Palestinian Arabs And Israeli Jews example essay topic

The Arab-Israeli conflict is a struggle between the Jewish state of Israel and the Arabs of the Middle East concerning the area known as Palestine. The term Palestine has been associated variously and sometimes controversially with this small region. Both the geographic area designated by and the political status of the name have changed over the course of some three millennia. The region, or a part of it, is also known as the Holy Land and is held sacred among Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

In the twentieth century it has been the object of conflicting claims of Jewish and Arab national movements, and the conflict has led to prolonged violence and in several instances open warfare opposing Israel's existence. These wars, which occurred during the years of nineteen forty-eight to nineteen forty-nine, nineteen fifty-six, nineteen sixty-seven, nineteen seventy-three to nineteen seventy-four, and nineteen eighty-two were complicated and heightened by the political, strategic, and economic interests in the area of the great powers. This fight is the continuation of an Arab-Jewish struggle that began in the early 1900's for control of Palestine. The historic and desirable region, which has varied greatly since ancient times, is situated on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean in southwestern Asia.

The strategic importance of the area is immense. Through it pass the main roads from Egypt to Syria and from the Mediterranean to the hills beyond the Jordan River. Palestine is now largely divided between Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories, parts of which are self-administered by Palestinians. The ongoing feud is and was based around competing land claims and the two opposing viewpoints are that the Palestinians lived in the region long before Jews began moving there in large numbers in the late 1800's and that Jews believed they were justified by Zionism. "Chiefly, today's Palestine question has to do with Jews and Arabs. Over the centuries, both groups have developed deep historical roots in a place both regard as a Holy Land.

Both have strong emotional ties to it". (Carrol, 3) This paper will discuss how discrimination against Arab-Palestinians is justified by Zionism and the results of these actions, the origins, purposes, and effects of the Arab "Intifada", and what the future holds for the Arabs and Jews living in a race / religion biased land. In the last two decades of the nineteenth century, two separate movements developed that were to have continuing effects for all of the Middle East; these are the Arab revival and Zionism. Both movements aimed at uniting their peoples in a national homeland. They were to converge and confront each other in Palestine where, it was initially thought by some, they could each achieve their aspirations in an atmosphere of mutual accommodation.

The two movements, in fact, proved incompatible and the majority of Arab suffering resulted. Beginning in the 1800's, oppression of Jews in Eastern Europe sparked a mass emigration of Jewish refugees. Some Jews formed a movement called Zionism, which sought to make Palestine an independent Jewish nation. The first Zionist Congress was held in Switzerland in 1897 and it issued the Basle programme on the colonization of Palestine and the establishment of the World Zionist Organization (WHO).

Then, in 1906, The Zionist congress decided the Jewish homeland should be Palestine. The only problem was that there already was a large Arab-Palestinian population inhabiting the area. For this reason, Zionism was used as a propagandist tool to rid Palestine of the Arabs and to start a new nation for the Jews. A look at the fabric of Jewish Zionists that emigrated to Israel exhibited the driving forces and it displayed how massively the movement developed. For Russian Jews, it was the desire to escape totalitarian oppression. Religious Jews went there hoping for the day of messianic redemption.

Still others, viewing developments on the world scene, were convinced that Israel was their ultimate hope for a better day. Jews believe that Zionism is nothing less than the dream and ideal of the Jewish people returning to live in their own land when, in actuality, Arabs inhabited Palestine long before the Jews came in the 1800's. This Zionist ic theory has caused violations in Arab civil rights and overall discrimination for all non-Jews. David Bender says in his book, Israel: Opposing Viewpoints, (198) that "The basic laws of Israel define Israel as a Jewish state. The Arab Association for Human Rights argues that this definition officially makes Palestinians, who are predominantly Arabs, less equal citizens than Jews and denies them the civil rights that Jews enjoy".

