Introduction
Israel exists in a region where almost all of its neighbors can be considered potential enemies. Most Israeli and Palestinian citizens have to live in constant fear and remain vigilant in their daily lives. Although there are strong feelings on both sides of the issues concerning Israel, it cannot be overlooked that they have been the target of non-conventional attacks from both military forces and terrorist organizations. Due to the volatility of their place in the world, Israel has to invest significant and creative resources into their efforts of combating terror while Palestinians have to invest in securing their homes from Israeli attacks. While terrorism is condemned the world over, the Palestinians continue to resort to tactics that would destabilize the Jews while the Israelis terrorize the Palestinians regularly. It’s a case of one person’s freedom fighter is another’s terrorist. In such a situation, Israel with the backing of the United States has held a stronghold on the Palestinians provoking them at their will. Without the equal infrastructure to fight the Israelis head-on, they resort to Guerilla tactics. However, where Israeli tanks can trample hundreds and demolish the homes of thousands, Palestinians can reply with a negligible force. To save their encroached land, Israelis have taken strict measures in the name of counter-terrorism efforts that sees further plight on the Palestinians. Several laws and resolutions have been passed that make it justifiable to pick random Palestinians for questioning and interrogation based on the slightest of suspicion. And when it seems that finally, the region can see peace once again, Israel attacks the Palestinians part and takes control of it. Without complete intermediation from world authorities, peace cannot prevail in this forsaken region.
History of Israel
Israel was created in 1948 after 55 years of Zionist agitation. The name of the country derives from the name given to Jacob (Israel). In the 60 years since Israel has achieved its independence, it has been continuously warring with the Arab countries, which borders the Israeli borders. The conflict between the Palestinians and the Jewish people began in November 1947 that is before the independence of Israel.
United Nations came upon the decision to create a separate state for the Jewish people, therefore in 1948 Jewish people were given independence and Israel was created. The Arabs declared that if a separate Jewish state would be created, they would fight till death, and from the day of its independence Israel is in constant conflict with the Arab states. Before May 1948 somewhere around 250,000 had fled or were evicted by the Jewish people from Israel when the Jews slowly, gradually, and in an organized manner overpower the Arabs.
In March 1949, the Green Line was established that is a permanent ceasefire went into effect between the Arabs and the Jews. After the ceasefire, the British released 2000 Jews and then recognized the state of Israel. After the end of the war, Egypt still occupies the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and Eastern Jerusalem which includes the Old City as well (Facts about Israel).
Terrorism
Terrorism has no specific definition; it is mostly a controversial term. Terrorism is considered to be a major form of asymmetric warfare (i.e. war or a fight between 2 or more groups who have significantly different military power). Terrorism is an act that is conducted only for the sole purpose of political gain. This act might or might not be directed at a specific government or country. If terrorism is to be defined, it can be defined as an act that is conducted only for the sole purpose of political gain. This act might or might not be directed at a specific government or country.
Terrorism is based on 3 kinds of perspectives, which are, first one is the terrorist conducting the criminal act, and the second is the victim who becomes the target for such violent kinds of activities, and lastly the general public who provides the reaction to such kinds of acts. The terrorist tries mostly to sway the public towards their way of thinking and hoping that the public will change their opinions about them. (Terrorism Research).
The terrorists are mostly motivated by two things to do such heinous kinds of crime. The first thing that motivates them is the social and the political injustice that is the terrorists believe that a social or a political injustice has been done to them. The second reason why the terrorists are motivated is the belief that due to violence a change will happen. In the end, they believe that violence is the answer to all their prayers and that it will help them to bring change in a society or within the country itself.
The terrorists believe that they have no option left other than the use of violence so that the world will take notice of them and the cause they are fighting for. One example would be when the Palestinian Liberation attacked Israel in the 1960s and 1970’s, believing that it was justifiable due to the Jews had forcefully taken their land.
Enemies of the state
Israel was created in 1948 and since then it has faced the first-ever attack on the country the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1965 and the country had to suffer from PLO Intifadas or revolutionaries in 1987 and then again in 2001, and this being the cause of hundreds of terrorist bombing within the country and along with hundreds of people dead. And then in 2003, there were more than 3500 terrorist attacks within Israel and in those attacks, 213 Israelis were killed out of which 163 were common people and the rest were militants. In the 2003 attacks, there were a great deal of international terrorist organizations were involved. (2003 Terrorism Review).
