America, Israel, and the Middle East: Can't We All Just Get Along?

America, Israel, and the Middle East: Can't We All Just Get Along?

                In 1967, the Israeli Military with backing of the United States was able to defeat an alliance of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq in just six days (Lennon 21). The Six Day War marked the American support of Israel in its struggle against neighboring Arab nations in the conflict over Palestine. Since then, America has been the strongest western supporter of the State of Israel and this has not come without its consequences.

                The issue that I have decided to take on is "why has Western support of Israel led to tension between the West and the Middle East?" The American backing of the State of Israel has led to a clash between Western Civilization and Islam. The problem all started with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War One. After the Ottoman fall, there was no unified power in the Middle East and the land was carved up by the British and French into the Mandate System (Lennon 20). With the British in control of Palestine, Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour came up with the idea of a Jewish state in the Middle East (Lennon 20). From this, the idea of Zionism was adapted by many Jewish groups scattered across Europe. As a result of the Holocaust, the western Allies supported large scale Jewish immigration to Palestine. The State of Israel was formed after bloody conflicts between the native Palestinians and new Jewish population has caused the British Government to partition and abandon their mandate in 1948. As a result, multiple wars occurred between the newly formed State of Israel and Arab nations. During the Cold War, the world got divided up between Nato allied countries and USSR back countries, America sough allies in the east.  Following the war of 1967, the United States became the main western supporter of Israel (Lennon 21). The American support of Israel has lead to the terrorist's attacks of 9/11 and the current War on Terror (Madden 206). Since then, there has been a surge of Islamism groups forming, whose agenda is to kick out Western Influence in the Middle East. The Western backing of Israel has lead to the current conflict between Muslims and Western Civilization.

We need to look at all sides of the issue, first we look at the Muslim point of view. Looking at what is going on from the position of Muslims whose history has been covered with conflicts against the west. The U.S. support of Israel's occupation of Palestine is seen as a continuation of western crusades, and imperialism against the east. Conservative movements formed to focus on early Islam teachings, without foreign influence has become popularized as a result of Western Globalization. Some examples of these groups are; Wahhabi in Saudi Arabia, Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Taliban in Afghanistan, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Palestine and Al Qaeda (Madden 206).  Since the Gulf War, there have been an increased number of American troops stationed in bases around the Middle East. Islamists view this as the West trying to destroy their culture, control state politics and westernize the people of the Middle East (Pfaff 9). The United States and Western Countries support Israel's state sponsored terrorism against the Palestinian people. A single terrorist attack against Israel causes the Israeli Defense Forces to wage a mini war with those responsible and cause the deaths of thousands of innocent people (Grinberg 1).

Since the creation of Israel, followers of Islam have urged for a struggle against the western "Franks" that infest their native land (Madden 207). New waves of Mujahidin or Strugglers operate to fight the expansion of the west, and for the survival of traditional Islamic culture. They believe that the West has no right to place a foreign people in native Arab lands, as well as supporting these people as they wage a bloody war to eliminate the Palestinian people. The American response in the Middle East as a result of the War on Terror has been blown of proportion. It is just an excuse for America to further the spread of westernization, and secularization of the Middle East (Pfaff 9). Western Civilization is trying to push their culture on another without respecting the culture that is already in place.  For example, "There is constant Western pressure on Islamic governments to conform to Western conceptions of human rights and to promote free and critical religious and political thought" (Pfaff 9). The idea of westernization, and continued support of Israel have been the issues that have polarized the Muslim world with the West. No conflict is one side so we need to take a look at the Israeli and Western sides of the story.

From Israel's point of view, everything is drastically different. The idea of Zionism, which had been secretly adopted by the British after WWI, was in full effect after the Holocaust. Thousands of Jewish immigrants made their way to Palestine for their new promised homeland. They however, were met with hatred and violence by the native Palestinian population. Thus the conflict between Western backed Israel, and the Muslim Middle East was conceived. From the beginning, Israelis felt like they were outnumbered, and surrounded. They believe it is necessary to fight for their lives against Arab nations who do not want them to exist (Grinberg 1). That is not a very friendly situation to be placed in, but the Jewish people were able to band together and have survived. Now with the constant attacks on Israeli soil by radical Muslim groups, the IDF conducts operations and occupations to ensure the safety of the State of Israel (Grinberg 1).

