Relation of Israel and Palestine in this changing geopolitical phase of Muslim World

There is a famous quote by Herodotus “In peace, sons bury their fathers. In war, father buries their sons.” The situations vary for every person in society, but even today the importance of this quote is as same as it was before. The history of conflict in the global scenario is very old where human beings have been choosing the path of struggle for their strategic and geo-political powers since the very ancient period. These strategic systems kept changing their form and dimensions throughout time. There was a struggle for strategic advancement and sometimes religion. 

Humans, influenced by the sensitivity of such catastrophic forces as racial hysteria, continued the path of struggle. In this backdrop of historicity, there remain instances limiting the progress of humanity, such as the Israel-Palestine conflict, despite the presence of established regulation and institutions for the elimination of human conflicts. 

The matter is not too old when people were talking about whether Israel is right or the stance of Palestine was correct. Everyone saw what happened recently in Israel and Palestine. The bitter difference between Hamas and the Jews leads to major destruction in Israel and Palestine. Here, I will not talk about the history between both these countries, but how these conflicts can be solved permanently is a point of discussion. In 1948, when 48% part of Palestine became Israel, it was thought by the major countries of the world that both countries will live peacefully. But OIC had something different in their mind, they wanted something else from the UN, or in simple words they did not want Israel to exist in the middle-east. The reason for this is very simple. The OIC was founded in 1969 and consists of 57 nations having a common goal to prove their religious supremacy over the other nations in the entire world and save their religious brotherhood in Palestine. The members of OIC countries say that they want to save Palestine but actually behind the curtain, they are playing their religious propaganda, and the major reason why 2 state solution between Israel and Palestine is not taking place is because of OIC. Also, a rift can be clearly seen in OIC countries as they do not have a common goal. Countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait has a separate ambition while countries like Turkey, Pakistan, Iran want something else from OIC. Also, up to now, Saudi Arabia has been a unanimous ruler of the Muslim world, but now Erdogan lead Turkey wants to replace Saudi Arabia as the new Muslim world leader.

Once a philosopher said that religion is like opium for the people and the addiction of opium destroys anyone. Something similar is happening in the entire world right now. Whether we look at the situation of Hindus in Pakistan or Bangladesh or the situation of Jews in the recent time in the middle east (Arab region), the suppression is based on the same principle of religion, which seems to be addictive to some. Jews in Germany in the reign of Hitler were also suppressed in a large number. The war between Israel and Palestine is mainly based on religion. Western countries that backed Israel have strongly raised their leg in the middle east despite the fact that Israel was established as a nation in 1948, but it was never recognized as a country by the Islamic countries of the Middle East. On 6th March 1948, the 1st conflict between the Arab world and Israel took place. The British left Palestine in 1948 after failing to resolve the dispute. Jewish leaders announce the establishment of Israel. This was opposed by many Palestinians and a war started between Israel and OIC-backed Palestine. Many Palestinians had to flee their homes during the war. After the war ended, Israel occupied most of Palestine. Talking about Jerusalem, its western part was occupied by Israel while the eastern part was occupied by Jordan. In another war in 1967, Israel occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank. In addition, Israel also occupied the Golan Heights, Gaza, and the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. Currently, West Bank and Gaza are in control of Palestine but Israel has the capability to capture both of them, whenever they wish. In the current situation, the bigger issue is more about the holy city of Jerusalem and less about the existence of Palestine. Israel claims the whole of Jerusalem, while Palestine regards East Jerusalem as the capital of the future country. The US is also one of the few countries to recognize Israel’s claim over the whole of Jerusalem. In the regime of Donald Trump, America has shifted its capital to Jerusalem, which gave moral support to Israel to prove its claim on Jerusalem.

Indirectly, the recent conflict is also related to the holy city of Jerusalem. The main conflict started when Hamas fired almost 4,00 rockets on Israel. Surprisingly it took very little time by the Muslim world to prove the terrorist organization Hamas innocent. The way Qatar-based Al-Jazeera and many OIC-backed news channels have shown Hamas as the peacemaker of the region and the army of Israel as a Demon is shameful. Recently, a statement has been released by the Israeli Army that the building of Al-Jazeera which they destroyed was used by Hamas to intercept their Iron-Dome missile system. Isn’t it a point of shame that a news media which called itself an unbiased media is supporting a terrorist organization, because of whom so many innocent people have lost their life? 

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict of 70 years has engulfed the landscape of the Middle East and challenged the peace-building efforts of the international community. The prospects for a negotiated settlement have plummeted due to the failure of the most recent negotiations, additional violence, and increased radicalization in public behavior. In the face of these challenges and their impact on broader US national security interests, the current administration has identified the conflict as a diplomatic priority. 

Both sides will have to arrive at a possible solution that is in mutual interest but this can only happen through dialogue and not through bloodshed.

In view of all these scenarios, we will have to see how the new President of Israel Naftali Bennette will approach Hamas and Palestine. One important point to remember is that Naftali Bennette has only 2 years in office, and in these 2 year, he will have to prove that he puts the national interest first.

Image Sources – Google

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