Fiona Lyle

May 25, 2016

Intro to the Middle East
Ms. Christina Fusch
Research Paper

The American views of the Middle East after the Conflict of Israel and Palestine

The Israeli Palestinian conflict will continue to be an interest throughout the world as

though its initial conflict has ended it may rise again. The conflict started in the mid-

twentieth century. There were many issues between Israel and Palestine that can

still be considered issues today as although things have resolved there will always

be unfinished feelings beneath the cover. The conflict took place mainly in Israel,

the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip and in Lebanon. There were many casualties that

took place during this heated conflict. Roughly around Twenty-one thousand

between 1965 and 2013. To many an acceptable way of ending the conflict would

be having what is called a two-state solution. Everyone has their own view on how

this conflict should have ended. Either being on the side for Israel to have won or for

the side of Palestine to have won. Everyone around the world depending on the

countrys involvement in the conflict will have their own opinion and have

absolutely no problem with voicing it. The conflict will always continue to take place

even though the conflict has been resolved. This conflict was a fight over land and

the voice of God. The conflict is all about the promise land and who the promise

land truly belongs to. Both sides say the promise land was given to them by God.

The conflict has been a very controversial topic throughout the United States. Many

have sided on either side and some have decided to stay neutral as the conflict

does not affect them. To many the United States becomes too integrated into
foreign conflicts that they believe it interferes with the United States economy and

political system. The American public largely agreed with the United States support

of Israel which in turn made the United States an ally with Israel and not Palestine.

Because the United States supported Israel and took their side in the conflict. The

support to Israel and their oppression of the Palestinian people and their laws,

because the U.S supported Israel it was in support of the oppression of the people of

Palestine. To the United States Israel has been an important partner in the Middle

East involving oil. The United States has given Israel a large amount of help in

financial aid and military assistance. Although Palestinians have displayed a level

of democratic development rarely seen in the Arab world (Myre, G., & Griffin, J.

2011). Now the United States has been trying to influence Israel and Palestine to

resolve their issues to restore peace between the two states. Several other nations

have also had a hand in trying to influence a foundation of peace between Israel

and Palestine. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict overall did not affect the American

views of the Middle East except through the media. Many Americans in turn do not

fully understand the background of the conflict and what led to this horrific conflict.

We as Americans can only understand to a certain point as we are not personally

involved in the conflict and cannot feel empathy to the Israelis or Palestinians.

Through learning of the background, causes, effects and the medias hand in the

conflict hopefully Americans will begin to understand more.

The Israel-Palestinian conflict started on May 14, 1948. Just after the British

mandate of Palestine ended and Israels Declaration of Independence began. Armies

from Jordan, Syria, Egypt and Iraq invaded the area which was once controlled by

the British mandate. This took plac3 because after the British mandate ended there

was no constituted authority left to enforce laws and to provide the protection to the
people and their land. Israel eventually won and went beyond what was considered

the Jewish state and took over part of what was considered the Palestinian Arab

State. This caused many Palestinians to leave what now became part of Israels

Jewish state. They became refugees, they were not allowed to return to Israel and

many Arab states surrounding. The overall cause of the conflict was because of

land. Israel claiming the land were Palestine rest caused an uproar from the

Palestinians as they believed they were supposed to have the land while the

Israelis believed the land was left for them. The conflict continues to this day as

there have been several attacks on the Gaza Strip killing multiple civilians. The

conflict although somewhat at piece currently, the conflict will continue until Israel

finally views Palestine as a state. In 2015 136 (70.5%) of the 193 member states of

the United Nations and two non-state member states have recognized the State of

Palestine(International recognition of the State of Palestine). Sadly Israel continues

to not recognize Palestine as a state and continues to have military control in all of

the Palestinian territories. Since the 1980s, the societal beliefs that denied Arab

rights to the land and refused to recognize the existence of a national Palestinian

movement and of a Palestinian entity ceased to exist as a societal belief within

Israeli society (Auerbach, Y., Bar-Siman-Tov, Y., Bar-Tal, D., Fishman, H., Fleisig, D.,

Halperin, E., Zakay, D., 2010). Another part to the conflict was Israel invading into

the West Bank after many discussion between Israel and Palestine On September

18, 1995, an interim agreement was signed between Israel and the Palestinians on

additional withdrawals of Israeli armed forces from West Bank cities (Sofer, A.

