Abstract

In this research we try to discover the insight of “Arab-Israeli Conflict” in a holistic perspective. The key heart of the study is on “Arab-Israeli Conflict” and its relation with “Palestine”. The research also examines various characteristics of “Arab-Israeli Conflict” and tries to measure its effect. Lastly the research illustrates a variety of factors which are responsible for “Arab-Israeli Conflict” and tries to describe the overall effect of it.

Table of Contents

Introduction3

Discussion and Analysis4

Role of United States4

First Steps towards Peace5

Latest Strategy for Peace: The 'Road Map'7

Fate of Arab-Israeli Relations Remains Uncertain8

Conclusion8

Peace and the Arab-Israeli Conflict: The Past, the Present and the Future

Introduction

Since 1993, with the signing of the so-called Oslo accord, Israel and its Arab neighbors have been engaged in historic talks aimed at achieving peace and ending decades of political turmoil, occupation, terrorism and war. In most respects, peace in the Middle East peace has appeared within closer than at any time since Israel was founded more than a half century ago. Yet age-old animosities between Arabs and Israelis, stoked by decades of hostility and violence in the 20th century, continue to pose enormous obstacles that threaten hopes for a lasting peace.

At its heart, the conflict in the Middle East is similar to conflicts that have been waged throughout much of history; two peoples are fighting over land that each claims as its own. One basic problem is that both the Israelis and Palestinians have a biblical claim to the Holy City of Jerusalem and the areas surrounding the city. For instance, in Jerusalem's Old City, a site known as Temple Mount to the Israelis and Haram al-Sharif to Muslims is holy to both Muslims and Jews. Two of Islam's most sacred structures, the Al-Aksa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, are located on the site, as are the ancient Jewish First and Second Temples (Oren, 33).

The contemporary Arab-Israeli conflict began in 1948; as part of a United Nations proposal backed by the U.S., the state of Israel was established in Palestine as a homeland for the Jewish people. For centuries, Jews had been forcefully dispersed and persecuted throughout the world, most notably in the Nazi death camps of the Holocaust during World War II (1939-45). The creation of Israel thus marked a victory for the Jewish people, who had been returning to Palestine in significant numbers since the late 19th century.

Discussion and Analysis

Israel, backed by the U.S., has proven to be a formidable foe. In successive wars fought between Israel and Arab countries, Israel seized vast amounts of land from its Arab neighbors. Those lands—the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights—were occupied by Israeli soldiers and soon settled by Israeli civilians.

Peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians reached a pivotal turning point with the signing of the Oslo accord in 1993. Since then, Israel has gradually withdrawn from the occupied territories and transferred authority to the Palestinian Authority, led until 2004 by Yasser Arafat, the central figure in the struggle for Palestinian ...