Arab–Israeli conflict

The Arab-Israeli conflict is a long-running conflict in the Middle East mostly hinging the status of Israel and its relations with Arab peoples and nations.

Though the term is often used synonymously with Middle East conflict, the region has been host to many other disputes and wars not directly involving Israel.

History

The Arab-Israeli conflict dates back to the beginning of the 20th Century. It arose after the Ottoman Empire in 1917 lost power in the Middle East, and in various forms it goes on until this very day. The Arab-Israeli conflict was the source of at least five wars and a large number of "minor conflicts" and intifadas (Palestinian uprisings). The former are:

1948 Arab-Israeli War. Began after the declaration of the State of Israel on May 15, 1948, because of the Arab unacceptance of the United Nations Partition Plan of November 1947 (in which Israel was formed out of part of Palestine).
1956 Suez War. Began as a joint Israeli-British-French operation to stop terrorist attacks upon Israeli civilians and recapture the Suez Canal. Ended in a truce in which Israel reached its objective, but the Suez Canal was left in Egyptian (rather than British) hands.
Six-Day War, 1967. Began as a preemptive strike by Israel against Egypt following the Egyptian closure of the Tyran straits, deportation of U.N. peacekeepers from the Sinai. Israeli strikes were followed a ground invasion into Egyptian territory leading to the capture of the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula. In spite of Israel's request to Jordan to desist from attacking it during war the nearing war, both Jordan and Syria began to shell Israeli civilian targets. As a response, Israel captured the West Bank on June the 7th, and on June the 9th - the Golan Heights.
Yom Kippur War, 1973. Began as a simultaneous coordinated attack of Egypt and Syria in Sinai and Golan Heights, respectively. Although the initial attack was very heavy, Israel was not defeated thanks to U.S. military aid, and after several days of fighting it was able to recover all the lands lost in the attack and to defeat the invading armies. The war resulted in a ceasefire at the same borders where it began.
Lebanon War, 1982. Began when Israel attacked Lebanon in an attempt to remove the Palestinian Fatah terrorists led by Yasser Arafat from South Lebanon. Although initially the attack succeeded and Arafat was exiled to Tunisia, Israel became entangled with various local Muslim militias (particularly the Hizballah). By 1985, Israel retreated from all Lebanese territory but a narrow stretch of land called the Israeli Security Zone. In 2000, Israeli forces left that as well; however, the Hizballah still periodically launch attacks and keep Israeli prisoners as hostages, some of whom are civilians.

Reasons for the conflict

The opinions stated here are only some of the many existing in this region (about 10% of Israeli Jews, for example, are closer to the Arab point of view than to the Israeli one). Note, however, that they represent what a great majority of both the Israeli and the Arab publics think. The views have been generally irreconcilable.

Israeli views

There isn't any single Israeli view; rather, there are many different Israeli views, which differ widely in their content. The views below need to reflect what is actually taught in Israeli schools, and is published by the Israeli government and by Israeli newspapers.

Israelis name various reasons for the conflict. While it is difficult to make generalizations, Israelis blame the conflict primarily on aggression toward Israel on the part of Arabs.

On the Israeli view, various Arab organizations have traditionally been against the very idea of an Israel state, or the Israeli state in Palestine. (To be clear, this is how some Israelis would characterize Arab attitudes; Arabs might represent their own attitudes differently, or deny that they have these attitudes.) Israelis generally believe that the Arab states view the economic, military, and political achievements of the state of Israel as an affront to their own soverignty; they are embittered because of past defeats and attacks by Israel. Most Arabs believe that the Palestinian refugees who were created as a result of the war have not been treated fairly by the state of Israel.

