The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Philosophical Perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, edited by Tomis Kapitan (M. E. Sharpe, 1997): 3-45

Originally, the “Israeli experience” was born from the womb of the Holy Land, even when the “children of Israel” lived in diaspora; the “Land” is everything for all Israelis, as it represents the homeland, religion and history, the Promise of the Lord, the people’s dream, Jerusalem, the Wailing Wall, and other holy sites. Therefore, to the Jews, there is nothing comparable to the “Holy Land or Eretz Ysrael”. Similarly, as history supports, several peoples have populated the land of Palestine, not just Arabs and Jews. Moreover, they used to live together, intermix, intermarry, and merge, and so on. Geo-politically the land of “Palestine/Eretz Israel” was known as “Greater Syria” before being divided by the then “Great Powers” into four countries, two small cantons, and five nationalities. On today’s world map, these are known as Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian territories. However, this study aims to argue the development of this land from a historical and geopolitical point of view up until 1947; the names and borders, the holiness of the land to the Palestinians and Israelis, the land without a state that was waiting for the Lord’s promise for the people without a homeland. Moreover, this study concludes that on the modern map, one would have great difficulty finding a country labeled “Palestine.” It is not until 1922 that the name Palestine emerged with any “official” status, so what is all this talk about Palestine? Furthermore, whereas the Israelis could easily prove their historical and religious right to the holy or sacred land, it would be very hard for the Palestinians to do so. Finally, there are reasonable doubts about certain facts, and, so far, nobody has been able to provide a logical answer to such questions as, who is fighting who exactly? These facts are discussed from a historical and geopolitical perspective in the “Israeli Experience”.

The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Political, Social, and Military History. 4 vols.

Editor (with Spencer Tucker et al.), author of 14 short articles, editor/compiler of Vol. 4 (Documents Volume). [“Adenauer. Konrad,” 1:32-34; “Bevin, Ernest” (with Chris Tudda), 1:214-216; “Dulles, John Foster,” 1:308-309; “Eisenhower, Dwight David,” 1:329-331; “France, Middle East Policy,” 1:370-374; “Johnson, Lyndon Baines,” 2:555-557; “Kissinger, Henry Alfred,” 2: 584-586; “Lloyd, Selwyn,” 2:644-645; “Marshall, George Catlett,” 2:666-668; “Nixon, Richard Milhous,” 2:740-742; “Reagan, Ronald Wilson,” 3:852-854; “Rogers, William Pierce,” 3:874-875; “Roosevelt, Franklin Delano,” 3:876-878; “Shultz, George Pratt,” 3:921-923] Named Outstanding Reference Source, 2008, by RUSA-American Library Association; Distinguished Achievement Award for Social Studies Instruction (Reference Category), June 2009; Editors’ Choice, 2008, Booklist; Best Reference Choice, 2008, Pennsylvania School Librarians Association. This exhaustive work offers readers at multiple levels key insights into the military, political, social, cultural, and religious origins of the Arab-Israeli conflict. • With more than 750 alphabetically organized entries covering everything from important people, places, and events to a wide range of social and cultural topics―each entry featuring cross references and suggestions for further reading • A separate documents volume offering an unprecedented collection of more than 150 essential primary sources • Over 500 images, including maps, photographs, and illustrations • A comprehensive introductory overview by retired general Anthony Zinni

Strategic Impact

Palestine, a historical land inhabited by both Jews and Arabs, has been the source of disagreement for the two ethnic communities since their establishment in this territory. Over time, as a consequence of this antagonism, the Middle East region has hosted a multilateral conflict generated by a number of factors (historical, ethnic, national and religious), which is currently manifested in three subsequent disputes: Arab-Israeli, Israeli-Palestinian and religious. The social dispute was initially generated by the inter-communal misunderstandings between Arabs and Jews, in the territory of the British mandate of Palestine and degenerated into a series of wars between Israel and the Arab states that led to an open armed conflict between Israel and Gaza. Also, the religious dispute, which permanently accompanied the other two, is related to the equally claiming by Jews and Muslims of both the entire territory of this historical land, as well as Jerusalem. The paper is intended to be a ...

