the security of other countries. The need to end dictatorship and violation of human rights by the Iraqi government also contributed to the beginning of conflict.
The war led to the capture and trial of President Saddam by the new Iraq government. President Saddam was later executed and sentenced to death for contributing to the war in Iraq. The effects of the Iraq war were adverse because in 2008, the number of refugees reported by UNHCR was 4.7million, which represented about 16% of the total Iraq population (Ricks 2006). Additionally, the number of internally displaced persons averaged to about 2.7million. Other effects of the Iraq conflict include humanitarian crises, human rights abuses, financial costs, and casualties among other effects. The situation of the war in Iraq is ending with the U.S. government announcing that the remaining U.S. troops in Iraq would leave by the end of 2011 (North 2009).
Iran
The conflict in Iran dates back in the year 1980 when the Iraq militia invaded Iranian territory through air and on land over border disputes. Iraq aimed at removing the dominance of Iran in the Persian Gulf, and control the country (Peniston 2006). Although Iraq seemed to be succeeding on the initial stages of the war, Iranians united and fought earnestly and regained their lost territories by the end of 1982. The war cost the lives of many Iranian civilians and soldiers who fought during the war. Not only does conflict exist between Iraq and Iran, but also Iran conflicts with other countries such as United States, United Kingdom, Israeli, and others. Currently, the situation of conflict in Iran is calm because of fears of what other countries may do to achieve security. Karsh (2002) notes that the conflict in Iran has had many effects on the economy by resulting to loss of jobs, lack of food, and loss of income. Just like other Arab countries experiencing conflicts, Iran also faced a humanitarian crisis and human rights abuse because of the conflict.
Recommendations
In order to make peace in the conflicting Arab countries, it is important that the nations adopt an effective education system. For instance, the Arabic culture should be taught to schools in the Israeli state to promote understanding and communication between the Arabs and Israeli people (Gopin 2002). The same should be done in Arabic nations to remove the animosity Arabs have with Israelis. The educational programs will also emphasize the need for peaceful coexistence between the countries of the Arabic world. The United Nations Security Council should also be at the forefront in advocating for peace in the Arabic world by initiating negotiations that lead to acceptable resolutions by all parties (Westcott 2003).
Conclusion
The conflicts of the Arabic world can cause great humanitarian crises and abuse of human rights if not controlled. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the conflicts do not exceed the acceptable standards. Most of the conflicts in the Arabic world stem from religious disputes because of the Muslims and Christians thus; the governments involved should ensure peace between the religions to reduce hostility. Peaceful coexistence in the countries of the Arab world such as Iraq and Iran can have great benefits to the economies involved and boost growth and development.
References
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