Essay on the history of the Israeli-Arab Conflict

Introduction to the Israeli-Arab Conflict

Why is peace in the Middle East so elusive and the long-term solution to this conflict so enigmatic? Who has not heard of the monumental problems of the Middle East? Who does not know of the major players in the conflict: Israel, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the many Arab countries that fill the Middle East? Are not the nations of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt known by name in the countless homes of America? Not only that, but are not they also household names in all of Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America? Yes, yes indeed they are. But why?

Thanks to the major news outlets' non-stop coverage of these events for the last few decades, people around the world are knowledgeable of the Israeli-Arab conflict and of Islamic terrorism. Therefore many in the media and on the street think they are experts on the subject from the nightly news. Adding to this that nearly all the leaders of the modern world not only knows about the conflicts in the Middle East, but that many are actively involved in trying to fix the problems there. And yet no one in the mainstream media or the governments of the world seems to know, or confess publicly, the answer of this perplexing riddle. Nevertheless, there are people that know what is actually happening in the Middle East and what the real problems are there, but few are really willing to do what is necessary to fix them.

The problems in the Israeli-Arab conflict are not something that will easily be fixed. One of the most commonly quoted issues in the conflict is the rightful ownership of the land, but the religious violence is a very serious problem to the whole region too. It is imperative then that for creating real peace, people should address these two ideas in detail. It is also paramount to know more information about this conflict then what’s in the evening news. There are real reasons for these events happening in Israel, and there is a long relationship between all the components of this saga. In this conflict it is of the utmost importance to understand: who rightfully owns the land, why there is terrorist violence, and the dishonesty and deception in the Middle Eastern political world; for in these issues are the real opportunities authentic peace, and the seeds of war.

The Land: Whose Land Is It?

The land of Israel/Palestine is, according to the Jewish, and Muslim holy books as the land of the Jews, and was recognized as so by the British rulers of Palestine, Arabs leaders during the days of the Mandate, the League of Nations, and the UN. History shows that many people have lived in or controlled the land of Israel for centuries. The land has been occupied and loved by the Jewish people as their homeland ever since the founding of the nation of Israel in the land Joshua, which was no later than the year 1220 BC (Boyd, 127). In 70 AD Israel lost their war to remain an independent country against Rome, and since then many nations have exerted political or military control over the land. During the this time of the Diaspora some Jewish people stayed in the land and others often returned there, as the famous Rabbi and physician Maimonides and his family did (Williams, 83). Some rabbis started renowned schools in some of the cities and villages, thereby keeping the place populated with Jews. And for 500 years, from 1517 to 1918, the Ottoman Turks ruled the land (Wheatcroft, 87).

Many centuries passed with no Jewish State or sovereign Jewish country when the British decided to endorse the establishing of a national homeland for the Jews in Palestine. Which actually gave the land of Israel, in part, back to the Jews for the first time in almost 1900 years. This was made known to the entire world by the Balfour Declaration of 1917 (Jewish V. L). When World War I was over and large parts of the former Ottoman Empire went to the French and British, the land of Israel went to the British under a Mandate of Palestine, and from there it would later go to Jewish hands.

Arab leaders in the Middle East also agreed to the Jewish homeland. The Arab leader Feisal, who later became the King of Syria and then afterwards became the king of Iraq, agreed to the homeland of the Jews. And he sent a letter to the American Zionist organization leader, Felix Frankfurter, about the " 'happy coincidence' that the Jews and Arabs, who were 'cousin races' were taking the first steps toward the attainment of their national ideals together, and that there was room in "Syria" for both national movements" (Bickerton & Klausner, 41). This shows that at the first, before things became so politically divided, the Arabs and Jews were seeking and working for the same political things--peacefully. This also shows that there was no country of Palestine; it was only a part of Syria. It was the first time in modern history that a new entity called "Palestine" was created (43). This became international law, and endorsed by the League of Nations and later by the UN (43). Also the new entity of "Palestine" was all the land that now consists of Israel and Jordan, with the side east of the Jordan as "Trans-Jordan" (mostly Bedouin tribesmen) and west of the Jordan as for the Jews. Originally the whole of "Palestine" was for the Jewish homeland and resettlement, now it was only the west side of the river Jordan. Eventually, even the east side would be split into a much smaller piece of land for the Jews, while giving the rest of the land to Arabs.