2005

Tables, Charts, and Maps. Documents. Preface. Introduction. 1. Palestine in the Nineteenth Century. 2. Palestine During the Mandate. 3. World War II, Jewish Displaced Persons, and the Partition of Palestine. 4. The Proclamation of Israel and the First Arab-Israeli War. 5. The Conflict Widens: Suez, 1956. 6. The Turning Point: June 1967. 7. Holy Days and Holy War: October 1973. 8. The Search for Peace. 9. Lebanon and the Intifada. 10. The Peace of the Brave. 11. The Peace Progresses. 12. Collapse of the Peace Process. Conclusion. Glossary. Index.

ORIGINS OF ISRAEL PALESTINIAN CONFLICT REVISED, 2022

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has lasted over a century and has caused massive bloodshed and suffering and death. The following paper examines the subject of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, which has largely become one of the most controversial and differentiating issues within modern day international politics. The modern-day Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not based in thousand-year-old historical or biblical conflict between Jewish and Palestinian occupants. Nor is it an historically deep-seated religious struggle between Judaism and Islam. Rather, its framework is principally rooted in territorial claims, intricate modern politics, and issues about sovereignty of the nation-state entity. This paper begins with introducing the background and nature of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as an intractable conflict; then describes ways to realize the reconciliation and collective self-healing that are necessary for lasting peace.

2009

Though more than sixty years have passed since the signing of the proclamation of the State of Israel, the impact of that epochal event continues to shape the political policies and public opinion of not only the Middle East but much of the world. The consequent conflict between Arabs and Israelis for sovereignty over the land of Palestine has been one of the most bloody, intractable and drawn-out of modern times. It continues today in cycles of aggressive violence followed by temporary and tenuous ceasefires that are marked and complicated by resolute opinions and fractious religious ideologies. In this timely analysis, noted military historian Ian J. Bickerton cuts through the complex perspectives in order to explain this struggle in objective detail, describing its history from the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire following World War I to the present day. In concise and clear prose, Bickerton argues that the present problem can be traced to the fact that each side is trapped by ...

International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, 2009

A cliché would have it that the struggle between Israel and Palestine is as long as the history of these two communities; but reality is that the history of this conflict preceded the existence of these communities and, more importantly, it is the conflict itself that had constructed and shaped the identities of these two warring communities. If one marks the beginning of modern Zionist settlement in Palestine in 1881 as the starting point of the conflict, then one "celebrates" this year 128 years of conflict, one that started long before there was the state of Israel, or even a Jewish community in Palestine to speak of, and before there was a Palestinian nation there to speak of. Israeli and Palestinian nationalism are the two modern national identities that emerged out of the encounter between settlers and indigenous people in the territory of Palestine, and they carry little resemblance, if at all, to their old communities of ancestry-the Jews in the Diaspora locations and the Arabs in Palestine under the Ottoman Empire. This critical narrative differs substantially from the narratives that the national protagonists tell themselves and others-about the "perennial" origins in the land and about their historical "right" to it. But while the conflict and its periodical eruptions in hostilities and bloodshed captures the attention of world communication and public opinion, the ways in which the two sides to the conflict design their culture through their mutual relations is much less discussed and understood. It is to this aspect-the culture of the conflict-that this issue is devoted. Part of the articles in it emerged out of a workshop on "Israel and Palestine" that was held in 2006 at the New School for Social Research, and was coordinated by the guest editors of this issue, Uri Ram of Ben-Gurion University and Jeffrey C. Goldfarb of the New School. Other articles were added later. Together they offer a mix of variety of topics and perspectives on the common theme of the culture of the conflict in Israel and Palestine. They share not only a common theme but also an implicit focus: all the articles relate to

The Palestinian Israeli conflict: don’t look away

I have been dealing with the Middle East, ever since I first visited the region as a student in 1964. As this is more than half a century ago, you might guess that by now I should know how to solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. And indeed, I do know some solutions on paper. But I do not know any solution of which I am convinced that it will also work in practice. One of the reasons is that to my knowledge not any country has the political power (or the will) to end the present Israeli occupation of the Arab territories conquered in 1967. The Israelis could do so, but they clearly do not want it. Had they withdrawn to the pre-1967 borders as proposed by then Saudi Crown Prince Fahd in 1981, Israel could have had peace with the Arab states decades ago. But Israel wants to keep the West Bank and the Syrian Golan Heights, and that is a combination which is incompatible with peace.