The government oppression and neglect has caused distress among thousands of Arabs. Pery, the security chief of Israel, in a speech, cautioned that this neglect of the Arab population might be dangerous and that the poor conditions of the Arabs in east Jerusalem were fueling dissent against Israeli rule. He said, "It's not my job to tell the government what to do with its money, but we need to, at least, be meeting minimal needs". Jews sanctify the seizing of Arab land and property with Zionism because the scriptures say that they would inhabit Palestine. However, they neglected to consider the Arabs who already lived there and, soon, after the initial immigration, Palestinian Arabs were being told where they could and could not live, work, and send their kids to school. Bender also states that, "In 1947, Palestinian Arabs comprised sixty-seven percent of the population of Palestine.

When the Israeli state was founded in 1948, the vast majority of the indigenous Palestinian residents were made refugees". (199) The Arab population that remained in Israel then numbered only 156,000 left out of 700,000 total Arabs. Compared to a census in 1914, Arabs numbered about 615,000 out of 700,000 inhabitants and the Israeli's were a mere 85,000 who owned 0.5% of the land. Because Arabs were made refugees and the Jewish population rose, the Arabs were weak and divided, and by being stunned by the traumas of defeat, it was possible for Israel to impose their rule. The Israeli government did not and still does not perceive the damage caused by Zionist justification. The reality is that Zionism was used as a propagandist tool to capture Arab lands.

The mind frame of the Jewish people was to settle in Arab lands and they did not expect the retaliation. Since they believe in Zionism, the Jewish opinion is that it is their God given right to do so. The Arabs are the victims most affected in this situation of discriminatory Zionism, however, and their civil rights are being violated. Pery also said, "The more Arabs in Jerusalem have to lose if they rise up against Israeli rule, the more likely they are to remain quiet".

Basically, the more the government oppresses the people and takes away their rights, the quieter they will become and they will eventually stop fighting against the Israelis. Another effect of Zionism is the lack of Services among the Arab Palestinian population. "Governmental funding discrimination is widespread in the fields of local services, agriculture, housing, education, and health services. The Arab population is excluded from special development projects, both governmental and non-governmental". (Bender, 202) These restrictions and lack of services are actions against the Palestinians that exhibit unfair rights. "Some 50,000 of the Palestinians live in villages which are unrecognized by the Israeli government and as such cannot be connected to the electricity or water grids, nor are they provided with school or health care services".

(Bender, 202). Lack of services is also apparent in mixed Arab-Jewish marriages. These couples cannot find housing in Jewish occupied land or in Arab occupied land because of the hatred and extreme prejudice against one or the other partners' people. In Yoram Binur's My Enemy, Myself, (86) he examines the treatment of mixed relationships through a planned experiment with his accomplice, Rachel. "I hope the neighbors won't create problems because of my boyfriend. In other places they refused to rent an apartment to us".

Furthermore, Arabs have to deal with being told where they can live and how many homes they can construct. For example, the "Potential Housing Construction in Jerusalem" project was made to keep the Arabs isolated in their own areas and it involved keeping the population of the Arabs suppressed. "The 'Potential Housing Construction in Jerusalem's eem ed like a harmless chart but it was a chart that designated the 'Potential units' which was the maximum number of units the Israelis had determined could be built in each Arab neighborhood without causing a change in the ratio of Arabs to Jews in the city population". (Cheshin, 34) "In Israel, the completion of military service is used to determine where one can live, amounts received for housing loans, children's allowances, taxes, and university fees.

Newly discharged soldiers are given preference to work, acceptance for occupational training courses and subsidized educational fees, among other things. Private companies and housing also use the completion of army service asa determining criterion. As it is only Arabs who do not serve in the army and therefore do not receive the benefits, the practice of creating a criterion of army service in essence serves as a covert method of discrimination against the Palestinian population. (Bender, 201) The Israeli government's neglectful tactics make life extremely worrisome for Arabs. Without services, their water supply, their housing supplies, and their energy sources are not reliable. Arabs are given services but, in actuality, the services are extremely limited.

The Jewish settlers pushed the Arabs out of their homes and forced them to live in refugee camps which, simply by using the word camp, implies that they are living day by day without the luxury of dependable homes. It is important to, first, understand what the Intifada is in order to fully comprehend the purpose and long lasting effects. The Intifada is the Arabic word for " Uprising" and it is a revolt that began in December of 1987 by Palestinian Arabs to protest Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. To an extent, it was a retaliation against the theory of Zionism because they were regaining what was taken by the Jews years before.

