Israel became a nation about two thousand years before the rise of Islam. Modern day Israel shares the same language and culture based on Jewish tradition (" Israel Science and Technology Directory.") Jews have had an important presence for well over three thousand years. However after the Romans overtook Jerusalem about two thousand years ago, those of Jewish faith were exiled to Diaspora (" Israel Science and Technology Directory."). Refugees in the area still remain an issue.
Religious strife continues to be the driving facto between the states of the Arabs and Palestine. Jews desperately wished to return to Israel. Many insisted that Jews came from Judea not Palestine. There is nothing that makes Palestinian culture distinct from that of the Arabs in the area. Palestinians are Arabs indistinguishable from Arabs throughout the Middle East (" Israel Science and Technology Directory."). Palestine includes Israel and Jordan.
The Balfour agreement determined that Palestine was the ancestral home for the Jewish population. In 1947, all of the land was made into two separate states, a second Arab state, Palestine, and Israel until 1967 when it was again rejoined into the modern State of Israel. Jerusalem has always remained the Jewish capital.
In 1947 the Arab leadership in Israel and in the countries surrounding it, planned a Jihad, against Israel and encouraged all Arabs to leave Israel. They promised to allow their return after they removed all of the Jews (Ruben ).
During 1940's through 1950's, the Jews also were forced to flee from Arab countries to avoid persecution. Refugees became numerous and had to be re-integrated into the tiny country of Israel. The conflict started as a political and nationalist conflict over competing territories. Over the years from the bigger, more wide spread Arab–Israeli conflict began to come to a stop,yet the Israeli–Palestinian regional conflict continued. Peace agreements were signed in 1979 and1994, yet these two cultures remained at odds with each other over land. These two different cultures within one country were the main factors contributing towards the instances of violence in Arab-Israeli history.
Bureaucratic Factors
The Palestinians (PLO) depended on the Arab’s diplomatic, financial, and military support to survive the fight against Israel. With their determination to destroy Israel, the PLO Charter's claimed that it had a right to demand the Arab states' help. This expectation was often unfounded.
What little success they had was eventually eroded in the 1980s and 1990 with a series of political mistakes made by the PLO. The shifting political system and Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait all caused stress on the relationship (Ruben ). Their policy was based on regime interests with a desire to shape of regional politics, alliances, and power balances. Most Arab governments determined that the conflict was not in their best interests, further distancing themselves from the conflict or even to reduce help for the PLO. The Palestinian change from anarchy to a state is an important new factor in determining the fate of the refugees (Ruben ).
Perhaps the most significant international factors that affected the conflict was the end of the Cold War (Ruben ). The collapse of the USSR made the United States the world’s main superpower, which served to weaken the Arab regimes (Strong). With the United States holding so much power, there was much more incentive to improve relations with the US to avoid restrictions on their own power. Israel benefited greatly from the weakening of Arab forces. Israel grew stronger and the high cost of war and need to improve relations caused the Arab states to withdraw (Morris).
The United Nations Security Council resolutions were directed for the most part against Israel (Morris). The United Nations remained silent as Jewish were the subject of terrorism and the vandalism of religious importance. The anti-Israel stance of the UN is thought to be a consequence of its 21 members that represent Arab countries, and 52 members represent Islamic countries (Ruben ).
The cultural differences served to create a perfect situation for radical motives. Many citizens decide to take matters in their own hands with radical action. Inequality of religion, from the Arab Israeli conflict, helped shape the Zionist movement (" Israel Science and Technology Directory.") When the Zionist and Jewish set goals of making an exclusively Jewish state, differences were exploited and created inequality to beget conflict and war (Ruben ). Islamic radical groups in Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon, have a growing sponsorship from Syria and Iran. Islamic Jihad has several independent actions with links to Libya, Syria, Sudan, and Iran (Strong, 2008).
The Balfour agreement was meant to be a solution to the refugee problem by helping determine that Palestine was the rightfrul home for the Jewish people. In 1947 the remaining land was into two states, a second Arab state, Palestine, and Israel until 1967 when it was combined into the modern State of Israel. Jerusalem still is considered the Jewish capital (Morris).
In 1947 the Arab leadership in Israel and in the countries surrounding it, planned a Jihad, against Israel and encouraged all Arabs to leave Israel. They promised to allow their return after they removed all of the Jews (Ruben ). During 1940's through 1950's, the Jews also were forced to flee from Arab countries to avoid persecution. Refugees became numerous and had to be re-integrated into the tiny country of Israel. The conflict started as a political and nationalist conflict over competing territories. Throughout time the large scale regional Arab–Israeli conflict slowed evolved to a more localized Israeli–Palestinian problem. Peace agreements were signed in 1979 and1994, yet the Arab world and Israel still continued to fight with each other over territory. Chang states, “These two separate communities within one country were key factors for the conflicts in Arab-Israeli history. Torture and brutality performed on these citizens rivaled that of the German Nazi’s against the Jews.” “Not only did live burials, castration, the carving of organs, and the roasting of people become routine, but more diabolical tortures were practiced, such as hanging people by their tongues on iron hooks or burying people to their waists and watching them get torn apart by German shepherds. So sickening was the spectacle that even the Nazis in the city were horrified, one proclaiming the massacre to be the work of "bestial machinery." (Chang)
Refugee problems were also created as a direct consequence of the attacks. Arab refugees were not allowed into the Arab lands to which they fled. Out of about 100,000,000 refugees since World War II, theirs is the only refugee group in the world that has not been absorbed into their own peoples' lands(" Israel Science and Technology Directory.").. Arab nations still have a huge amount of refugees in “refugee camps" that have not been incorporated into Arabic lands. The refugee camps are often over flowing and with very poor living conditions (" Israel Science and Technology Directory.") Negotiations are still taking place, in hopes that Arab leadership will allow for the "right of return" of these refugees into Israel. On the issue, the former head of the UN Relief force said, "The Arab states do not want to solve the refugee problem. They want to keep it as open sore, as an affront to the United Nations and as a weapon against Israel. Arab leaders don't give a damn whether the refugees live or die." (" Israel Science and Technology Directory.").
The consequences of the Arab-Israeli refugee problem can be understood through the events in which they was created. The religious influence in the conflict is not the only source of the trouble, but is a consequence of the religious cultures and their differences (Strong). The religious context has only heightened the conflict by removing it from the rational context and applying a religious fervor. However, this does not surpass the extreme material and political inequalities that exist. These issues continue to fuel the fire and need to be addressed to begin the journey towards peace and to ever solve the problem of refugees in the Middle East.
Bibliography
Aldag, L. "ARAB ISRAELI CONFLICT: PERSPECTIVES FROM PALESTINE." Edge. n. page. Print.
Chang, Iris. The rape of Nanking: the forgotten holocaust of World War II. New York, NY: BasicBooks, 1997. Print.
, ed. "Arab-Israeli conflict." -201 Israel Science and Technology Directory.. N.p., 2012. Web. 10 Apr 2012.
, ed. "Arab-Israeli Conflict: Role of religion." Israel Science and Technology Directory.. N.p., 2012. Web. 10 Apr 2012.
Erskine, B. Palestine of the Arabs (The Rise of Jewish Nationalism and the Middle East). Hyperion Press , 1974. Print.
Ruben, B. "Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and the Arab States." Mideast Security and Policy Studies. 36. (1998): n. page. Web. 10 Apr. 2012.
Strong, W. (2008, July 30). Arab-israeli conflict: Violent consequences of material and political inequality. Retrieved from http://voices.yahoo.com/arab-israeli-conflict-violent-consequences-material-1729877.html?cat=75
