The struggle between Jewish and Arab interests over the area of Israel, previously Palestine, has origins stretching back hundreds of years, though the most important events have taken place within the last century. The creation of Israel was the culmination of the Zionist movement, whose aim was a homeland for Jews scattered all over the world following the Diaspora. Previous to independence, the Jewish people had a long history of being oppressed through exile, slavery, and m

urder, never holding a sovereign state. After the Nazi Holocaust, pressure grew for the international recognition of a Jewish state, and in 1947 Israel came into being. Much of the history of the region since that time has been one of conflict between Israel on one side and the Palestinians and Israel's Arab neighbors on the other. Thousands of Palestinians were displaced, and several wars (1948, 1954, 1967, 1973, 1982, and 1991) were fought involving the neighboring Arab countries. It wasn't unti!

It's painfully difficult for people in the West to look at the Middle East and accept the violence that takes place there. Violence in the Western world is so shunned upon that to think that peace can only come about through such means is unfathomable. But how else do you achieve peace in a region that constantly is in fear of bombings? Barring the immediate change to a utopian society, how can Israelis and Palestinians all of a sudden live peacefully when there exists so much anger and hatred between the two peoples? Even if Barak and Arafat were to stand up today and hold hands proclaiming peace between them, how could they expect the violence to cease and for everyone to simply get along? And what kind of compromise would allow for such peace? This is why Fanon says, "It is the intuition of the colonized masses that their liberation must, and can only, be achieved by force." (Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth, page 73)

say, break the law. Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine." (Thoreau, An Essay on Civil Disobedience, page 677) Thoreau would approve of violent means and would condone the radicals for taking no part in the institutions they want changed. Violence, therefore, according to Thoreau would be an excellent catalyst for bringing about change in the Middle East while peace talks would have little effect and, in fact, years after they began, the effect of the peace talks have been minimal and Thoreau seems to be right.

, how could they expect others to obey the new laws. (Plato, page 51) As a reply, one of the major concerns is that even if some peace terms were reached, how could the leaders enforce them. There are far too many radicals with far too much hatred who are happy to start riots or relent to terrorism despite any supposed peace between the nations.

overed it and everyone knew the Palestinians were trying to say something. A non-violent sit-down or fast simply wouldn't have the same effect and the reason is because it only works under situations of oppression where the world can recognize immorality, be disgusted by it, and fix it. But the Palestinian fight for independence is not a fight against oppression. In this situation, the Palestinians have certain desires, some of which they don't necessarily deserve, and that is why they have to fight for them rather than be non-violent and wait until the world recognizes that they are being wronged. Gandhi's non-violent resistance would obviously be a more desirable solution than the fighting that takes place in the Middle East, but the region is a violent one. In Gandhi's own words, "It is not possible for a modern State based on force, non-violently to resist forces

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Approximate Word count = 2156
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)