Arab-Israeli Conflict

Arab Israeli Conflict Players Israel’s responsibility Israel, as a country, can be held responsible for the absence of peace in the Middle East insofar as its role in combination with other key players of the conflict is considered. Israel’s fault 1. Israel is the main culprit of the politics of dispossession a. Israel has consistently denied Palestinians the right to return. i. This is best exemplified by how Israel, in its Declaration of Independence of 1948, declared that it is a “Jewish and Democratic state”, an active effort on their part to exclude and alienate both Jews and Arabs from their state. b. Most importantly however, would be Israel’s seemingly hypocritical stance. Israel affirms the right of Jews to come to Israel, but not the right of Palestinian return despite the UNSCR 194 in 1948. i. The rationale was that of Israel being unwilling to lose the Jewish character of the state, given that the permanent return of 3.5 million Palestinians in a state of 6 million Jews would lead to a demographic shift that the Jewish government did not want to contend with. c. As a result, any peace settlements aimed at settling the Middle East situation and bringing peace to the region has been impeded by this fundamental denial of Palestinian rights. d. Even the most arguably successful peace settlement, the Oslo Accords of 1993, was only successful by avoiding addressing this issue. A United Nations General Assembly Resolution passed in 1969 states that the “problem of Palestinian Arab refugees arises from the denial of their inalienable rights under the charter of the United Nations and the United Declaration of Human Rights”. e. The Israeli denial of the Palestinian right of return has displaced an entire population, and has resulted in the rise of Palestinian and Arab opposition – all a result and manifestation of the crux of the issue. 2. Israel has also consistently refused to compromise, most notably on a 2-state solution. a. Israel has wanted to increase the size of her country to the point that a 2-state solution is virtually impossible, so much so that they refused to hand over the Occupied Territories (OTs) even with UNSCR 242. b. However, it should be noted that the resolution fails to include the word all, implying that Israel could possibly have the option of not returning the OTs at all. c. Arab states have, however, continually interpreted the resolution as the return of all territories, resulting in a stalemate. d. Israel’s main parties and their inability to stand up to them has also contributed to their refusal to compromise due to Israel being a hung parliament. e. Gush Emunim, a right-wing activist movement that was highly influential in the National Religious Party, even issued a Jewish Law for settlers to resist evacuation and IDF withdrawal orders, contributing to the ultimate failure of the Oslo Accords. f. Prominent Israeli politicians who have seemingly enabled a compromise to be reached with the Palestinians have also faced massive backlash, as evidenced by Yitzak Rabin’s assassination due to him signing the Oslo Accords. g. Israel’s refusal to compromise can be seen on two levels – internally and externally. With this staunch refusal, the Middle East has been marked by instability and conflict. However, Israel is not alone in prolonging this conflict. John Kennedy once said that “the removal of Israel would not alter the basic crisis in the area… the basic rivalries within the Arab world, the quarrels over boundaries, the tensions involved in lifting their economies from stagnation, the cross pressures of nationalism – all of these factors would still be there, even if there was no Israel”. Ultimately, any argument must acknowledge the alternative forces at play, and acknowledge that Israel is not solely to blame.

1. Palestinians bear some responsibility a. The Palestinians themselves are not purely victims. b. They have long held onto uncompromising goals, including the ultimate destruction of Israel. c. Even moderate secular groups, the PLO, refuse to accept and negotiate with Israel, what more the hardline groups surfacing. d. The Palestine National Charter of 1968 states that the “Partition of Palestine in 1947 and the establishment of Israel are entirely illegal”. e. Islamic fundamentalists, even more so, refuse to accept and negotiate with the state of Israel, with their ultimate goal to destroy Israel as a state. i. The Hamas Covenant of 1988 states that Israel will exist and continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it. ii. Ultimately, this level of extreme hostility can be seen as a justification of Israel’s denial of the right to return, given that Palestinian organisations, as they are now, might constitute security threats. f. Palestinian’s obstinacy in achieving their end goal, eliminating Israel, is undoubtedly a strong factor in the lack of peace in the Middle East. 2. The Arab World is also not without blame. a. The Arabs have continually maintained an aggressive and almost inflexible stance with regard to the state of Israel, with the constant attacking of the state, be it rhetorical or literal. b. The best example of this would be Arab leaders having an aggressive stance, with Nasser even stating “the State of Israel is Satan’s offspring”. c. This translates into the concrete refusal to negotiate and accept Israel, as seen in the Khartoum Resolution of 1967, which declared that the Arab states would have ‘no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with Israel’. d. This results in little chance for proper negotiations and agreements to bring peace to the Middle East. e. Furthermore, this has resulted in extensive violence, with the 1973 Yom Kippur war a prime example of this, with Arab states viewing war as the only legitimate way to regain territory. Ultimately, this makes peaceful compromise almost impossible with the overwhelming hostility of the Arab States. 3. The role external factors, Cold War factions especially, into consideration. The Cold War superpowers notoriously placed strategic interest before peace, militarizing the area, and thus increasing tensions. a. The USSR provided arms and military support to Egypt and Syria, as well as intelligence in 1967, which led to the Six Day War. b. The USA armed and funded Israel, ensuring its survival, and strengthening its resolution to not compromise. The USA has frequently vetoed UN resolutions that criticise and pressurize Israel, especially so in the 1980s. i. This not only prevented the UN from acting as an effective peace broker, but also limited any chances of a successful peace agreement. 4. However, external forces have also been a force for stability and peace. a. The 1956 Suez Canal Crisis was stopped due to external pressures applied by both the USA and the USSR, with the USA threatening to sell British bonds, forcing them to end the crisis. b. In the War of Attrition in the 1970s as well, the US and USSR met for two power and four power talks that culminated in Israel and Egypt coming together in a ceasefire. c. Other notable external players would be Norway, who brokered the Oslo Accords of 1993 that led to a formal acknowledgement of the authority of both Israel and Palestinian governments. External powers have definitely played a heavy hand in the dealings of the Middle East, and a contradictory one at that – escalating the conflict, but at other times being a force for compromise and peace. Conclusion

Ultimately, placing the blame solely on Israel would be blind and narrow-minded. The lack of peace in the Middle East should be seen as the interplay of hostilities and anger from multiple parties. Arguably, Israel has good reason to be worried due to the hostility of the Arab world and the unpredictability of the Palestinians. Furthermore, the overlay of external powers makes the Middle East even more instable. The Arab-Israeli problem is fundamentally political, and a political