http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/abbas-we-ll-never-sign-deal-demanding-recognition-of-israel-as-jewish-state-1.319329
Basically, Abbas wants peace only when Israel recognizes a Palestinian state as of the 1967 borders. Whereas Israel agrees of stopping the settlements being built in the West bank, only, if Abbas agrees to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. This is all reminiscent of when my brother and I would wrestle. He'd pin me down and I'd have to yell the word "uncle" in order to be released. And, on the rare occasions I would be able to hold him down, he would have to yell the same word.
Israel and the Palestinians are playing the same game: Who pins who down. Who says it first. I suppose this all boils down to who is "morally" right, legitimately there, but in reality it is who is more powerful. Even the simile of David and Goliath is overplayed because while world-view paints the Israelis as Goliath, we are still being pelted by quassams and suicide bombings. Even while the Palistinians are being painted as the political Goliath, their government is suppressing their own people. It doesn't matter who was on top, or more powerful with me and my brother's wrestling matches. In the end one we would still be going back and forth, with out an ultimate winner: just another round.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Potential Topics for Papers
Research ? Topics:
-Israel Vs. Arab Conflicts--------------- H & CR
-Palestinians-----------------------------H
-Israel in the Media (UN) ------------------C/E
-American influence--------------------H & T
-Resources (oil, land, money)------------H & CR
-WMDs--------------------------------C/E
-Two State-Solution-----------------------T
| *KEY*
| H = History
| T = Theorize
| CR = Conflict Resolution
| C/E = Cause & Effect
10/19/10 Outline for Year's Research Questions:
Research Questions:
1) Basic Information Research
2) Regional
~ Who are the Palestinians?
~ Conflict over Resources (Land, Water, Oil, Religious)
~ Ethnic & Cultural boundaries (Christian/Muslim Palestinians; Different types of Jews & Muslims) [Fragmentation play out in greater conflict?]
3) World
~ Terrorism/ Violence/ Political Reactions
4) Solution, prospects, resolution
~ Two state Solution
Pressure? Influence?
-Israel Vs. Arab Conflicts--------------- H & CR
-Palestinians-----------------------------H
-Israel in the Media (UN) ------------------C/E
-American influence--------------------H & T
-Resources (oil, land, money)------------H & CR
-WMDs--------------------------------C/E
-Two State-Solution-----------------------T
| *KEY*
| H = History
| T = Theorize
| CR = Conflict Resolution
| C/E = Cause & Effect
10/19/10 Outline for Year's Research Questions:
Research Questions:
1) Basic Information Research
2) Regional
~ Who are the Palestinians?
~ Conflict over Resources (Land, Water, Oil, Religious)
~ Ethnic & Cultural boundaries (Christian/Muslim Palestinians; Different types of Jews & Muslims) [Fragmentation play out in greater conflict?]
3) World
~ Terrorism/ Violence/ Political Reactions
4) Solution, prospects, resolution
~ Two state Solution
Pressure? Influence?
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Introductory Notes: Ideologies & Aspirations
Secular Ideologies:
-Islamic Nationalism in late 1800s
-Arab revolt during WWI
-European Mandates became a huge blow
-Arab elites turned toward European liberalism, constitutionalism, & parliamentary democracy
-Egyptian WAFD ("the Delegation") unsuccessfully pled for liberty during Treaty of Versailles
-Nationalists were superseded by post-WWI & Israel independence war ideologies
-Gamal Abdel Nasser- Pan-Arab Nationalism (not well-articulated, but stressed nationalism, anti-imperialism, state socialism, & reform social inequalities)
-Nasser seized power in 1952 by a bloody coup
-Followed by other coups of the 50s and 60s (ex: Iraq, Syria, Libya)
-Baath Socialist Party (40s) took simmilar view
-Arab Cold War took place between traditional monarchies and new ideology
-Israel was unique, founded on zionism (nationalism) and socialism.
-Arabs found faults within progressive governments, regimes became more self-serving, and monarchies prospered
Islamist Ideologies:
-State corruption and disillusionment with Secular ideologies
-Led to religious ones
-Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (an early reformer) combined Islamic values and European sciences & saw problem with lack of modernity
-Newer reformers ("Rejectionists" thought Europe was subjugating their world.
