The Arab-Israeli Conflict

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‘Arab-Israeli conflict in the period 1896-2002 was dominated by the great powers for entirely selfish and cynical reasons.’ To what extent is this a fair assessment of their involvement in the Middle East during these years? The Arab-Israeli conflict is often contemplated as one of the most important global issues over the past centuries.the is conflict is often described as the fight for Arab nationalism through the state of Palestine and a claim for the jews, through Zionism the right to exist as a state .While it might be tempting to condemn the great powers for their involvement in the Israeli-Arab conflict throughout much of the last century there is also much doubt that they were also motivated by genuine feelings to establish a lasting peace in the area. Writing in 1922 to Herbert Samuel, a Zionist and cabinet colleague, Winston Churchill complained of the great expense to the British taxpayer of having to ‘bear the cost of imposing on Palestine an unpopular policy.’ Later between 1944 and 1948 Menachem Begin, one day to be Israel’s 6th Prime Minister, was responsible, he and his armed militia Irgun, for terrorist attacks on the British military presence in Israel, culminating in the notorious bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem in which 91 people, British, Arab and Jewish were killed. …show more content…
Undoubtedly I believe that Britain and the other great powers such as the USSR, America and France benefited from involvement in Middle East affairs although it is certain they did so at great cost. Even till date America continues to influence international politics of the Middle East.In respective of my question, I do believe that the Arab nations did also attempted to get involved as a means of gaining land which is a selfish and cynical reason which was masked under the pretext of helping the Palestinian Arabs when in truth their main goal was to gain land. Following the pogroms in Tsarist Russia throughout the late 19th century the desire for a Jewish homeland had gathered momentum. In Austria Herzl’s pamphlet, ‘The Jews’ State’ created an international sensation. He argued that the formation of a Jewish State was a necessity and should be supported by Jews and anti-Semites alike. From the very beginning, it became clear that the Great Powers would be heavily involved in this momentous initiative. The Ottoman Turks, however, not surprisingly denied his demand for such a state; Herzl then took his plea to the European great powers who were more sympathetic; they saw the sick man of Europe opportunities for acquisition and influence. This was just the beginning of Western powers involvement into Arab-Israeli affairs. The Sykes-Picot agreement was the first sign of international collusion in the region. Anticipating the future dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire Britain and France carved the Middle East into spheres of influence to prevent a power vacuum and Russian entry into the region. Many years later after the Suez-Sinai crisis and Britain and France’s declining influence in the region, the US and Russia would also enter the Middle East, again to fill the gap vacated by a declining empire (actually two empires-Britain and France). This continuous involvement was an obvious attempt to gain influence. This evidently makes it clear that British involvement was for entirely selfish reasons. From the start, their selfish and cynical reasons as their concern was an attempt to pursue allies and maintain influence.According to James Renton, Lloyd George supported the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine because “it would secure post-war British control of Palestine which was strategically important as a buffer to Egypt and the Suez Canal”. Hence the Balfour Declaration of 1917. In addition, Palestine would later serve as a bridge of control for petroleum flow from Iraq to Jordan. Another reason for allied support for Zionist aspirations is that the development of a Jewish homeland would allow Britain to rally international Jewry behind its war effort in the first global conflict. In 1939 in his memoirs the former British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, said the Balfour Declaration was launched in 1917 for ‘propagandist reasons’. ‘It was believed,’ he wrote, ‘that such a declaration would have a significant influence on World Jewry outside Russia and secure for the Entente the aid of Jewish financial

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