Why Has the Conflict in the Middle East Been so Intractable

Why has the conflict in the Middle East been so intractable?

The conflict in the Middle East focuses on the tension between Israel and Palestine which stems from the early 20th century, specifically after the Second World War, to this day the conflict still hasn’t been resolved. Neither Palestine nor Israel are satisfied with the current situation. Israel is internationally recognised as a sovereign state whereas Palestine is not, it’s built up of the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank. The term intractable basically means something is hard to deal with or to control. The conflict has deep historical roots as both states believe they have a right to occupy the land due to religious/spiritual reasons and the idea of it being the homeland of their ancestors. Jerusalem is considered as a Holy city for the religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. These factors can all be considered as the basic core principles as to why the situation is as out of control as it is. This essay will be thoroughly explaining how the conflict in the Middle East is too complex to resolve starting with the origins of the conflict and even discussing current problems that prevent progression in the region of the Middle East.

The origins of the conflict can be linked to the Zionist movement which was ignited during the late 18th century, this was when Yehuda hai Alkalai was born. He was one of the earliest Zionists. During his childhood he lived in Palestine where he was subjected to kabbalistic thoughts from an early age (Cohn-sherbock and El-alami, 3, 2001). Originally Jews awaited the arrival of the Messiah who would bring together the entire Jewish race to their ancient homeland, however during the early nineteenth century a new ideology developed in which it dictated that instead of awaiting the Messiah to arrive and guide the Jewish race to the promised holy land the Jews must prepare a homeland before the arrival of the Messiah. This is where Yehuda comes into the equation, he released a series of books explaining the process in which the arrival of the Messiah can be guaranteed through a range of preparatory events which includes the occupation of what was then known as Palestine. His work inspired many future Zionist thinkers such as Abraham Isaac Kook and Ahad Ha-Am. Many of them believed that a Jew could only fully fulfil his religious obligations once he/she resides in the Holy Land.
By around 1850 an estimated amount of ten thousand Jews were living in Palestine (Cohn-sherbock and El-alami, 16, 2001). Most of them had emigrated from Eastern European countries such as Poland and Lithuania. Between 1882 and 1903 another twenty-five thousands Jews had immigrated into Palestine. By the year 1914 the Jews had established essential infrastructure exclusive to the Jewish race such as the first Hebrew University and the first Jewish hospital. It was evident that the Jews immigrating to Palestine were following the Zionist ideology of attaining the desired homeland by the early Zionist thinkers.

On the second of November 1917 the Balfour Declaration was written up. The Balfour Declaration was a letter written by the Foreign Secretary of The United Kingdom to Baron Rothschild a significant figure in the Jewish community. This letter was basically to express the fact that the British recognised the need for the Jewish people to establish an independent state thus supporting the movement of making Palestine the national home of the Jewish community.