-Receptionists sought to return to a "pure" Islam
-Islam was never divorced from government (Islamic states under Shari'a law)
-Muslim Brotherhood (Egypt, 1928) advocated return to Islamic Values
-Wahhabism (named for 1700s reformer Muhammad Abd al-Wahhab) denounces corruption of a pure Islam, and is a conservative Sunni Islamic movement. It created a...
-Religious police enforce shari'a law.
-Radical Islamists (Islamic extremists) were forming. This led to groups such as...
-al-Jihad a violent extremist group who assassinated President Anwar al-Sadot (1981) and attacked tourists.
-Iranian Revolution took place in 1979, led by Ayatollah Ruhollah, deposed the authoritarian monarch (the Shah), reversed secularization, vocalized justice for working class, and forced religious observance. It put Mullahs (religious leaders) in charge.
-Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) gained popularity in Algeria in 1992, causing the government to cancel elections because they thought the FIS would change the constitution and elminate the voting process.
-Led to long & brutal civil war during 1975-1976.
-Hezbollah started to form, for militant defense.
-Failure of PLO led to Islamic Jihad and Hamas.
-These two ideas/groups gained notoriety during the Al-Aqsa Intifada (2000), which dispatched suicide bombers against Israeli military and civilians.
Political Handbook of the Middle East 2006.
Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2006. Print.
-Islamic Nationalism in late 1800s
-Arab revolt during WWI
-European Mandates became a huge blow
-Arab elites turned toward European liberalism, constitutionalism, & parliamentary democracy
-Egyptian WAFD ("the Delegation") unsuccessfully pled for liberty during Treaty of Versailles
-Nationalists were superseded by post-WWI & Israel independence war ideologies
-Gamal Abdel Nasser- Pan-Arab Nationalism (not well-articulated, but stressed nationalism, anti-imperialism, state socialism, & reform social inequalities)
-Nasser seized power in 1952 by a bloody coup
-Followed by other coups of the 50s and 60s (ex: Iraq, Syria, Libya)
-Baath Socialist Party (40s) took simmilar view
-Arab Cold War took place between traditional monarchies and new ideology
-Israel was unique, founded on zionism (nationalism) and socialism.
-Arabs found faults within progressive governments, regimes became more self-serving, and monarchies prospered
Islamist Ideologies:
-State corruption and disillusionment with Secular ideologies
-Led to religious ones
-Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (an early reformer) combined Islamic values and European sciences & saw problem with lack of modernity
-Newer reformers ("Rejectionists" thought Europe was subjugating their world.
-Receptionists sought to return to a "pure" Islam
-Islam was never divorced from government (Islamic states under Shari'a law)
-Muslim Brotherhood (Egypt, 1928) advocated return to Islamic Values
-Wahhabism (named for 1700s reformer Muhammad Abd al-Wahhab) denounces corruption of a pure Islam, and is a conservative Sunni Islamic movement. It created a...
-Religious police enforce shari'a law.
-Radical Islamists (Islamic extremists) were forming. This led to groups such as...
-al-Jihad a violent extremist group who assassinated President Anwar al-Sadot (1981) and attacked tourists.
-Iranian Revolution took place in 1979, led by Ayatollah Ruhollah, deposed the authoritarian monarch (the Shah), reversed secularization, vocalized justice for working class, and forced religious observance. It put Mullahs (religious leaders) in charge.
-Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) gained popularity in Algeria in 1992, causing the government to cancel elections because they thought the FIS would change the constitution and elminate the voting process.
-Led to long & brutal civil war during 1975-1976.
-Hezbollah started to form, for militant defense.
-Failure of PLO led to Islamic Jihad and Hamas.
-These two ideas/groups gained notoriety during the Al-Aqsa Intifada (2000), which dispatched suicide bombers against Israeli military and civilians.
Political Handbook of the Middle East 2006.
Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2006. Print.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Introductory Notes: Part One
OVERVIEW
Geography: arid country side, mountainous
Population: stereotypically bedouin, most are traders
Economic: industrial growth leads to large working class
Borders: hard definition to define because of cultural/geographic boundaries.
