Throughout history, tensions between the Jews and Arabs have existed. The conflict is usually centered on the City of Israel, with both Jews and Arabs claiming that it is their sacred given that both communities hold allegiance to the city. The city owns the Temple Mount, which consists of the holy places of al-Aqsa mosque, the Dome of Rock, the Western Mall, and many more. Recently, the conflict between the Arab and Jewish had been centered on the occupancy of Gaza Strip; a land lying between Egypt and Israel, Golan Heights, a plateau between Syrian and Israel and the West Bank; a territory dividing Syria and Jordan. Over the years, a series of conflicts have been experienced between Israel and Arab Forces most remarkably in the year 1948-148, 1956, 1967, 1973, and 1982 and the year 2006. This paper will discuss the various conflicts between the Arab and Jews, putting more emphasis on the various ways the Zionists of the Late Ottoman Palestine viewed their Non-Jewish neighbors and the growing trends of Arabs and Jewish relations to date.
The year 1948-1949 was characterized by a war between Israel and Arabs on the declaration of independence by Israel. In November 1947, the United Nations agreed on the partitioning of Palestine by the British into Jews and Arab estates. The withdrawal of the British from the land saw both Arabs and Jews entering into a conflict with both states wanting to take control of the region. During that period, the significant killings that occur include the attack on an Arab village by the Jewish on April 9, 1948, and attack of Jewish convoy by the Arabs days after which lead to the death of 78 people. On Israel declaring independence on May 16, 1948, what was a victory to the Jews led to violence in the part of Israelites. On the day of independence, the Arab forces from Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria arrived in Palestine and occupied areas that were not meant for the Arabs, according to the United Nations divisions, resulting in the rise of conflict. The war, which ended in July 1949, is referred to as the War of Independence in Israel and Nakbah in the Arabic world.
Another remarkable crisis in the history of Arab-Israel wars is the Suez Crisis, which occurred in 1956. Tensions emerged when the Egyptian president then; Gamal Abdel took an act of making the Suez Canal the property of Egypt. The nationalization of the Suez Canal, which is a connection between Europe and Asia, was largely a concern of the French and British. In response, the two interested parties struck a deal with Israel, where Israel would invade Egypt, and with the French and Britain as presumed mediators, they would restore their glory. Therefore in October 1956, Israel made an invasion in the Sinai Peninsula, capturing a couple of cities such as Gaza and Rafah and took a lot of war prisoners. The intervention of the United Nations Emergency Force made Israel withdraw in March 1957. However, the Suez Crisis remains the major achievement of the Arabs.
The Six-Day-War in the year 1967 is also one of the most remarkable conflicts between the Arabs and the Jews. The conflict intensified with Syria continually attacking the villages in Israel from the Golan Heights. The retaliation by Israel saw it defeating Syria, Egypt, and Jordan in six days and taking over the Sinai Peninsula, West Bank, and the Gaza strip. This war was followed by the Yom Kippur War, where Israel launched an attack on Egypt in the Suez Canal with the Arabs responding aggressively, thus making Israel suffer a lot of injuries. However, peace between the two countries was restored later on March 29, 1979, with the signing of a peace treaty between the two countries.
However, on June 5, 1982, before Israel completely withdrew from Sinai, tensions occurred between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Israel attacked Beruit and Southern Parts of Lebanon, the major strongholds of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Later on, the government of Israel agreed to withdraw their forces from Beruit after negotiations with PLO and from Lebanon by June 1985. The latest of the war between the two countries occurred in July 2006, where Hezbollah aimed at pressurizing Israel to release their prison of wars. This particular war resulted in the killing of a few Israeli soldiers, and two of them been captured. The attacks lasted for 34 days leaving at least a thousand Lebanese dead and millions of individuals displaced. The major blame was laid on Hezbollah for attempting to launch an attack with Israel. In a nutshell, these are the major conflicts that have ever occurred between the Arabs and the Israelites.
