The Israel- Palestinian Conflict

Introduction

Human issues in the contemporary world are rooted in their past and a research to understand this issue must undoubtedly unearth these historical facts. There are a number of factors around which revolve contemporary issues of a human. These factors are of a human, how they relate with other people and of their environment or surroundings. Of course, these are not the only factors but they are the most outstanding and to study an issue based on this would truly shed great light upon it.  

The Israel- Palestinian conflict is one of the oldest conflicts and traces of its origin lead to more clear observation of dispute over land, political power, and national identity.[1] This conflict will be examined from a historical perspective and a thorough deep analytical view in using common headings in order to understand the contemporary issue. Knowledge on the subject matter is vital to filling academic gaps that have been left unanswered by great scholars such as Salinas and Abu Rabi, whose work does not entail how such great conflicts can exist.

Literature Review

Diverse Way of Thinking as Factor

What has been noted is the tendency for people to undermine each other in a bid to show superiority. This is the truth of life that there is always someone trying to be greater than the others; what sets the two individuals apart is their ways of thinking. For instance, a scholarly person will see an illiterate as having poor reasoning, consequently disagreeing at every opportunity. The illiterate will think themselves poorly thought of and thus will rarely agree to the thoughts of the other person. However, the thinking of a person can be affected by beliefs, politics, and a great many other things. Here we shall exemplify very recent thought on the matter. Caplan (2010) in his work points out that the conflict of these two nations can be swayed by the reporting of writers, be it a historical or political piece.[2] This struggle of whose right and whose wrong has fueled the struggle of the two nations under study into a war zone of retaliatory nature.[3]

Humans and the Environment

The environs of a given area and the people related to the surrounding can determine whether there will be a conflict or not. If there are resources to be fought over, there most definitely arise conflicts or a sought of agreement that comprises a punishment for the party that breeches such a truce. For our case, Israel is located right next to Palestine, and this region is characterized as a semi-desert with herding as a major activity that is practiced in both sides. Agriculture is practiced too, along with other activities, but these are only minor sectors. Either side of the conflict can argue their side believing it o be just and in the right.[4] The native Palestinians (Arabs) opposed the Zionists not because they were Jews but because the idea of them settling there did not sit well with them.[5]

Our Shrinking World, Roots of Inequality

The origin of a single issue in the contemporary society is the effect caused by an action lying deep inside the society of the conflicting community. The fact that the world’s population is increasingly outdoing the resources available implies that there is a shortage of basic needs for families and their overstock for the case of farmers. Israel and Palestine are not large countries and the effect of the increasingly diminishing resources can be noted from the intense emigrations that took place in Israel and Palestine alike. However friendly folk are, they are not pleased when their neighbor eats their food, but would prefer if they received what they wished to be served to them.[6] This act creates a ranking of people that breaks ties and strengthens others, depending on the relationship that already exists.

A knowledge that teaches one group is greater than the other makes the ‘superior’ group to be distant from the other and thus not practice the development activities that can help both groups realize a common ground where they can have undiluted relations. It is thus that conflict that started a long time ago can last even longer because neither of the parties is willing to negotiate or even compromise. The Israel-Palestine conflict has been around for over one hundred and twenty years, but it has not been resolved because they have no tolerance for each other.[7]

Diverse Ways of Thinking, and the Roots of Contemporary Conflicts

The roots of these contemporary conflicts are deep within the societies past and have indeed been nurtured knowingly and unknowingly by individuals from both sides.[8] The ways of thinking of either party has been developed through training in traditions or by observation and practice. The conflicts can be avoided if the existing state of unrest among the citizens of both states can be reconciled and not thrown at each other. Mediation is a good way to start with a promise for resolution.[9]

Methodology

This section will explain the research methods used in depth. Specifically, it will explain the data type that was used for the research, the data collection methods selected, the methods of data analysis used, and finally the problems that had to be overcome during collection and analysis. The section will also identify the various criteria that were used for selecting each of the named research processes, for instance, the justification for using secondary data sources over other methods. The section will also disclose the data sources that the research used. The specific data sources will be justified against categorically similar data sources and recommendations offered.

The nature of this paper requires mostly qualitative data and thus the most appropriate mode of performing the collection is an analysis of secondary data. The following section uses meta-analyses by taking numerous sources and using them as to provide information for analysis. The sources include articles, journals, and books that are available in hardcopy and softcopy.

In this study, the meta-analysis design was employed. This is used since this study uses secondary data to explain different issues. Meta-analysis involved analysis of data collected from multiple (dis)similar studies to derive singular conclusions that answer the research question of this study. Through analysis of multiple sources, the sample size increased and more critical results could be realized ensuring a stricter report.