The Intifada involved demonstrations, strikes, riots and, ultimately, violence. What made the Intifada stand out from earlier and later forms of protests, was its broadness, the wide support, duration, and the involvement of the people. It was a revolt by the people against an unsympathetic and oppressive government. The most symbolically important act of the Intifada was the stoning of Israeli security forces and civilians, often performed by young men and boys. Although the Intifada was justified because they were fighting for their rights, by retaliating with violence, they created a hypocritical reputation and the government was even less sympathetic. It tried to suppress the Intifada, with more police and army forces, closing of universities, deportations and restrictions on economical activities.

The Arabs, however, had taken enough abuse to terminate their plans. "We are part of the Intifada, but rather than employ violence, we shall exercise our rights within Israel's democratic system". (Ehud Ya " are, 170) This seemingly paradoxical statement is the official line of the Arab community in Israel. However, by using non-violent methods, as primarily decided, defeat was inevitable. So, the Arabs decided to take matters into their own hands by treating the Israelis how they were once treated; they fought against armed troops, they denounced the government as unlawful, and voiced their opinions. In fact, "In December, 1987, Palestinians took to the streets en masse in protest against Israeli rule.

This uprising, that would come to be known as Intifada, made people rethink Israeli-Palestinian relations". (Ehud Ya " are, 12) The movement showed the Israeli government that the Palestinian Arabs were not going to allow any more injustices to occur on their native soil. The purpose of the intifada was to regain Palestinian rights, to voice their opinions in the Israeli government, and to regain what was lost by the use of Zionism, such as land seizures, and to an extent, their dignity. The government officials, at first, did not take the Arab revolts seriously and they ignored the grievances. In Amir S. Cheshin's book Separate and Unequal, the Inside Story of Israeli Rule in East Jerusalem, (13) he said that an Israeli official, Kollek, believed that by not listening to the pleas of the Arabs, they would eventually terminate their fight.

"As for the tensions between Palestinians and Israeli's in his city, it was as if by not talking to them (Palestinians), Kollek believed they would go away". The main reason why the Arabs complaints were initially put aside is because "Twenty-six years after East Jerusalem came under Israeli control, discrimination against the Palestinians had become a typical way of life in Jerusalem". (Cheshin, 30) The majority of Arabs express the same opinion in saying that the "Israelis don't have any idea what's going on here", (Binur, 200) and that the discrimination is untended and malignant to their culture. The ways of dealing with Palestinian Arabs was, basically, to discriminate severely and take away what they needed in times of revolts so they could not afford a long lasting rebellion. The Intifada, however, was a force that would not die easily. "The ways in which Arabs were and are treated in Israel reflects a narrow mindedness and the lack of any desire to deal directly with the political, diplomatic, and human implications of the issues".

(Binur, 199) Although the intifada was supposed to be relatively peaceful, it turned into violence and bloodshed because the Palestinians were not being heard and injustice had taken control. The violence came from both sides of the battlefield. The armed Israeli troops shot rounds at the Arabs while the Arabs armed themselves with rocks in retaliation. As a result, the Israeli government ordered seizures of properties and land. "Israel expropriated the land around Sur Baher from its Arab owners. The hillsides adjoining Sur Baher where villagers once let their livestock graze were uprooted by Israeli bulldozers".

(Cheshin, 36) Bulldozers also demolished Arab homes, which was another factor forcing them into refugee camps. Zionism, or as the Arabs refer to it as racism, was being counter attacked. For example, Arabs were treated like second class citizens and the Israelis forced them to do humiliating and unnecessary acts such as carrying passports that were compared to the usage o! f Jews wearing a yellow star during the reign of Adolf Hitler. During the Intifada, the Arabs stopped using the passports and other degrading aspects refrained in order to regain some of their dignity. In the Palestine land, the road to peace seems like a path not taken. Blame is thrown from side to side and negotiations always become derailed by violence or ethical disagreements.