Summaries of Defining Neighbors by Jonathan Marc Gribetz
The article puts forward the different ways in which the Zionist newspapers portrayed the Non-Jewish people living among the Jewish society In Palestine. The newspapers act as a reliable source of information given the fact that they were created and edited by the Jewish society from the Palestine who were intellectuals and they navigated through topics on religious, political, ideological and cultural positions of Europe, Palestine, ottoman empire and the Jewish communities living in the Diaspora. In the period around 1908, the newspapers concentrated more on the Young Turk Revolution and the Ottoman constitution and parliament. The newspapers that have been analyzed by this article are the Ha-Ḥ erut which belonged to Sephardic Zionists in Jerusalem, ha- Ẓ evi or Hashkafah which was founded by Eliezer Ben- Yehuda and ha-A ḥdut which was founded in the year 1906 by Poʿalei
Ẓiyon. All these newspapers were centered on the three main communities from Zionist, which is Ashkenaizac of the first, and second Aliyah and Sephardim.
Over time, as demonstrated by the three newspapers, the Jewish always related to their non-Jewish neighbors on religious grounds. Thus the classification was based on whether one was a Christian or a Muslim. The further classification was also made where classification was done as per religious vs. more secular Jews, civilized or non-civilized Jews, and Arabic speaking vs. non-Arabic Speaking Jews. Besides, as highlighted by Ha-Ḥ erut
even in representation in the Ottoman parliament, classification was also made in terms of Jews, Non-Jews, Christians, and Ishmaelites. In comparing the different attitudes that the communities had towards each other, phrases such as Christian- Arabs, and Muslim-Arabs were also being used in the Zionist papers. On the other hand, though the editors of the Ha-H-erut newspaper depicted the desire to better the relations between the Jewish and the non-Jewish neighbor, it can be noted that the desire was not out of pure grounds but other interests. The non- Jewish resident hence over the time showed resistance of migration of the Jewish people to their country as well as accepting of their Jewish cultures and institutions in their country.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the three publications, as a depiction of all the other publications during the period of Late Ottoman Palestine, discussions on the two neighboring communities were centered on a different lens. The Zionists viewed the non-jews living in Palestine as majorly indigenous, generic, and as residing among the Jews by mistake. This is despite the long history that had existed between the Jew and non-Jew communities, with the two going through phases of religious civilization together. The establishment of the racial, religious boundaries hence formed a clear ground for political conflict between the Jews and non-Jews residing in Palestine with the Jewish taking the lead.
Summary of ARAB-JEWISH RELATIONS IN ISRAEL alienation and rapprochement by Sammy Smooha
The article largely acknowledges that Israel remains a society that is divided in nature, and the country constitutes of 1.2 million Palestinian-Arab citizens and 5.6 million Jews. The divisions are based on culture, national identity, social, economic status as well as institutions. Over time, tense relationships have existed between the Arabs and Jews, starting with Rabin’s assassination in the year 1995. The article takes up two these with it suggesting that alienation is existing between the Arabs and the Jews and another thesis of mutual rapprochement where the Jews and Arabs are seen to be adjusting to each other, thus co-existing. In the second thesis, which is widely discussed in the article, according to a study that has been conducted between the year 1976 and 2009, both the Arabs and the Jews are in the quest for good relations. Since 1996, the Arabs have exhibited changes in their attitudes, and Israel has opened its hands towards accommodating the Arabs who are the minority living in Palestine. Also, the Arabs are now allowed to engage in a quest of equal rights with Israel maintaining the status of the democratic state and the Arabs not attempting to transform Israel into a bi-national state.
Thus, a progressive action has been taken to enhance good relations between the Jews and Arabs with the attempt to solve the Palestine Question still been put into consideration. However, peace between the Jews and Arabs can be achieved when full equality has been achieved between the Jews and the Arabs and achievement of full democracy in Israel.