This is made all the more stinging for them since (on this view) Islamic law forbids Jews or Christians from being considered equal to Muslims. They must accept the status of dhimmis (second class citizens), and Islamic law allows Muslims to go to war against Jews or Christians in Arab lands who refuse to accept this status (See Talk page). Moreover, on this view, it is important to point out that Islamic law requires that Muslims forever retain control over all land that was ever in Muslim control. Since the British mandate of Palestine once was primarily Muslim, the overwhelming majority of Islamic clerics believe that it is unlawful and unacceptable for a portion of it to be in the hands of non-Muslims.

Israelis generally admit that, while they are cast in the role of the attacked rather than the aggressors, the conflict is not entirely one-sided: when nations declare war against Israel, Israel by definition is then at war with them. Moreover, Israelies fear Muslim and Arab anti-semitism as well as Arab terrorism against Israel. Israelis are aware that the predominant Palestinian views of the peace process do not recognize Israel's right to exist, and, in the opinion of most Israelis, the only long-term Arab goal is the complete destruction of the Jewish state.

Part of the Israeli case for their role in the conflict involves the justification of the existence of the state of Israel, particularly against Arab criticisms. Zionists (supporters of the right of the state of Israel to exist) believe that the destruction of the state of Israel is too high a price to pay to find a solution to the Palestinian refugees, and in addition to creating millions of Jewish refugees, it would not necessarily solve the problems of the Palestinians.

Zionism is merely the desire of Jewish people to live as a free people in the land of Israel, and, Israelis hold, is not exclusive. It does not prohibit Arabs or Druzes from living on the land as well. On this view, people of all races, colors and ethnic backgrounds have always been welcome in Israel; therefore, by definition, Zionism is not racism. Similarly, on this view, Zionism is not colonialism, since it does not wish to enslave any other peoples or lands, nor to exploit them. To the objection that the Palestinians were being exploited simply by the Israelis living on what used to be their land, Israelis reply that the Palestinians were, up until recently, on a path to their own independence from Israel. Immediately after the Six-Day war, Israel offered the occupied territories to the Arab nations in exchange for recognition of its existence, an offer to which the Arab nations refused.

Isrealis generally deny the existence of a Palestinian people, and consider them simply to be Arabs. Therefore Israelis generally do not view the building of house and stores in Israeli settlements as any sort of threat to the Palestinian population. Zionists believe that disputes about this land does not justify resistance by the Palestinans, and that settlers therefore have the right to defend themselves. Disputes need to have politically negotiated settlements. Although there is room for improvement, Israelis believe they treat their minorities in a just way. They are given freedom of religion, culture and political organization. They are not forced into the Israeli military, so that they will never have to fight their peoples. And, Israelis point out, no Arab state gives similar freedom to Jews.

Palestinan views

There isn't any single Palestinian view; rather, there are many different Palestinian views, which differ widely in their content. The following is a statement by Yasir Arafat.

Israelis and Palestinians [are] locked in a catastrophic cycle of violence, a cycle which only promises more bloodshed and fear. The cycle has led many to conclude that peace is impossible, a myth borne out of the ignorance of the Palestinian position. Now is the time for the Palestinians to state clearly, and for the world to hear clearly, the Palestinian vision.

But first, let me be very clear. I condemn the attacks carried out by terrorist groups against Israeli civilians. These groups do not represent the Palestinian people or their legitimate aspirations for freedom. They are terrorist organizations and I am determined to put an end to their activities.

The Palestinian vision of peace is an independent and viable Palestinian state on the territories occupied by Israel in 1967, living as an equal neighbor alongside Israel with peace and security for both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples. In 1988, the Palestine National Council adopted a historic resolution calling for the implementation of applicable United Nations resolutions, particularly, Resolutions 242 and 338. The Palestinians recognized Israel's right to exist on 78 percent of historic Palestine with the understanding that we would be allowed to live in freedom on the remaining 22 percent under Israeli occupation since 1967. Our commitment to that two state solution remains unchanged, but unfortunately, also remains unreciprocated.

We seek true independence and full sovereignty: The right to control our own airspace, water resources and borders; the right to develop our own economy, to have normal commercial relations with our neighbors, and to travel freely. In short, we seek only what the free world now enjoys and only what Israel insists on for itself: the right to control our own destiny and to take our place among free nations.