What does the Koran say about the land of Israel and Jews? Even with all the violence and death by the PLO and other Muslim groups in the name of Islam, the Koran itself teaches that the land of Israel/Palestine belongs to the Jews, says Islamic professor and multi-authored Dr. Palazzi (Palazzi,). Not only that, he also says that there is no fundamental reason that prohibits Muslims from recognizing Israel as a "friendly state", and "Viewing the Jewish return to Israel as a Western invasion and Zionists as recent colonizers is new. It has no basis in authentic Islamic faith" (Palazzi). Concerning the Palestinians, whom he calls simply "resident Arabs", and the issue of not recognizing that the sovereignty of Israel is for Jews he says, "Using Islam as a basis for preventing Arabs from recognizing any sovereign right of Jews over the land of Israel is new. Such beliefs are not found in classical Islamic sources" (Palazzi).

Even the city of Jerusalem should be a clear winner for Jewish possession. It is the most holy place to Jews, and only the number three holy place to Muslims. It also is not even mentioned in the Koran by name (Armstrong, 224), but it is mentioned some 700 times in the Jewish Bible (Re: Islam). What the Koran does say is something that was only interpreted to mean the Jewish city of Jerusalem centuries after Mohammed's death (Armstrong, 224). And according to the Islamic Professor Dr. Palazzi, there is no real Muslim claims to Jerusalem; he further explains that "the Qur'an expressly recognizes that Jerusalem plays for Jews the same role that Mecca does for Muslims" (Palazzi). So we see that in the issue of Israeli ownership and control of the land that Arabs have the chance to recognize the rightful hegemony of Israel and all can have peace. Or they can continue their refusal to acknowledge what the world, and even their holy book, the Koran (according to Dr. Palazzi), says is rightfully Israel's. The latter choice will only spread more seeds of war.

Religious violence by Palestinians and Muslims toward Jews

Israel is daily vilified and persecuted by religious violence from Palestinians and Muslims that are continuing to breed hate and blood shed. What possibly could be daily coming forth from people to do harm to Jews, one in the West might be tempted to say? The best way to reveal someone’s heart is to do so with his own words. One only has to look at the sermons played on the Palestinian Authority TV to see how the Jews are treated. It is worthy to note that Islam is the state religion in the Palestinian government and the religious leaders are hand picked “from the grand mufti of Jerusalem down to the Friday prayer imam in the smallest village (Timmerman, 157). In the opening words of the report “Encouraging Genocide”, by the watchdog group Palestinian Media Watch, it says this about the PLO and their TV programs:

“A significant and dangerous message of the Palestinian Authority is that Jews are to be hated and killed because of an inherently evil nature. Jews are said to be the cursed enemy of Allah, and killing Jews has been repeatedly presented as a religious obligation. PA leaders preach that the battle with Israel is not merely over borders but to kill Jews - thereby bringing the Resurrection. The Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, and Jewish traditions are distorted, presented as having hateful and corrupt content.. Messages of anti-Semitism that don't include calls to violence are as dangerous as the explicit calls to kill Jews. Once the message that Jews are evil and dangerous has been successfully transmitted, other calls that Allah demands Muslims kill Jews are more acceptable to Palestinian ears. In the same vein, Palestinian Authority Television has frequently glorified the exploits of suicide and other terrorists, in documentaries, in religious teaching and other forums. The memory of these terrorists and their actions are exulted because they are seen as the ones who are fulfilling Allah's mandate” (PM Watch).

They spread such ideas through sermons like these: “Jews are a cancer; the cause of the entire world’s problems-need to be destroyed”, “Jews caused tsunami, Muhammad Demands Muslims Kill Jews”, “Murder of Jews is Allah’s Will”, “Islam is at War Against Jews”, “Allah Cursed the Jews, and last but not least is Blow Them Up in Tel Aviv” (ibid). Adding insult to injury, the station also aired a song to glorify the first female suicide bomber that was played three times in May of 2002 (ibid).

How is Israel responsible for all the problems of the world? How is it that the conflicts of the Sudan, Chechnya, Kosivo, or Kashmir are a Jewish caused problem? Are not all these Muslim problems? In fact, according to Palestinian Facts and many other sources, "Mohammed aspired to conquer the world" (Palestinian Facts), this in turn seems to have laid the foundation for all other Muslims to see and follow in public relations. To understand more thorough how universal this tendency of using violence in politics is for Muslims, consider what Huntington states about Muslims and world violence, ".... Muslims make up about one-fifth of the world's population but in the 1990s they have been far more involved in inter-group violence than the people of any other civilization [includes Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Hindu, Chinese, Buddhist, Jewish]. The evidence is overwhelming..." (Eriposte).

It proves to be very difficult finding solutions for international or domestic political problems within Islamic nations and communities when the favored form of recourse is violence. And it’s very hard to get them to the negotiation table for peace talks, which is the case in the Israeli-Arab conflicts. It is also part of the reason why their peace accords and cease-fires don’t last. According to Samuel P. Huntington, the Koran and Muslims not only have a natural propensity towards violence, but that Muslim beliefs don’t have a nonviolent concept in its doctrine or practice (Eriposte).

