The War for the Holy Land

Since the Declaration of the Establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, the Israeli and Arabic population have been in a power struggle in the regions know as Gaza and the West Bank. Bordering Egypt and Jordan and between the Mediterranean and Dead Sea, this area has been at the forefront of conversations in regards to the Middle East. The conflict between the two groups involves several elements of discussion.

                 

First, the two groups fail to mutually recognize/respect each other, which are obvious reasons for tension. In addition to that, borderlines have reinforced the hostility especially with opposing settlements within them. A human necessity, better yet for all life, is control over water sources that exist in the region which are constantly being disputed. Finally, add to that the holy city of Jerusalem, which sits right in the middle of these two opposing groups. Combining all this together makes for a messy situation, which has cost the lives of not only military personnel, but many civilian casualties. This conflict is something that has remained in the news over the years and continues into present times. Peace talks between the two groups have done little to actually stomp out the issues at hand. While solutions are not easy, there may be a way that the two groups can come to an understanding.

The first issue raised was the lack of mutual recognition and respect coming from each side of the fence. From the way it seems each side is claiming entitlement based their own ideals. Religion is something that is alive and well in this area of the world. Research shows that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are what make up the bulk of the main population in an area that is considered sacred to each of them. It is because of this fact that the people are unable to come to an understanding because each group believes that they are correct in their beliefs while others are have it wrong. It is too bold to state that each person that believes in something is not able to accept other’s beliefs, but much of the conflict occurs with the extremists that have zero tolerance.

A good idea would be to avoid peace treaties that involve religious talks altogether and look that the entire population as a whole rather than separate. In this type of situation, the governing body would be able to equalize rights amongst everyone rather than making them specific to each affiliation. Granted, the struggle with extremists is not ousted so easily as history as shown. Even if the general population were to come to an understanding, those who choose to incite violence on the opposing group would still attempt to do so. In response to that, intervention may be necessary by the UN perhaps to neutralize these threats. But as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have shown, the solution is much more complicated once the idea leaves the paper.