ETHNIC CONFLICT

Ethnic Conflict

The Ethnic Conflict between Israel and Palestine

Introduction

Four major developments conditioned the evolution of the Middle East in the second half of the twentieth century: the struggle over Palestine (known also as the Arab-Israeli Conflict), decolonization, the exploitation of oil resources, and the Cold War. (The latter three factors, it is important to note, also characterized regions of Africa and Latin America.) Toward the end of the century, a fifth development, the rise in popularity and activity of Islamist movements, has challenged the established, largely secular regimes of the Middle East and North Africa (www.mideastweb.org). World attention was drawn to the region, and the politics of Islamic activism, by the attacks on the World Trade Center and the related bombings in Madrid and London, all of which are purported to have been carried out by cells attached to or inspired by the radical Islamist group al-Qaeda. This paper discusses Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict

In 1947, plagued by war weariness, a battered economy at home, and a campaign of terror waged by Zionist forces in Palestine, Great Britain referred the question of the Palestine mandate to the United Nations. The resulting plan recommended the partition of Palestine into two parts, one Jewish, one Arab, with a separate enclave containing Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and other religiously sensitive sites. The Palestinian Arabs rejected the plan immediately, noting, among other matters, that although they constituted over 65% of the population at that time and could rightfully claim deep historic ties to the land of Palestine, the plan accorded them only 45% of the land. The Zionist leadership gave reluctant support to the plan since it provided the Jews with statehood and open immigration. As with its precipitous withdrawal from (and partition of) India about the same time, Britain responded to the deteriorating situation in Palestine by announcing the end of the mandate. In the ensuing chaos and civil war, disciplined and well-organized Zionist forces outfought Palestinian units, backed by small armies sent into Palestine by neighboring Arab states, including Egypt (Dowty, 2008).

Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip

Hostilities resumed by the mid-1960s. Nasser had involved Egypt in a civil war in Yemen (1962-1965). The effort quickly went sour, with large numbers of Egyptian casualties and few political gains to show the Egyptian people. The issues of Palestinian rights and statehood, the security of the state of Israel, and free access to the Suez Canal continued to be contested, monopolizing the attention of policy-makers in the region, as well as decision-makers in Moscow and Washington. In the early summer of 1967, regional tensions escalated rapidly. Nasser, led to believe that Israel was planning for war, took steps to challenge the Jewish state, including the withdrawal of UN peacekeeping forces from the Sinai and a blockade of the Gulf of Aqaba, Israel's access to the Red Sea. Israel retaliated, and within 72 hours, completely overwhelmed the forces of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan.

A cease-fire was arranged after only six days of ...