(n.d.)). Israel also signed an agreement with Jordan involving water rights. Israel had

originally withdrawn from the Gaza Strip but in On September 19, 2007, Israel

declared that Gaza had become a hostile territory. With support from Egypt under
President Husni Mubarak, Israel tightened its blockade of the Gaza Strip (Primer on

Palestine, (n.d.)). The increase of blockades and rash movements and fights have

only influenced the conflict to continue. The history behind the cause of the initial

conflict is long and very hostile, mainly on the side of Israel.

The two main causes for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were due to land and the

borders. There were many different views as to where the borders of Israel actually

were. Obviously Israel considered some of the land that was outside of what was

considered the Israel Jewish state to be theirs. Both groups considered that they

have the right to the land because it was given to them by God. Both of these

assumptions came from the pact that God had made with Abraham in the Old

Testament from the Bible (What are Some Causes of the Israeli-Palestinian

Conflict). Many people around the world have learned about the terrorist attacks

and fights over land residing in the region, the Gaza Strip probably being the

biggest part of land that has been fought over. There are many different smaller

causes that play a part in this conflict but the major one has to do with the thoughts

of who gets the land. Some of the smaller differences between the two groups

usually wouldnt even make anyone argue about them but they had all just added

up to spark this conflict. One of these things is stubbornness. Both sides in this

conflict have always had a huge amount of stubbornness towards the other. This

has had to do with ego, territory, and other things similar to these as well. Neither

have really been able to ever admit that they have been wrong, gone a little too far

in something, or even have been able to just walk away from something when it

involves the other side in something either. Another little thing that has added up to

this disagreement, is culture. Between the two, Israel is the more outgoing in a
sense. They have the most entertainment, tourism, and nightlife for sure out of the

two. These are just a few examples, but another is the age. Israel has been around

much longer rather than Palestine has really only developed after the Romans came

through it. Many of their traditions started around when that happened and during

the 1970s as well. Israels traditions developed and came about hundreds of years

ago although Israel has the more modern culture of the two. In the clash between

Zionism and Palestinian nationalism the fabric of social relations among the

countrys peoples stood little chance of remaining (Abunimah, A. 2006).

Religion plays a significant role in this conflict. Two different sides of religion take

place during the conflict. Religious groups who are extremely devoted to God and

want to demonstrate his faith to the extremes want to keep the conflict continuing.

Someone who is in a fanatic religious group is someone who take their religion to

another level but not in the way God wanted. Someone who is a fanatic is someone

who does not believe that their faith is enough to be sustainable. For example

someone who would set off a bomb because they believe it is what God would have

wanted or someone who commits suicide because they said God told them to.

These are religious fanatics. There are many religious fanatic groups in the Middle

East who believe that the conflict must continue for infinite years. There are also

peaceful religious groups who use their religious learnings to try and provide peace

in the conflict. The two main religions in this conflict are the Jewish and the

Christians. An Israeli professor Israeli named Israel Shahak, says that Israel denies

Palestinian Christians and Muslims their basic human rights due in large part to a

virulent strain of Jewish chauvinism. Shahak states that, The State of Israel

officially discriminates in favour of Jews and against non-Jews in many domains of

life, of which I regard three as being the most important: residency rights, the right
to work and the right to equality before the law (A Synopsis of the Israel/Palestine

Conflict. (n.d.)).

The effects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were atrocious. Many civilians and

military personnel were killed in the battles and terrorist attacks originating from

the conflict. The lives of the Israeli people were less affected by the conflict than the

lives of the Palestinian people. Israel has one of the strongest militarys in the entire

world while Palestine has very little military close to none. Israel had the full support

militarily by the United States and other nations. Palestine was given an unfair

chance at a fight when not backed by one of the strongest military forces. Israel has

much control over the lives of Palestinians. Many Palestinian children have trouble

getting to school because Israel has many roadblocks obstructing main street way

for Palestinians to travel within their state. Many Palestinians also have trouble

traveling to work because of Israeli roadblocks and multiple checkpoints that are set

up. These checkpoints are armed by Israeli military soldiers and other military

reinforcements. There are also several gates that become locked and shut down

when there are no soldiers on duty to man the gates. All of these roadblocks,

checkpoints and military personnel makes the lives of Palestinians almost

unbearable. Many vehicles are unable to travel around towns because roadblocks

are blocking many different streets. These vehicles even include ambulances.

