Will There Ever Be Peace?

Andrew Kim

RELS 332-02-3598

Research Paper #4

Will There Ever be Peace?

There is a big void between the brothers and sisters of Palestine and Israel. Peace - Undoubtedly not in the near future. Perhaps peace can be ascertained between the two in a lifetime, but the odds are against it. The odds to consider, is the difference of religion, the history between the two, and politics in the region. But there was always hope and perhaps that there is still hope for certain peace.

The former and late Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin and late Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) leader, Yasir Arafat gave the last hope for peace between the Palestinians and Israelites. According to the article, "The Assassination That Killed Peace in Israel." The New Yorker. “Rabin showed every intention of trying to forge a broader peace that would have included ceding most of the occupied territories to the Palestinians, and probably would have resulted in the establishment of an independent state.” (Filkins, Dexter). But with Rabin’s assassination, hope of establishing a reformation and peace in the region was all but deserted. His attempt to establish peace between Palestine and Israel was the closest attempt for peace since the establishment of Israel in 1948. And with the current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it appears that there will be no change. “Twenty years later, Netanyahu is into his fourth term, and the kind of peace that Rabin envisaged seems more distant than ever.” (Filkins, Dexter). The process will be difficult to resolve. The history of conflicts and beliefs between Arabs and Jews runs deep.

The two sides share a history. And because of this history, resolution for peace will have its difficulties. There is no question that there are similarities and differences between Islam and Judaism. The Jews and the Muslims share the same god and even some of the same prophets excluding Jesus and Muhammad. -(http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/beliefs/beliefs.shtml). They possess the same early stories of the bible.

The two sides have a connection through Abraham, and the land of Israel (the Holy Land) belongs to both of them. Through the bible it says, “I will make you a great nation And I will bless you; I will make your name great, And you will be a blessing I will bless those who bless you, And whoever curses you I will curse; And all the peoples of the earth Will be blessed through you” – Genesis 12:1-3. The problem is that the Jews believe the Holy Land was rightfully theirs because Abraham received the covenant from Yahweh, which made the Jews the “Chosen People”. But yet the Muslims believe the Holy Land belongs to Islam because Abraham surrenders to Allah in that region between Jerusalem and Israel.  –(http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/history/abraham_1.shtml). These two differences set the cornerstone of the conflicts between Muslims and Jews.