A Brief Note On The Arab Israeli War - 1203 Words

Modern Essay Arab and Israeli Conflict The Middle Eastern area has experienced and suffered more conflict and blood shed than probably any part of the world. The Arab-Israeli war in 1948 was the first step of a century of bloody and hostile conflicts. The Arab- Israeli war was caused by a number of factors both intraregional and international, which created a catalyst of war through a complex situation. This was triggered by Israel’s independence declaration in 14 May 1948; in the Arab-Israeli war the victor was Israel. During this essay the following will be discussed: Zionism, Arab nationalism, and British foreign policy these I believe are the three key causes of the 1948 war. The reason for choosing not just one of these factors to†¦show more content†¦Furthermore the idea that anti-Semitism could only be overcome by physical separation from Europe and by self-determination’ (Schulze 1999, p. 1) is what is believed to have made Zionism so popular in the first place. The religious and cultural ba ckground to the Land of Israel made Palestine the most logical territorial claim and was perceived as the only viable and permanent solution to the problem of the Jews. This idea of Zionism advertised the belief that Jews were given Palestine by God himself that is was their right and this fuelled their fight in pursuing their God given right. Meanwhile, with news of Hitler and the holocaust in Europe beginning to spread, this event only generated an intense determination to create a Jewish state. But with the Palestinian leadership actively supporting the Nazis during WWII it had created more conflict between the Arabs and Jews. Without the Jews flocking from Europe because of the Holocaust and the idea of Zionism, Arab-Israeli conflicts may never have occurred to such an extremist level. As the Jews perhaps would have not had enough organisation and support to fight back against the Arabs and the desperate desire to create a Jewish state with nothing to lose. Modern Arab nationalism began at the end of the eighteenth century, majority as opposition to the European colonialism (British), which the Arabs believed was ‘superfluous in its attainment’ (Schulze 1999, pp. 2-3). Arab