In addition, we seek a fair and just solution to the plight of Palestinian refugees who for 54 years have not been permitted to return to their homes. We understand Israel's demographic concerns and understand that the right of return of Palestinian refugees, a right guaranteed under international law and United Nations Resolution 194, must be implemented in a way that takes into account such concerns. However, just as we Palestinians must be realistic with respect to Israel's demographic desires, Israelis too must be realistic in understanding that there can be no solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict if the legitimate rights of these innocent civilians continue to be ignored. Left unresolved, the refugee issue has the potential to undermine any permanent peace agreement between Palestinians and Israelis. How is a Palestinian refugee to understand that his or her right of return will not be honored but those of Kosovar Albanians, Afghans and East Timorese have been?

There are those who claim that I am not a partner in peace. In response, I say Israel's peace partner is, and always has been, the Palestinian people. Peace is not a signed agreement between individuals - it is reconciliation between peoples. Two peoples cannot reconcile when one demands control over the other, when one refuses to treat the other as a partner in peace, when one uses the logic of power rather than the power of logic. Israel has yet to understand that it cannot have peace while denying justice. As long as the occupation of Palestinian lands continues, as long as Palestinians are denied freedom, then the path to the ``peace of the brave that I embarked upon with my late partner Yitzhak Rabin, will be littered with obstacles.

The Palestinian people have been denied their freedom for far too long and are the only people in the world still living under foreign occupation. How is it possible that the entire world can tolerate this oppression, discrimination and humiliation? The 1993 Oslo Accord, signed on the White House lawn, promised the Palestinians freedom by May 1999.

Instead, since 1993, the Palestinian people endured a doubling of Israeli settlers, expansion of illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land and increased restrictions on freedom of movement. How do I convince my people that Israel is serious about peace while over the past decade, Israel intensified the colonization of Palestinian land from which it was ostensibly negotiating a withdrawal?

But no degree of oppression and no level of desperation can ever justify the killing of innocent civilians. I condemn terrorism. I condemn the killing of innocent civilians, whether they are Israeli, American or Palestinian, whether they are killed by Palestinian extremists, Israeli settlers, or by the Israeli government. But condemnations do not stop terrorism. To stop terrorism, we must understand that terrorism is simply the symptom, not the disease.

The personal attacks on me currently in vogue may be highly effective in giving Israelis an excuse to ignore their own role in creating the current situation. But these attacks do little to move the peace process forward and, in fact, are not designed to. Many believe that Ariel Sharon, Israel's prime minister, given his opposition to every peace treaty Israel has ever signed, is fanning the flames of unrest in an effort to delay indefinitely a return to negotiations. Regrettably, he has done little to prove them wrong. Israeli government practices of settlement construction, home demolitions, political assassinations, closures and shameful silence in the face of Israeli settler violence and other daily humiliations are clearly not aimed at calming the situation.

The Palestinians have a vision of peace: it is a peace based on the complete end of the occupation and a return to Israel's 1967 borders, the sharing of all Jerusalem as one open city and as the capital of two states, Palestine and Israel. It is a warm peace between two equals enjoying mutually beneficial economic and social cooperation. Despite the brutal repression of Palestinians over the last four decades, I believe when Israel sees Palestinians as equals, and not as a subjugated people upon whom it can impose its will, such a vision can come true. Indeed it must.

Palestinians are ready to end the conflict. We are ready to sit down now with any Israeli leader, regardless of his history, to negotiate freedom for the Palestinians, a complete end of the occupation, security for Israel and creative solutions to the plight of the refugees while respecting Israel's demographic concerns. But we will only sit down as equals, not as supplicants; as partners, not as subjects; as seekers of a just and peaceful solution, not as a defeated nation grateful for whatever scraps are thrown our way. For despite Israel's overwhelming military advantage, we possess something even greater: the power of justice.