Discussion and Recommendation

The above systematic guidelines have helped establish the nature of the Israel and Palestine conflict highlighting the major factors that have propagated it.[10]. The main issue that has arisen is people and their nature, their way of thinking and the environment they live in, though that is a minor factor. In the first phase of the research, the thesis was introduced, noting that conflicts begin unintentionally but after the above phase, it is clear that it is self-inflicted. However, the choice to end conflict in the society is entirely that of the people.

            It is notable that in order for a conflict-free region to exist, there must be a sacrifice on the part of parties involved. For our case, Israel and Palestine must be willing to let down some issues that have boiled on their hearts for generations, like the issue of land which is claimed by both sides. The Palestinians continued struggle need to be recognized and addressed just as the modern day persistence by the Zionists to ‘colonize’ the occupied regions.[11] Only this way can there be true peace.  Another aspect to consider is diplomacy; surely, this has been tried but has evidently not been a success. The hosting of diplomatic talks and meetings should not only comprise political figure heads, but also the members of state representing the citizens.

Recommended Research Areas

The research question was sufficiently satisfied by this report paper and to that effect, the query has been solved in one way. However, the research did raise some questions of its own that are worth looking up on as research topics. These include the following:

• Uniqueness of the conflict of Israel and Palestine
• Political role in the conflict between Israel and Palestine
• The prospects of the world on this conflict and how it has affected the regional relation to the rest of the world

                                                               Conclusion

Contemporary issues are all over and the only way that they can be understood is through studies. This paper has studied the conflict of Israel and Palestine in detail under the subheadings of factors that are bases of an issue concerning society. The conflicts of these two nations have been identified as a rather common type comprised of traditional thinking, modern thinking, and stereotyping. Thus, the methods that can be used to try and resolve such an issue are not special, they just need to be followed up on and modified on demand of circumstances.[12]

Bibliography

Caplan, Neil. 2010. The Israel-Palestine conflict contested histories. Chichester, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell. http://www.contentreserve.com/TitleInfo.asp?ID={8ED87FF1-F37A-4D57-A0C4-F7283B8A358F}&Format=410.

Finkelstein, Norman G. 1995. Image and reality of the Israel-Palestine conflict. London: Verso.

Machover, Moshé. 2012. Israelis and Palestinians: conflict and resolution. Chicago, Ill: Haymarket Books.

Pappé, Ilan, and Jamīl Hilāl. 2010. Across the wall towards a shared view of Israeli-Palestinian history. London: I.B. Tauris. http://www.myilibrary.com?id=297876.

Rotberg, Robert I. 2007. Israeli and Palestinian narratives of conflict: history’s double helix. Bloomington, Ind: Indiana Univ. Press.

Salinas, Moises F., and Hazza Abu Rabi. 2009. Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: perspectives on the peace process. Amherst, NY: Cambria Press.

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[1] Mose Machover,  Israelis and Palestinians: conflict and resolution (Chicago, I11: Haymark Books, 2012), 7

[2] Neil Caplan, “The Israel-Palestine conflict contested histories,” Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, http://www.contentreserve.com/TitleInfo.asp?ID={8ED87FF1-F37A-4D57-A0C4-F7283B8A358F}&Format=410.

[3] Rotberg I Rotberg, Israeli and Palesinian narratives of conflict: history’s double helix (Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2007), 117

[4] Pappé, Ilan and Jamīl Hilāl, Across the wall towards a shared view of Israeli-Palestinian history (London: I.B. Tauris, 2010), 51

[5] Rotberg I Rotberg, Israeli and Palesinian narratives of conflict: history’s double helix (Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2007), 76

[6] Rotberg I Rotberg, Israeli and Palesinian narratives of conflict: history’s double helix (Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2007), 23

[7] Neil Caplan, “The Israel-Palestine conflict contested histories,” Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, http://www.contentreserve.com/TitleInfo.asp?ID={8ED87FF1-F37A-4D57-A0C4-F7283B8A358F}&Format=410, 222

[8] Mose Machover, Israelis and Palestinians: conflict and resolution (Chicago, I11: Haymark Books, 2012), 23

[9] Norman G Finkelstein, Image and reality of the Israel-Palestine conflict (London: Verso, 2012), 52

[10] Pappé, Ilan and Jamīl Hilāl, Across the wall towards a shared view of Israeli-Palestinian history (London: I.B. Tauris, 2010), 43

[11] Mose Machover, Israelis and Palestinians: conflict and resolution (Chicago, I11: Haymark Books, 2012), 56

[12] Moises F Salinas and Hazza Abu Rabi, Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: perspectives on the peace process (Amherst, NY: Cambria Press, 2009), 103