Impact of the United Nations in Peace Resolution in Conflicting States a Study of Israel and Palestinian Gaza
CHAPTER ONE
Objectives and Aims of the Study
The aim of this research project which employs basic and applied approaches will be to highlight the following;
- The role and effectiveness of the United Nations (UN) in solving the Arab- Israeli conflict particularly during the Cold War years;
- To identify whether the UN is more concern with pacific means rather than military means (or using sanctions) in conflict resolution with regards to the Arab-Israeli conflict;
- This research is to cover the period of the Cold War (Post-World War II period to 1989/1990);
- An understanding to the activities of the United Nations and its future in combating crisis and maintaining international peace and security and foster co-operation between Israel and her neighbours.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Historical Background
The central feature of this academic research is centered around the Arab-Israeli conflict in post-1945 Cold War era and the impact of the role played by the UN in resolving the conflict and analyzing to what end has the UN been effective. The conflict revolves around the political and military tensions that existed between the Arab countries in the Middle East region and the declaration of the state of Israel an independent state on May 14, 1948.
The root cause of this perennial conflict is attributed to the question of Palestine in which the Jewish people and the Arab community lay claim to the failure of the British mandatory power in finding a solution. The British governed the Palestinian land as a mandate territory to resolve the lingering issues which stimulated them to bring the Problem to the newly formed UN. The UN in an attempt to offer a solution, created the UN Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) in 1947. This Committee assessed the authority to suggest a two-state solution to bring end to the rivalry over the Palestinian territories.
Following the inquiry that was implemented by the UNSCOP, the solution of the problem was centered on establishing two states both for the Arabs and the Jews in Palestine. The status of Jerusalem was made an international to be administered by the UN. The resolution was accepted by the Jews, but was out-rightly rejected by the Arabs (Calvocoressi, 2006; Cleveland 2016).
The opposition from the Arab countries stemmed from the fact that a greater portion of the land was carved out for the Israelis and the plan also failed to address the issue of a one state solution as approved by the Arabs. Following the declaration, a state was created for the Jews by UNSCOP in 1947 and a formal declaration made byVDavid Ben Gurion in 1948 as an indication of the independence of Israel, thereby, resulted to an attack by the Arabs the following day, paving the way for the first Arab-Israeli war of 1948.
CHAPTER THREE
Israeli-Palestinian Question and Recent Developments
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict began at the turn of the twentieth century. The Partition Plan, adopted by the United Nations in 1947, sought to divide the British Mandate of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states. The State of Israel was established on May 14, 1948, sparking the first Arab- Israeli War. The war ended with Israel’s victory in 1949, but 750,000 Palestinians were displaced, and the territory was divided into three sections: the State of Israel, the West Bank (of the Jordan River), and the Gaza Strip (Council on Foreign Relations: Global Conflict Tracker, 2022). Tensions in the region rose in the years that followed, particularly between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, and Syria.
In the aftermath of the 1956 Suez Crisis and Israel’s invasion of the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria signed mutual defence treaties in anticipation of an Israeli troop mobilization. Following a series of manoeuvres by Egyptian President Abdel Gamal Nasser, Israel pre- emptively attacked Egyptian and Syrian air forces in June 1967, kicking off the Six-Day War. Following the war, Israel gained control of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip, Jordan’s West Bank and East Jerusalem, and Syria’s Golan Heights. Six years later, in what is known as the Yom Kippur War or the October War, Egypt and Syria launched a surprise two- front attack on Israel in order to reclaim lost territory;
CHAPTER FOUR
Theoretical Underpinning of Israeli-Palestine Question
Many theories have been proposed in order to provide a solid foundation for understanding conflicts. Needs theories, for example, attempted to link conflicts with unmet needs. Unmet needs cannot cause frustration aggression theory but can lead to frustration and induced aggression, because it provided explanatory tendencies for the protracted Israeli- Palestinian conflict and the factors responsible for its sustenance (Brown, 1994). This study adopts structural theory of conflict and transcend model theory as its theories.
Structural Analysis
The economic, social, political, ethnic, and religious configurations that largely determine accessibility to resources that may serve as conflict triggers are the focus of structural theory. In effect, conflict is built into the structure and organization of societies. The issue of political and economic exclusion manifested in injustices, poverty, exploitation, and relative deprivation, according to the theorists, is critical to understanding conflict or violence. It explains how political elites use ethnicity and religion as platforms for citizen mobilization, keeping society divided and generating multidimensional conflicts such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and many others.
CHAPTER FIVE
Conclusion and Recommendations
The Madrid Middle East Peace Conference, held thirty years ago, sought to end the Arab Israeli conflict and launched what is now known as the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Three decades later, the world and the region have undergone consequential changes that bear little resemblance to the end of the Cold War in 1991. Nonetheless, Israeli and Palestinian leaders continue to engage in conflict as if nothing has changed. The Madrid conference took place in a world that was unipolar. Today, we are witnessing a revival of great power rivalry. President Obama had set the goal of withdrawing the US from the region, but was thwarted by the quest to defeat ISIS. This continued under President Trump, and President Biden is now following in those footsteps while attempting to avoid geopolitical losses as Russia and China expand their influence and pursue their interests across the Middle East.
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