Receiving passage through these checkpoints are almost impossible due to

dramatic reasons such as a Palestinian who happened to be in a good mood and

smiled. Many have also been denied entry through the passage because the

soldiers did not like them, thought they were unattractive or the soldiers just

decided they did not want to let someone through. This humiliation and harassment

happens on a daily basis to Palestinians. They can do nothing about it for there are
consequences to standing up. There have been Human Rights workers have

documented cases where Palestinian men and boys are detained at checkpoints

without food, water, or protection from the elements for hours (A Synopsis of the

Israel/Palestine Conflict. (n.d.)). The lives of Palestinians are still just as bad as they

were when the conflict had just began. There were even sometimes when they are

held in metal cages or required to strip to their underwear, in many cases, they are

blindfolded and their hands are tied with plastic ties that cut deeply into their

wrists (A Synopsis of the Israel/Palestine Conflict. (n.d.)). This type of actions is

discrimination and completely demeaning to the Palestinian people. There has even

been cases where babies have been born at checkpoints because the soldiers feel

the need to keep them at the checkpoint. There are many Americans who have no

idea that the Israeli soldiers are actually doing this to innocent civilians who have

done nothing wrong but maybe smiling, having a good day, saying hello or just

because they are unattractive. Palestinian children were raised to avoid Israeli

soldiers and to fear them for what they have done to other Palestinians just because

of who they are. Part of this reason for not knowing is due to media. The media does

not want to show what is truly happening to Palestinians. The only thing that is

important to them is receiving a story that will bring in money to the network. The

lives of these people do not matter unless it makes others money. Palestinians live

in such bad conditions because all they wanted was to become their own state and

to fight for their freedom.

Israel has almost complete control over Palestine. At times Israel has put a curfew in

effect in different towns and cities to keep Palestinians in check. The Israeli army

will travel into civilian cities with tanks and armored vehicles to stop civilians from

leaving their houses, only to give them an hour or so to retrieve food. Israel in 2002
created a barrier through the middle of the Palestinian West Bank taking huge

pieces of land and destroying homes and crops along the way. Thus creating

difficulties for the Palestinians to survive. Israel every once in a while will re-invade

part of the West Bank or Gaza Strip demolishing land and killing many people. Israel

continues to treat Palestinians as non-human as they continue to demoralize the

Palestinians.

The media is notorious for depicting the wrong storyline which causes many

civilians to believe what is being reported because they continue to think that

everything told in the media is a true. The best place to understand what is truly

happening in the world is to talk to direct sources, educational websites, published

journals and government websites especially involving anything with military, war

or any conflict currently taking place or has taken place. The media focuses mostly

on what happens in the political side of the conflicts and not what happens in the

day-to-day lives of those involved in the conflict whether they fought in it, whether

they lost loved ones or lost their homes their lives are not fully understood or

presented to those on the outside in order for an understanding of what have gone

through. As many know the media tends to twist things into over dramatized stories

to better their selves. Just like how the currently those where were born in the

Middle East or even have some type of connection whether through family or

heritage are often depicted as terrorist and extremists. To those who have actually

done research into what is happening in the Middle East and fully understand that

groups such as Al Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) are

militant groups of people who contain different views and morals than the citizens

of the Middle East. Those who do not know these groups and only have listened to

what has been discussed on in the media would never know that these groups in
fact just want to strike fear in to people whether that includes attacking civilians

and military personnel around the world and even in the Middle East. The same

dishonest and misunderstood depiction of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The truth

behind the conflict is not always heard as the media only chooses what should be

shown in the media. Whether the material is appropriate for the public to view

seems to be a huge factor.