Analysis of Defining Neighbors by Jonathan Marc Gribetz
The 19th and 20th century was greatly marked by the Zionism movement, which was based on religious and political grounds among the Jews. The Jews were filled with the desire to rebuild their homeland in Palestine; thus, a large number of Jews went to establish settlements in Palestine. In between the year 1882 and 1903, approximately 35000 Jews had already settled in Palestine. Later on, between the years 1904 and 1914, another cohort of approximately 40,000 Jews had already settled in Palestine. Besides, many Jews who were living in Europe and fearing persecution by the Nazis also run for refuge in Palestine. It is worthy to note that the Jews were settling among the Arabs who already existed in the region. After World War 2, the Jews living in Palestine established a desire to make the country an independent state.
Throughout their interaction in Palestine, it is good to note that there were no signs of co-existence. The period was characterized by the classification of the Arabs who the Jews already found to be living in Palestine, and their relations were majorly guided by the religious division that is Christians and Jews. The social categories in the Late Ottoman Palestine were hence linked to Jews and non-Jewish practices, which formed the major means of discrimination. This basis of discrimination, according to race hence formed a ground for wars that occurred after that, more specifically the conflict articulated by the Palestine leaders in the Zionist community.
Analysis of ARAB-JEWISH RELATIONS IN ISRAEL alienation and rapprochement by Sammy Smooha
The period between 1976 and 2009 has been marked by lessening of the conflict between the Jews and Arabs, especially over the Palestine territory. Both the Arabs and Jews embarked on a journey of adjusting to each other, with the Arabs largely changing their attitude and behaviors. Since the last attack in the year 2006, which was majorly attributed to provocation and Hezbollah was greatly condemned for it, no other attacks have occurred between the two major groups. Currently, the Israeli Arabs are undergoing the process of Palestinization, Islamization, and Israelization. In the component of Israelization, Arabs are becoming more bilingual and bicultural, with them adding both the Hebrew culture and the Hebrew language in their traditions. The two groups are now co-existing with the issue of discrimination been the thing of the past and definition in terms of race and religion ceasing.
The concept of Israelization has now allowed the Arabs to fight for their rights with peace existing between the Palestinians and the Arabs living in Israel. The Arabs are now fully entitled to the citizenship of Israel, with them engaging in politics, contributing to the economy, and the welfare of Israel. Besides, the classifications the Arabs have formed amongst themselves without any influence from Israel with the Arabs living in Israel and having an Identity of Palestine referring to themselves as Palestinian Arabs. Therefore large distinction can be seen between the relations of Arabs and Jews during the pre-1967 borders to the period between 1976 and 2010, which is marked by lessening of discrimination among the Arabs.
Measures to ensure that peace between the Jews and Arabs lasts for a large period should be put in place, and they should lay a strong emphasis on integration, equality, and inclusion of the minority Arabs living in Israel.
In conclusion, the relationship between the Jews and Arabs has been tense, with it been characterized by various wars that have occurred between the two countries. Some of the famous conflicts that have existed between the two countries include the war of independence in the year 1948-1949, the Suez crisis in 1956, the six say the war in 1967, the first Lebanon war in the year 1982, and the second Lebanon war in the year 2006. All these wars can be attributed to the Zionism movement, which took place in the 19th and 20th century, which led to the migration of Jews to Palestine and the discrimination of the Jews based on religious and political grounds. Both Smooha, 2010 and Gribetz, 2016 hold different opinions on the relations between the Arabs and Israel during the period of pre-border in 1967 and the period between 1977 and 2009. During the late Ottoman Palestine, the Jews discriminated the Arabs, based on race and religion after they moved to their territory during the Zionism movement. The latter were living among them based on race and religion after they moved to their territory during the Zionism movement. Looking at the current trends, the relationship between the Jews and Arabs is improving largely with Israel lifting away the discriminatory structures previously existing.