Ethic Group Conflict Paper

Ethnic Group Conflict Paper

War in the Middle East due to differing cultures and ethnic backgrounds is something that most people know as common knowledge. Unfortunately, these conflicts have been around for centuries and show little sign of true progress towards peace in the Middle East. This paper will look at the Israeli and Palestine conflict which has been going on since the early 1900’s. It will examine the similarities and differences between the ethnic groups, conformity of the groups, how social perception and social cognition work within these groups, as well as how social perceptions could be addressed to find common ground to allow these two groups to live harmoniously in what was at one time Palestinian land.

Similarities and Differences between Israelis and Palestinians

One glaring similarity between Palestinians and Israelis is that both groups feel that they are entitled to the land which was once Palestine. Palestinians are primarily of Arab decent, however; their culture is diverse in that until Israeli occupation, the Palestinians lives in a virtual melting pot of ethnicities and religions such as Muslim and Christians living together peacefully. The Palestinians recognized and were respectful of other cultures and learned to coexist in a harmonious way. On the other hand, the Israelis, more specifically, the Zionist Jews had wanted to create a Jewish homeland and the ideal place for this would be Palestine as it was the historical place of the traditional Zionist heritage (Salinas, 2009).

Another similarity between Palestinians and Israelis is their overwhelming religious backgrounds, which are in part the catalyst for the conflict. Palestinians view religion as a personal choice and primarily consist of Muslims and Christians. Israeli Zionists are very conservative and do not recognize other religion, therefore discount the presence of the majority of the Palestinian people. Since the Zionists believe that the land was actually granted to them from their God, it is difficult to come to a compromise between the two groups as their religious views are quite different.

A key difference between the Palestinians and the Zionist Israelis is their approach to resolution to the conflict. Clearly, Zionist Israelis are violent in their current actions in relation to the Palestinians. They set up Jewish only settlements on seized Palestinian land and imprison torture, oppress, or even kill Palestinians. Palestinians on the other hand, are currently quite peaceful in their resistance of the Israeli occupation. Holding peaceful protests and simply trying to avoid the Zionist Israelis are actions that are deemed peaceful and acceptable by the United Nations, who side primarily with the Palestinians as their land was seized illegally by the Israeli Zionists.

With that being said there has been history of violence from Palestinians as