Regions: Fertile Cresent, Arabian Peninsula, Nile Valley, Maghreb
Ethnicities: Arab, Azeris, Baluch, Berbers, Kurds, Black Africans... etc.
Diversity: ... a lot
Islam: Sunni vs. Shi'ites
Christianity: Various eastern rites. Most are Protestantism.
Judaism: Israel as a Jewish state, Zionism
Time Line (circa):
600- Islam emergence in Mecca, spread across M. East
1100- Turks arrive, Ottoman Empire, unified Islam, spread to S.E. Europe
1800- Ottoman states deteriorating. Britain and France make presence in M.E.
WWI- Europe strong hold in M.E. strengthens. Britain topples Ottoman Empire.
Declerations/Agreements
Sykes: Picot agreement: 1916 divided Arab territories into European Zones.
Balfour Declaration: 1917 paved way for the State of Israel
Conflict (Jews Vs. Arab):
-Israel created in 1948
-300,000 Palestineans displace in Israel; 300,000 Jews displaced in Muslim Countries
-Transjordan absorbed the West Bank and Gaza Strip
-SUEZ WAR (Oct-Nov 1956): Israel, Britain, & France invaded Egypt. The U.S. called and end to it
-SIX DAY WAR (June 1967) border tension led Israel to sieze the Golan Heights (from Syria), West Bank and East Jerusalem (from Jordan), and the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip (from Egypt)
-YOM KIPPUR WAR (Oct 1973): Syria and Egypt surprise attacked Israel on the Holiest day to regain borders lost. Ended in stalemate, led to...
-CAMP DAVID (1979): a peace treaty returning Egypt's land and a cold peace.
-LEBANON WAR (1982): Israel invaded Lebanon to wipe out the PLO (Palestinean Liberation Organization) who were launching attacks. Israel reached Beruit, got rid of PLO, and moved to S. Lebanon and kept a presence until 2000.
Political Handbook of the Middle East 2006.
Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2006. Print.
Geography: arid country side, mountainous
Population: stereotypically bedouin, most are traders
Economic: industrial growth leads to large working class
Borders: hard definition to define because of cultural/geographic boundaries.
Regions: Fertile Cresent, Arabian Peninsula, Nile Valley, Maghreb
Ethnicities: Arab, Azeris, Baluch, Berbers, Kurds, Black Africans... etc.
Diversity: ... a lot
Islam: Sunni vs. Shi'ites
Christianity: Various eastern rites. Most are Protestantism.
Judaism: Israel as a Jewish state, Zionism
Time Line (circa):
600- Islam emergence in Mecca, spread across M. East
1100- Turks arrive, Ottoman Empire, unified Islam, spread to S.E. Europe
1800- Ottoman states deteriorating. Britain and France make presence in M.E.
WWI- Europe strong hold in M.E. strengthens. Britain topples Ottoman Empire.
Declerations/Agreements
Sykes: Picot agreement: 1916 divided Arab territories into European Zones.
Balfour Declaration: 1917 paved way for the State of Israel
Conflict (Jews Vs. Arab):
-Israel created in 1948
-300,000 Palestineans displace in Israel; 300,000 Jews displaced in Muslim Countries
-Transjordan absorbed the West Bank and Gaza Strip
-SUEZ WAR (Oct-Nov 1956): Israel, Britain, & France invaded Egypt. The U.S. called and end to it
-SIX DAY WAR (June 1967) border tension led Israel to sieze the Golan Heights (from Syria), West Bank and East Jerusalem (from Jordan), and the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip (from Egypt)
-YOM KIPPUR WAR (Oct 1973): Syria and Egypt surprise attacked Israel on the Holiest day to regain borders lost. Ended in stalemate, led to...
-CAMP DAVID (1979): a peace treaty returning Egypt's land and a cold peace.
-LEBANON WAR (1982): Israel invaded Lebanon to wipe out the PLO (Palestinean Liberation Organization) who were launching attacks. Israel reached Beruit, got rid of PLO, and moved to S. Lebanon and kept a presence until 2000.
Political Handbook of the Middle East 2006.
Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2006. Print.
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