The Israeli government perceives the actions of the Intifada as vicious Arab killers without purpose and the Arabs dispute land ownership and the discriminatory government. "We are convinced that Israel is capable of putting a stop to the Intifada", Marwan al-K assem- head of the Royal Cabinet. Another peace blockage is that "The Likud is deliberately squandering the opportunity raised by the uprising and is using the violence to justify its intransigence". (Ya " are, 267) The opinion of the Arab community is that since the Israelis invaded the Arab land, they should be the initiators of peace. Israeli people disagree entirely saying that Zionism is their destiny and they have a right to settle. Peace, however, seems unlikely because of the reciprocal violence extended from each side.

Arabs that hurl stones are irresponsible protestors, yet, "The Israelis must roll up their sleeves and take matters in hand as well. They must understand that their image is being tarnished because they " re occupiers, not because they are beating people in the streets". (Ya " are, 277) The Arabs are directly blamed for the problems in Palestine just as the Jews were once blamed by Hitler. Furthermore, although there are three religions in Israel, these two along with Christianity, Arabs are the focal point of hate. "The Christians are not the problem. We can come to agreement with them.

The central problem is the Arabs, and the Arab nationalism". (Cheshin, 234) After being thrown from their land and set into oppressive lifestyles, the Israeli government declares that nationalism causes the Arabs to discriminate against Jews. However, what would a person expect from a group that was mistreated so harshly? Peace cannot be reached if the Israeli government does not give the Arabs their basic civil rights and it shall not conclude if the Arabs continue their violent methods.

Countless deaths and injuries will continue to occur if action is yielded. There is no way to create compromise when the power balance is that unfair so in order to create balance, equal government has to be reinstated. To reach a peace agreement, both the Arabs and Jews must be treated with the same respect, rights, and individualism. Still today, "The numerous types of legal and institutionalized discrimination faced by the Palestinians citizens of Israel affect their lives on a day to day basis. As a national minority in the self-defined Jewish state, they are second class citizens in a government that does not include them in the definition of the state". (Bender, 203) Equality is the first step to newfound harmony in the nation of turmoil.

In order for peace to occur, both parties must be committed to following through with their plans. A meeting every other month to discuss the problems is simply insufficient. The government officials must stop worrying about how they appear to the rest of the world and start focusing on how they can improve Arab-Israeli relations. The Arabs need their lives restored and, "If Israel does not agree to the partition of the land in Israel, which is the one and only possibility for a peaceful solution, it will become a fascist state, with concentration camps".

(Bender, 105) A final solution that can be made is one of simply dividing the land. Most likely, both peoples, Palestinian-Arabs and Israeli-Jews, will have to accept that they cannot have their statehood within the full borders of the historic Land of Israel / Palestine. The best solution to offer, as of the current condition in Palestine, is to divide what land is left. This will decrease tensions because the Arabs will have services and rights finally being restored and Jews will retain land as well.

In summation, the Palestine question is, to say the least, a complex and difficult situation. There are opposing opinions, viewpoints, and reasoning behind every issue, yet, one necessity is apparently obvious; The Palestinians' civil rights are being violated and it must terminate. From this paper, it is clear to see that discrimination against Arab-Palestinians is harmfully justified by Jewish Zionism, the Intifada is not a meaningless attack on the Jews, however, Arabs are quite hypocritical by reciprocating violence, and that the future may or may not hold peace in divided Israel because it, more or less, depends on Arab-Israeli compromises. As it is known, these compromises always tend to include conflicting agendas. Peace, surely, can be reached. It is merely decision regarding which side will initiate and negotiate first.

Taking a look at peace talks today, this does not appear to be happening in the near future. It is amazing to bear witness to the incredible amount of violence and hate in a so-called "Holy Land".

Bibliography

Binur, Yoram. My Enemy, Myself. London: Doubleday, 1989.
Carroll, Raymond. The Palestine Question. New York: Franklin Watts, 1983.
Cheshin, Amir S. Separate and Unequal, the Inside Story of Israel Rule in East Jerusalem. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1999.
Ya " are, Ehud. Intifada. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989.