And these days the number one enemy of Israel is the foreign states which include Iran and Syria because it is being said that these two countries have weapons of mass destruction with them. The enemies of the state who come second are the Palestinians with Jews have a continuous conflict since their independence. The third enemy of the state is the Muslims who live in Israel, the reason that the Muslims now constitute 16% of the population of Israel.
Another reason why the Jews consider them as the enemy is that the minority of the Muslims who used to be docile and leaderless has now become a robust and assertive community with leaders. And now the Israelis believe that their third and final enemies will be joining the battle against them. And the war between the Muslims and the Jews has been increasing, and now after the war against Lebanon in 2006, the Muslim society has rejected the Israeli identity and has now turned against the state altogether.
The hostility between these two religions has been increasing. The turning point had come when ‘the future vision of Palestine Arabs in Israel’ had been released. This paper rejects the Jews nature of Israeli society and suggests that the country should become a bi-national country, where the culture of Palestine should also be enjoyed equally. It was given that the Jews were going to have a negative response to such kind of paper and therefore it was a turning point for Muslims in Israel who believed that the paper was suggesting the right thing that is they should be given the freedom to follow their religion and culture. (Pipes, 2006)
Israel’s response
Israel since its creation has implemented the strongest counter-terrorism measures of any country around the world. As it is known that the country has faced a lot of terrorist attacks and it has the most experience in counter-terrorist measures than any other country. Because of these measures, the Palestinians suffer the most and they cannot do anything except for freedom fighting that the media calls terrorism.
3 kinds of defensives measures are usually taken by a country like Israel and those defensives measures are as follows:
- Airline security, due to the incident of 9/11 most countries have tightened their airline security so that in the future such kinds of incidents won’t happen ever again. And the airlines have made sure that they conduct an emergency drill with the passengers and in case of a highjack the passengers along with the plane crew should try and overpower the people who have hijacked the aircraft.
- Tight security in the nuclear power station, as it is known that only an aircraft hitting the nuclear station can create a great deal of damage. And again in case of a hijack, the nuclear power station must be informed immediately, so that the station can instantly take some kind of precautions before there is any kind of impact with the power station. This will help reduce the causalities and enough time will be given to save important information and resources and lastly.
Stopping terrorists from getting a hold of a nuclear weapon. This is the biggest fear that all the governments have that in case if a terrorist gets ahold of a nuclear weapon what is going to happen then. The governments fear that there will be mass destruction and a lot of innocent lives will be lost. Therefore governments like the US and UK are trying their level best that such kinds of weapons do not fall into the hands of terrorists like the Al-Qaeda or Taliban (Lawson, 2001).
As it was known that Israel was facing Arab hostilities since its time of creation, therefore the government of the country decided to create an ordinance called the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance in 1948. The ordinance stated that any kinds of violent activities or threats on an individual would be considered as an act of terrorism. The ordinance also permitted the Shin Bet (that is the country’s intelligence force) a lot of prosecutorial powers, which meant that they could stop or retain any person for information and they also have the power to shut down any kind of organization they thought was involved in any kind of terrorist activity. In a case where a Palestinian is found guilty or even suspicious of these charges, it generally means that this person would never be freed again.
The implications
A saying by David Nelmes (2007) goes “The end of war does not bring peace, it just brings about the end of the war.” This saying correctly contradicts the theory of dictators and warmongers to ‘wage is a war to bring peace. In the thousands of years of history, we can see a continuous chain of wars and conflicts that ends with the beginning of another. Wars can be described in a single word as ‘deadly’ since numerous lives are sacrificed of the soldiers as well as the civilians. It tarnishes the physical landscape of the country, disrupts trade and economic links while diminishing internal resources. Destruction to such an extent hurts the whole geographic region and creates instability for a very long time to come.
- Precious loss of human life and resources
- Economic and trade disaster
A once united state of Palestine was surviving with both Jews and Arabs united against a common enemy in both World Wars. However, wars and lobbying created further tensions between the opposing religious groups until an Israel was created out of western pressure (Mideast Web). Even with a named homeland (Israel), the Jews and Palestinians conflict with the Jews demanding the vanquishing of Palestinians from the Gaza area controlled by the alleged terrorist group Hamas (Chalmers, 2009). The solution lies in the returning of Israeli forces to their marked territory, while the Palestinians agree not to interfere with the Israeli territory. The prolonged violence, death, and destruction’s only solution lies in the compromise and the willingness to end the war.