Palestinian Arabs leaders use violence and religion to achieve political ends. To see this more clearly, one only needs to hear Palestinian leaders in their own words. The terror/political group Hezbollah was established by Iran, and follows its leadership and example of violence. Consider the words of the former Revolution leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, who laid the foundation and political coarse for all the millions of people of Iran. He summarized and praised the Islamic faith in saying, “Thanks to God, our young people are now, to the limits of their means, putting God's commandments into action. They know that to kill the unbelievers is one of man's greatest missions”, (Roots of Islam). Another time Khomeini said explaining the faith as, "the purest joy in Islam is to kill and be killed for Allah." (Bradley News).

How can Israel, or anyone for that matter, deal with a political group like Hezbollah, or a people that think its God’s will to kill all unbelievers, (Jihad Watch)? There is little room to make peace deals with this kind of religious attitude towards others. It cannot be overstated that the words of Khomeini reach lands far from Tehran, for they ring loud and often in Israel. To prove this point, according to The Middle East Media Research Institute, the Hezbollah Deputy Sec.-Gen sheikh Naim Qassem: "We have jurisprudence permission to carry out 'Martyrdom' operations, and fire missiles on Israeli civilians from Ayatollah Khomeini" (MEMRI). Again he said, "Martyrdom is valuable, sacred, respectable, and great...It is an honor for us to be accused of believing in the culture of martyrdom" (MEMRI). Given this information, we can see a little clearer the magnitude of the long and bloody history of Palestinian and Muslim attacks upon modern Israel. Which started before the first PLO attacks in 1965, (which was the year they established a relationship with Communist China for arms deals), (Cobban). Another contributing fact about the Middle East is that 50% of the Arab population is under the age 25 (Schwartz), which contributes to the youthfulness of this dangerous situation.

And even though there are other views on the Islamic faith and how it should handle world and domestic issues, the unfortunate fact is they are not major players in the Islamic civilization or the Israeli-Arab conflict at this time. But their voices are being heard, and it is a viable choice for Muslims to follow. So in the area of religion and the violence there is the chance of peace through stopping the calls for violence, and looking at their faith through other interpretations, like that of Dr. Palazzi, and live in peace with the Jews. Otherwise the calls for attacks and all other forms of violence against Jews will continue to be meet or countered by the Israeli Defense Force. And if the later is chosen over the former, than the seeds of war will not only bare fruit in our day, but will most surely procure future violence and war.

Political Dishonesty and Deception

Of all the states involved, why are nations with long historic or ongoing events of conflict, abuse of power, land confiscation, and repression of the independence of minority people groups the ones trying to give advice? Many nations seem to be obsessed with telling Israel how to handle internal national problems? It goes beyond logic for someone to suggest or command others to do what they don't and won't do. How much more to condemn others for what they have done and are doing? This is the case for the countless nations that are so insidious about what "should" be done concerning Israel and terrorist Arabs bent on killing Jews. Yet the same rules don't apply to their own government or country. If they really believed in the ideas given to Israel, concerning her national security, to be the correct answer, why don't they practice the same in their own country?

The modern State of Israel has to deal with nations that have a legacy of political dishonesty and deception, not only in dealing with Israel, but with their own neighbors and people at home. Though for many centuries Jewish communities had more tolerance in Islamic societies, as many people love to point out in debates, as opposed to Catholic societies, nevertheless it came at a price. But it would be dishonest to think all would be fine for Jews today if they had to go under an Islamic authority or government. Because if one were to be Jewish there were things to do and not to do in Islamic lands. Such things were laid out in what is called the "Omar Charter", which was enacted by Omar, the successor of Mohammed, in about 632 AD (Blech). This charter called for many things, such as the things listed below:

Jews were forbidden to touch the Koran.

Jews were to wear distinctive clothing.

Jews were required to wear a yellow piece of cloth as a badge

(Christians were required to wear a blue one).

Jews were not allowed to perform their religious practices in public.

Jews were not allowed to own a horse, a sign of a nobleman.

Jews were required to bury their dead without grieving in public.

Jews were required to pay a special tax.

Jews were not allowed to defend themselves against a Muslim.

Jews were not allowed to testify against a Muslim.

Jews were forbidden to build new synagogues.

The houses and tombs of Jews were not allowed to be higher then those of the Muslims.

The graves of Jews were required to be flat so that anyone could walk over them.

(ibid)

All nations that became Islamic did not follow all of these commands, nor were they limited to them either. Throughout the history of the numerous Islamic empires and kingdoms there were differences in their approaches concerning Jews. As one historian put it concerning Jews under Islamic control, “Islam in general, learned the art of coexistence and often closed its eyes to its own repressive dicta" (Williams, 69). Therefore, it's not hard to see that life in such a society would not be easy or desirable for Jewish people. Even the more for the Jews who have enjoyed real freedom living in the State of Israel. Nor would Jews knowingly and willingly go back to such treatment under an Arab state. So also the idea is of Israel letting her Arab neighbors get the upper hand in the issues of land ownership or national control of strategic lands is not something that Israel is willing to do. Given the history the Jews have had form the hands of other nations, it would not be good for their security or living conditions to do so.

