Conflict in Palestine

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The research question this study aims to answer is why Palestinians use tactics such assuicide bombings as a strategy of warfare against the Israelis. Four themes werediscussed in order to find an answer to the research question. The four themes were thehistory of Palestine/Israel, unconventional warfare, Jerusalem and the peace processesover the past decades since independence. I used the case study method in my researchdesign in order to study the immense amount of information available. I studied one caseover duration of time, starting from the first arrival of people on the land of Canaan (laterto be known as Palestine). My data resources consisted mainly of secondary material. This included books writtenon the subject as well as other written documents in journals, magazines and articles fromthe Internet.The theory I based my study on was Samuel P Huntington's (1993) theory on the clashof civilizations. He states that in the future wars will not be between nation states butrather between civilizations. This theory has significant relevance to the situation inPalestine/Israel.I found that the four themes I discussed all played a major role in the reason for thePalestinians actions. Each theme delivered relevant findings that can be used to clarifythe Palestinian/Israeli conflict. The history of Israel has to do with the issue ofownership, Jerusalem plays a prominent role in each party's religion, the warfare tacticsthe Palestinians use has a relevance to their success in spreading terror and the peaceprocesses highlight the issues these two parties are unwilling to compromise on. This study shows that there are a lot of different factors involved in the conflict inPalestine. There are different facets that play a role in the fight for an independentPalestinian state. Israel, the other party involved, differs on each of these facets. A common ground needs to be established and sacrifices on each side need to be made in order for peace in the area.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University