The Arab's Responsibility For The Arab-Israel Conflict

The Middle East has always been known as the Holy Land, the land of the Bible. For centuries, prophets have walked there, nations have collided and conquerors have come and gone. While Jews claim a three thousand-year-old attachment to this ancient land, Arabs also stake their devotion. Since the United Nations partition of Palestine in 1947 and the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948, there have been four major Arab-Israeli wars (1947-49 The First Palestine War, 1956 Suez War, 1967 Six Day War, and 1973 Yom Kippur) and finally 1993 a peace treaty between Egypt and Israeli and finally in 1994 the fifty year old war ended. However there's the question of "which side has the greater responsibility for the Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle East?

In 1917, Britain declared its support for the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. But Britain had also promised support for an independent Arab State in former ottoman Arab Provinces, including Palestine. The first war began as a civil conflict between Palestinian Jews and Arabs following the United Nations recommendation of Nov. 29, 1947, to partition Palestine, then still under British mandate, into an Arab state and a Jewish state. Fighting quickly spread as Arab guerrillas attacked Jewish settlements. Jewish forces prevented seizure of most settlements, but Arab guerrillas, supported by the Trans-jordanian Arab Legion under the command of British officers, besieged Jerusalem. By April, Haganah, the principal Jewish military group, seized the offensive, scoring victories against the Arab Liberation Army in northern Palestine, Jaffa, and Jerusalem. During the 1950s there was considerable tension between Israel and Egypt, which, under President Nasser, had become a leader in the Arab world. His nationalization of the Suez Canal 1956 provided an opportunity for Israel with Britain and France, to attack Egypt and occupy a part of Palestine that Egypt had controlled since 1949, the Gaza Strip, from which Israel was forced by UN and US pressure to withdraw in 1957. Great Britain and France ostensibly joined the attack because of their dispute with Egypt's president Gamal Abdel Nasser, who had just nationalized the Suez Canal. Nasser took over the canal after Great Britain and France withdrew offers to finance the construction of the Aswân High Dam. Israel scored a quick victory, seizing the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula within a few days. As Israeli forces reached the banks of the Suez Canal, the British and French started their attack. The UN halted the fighting after a few days, and a UN Emergency Force (UNEF) was sent to supervise the cease-fire in the Canal Zone. UN forces the three invading countries to leave Egyptian side of the borders in Suez, Sinai, and Gaza. By the end of the year their forces withdrew from Egypt, but Israel refused to leave Gaza until early 1957.

Relations between Israel and Egypt remained fairly stable in the following decade. The Suez Canal remained closed to Israeli shipping, the Arab boycott of Israel was maintained, and periodic border clashes occurred between Israel, Syria, and Jordan. However, UNEF prevented direct military encounters between Egypt and Israel. By 1967 the Arab confrontation states-Egypt, Syria, and Jordan—became impatient, the propaganda war with Israel escalated, and border incidents increased dangerously. Tensions culminated in May when Egyptian forces were massed in Sinai, and Cairo ordered the (UNEF) to leave Sinai and Gaza. That Led Israel to attack Egypt, Jordan, and Syria simultaneously on June 5 of that year. The war ended six days later with a decisive Israeli victory. Israel's French-equipped air force wiped out the air power of its opposition in the destruction of the Arab armies. The Six-Day War left Israel in possession of Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula, which it took from Egypt. East Jerusalem and the West Bank, which it took from Jordan and the Golan Heights, taken from Syria. The occupied territories included an Arab population of about 1.5 million. Israel was the dominant military power in the region for the next six years. Between 1967 and 1973, Arab leaders repeatedly warned that they would not accept continued Israeli occupation of the lanRAB lost in 1967. Sadat consolidated war preparations in secret agreements with President Hafez al-ASSAD of Syria for a joint attack and with King FAISAL of Saudi Arabia to finance the operations. Egypt and Syria attacked on Oct. 6, 1973, pushing Israeli forces several miles behind the 1967 cease-fire lines. Israel was thrown off guard, partly because the attack came on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), the most sacred Jewish religious day (coinciding with the Muslim fast of Ramada). Although Israel recovered from the initial setback, it failed to regain all the territory lost in the first days of fighting. In counterattacks on the Egyptian front, Israel seized a major bridgehead behind the Egyptian lines on the West Bank of the canal. In the north, Israel drove a wedge into the Syrian lines, giving it a foothold a few miles west of Damascus. After 18 days of fighting in the longest Arab-Israeli war since 1948, the UN again halted hostilities. The costs were the greatest in any battles fought since World War II. The political phase of the 1973 war ended with disengagement agreements accepted by Israel, Egypt, and Syria after negotiations in 1974 and 1975 by U.S. Secretary of State Henry A. KISSINGER. The agreements provided for Egyptian reoccupation of a strip of land in Sinai along the east bank of the Suez Canal and for Syrian control of a small area around the Golan Heights town of Kuneitra.

In 1979, Israel returned Sinai to Egypt by a peace treaty. Although Egypt's Prime Minister Anwar Sadat was assassinated in 1982 by anti-peace forces, the peace still remained between the two countries. This paved the way for negotiations with Jordan, Syria, and the Palestine's. However, Israel's continued occupation of the Palestinian territories led to the uprising of Arab youth in the West Bank and Gaza, known as the Intifada. For the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, the Intifada provided them with a new and assertive Palestinian identity. Israelis were also growing tired of their roles as occupiers, as soldiers trained to defend their country in war were finding themselves aiming their weapons at rock throwing teenagers. Many Israelis were disillusioned and desperately eager for a solution. In June 1992, the Labour government was elected in Israel on a platform of peace and change. At its head was Yitzhak Rabin, former military chief of staff. His move from the battlefield to the negotiation table was a historical moment in the life of Israel. Madrid Peace Conferences had failed because Israeli and United States delegates refused to deal with the PLO. But Rabin and foreign minister, unlike their predecessors, were willing to pursue peace. The way was now paved for one of the most intriguing diplomatic accorRAB of recent years, the Oslo Agreement. It was now clear that direct dialogue was needed between the PLO and Israel. Secret talks were arranged between the two sides in Norway starting in January 1993. In Sept 1993 the Palestinian and Israeli leaders finally reached an agreement Israel agreed to withdraw from occupied territories of Gaza and West Bank. Israel accepted the PLO as the legitimate representative of Palestinians, the PLO renounced terrorism and it's Threats to destroy Israel. In October 1994, nearly a year after the meeting Rabin and Arafat, Israel and Jordan officially ended more than fifty years of conflict. Israel's new partnership with Jordan encouraged Syria to negotiate for the return of the Golan Heights.

In Conclusion I think the Arabs have the greater responsibility for the Arab-Israel Conflict because Israel wanted sit down with the other countries and make a peace agreement to end the war. However