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Arab-Israeli Conflict

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Introduction The Arab-Israel conflict has lasted for decades now. The conflict stems from the declaration of the state of Israel that took place in 14th May, 1948.A partition plan which was adopted by the United Nations general assembly in November of 1947 had been opposed by Arab countries and Palestinian Arabs began attacking Jewish communities. The Arab league in itself had clearly shown it would prevent the state of Israel from being established by all means. This led to the invasion by Arab troops and resulted to Israel fighting and winning their war of Independence. This paper will look into the conflict between the Arabs and Israel and analyze the causes of the same in a bid to determine if there can be a solution that will eventually result to peace.
Discussion
Many of the Palestinian Arabs were expelled and became refuges in Arab countries with Israel revoking their right of return in order to avoid a situation whereby Arabs would be the majority in population. This dispute over the Palestinian right to return is one of the major obstacles in achievement of peace in the region. Many groups arising from the Palestinian side to fight, have indicated that if Palestinians were allowed to return, the state of Israel would cease to exist. In 1967, after the Arab countries had formed alliances against Israel and all negotiations had failed. Israel attacked and conquered the West bank and Gaza strip and other regions. It refused to return these areas after the Arab nations refused to negotiate for peace. Hence after 1967, the main aim of the Palestinians was to liberate the west bank and the Gaza strip. This they perceived to be their land and the Israel occupation and settlement has been a cause for the continued instability in the Middle East. Another issue leading to the conflict is Jerusalem which is claimed by both sides as its rightful capital city. Jerusalem was formerly in two parts: East Jerusalem and West Jerusalem. The unification of these two has led to both sides fighting to have it as their capital (Israel-Palestina Informate, 2008).
Over the years various meetings have been held to try solving the conflict between Palestine and Israel. In 1979, the prime minister of Israel signed a peace treaty with Egypt that led to Israel returning the Sinai Desert to the Egyptian state. There were also negotiations that would lead to an establishment of a Palestinian state but this failed as a result of Palestine’s refusal to acknowledge Israel in the region. These negotiations for peace have often failed each time as each time one of the parties fails to honor the agreements. It has become a trend for subsequent governments to try and reach a peace agreement but so far no positive results have been forthcoming. The reoccupation of Israel on major parts of the Palestinian state and the building of the wall has further led to conflict as Palestinians continue wallowing in poverty (Middle East Web, 2009). Furthermore, anti-Semitic broadcasts on Palestinian media indoctrinate children from a young age to have a hateful attitude towards Israel. This has led to the youth rising up in form of organized terrorist groups which carry out attack on Israeli civilians. This in turn leads to retaliation from the Israel army through which many innocent lives are lost in the wars. Hence the conflict continues to grow even with passing generations. Then fact that most Arab countries still don’t recognize the state of Israel makes it hard for peace to be established in the area(Peace watch ,2007).
Conclusion
For peace to be achieved both parties to the conflict must be willing to come to a compromise. The Israel state for one should make sure any attacks made against the Palestinians do not affect civilians as this will worsen the situation. On the other hand, Arabs must consider Israel as self determined and as a state in itself. Peace will only be achieved when mental attitudes of the people change. For as long as anti-Semitism exists, there can never be peace. More needs to be done to improve the relationship between the residents of both Israel and the Arab countries. Tolerance should be encouraged to taking into consideration the difference of religion and beliefs.

References
Israel-Palestina Informate. (2008).The Arab-Israeli conflict. A short history in 3000 words. Retrieved from http://www.israel-palestina.info/arab-israeli_conflict.html
Middle EastWeb. (2009).History of the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Retrieved from http://www.mideastweb.org/briefhistory.htm
Peace watch (2007).Israel-Palestinian peace watch. Retrieved from http://middle-east.yu- hu.com/peacewatch/

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