- Israel should not attack Palestine areas and try to capture it
- Palestinians must understand that Israelites are there to stay in the area which no longer is theirs alone.
So far in the long history of conflict between the two sides, sit-downs have been rare and un-eventful. The solution is the end of the war, yet both parties continue to fight to this day. The end of the war era will bring much-awaited stability to the region thus foster economic growth and the ability to live a simple life. Talking this matter out will create goodwill between the two opponents, thus allowing friendship and unity between the two. Most importantly the motto of ‘life is sacred’ will be protected and people can once more dream of achieving success rather than just think about survival. (Anderson, 2009)
- Economic stability
- Return to normal life
- Foster prosperity in the region
Protecting life and safeguarding human rights are the basic values of any society and this message is heard and understood by everyone. However, throughout the history of humans, all we have seen is conflict; and war is a reason to end that conflict. Not only valuable natural resources and precious lives are being destroyed, but more important things in our lives are also getting lesser attention example like countries having a higher defense budget than a health budget. The time has come and been overdue for the world to understand that selfish causes make lives harder for self and others. Conflicts must end peacefully in talks and war must finally end as a means of begetting peace (Anderson, 2009).
- Important things deserve proper care like life
- World must end the war once and for all as a means to achieve peace
Conclusion
War has continued and tormented people for too long. A change is required and it is needed fast. This change has to come in the form of a diplomatic talk between the opposing parties that reach a unanimous decision in favor of both sides. War has always brought misery; now is the time to bring life and joy who have suffered the most when peace and independence were their birthright.
Annotated bibliography
Anderson, T. (2009). Israel & Palestine. Great Neck Publishing. Pp 1-3. ISBN 1-4298-1346-6
This source covers the history of the Israeli and Palestine conflict in detail which is imperative to understand how the conflict started and what can be done to resolve this hatred between the two parties
BBC News. Country profile: Israel and Palestinian territories. Web.
BBC is a world renowned organization that covers news from all around the world thus this is a credible source for factual information
Borden, T. G (2008), Israel, Counter-Terrorism Policy.
The author discusses how Israel feels threatened to the rising fears of terrorism and how have Palestinian organizations have added to that fear. Thus Israel has taken counter steps to safeguard its interests while stomping on Palestinian interests
Chalmers, Iain. Gaza – a symptom of an insufficiently acknowledged cause. Lancet. (2009) Vol. 373 Issue 9659, p197-198
This article strictly analyzes the situation where Israel attacks the Palestinians and overturn the authority with the approval of US and EU. It describes what the civilians have to go through to survive in this condition
Chronology: Arab-Israeli Conflict. (2008). The Middle East Journal, 62(2), 304-305.
This article traces the conflict between the Arab Muslims and the Israeli Jews. It further describes the causes of the conflict and the reasons of mistrust between the two has led to the creation of Palestine and Israel
Facts about Israel (2008), Web.
This source is the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs website from where state facts and figures are taken necessary to cover the Israeli stance on the way of things
Government Policy (2008).
This is a website of the Israeli governments’ prime minister’s office which is credible since it comes directly from the Israeli government. This source gives information about the policies about terrorism.
Jewish Virtual Library (2004). 2003 Terrorism Review., Web.
The American-Israeli cooperative enterprise brings this source which highlights the terrorism activities in the region and how have Palestinians contributed towards this rise in terrorism
Mideast Web. Israel and Palestine: A Brief History. Mideast Web.
This source covers the history of the Israeli and Palestine conflict in detail from a factual and non-biased point of view
Nelmes, David. Achieving Peace Through War. Being Willing. Web.
This source is articulated towards leading peaceful movements to end centuries of war and bloodshed that has continued without any resolution
Pipes, D (2006), Israel’s Domestic Enemy, Web.
This article written for NewYork Sun, enlightens the audience about the enemies of Israel both external and internal.
Terrorism Research- what is terrorism? (n.d.) 2009.
This website is used to get an insight and proper understanding of what terrorism is and where can it be found
Myers, Zachary (2008). Fighting Terrorism: Assessing Israel’s Use of Force in Response to Hezbollah. The San Diego Law Review, 45(1), 305.
This article from a journal source tells the might of Israeli forces and how they are dealing with threats from Palestinians authorizes and agencies who are associated for the peace of Palestine.