In a poll in 2014, fourteen percent of Americans said that they would like the

existing affairs to continue. Eight percent of Americans would like the land to be

invaded and seized. Thirty-four percent believe that Israel and Palestine should be

one state, while thirty-nine percent believe that there should be two states; Israel

and Palestine (Telhami, 2014). The one state option increased over the year but

they believe it should be one state with equal citizenship. If the Palestinians asked

the United Nations to become a state about twenty-seven percent of Americans

would believe that the United Nations should oppose, twenty-seven percent of

Americans believe that the United Nations should be in favor of Palestine being a

state. Forty-six percent think the United Nations should abstain from voting

(Telhami, 2014). The two-state solution continues to be a popular choice. Many

people argue that the "two-state solution" of creating an independent Palestinian

state alongside the existing state of Israel would be the best approach to ending the

conflict, although there is some disagreement over borders, refugees, settlements,

Jerusalem, and other challenging issues (Israeli-Palestinian ProCon.org. (n.d.)).

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict did not have a huge effect on Americans as many

other conflicts in the Middle East has. According to a recent foreign policy survey

Far more Americans continue to sympathize more with Israel (54%) than with the

Palestinians (19%) in the Middle East dispute (Smith, S., & Doherty, C. 2016). Since
the 9/11 terrorist attacks there has been more sympathy towards Israel than the

Palestinians. Religious groups have also stared to sympathize with the Israelis than

the Palestinians. About a decade ago Millennials were more likely to agree and hold

the same views of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but this has now changed while the

older generation shows sympathy with Israel, more Millennials have started to feel

more sympathy towards Palestinians. The views of Americans towards the Middle

East did not really change because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There were

sides taken by most Americans but I believe that if the media had fully covered the

entire conflict and every aspect of the horrific consequences than Americans would

have felt different. Many Americans have now considered that Israel and Palestine

could actually coexist peacefully, if Palestine was an independent state. More

Americans (50%) say that there is a way for Israel and an independent Palestinian

state to coexist peacefully than say that there is not (42%) (Smith, S., & Doherty,

C. 2016).

Overall the Americans views currently of the Middle East is not mainly influenced

by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but by terrorism that has taken place during the

conflict in after throughout the Middle East. The conflict will continue no matter how

hard peace is pushed on the two states. Israel will likely never view Palestine as an

actual state causing problems between the two states. Israeli-Palestinian conflict

was an influential conflict that will be known for years to come as it gives great

lessons about how there needs to be compromise and how the conflicts throughout

the world may not affect those in other countries but it does affect those who are

fighting for their rights and safety and the children born into the conflict. The United

States is a very open viewed country, meaning there is just about every view that

could possibly be thought of taking place in the United States.

Evaluation:

The research for this topic was very interesting to read into. It was difficult to find

exactly what I was looking for which was a little frustrating and irritating since I did

not get to fully write everything I wanted to. No matter how much I searched it was

almost impossible to find what would have fit into my paper. I have written many

essay in college and they tend to be all the same so I did not learn anything new

that would help me other than the fact that there is so much information out there

its hard to narrow down what exactly will fit into the topic and keep it within the

page number. I definitely enjoyed learning more about this topic since it is one of

my favorites to debate about which was actually very difficult to keep out of my

paper. Overall I really enjoyed being able to research more into the conflict and find

the underlying feelings.

Bibliography

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impasse.
New York: Metropolitan Books.

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http://www.ifamericansknew.org/history/

Auerbach, Y., Bar-Siman-Tov, Y., Bar-Tal, D., Fishman, H., Fleisig, D., Halperin, E.,
Zakay, D. (2010). Barriers to Peace in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. The
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http://www.jiis.org/.upload/barriers.pdf

Goodwyn, R. M. (2005). The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict - A Case Study for the United
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If Americans Knew - What every American needs to know about Israel/Palestine.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_recognition_of_the_State_of_Palestine
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Primer on Palestine, Israel and the Arab-Israeli Conflict | Middle East Research and
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Sofer, A. (n.d.). Palestine-Israel Journal: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict over Water

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Retrieved
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What are Some Causes of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict? (n.d.). Retrieved May 20,
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conflict.htm