This paper examines the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and evaluates the role the United States can and should play in resolving it. Beginning with the United Nations' creation of Israel in 1947 and the immediate outbreak of hostilities, the paper traces the recurring cycle of violence that has made lasting peace elusive. It considers why past U.S.-led and international peace efforts have failed to produce a durable agreement, identifying provocations on both sides as key obstacles. The paper concludes that while the United States should continue to pursue peace in the Middle East, a lasting resolution remains unlikely without genuine willingness from both parties.
This paper examines the intersection of criminal justice and terrorism as they relate to one of the world's most enduring disputes. Specifically, it discusses what the United States can, and should, do to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The conflict has been ongoing since the United Nations created Israel out of a section of Palestine in 1947. The new country was intended to reestablish ancient Jewish lands in the region, but Arab leaders opposed it from the very beginning.
The first war fought over the new state occurred the day after Israel declared independence in 1948, and there has been unrest, fighting, and clashes in the region almost ever since. Because of this long history of violence, it is difficult for the United States to interfere or intervene — the conflict has persisted for so long, and it is clear that the two sides have been unwilling to renounce their mutual violence and hatred.
It does not seem that anything can be done about the conflict without some kind of agreement on both sides, and such an agreement has not proven possible. The United States and other nations have attempted to forge a peace process in the past, but those efforts have never produced a lasting result. Hostilities end for a time, but they always flare up again due to provocations from one side or the other. Israel has inflamed the process by taking additional lands during wars, while the Arab world has inflamed it by attacking Israel and her allies through suicide bombings and other acts of violence.
There is so much hatred between Arabs and Jews that it is difficult to imagine the two sides ever reaching a durable agreement. Outside countries sometimes only make matters worse by getting involved, as foreign intervention can be perceived as biased or destabilizing by one or both parties. The complexity of the dispute — rooted in competing historical claims, religious significance, and displaced populations — makes international mediation extraordinarily challenging.
The United States should not give up on the peace process in the Middle East. It should continue to work toward bringing the two sides to an agreement. However, it does not appear that any outside party can truly compel the two parties to agree on anything, and so, even with sustained U.S. involvement, lasting peace in the Middle East seems a long way off.
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