As a result of the terrorist attacks on civilian targets in Israel, the Israeli Government feels justified it has the right to defend itself, and protect its people. Supported politically and militarily by the United States, Israel is able to make aggressive operations against these extremists groups. Take a look the statements made by Iranian President Ahmadinejad, he states that he wishes to wipe Israel off the map all together (Hashemi 1). When this kind of statement is made about your country by the leader of another, I would feel the need to defend myself just as the Israelis do. The country of Israel feels like it is just trying to provide security to its people but, is faced with overwhelming opposition from the Muslim World who do not even recognize Israel as a country. The State of Israel believes its right to defend its existence with any means is a result of their support from the West, and continued hatred put forth by Muslim groups.  The other faction that is a major player in this conflict is the West, in particular the United States.

To look at this issue full circle, we dive into the Western perspective of Israeli and Muslim relations. In the aftermath of World War Two, Western powers developed sympathy for the plight of the Jewish people. This eventually led to the creation of Israel and the Western arming of this new state to provide it with means to defend itself. The United States has formed a strong bond with Israel because it is a Western friendly country, and is strong military ally in the east. Not only do we support Israel, we have also worked to try to modernize, and westernize the Muslim world (Pfaff 9). Our intention is not to steal their culture but to provide modern technology, and thinking to an isolated part of the world. This caused anger amongst extremist groups who do not like outside influence and lead to the evens of 9/11. America increased their presence in the Middle East more than this because they felt it is their duty to help provide assistance and stability to regions where extremists groups reign.

Most European powers have taken a stance as peace brokers between Israel and the Palestinians but the United States has taken a more controversial approach. We conduct operations in the War on Terror; we identify Israel as an important ally in the Middle East to fight against Islamic extremists. Support for Israel has been increase by America in both, arms sales, and politically (Grinberg 1). We feel like as a super power it is our right to have a presence in the Middle East regardless of how negative it is coming across. Furthermore, America's stance on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict has been to support peace but also putting full support behind Israel's right to security.  The West has taken a policy of globalization because we believe in the end we will provide stability, and modernize the world. We also have taken a stand that Israel can, and should exist as a Jewish country in a Muslim land. I believe that America has taken the steps to continue to support Israel in their struggle, regardless of the backlash we are receiving from the Muslim world. 

There is no doubt this conflict has deep roots amongst its three main factions. There has been so many events that further complicate the issue at hand. I do not deny that I hold a bias position in favor to the Western viewpoint, but the blame cannot be placed on only one group of people. The underlying issue here is a clash of two very different civilizations; One being the globalized Western Civilization, and the other being the isolated culture of Islam. The fact that Israel is a Jewish country is not the reasoning behind the violence; I believe the same result would occur if it were a Christian country. It is a fact that Israel is a modernized, and Western supported country. That is what the real issue is boiling down to. Muslims reject the Idea of having a foreign presence within native Arab land; they have held this belief since the founding of Islam. I have to place some blame on what I believe to be Muslims not being able to accept change and intolerance of others but it is not a one way street. Their responses to Westernization has resulted in the formation of extremists groups carrying out brutal acts of violence to prove a point. Their acts of aggression against the West for having a presence in the Middle East has lead to even more American presence. As a result of being attacked, American presence in the Middle East has skyrocketed to deal with this threat. The problem is that it is a vicious cycle that will keep spinning with more attacks on the West, and an even larger Western response.  The same goes with the conflict in Palestine. Israel responds to terrorists attacks with military force, which in turn cause more terrorists attacks. This has been going on since the formation of Israel and neither side has taken steps to avoid its continuation.

The issue is not whether one side is correct and one is not. It is what has each side done to fix the problem; the answer to that is nothing. There has been no attempt on either side to look past the issue at hand, and come with a solution that can work in the future. There needs to be some accountability taken for ones actions by the West, Israel, and Muslims. Before there can ever be a resolution, there needs to be a change in the way of thinking that got us to the conflict we are in. Sadly, this conflict has been going on since before I was born and the way things are going it does not looks like a resolution will ever arise in my lifetime. It makes me think, can there ever be a resolution to the conflict between Western Civilization and Islam?