Why focus on Israel, the West bank, Palestine, and Gaza as the sources of conflicts in the name of Religion in the world-by maishanu.
Conflict over religion has existed for centuries. The Crusades involved Western European Christians traveling to the Holy Lands for a series of military campaigns during the Middle Ages to capture Palestine (the area where Jesus lived) from the Muslims. Jerusalem and the surrounding area were alternately controlled by both sides as each side claimed victories). Since the Crusades, hundreds of wars and campaigns to exterminate specific groups over religious and ethnic differences had occurred. A major benefit of the Crusades was an increase in trade between Europe and the Middle East.
Unfortunately, today, religious and ethnic resurfaces thus continues, and the Middle East remains a hotbed of violence. In addition, it is difficult to ascertain whether a terrorist group is more concerned about a religious agenda or a political agenda.
Another important topic relevant to conflict in the name of religion is the ongoing violence between Israelis and Palestinians. During ancient times, Judea was the home of the Jewish people, and it was conquered by the Romans, who changed the name to Palestine. Arabs then conquered Palestine and held it from many years. To counter Arab control over Palestine, the Zionist movement developed. Zionism refers to returning Jews to the Homeland. The 1917 British Bolfour Declaration paved the way for a Homeland for Jews in Palestine. Repeated violence occurred between Jews and Arab Palestinians during British control of the area. The United Nations intervened and divided Palestine into an Arab state and a Jewish state, with Jerusalem controlled by multinational authorities. Violence continued. In 1948, the country of Israel was born, and fighting erupted again. Arab countries refused to recognize Israel. Several wars broke out, and terrorism, insurgency and reprisals continue today. Each side blames the other for hostilities.
At this point, the reader of this article can probably develop a state of curiosity about the conflict in the name of religion on ground. While, however, before September 11,2001 many Americans defined the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as a problem of the Middle East. Although, the conflict-especially suicide bombers and Israeli's response to them-was the subject of a seemingly endless number of TV news segments. It did not seem to have any direct effects on the American way of life. That view changed abruptly when 19 hijackers turned U.S commercial airplanes into "human directed precision-guided cruise missiles [that] hit the World Trade Center"-" the beacon of American led capitalism"- and the Pentagon-" the embodiment of American military superiority". In the days following this "act of war", America learned that the attackers belonged to a global network of terrorists who resent American influence over their lives and especially resent America's long-standing support of Israel at the expense of Palestinians.
My emphasis in this article is on the fierce, century-long conflict between Jews and Palestinians through conflict in the name of religion. This struggle is one of an estimated 50 conflicts going on in the world today between people who either share a territory or live in adjacent territories, bur who differ from one another in terms of ethnicity, race, language or religion. Most of these battles have long histories, which means that the conflict has been passed on from one generation to the next. I concentrate on Isreal, the west bank, Palestine and Gaza because over the years the United States has acted as peace broker in this region, bringing Palestinian and Israeli leaders together in an effort to persuade them to work through their differences. Achieving peace will not be easy, however, because everyone involved has been affected in some way the conflict, for most,the hostilities, have been a part of their lives since they were born.
On this article, I draw on socialization concepts and theories to help us understand how the conflict in the name of religion, ethnicity, tribalism and ideology has been "passed down" from one generation to the next. Keep in mind that socialization is just one factor that helps us understand why the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has lasted at least a century. Although, I concentrate on two groups (Palestinians and Israelis), the issues raised here are relevant to the strategies that people everywhere use to teach newcomers how to participate in the society in which they are born. The newcomers do not become carbon copies of their teachers, but rather learn about the environment they inherit and then come to terms with it in unique ways.
Based on the above background. I therefore, wishes to highlight another issue concerning the two groups. Below is the summary of the issue: Israeli settlements in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem and the Question of Safe Passage.
Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem represent one of the most difficult issues of the peace process. Critics argue that the settlements are attempts to establish a significant Jewish presence in Palestinian territory so that a permanent solution with regard to land cannot be possible. Another difficult issue involves "safe passage". Note that Palestinian territories will eventually consist of two disconnected lands-Gaza and the West Bank. If the two lands are to be eventually regarded as one state, how can they be geographically linked, who will control the access roads from one territory to the another-palestinians? Israelis? A joint force? If Israelis control the access roads, the Palestinians are subjected to Israeli control over access to their land. If Palestinians control the access roads, then Israelis face the prospect of their state being divided into north-south segments. If Palestinians and Israelis are free to travel through each other's territories, how will the two governments protect their people from terrorists factions on both sides? Currently, Israelis control every route for moving goods, services and people into and out of Palestinian territories.
Finally, Conflict in the name of religion between Palestinians and Israelis in the world will always exist, if only because the two groups never achieve perfect "concordance between what Palestinians and Israelis groups within a system consider their just due and the system of religion". Conflict between Palestinians and Israelis continues whenever newcomers are allowed to learn from past histories. Above all, Conflict can continue between the two groups if the questions framed above are not properly addressed or if America is allowed to continue serving as a peace broker between the two groups.
Written by:
An expert in Global history and security issues (Comrade Musa Ali Maishanu).
12/05/2021.