What about the long term planning for the State of Israel? Seeing there is no long running current history (meaning for hundreds of years) of Jewish control over all their ancient homeland, the management of other people and natural resources between different peoples, what other nations can Israel really look to for guidance? Many want to tell Israel what to do, but who can point to a pattern of policy and action in their home country for her to emulate?

Are there international examples for guidance on race and religious matters? Are there other nations that have subject peoples that would like to have or have pressed for their freedom and independence that could be sited as an example? Do Chechens live under Russia’s control, and do they want to be independent? Is Tibet under the illegal control of China? Do they want to be free? What about the nations of Canada, the United States of America, Mexico, and Latin America, do they have large Indian/Native Americans that seek the same ends?

How about the fact that the national boundaries of African nations, and some in Asia, are simply those that were drawn by the colony holders in the past two centuries, and that they do not reflect the ethnic nor historic divisions of African and Asian peoples (Muller & de Blij,290)? This is a problem for those people, but will those governments change things to make it right? Will they cut out land and make little countries for the different people groups to be free? Or give away land to other countries to reunite families, clans, and people groups that they hold separated due first because of former European territorial "acquisitiveness" and also because of their own political elite (ibid.)?

Can only other nations keep checkpoints and guards to enforce peace? Or refuse to give in to violent groups' demands? Will France change for the Muslims in their country? Will the Islamic riots and car burnings show them that maybe violence should not be an acceptable tool for Arab debate and political action while most of the other people of the Western world use peaceful means? Will the French government respect the Arab controlled "turf" sections of the city of Paris, which is said about Israel giving land to the Arabs in-exchange for peace? What about the Islamic nations will they recognize the rights of all the many different ethnic and religious groups within their countries?

But in Israel different people groups can openly follow their religion, run for and hold office, and speak their mind for or against the government. In the area of political dishonesty and deception of nations, there is some hope for peace on the international scene. Because by addressing what other governments have, and are doing, Israel can have real dialog over what can or should happen in the Middle East to produce peace. And not just act in pretense with superficial ideas that can never work or be accomplished, which continues to sow the seeds of more war.

Conclusion

So in conclusion of all that has been presented on these issues, a man might be very amazed that this information isn’t in the nightly news. If it were, there wouldn’t be any confusion or real debate in the West on who is in the right and who is in the wrong. This is not to say that 100% of the West, or even all Americans would be on just Israel’s side, but judging by other things in the past it seems that most would be. When one sees the history of how Israel, in modern times, came back to the land of their forefathers, that most Americans know about through Sunday school people feel good for them to have their own place in the world. And then how they were not treated well by the British and Arabs, even though they were at first accepted and friendly to the Jews. Then as time went on things went from bad to worst with terrorist attacks, which all Americans know and most hate, killing many Jewish civilians with sneak attacks all year long. Even though the UN recognized Israel they were still treated as criminals by the Palestinians Authority and other Muslim entities. And how that Jews are portrayed wrongly in the most horrible and evil of ways on TV, in sermons and by politicians is beyond belief for many of the West, which would cause outrage in many toward the PA. The idea of spiritual leaders would ignore their own holy book’s words and teachings about the land, and instead: call for the death of Jews, killing the citizens of Israel. And also the blaming of all bad things in the world on the Jews is not only stupid, but both of these are beyond the pale for most open minded persons, and Americans, to accept about any group of people. Not to over look that the dos and don’ts of the Islamic world for Jews who live under their control is also not an option for the freedoms and rights American mindset of how to treat people. Who would then see them as the real underdogs that they are, and that would change public opinion in their favor. And so would the people of the world see clearly that Israel is in the right in the most important issues. In the land, recognized by the powers that were in the past and the UN as Israel, and in the Koran for Muslims. Which should be the end of discussions for the Muslims. The unabashed persecution of the Jews in the religious ideas and killings that should stop ASAP, and never be done again. The Muslims should be ashamed for it all. And for the double standard on the part of all the nations involved in pushing Israel in what they “should do” is just-in-you-face obvious that its only for Israel, and not other nations. And the treatment of Jews over the centuries show that they only have one choice for freedom and security, and that’s to do it all on their own under no one. For in this, and only in this, will peace come to the Jews. And peace will come to the whole region when Muslims stop spreading the seeds of war by accepting the above mentioned facts, and make the changes that are now encumbered upon them to do.