ETHNIC CONFLICT

Ethnic conflict

Ethnic conflict

Introduction

The instability in many regions of the world today is caused by a deep-rooted hatred between neighboring ethnic groups. Many times, the religious beliefs or political ideals of these groups clash with one another through resulting in horrifying amounts of violence and terror between both groups. The source of the conflict is continuously lost and blurred over hundreds of years of escalating violence and sly politicians without any sign of peace or surrender for both groups causing a devastating amount of losses and making way for an enraged need for vengeance that may never be filled.(McGarry,1993)

Discussion

Proving religion to be a leading factor in these dangerous ethnic battles, many of the conflicts in the world lie in the troubled Middle East, leading it into utter turmoil. The long battle between the Sunni and Shiites has been long and seemingly pointless battle over the belief of who Muhammad, the Islamic prophet, would have chosen as his successor when he died. The Shiite believe that his successor should be a direct descendant of the holy prophet, in this case, his brother, while the Sunnis continue to believe that his son-in-law should have been the one to lead those if the Muslim faith. This resulted in the assassination of Abu Bakr, the Sunni's elected prophet, sparking rage and violence between the two groups due to endless suspicion and horrifying extremist actions.

Paradise Now is a foreign film based on the suicide bombings that occur in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which clearly favors the Palestinian side and frequently brings up the controversial phrase: desperate times call for desperate measures, and shows added sympathy for the Islamic side of the infamous argument, like never before. The story begins when a young and confused Palestinian man, Said, and his lifelong friend are recruited by an extremist group near Israel's border, and are finally called onto a mission for a suicide bombing attack planned in Tel Aviv. It was a simple mission devised by the leader of the extremist group, but had taken several twists and turns along the way, keeping audiences of all ages at the edge of their seats. Throughout the film, Said meets an independent, optimistic woman who may have even fallen in love with him, and he with her in the day or two they spent together. But when their plan goes wrong, the attack is postponed, even though Said was given the chance to go onto the bus as planned anyway, after seeing a small child, with beautiful golden, curly hair, Said changed his mind and returned to the others. These events lead the two, once confident bombers, to become suddenly scared and perplexed men who are then forced to think about the events to come, altering their original opinions, and climactically leading up to an unexpected ending where Said embarks on the suicide mission on his own, leaving his cowardly friend behind. From there, no words are said, only actions and a bright light of the bomb that was once hidden under ...