Since the birth of the Arab Israeli conflict after the creation of the Jewish homeland, its effects and consequences on the Israeli and Palestinian culture rippled through the times and generations. An extremely minute percentage of the effects are positive ones, as the negative aftermath of the raging hostility affects every generation in a similar way that it did the previous one. The conflict has been found to be intertwined with every aspect of the cultural universals of Israelis and Palestinians, affecting the structure and basis of the Israeli and Palestinian governments, the productivity of both economies, and the messages imbedded in the music of both peoples.
To begin, the foremost example of the effects of the conflict involves the resulting impacts on the government of the Jews and Palestinians. Since the Jews and Zionists succeeded in creating a homeland for all Jews across the globe, their unity and development of the region into a modern country yielded them a powerful and well-organized government (Morris 437). The Israeli government consists of a Prime Minister, a President, and a 120 member legislative branch called the Knesset (Morris 442). Since the conflict is evident in the everyday life of Israelis, multiple parties began addressing the Palestinian issue differently. Even at higher government levels, the conflict still dictates the government’s policies and priorities in governing Israel (Morris 445).
Since the creation of Israel in 1948 the people witnessed five major wars with their hostile Arab neighbors that occurred on Jewish land. Moreover, the development of planned terrorist attacks within Israel, which started in the 1970s, created another major front in Israel’s campaign to annihilate a scattered enemy, the threatening organizations of Palestinians (Ross 54). Because of its disputes with Arab neighbors and its conflict with the Palestinians within Israel, the country has witnessed a full-fledged war or a major wave of terrorist attacks every ten years (Ross 55). This directly impacted the structure and policies of the government, one that was forced to extensively enhance its ability to protect itself. Over the decades, the demand for defense and military development grew rapidly as the conflict escalated at times, forcing the modern-day government of Israel to place the security of the country and its people as the highest priority (Ross 69).
The wave of the Arab Israeli conflict sent influential ripples through the political parties of Israel. Israeli politics include a wide range of political parties, each with its own ideas about change in different sectors. However, the party platform always includes its ideas concerning the conflicts between the Jews and Arabs (Morris 480). There are many diverse parties, each with its individual plan for peace or war with the Palestinians. The political parties and leaders of Israel have witnessed such a tremendous effect by the conflict that the right wing and left wing political spectrum that is usually addressed concerning domestic issues serves a different purpose in Israel (Morris 475). The spectrum in Israeli politics is used to evaluate and classify political parties and leaders based on their views and ideas concerning the Palestinians. In fact, the political arena of Israel is a battle between left wing individuals who are interested in permanent peace and right wing individuals who are interested in the use of force to isolate the country from the Palestinians and its Arab neighbors (Morris 501).
Moreover, the Knesset of Israel realized the dangers that the country faced as a result of the conflict and introduced laws and agreements to protect the country against Arab and Palestinian enemies. One of these policies included the mandatory draft of all able eighteen-year-olds into the military for a term of three years (Abodaher 31). After the three years that the men and women serve in the military, they are free from military service but are placed on “active” status. This type of status means that every certain period of time which varies, the men and women must report to a base near them to participate in training that may take a few months (Abodaher 34). Also, in a scenario where a war is waged, the “active” men and women must report to their bases and their military specialties (Ross 70). In addition to the government’s concerns about the country’s ability to produce a prepared military force with adequate personnel, the government also places the development of defense technology and measures as a central obligation. Most of Israel’s military imports include anti-air technology built to destroy any hostile aircraft and defensive missile systems built specifically to intercept incoming rockets from other countries and destroy them, all of which are stationed around the Israeli border when needed for immediate use (Abodaher 46). The defense policies of the Israeli government are direct results of the conflict’s call for such stands and extremes.
However, the effects of the conflict are not only seen in the policies concerning the development of the military to a modern force capable of warding off multiple enemies, but are also evident in the militarizing policies of the government concerning the average Israeli citizen (Abodaher 39). One of the laws that was put in effect by the Knesset in the early years of Israel’s independence involved the requirement of every home in Israel to have a “Miklat”, or bomb-proof shelter, present underground with sufficient supplies of water and food (Abodaher 39). Moreover, every few years thousands of stations are set up around Israel to distribute new, sealed, sterile gas masks to every Israeli. Even at a time of peace every citizen is obliged to exchange his or her old gas mask for a newer one. The government policies of Israel change according to the intensity of the conflict (Abodaher 45).
Although the Palestinians do not have their own country and have been granted only recently autonomy in the West Bank and Gaza, they did organize a government after the founding of Israel (Reische 32). Until recently, the active government of the Palestinians was the Palestinian Liberation Organization, or PLO (Reische 40). This organization was created in 1964 at the Arab League meeting in Jerusalem, which was a meeting of Arab-speaking countries (Reische39). The PLO is an association of many scattered factions across the Arab world of people who decided to devote their life and help to advancing the goal of establishing a Palestinian homeland. Presently, the PLO is comprised of an Executive Committee with representatives of guerilla forces, a Central Committee comprised of sixty members, and the Palestine National Council, which is an assembly of the general population with local representatives (Reische 65). The PLO is a nationalistic organization that centralizes the aid that flows in from Arab nations and individual Palestinians into one powerful association that resembles the Zionist Organization assembled by the world’s Zionists at the end f the 19th century. The PLO is responsible for organizing support and aid from private, local, and international sources who all contributed in hopes of allowing the organized Palestinians to voice their needs (Reische 63).
However, the PLO has been ignored by many international organizations because of its terrorist policies and guerilla warfare policies. Because the Palestinians do not have a country and live on Israeli land, laws prohibit them from assembling an army. But, one of the PLO’s branches included a group known as Fatah, which was viewed as a terrorist organization because of its activities in Israel and around the world in an attempt to gain attention to the needs of the Palestinian people (Reische 56). The effects of the Arab Israeli conflict on Palestinian culture is obvious in this situation, where the people do not have a land but only a voice, which has been battered over the years but refused to subside. Until 1993 the PLO and the president of its Executive Committee, Yasser Araft, stressed that their goals included the reversal of the UN resolution allowing the creation of Israel and the creation of an internationally recognized homeland of Palestine (Reische 68). However, because of mounting pressure from the international community and because of the realization that such high goals cannot be achieved, Yasser Arafat signed the Oslo Declaration of Principles with then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (Morris 472). The declaration allowed a temporary grant of Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank and the Gaza strip under the Palestinian National Authority, or PA. The PA became the modern government that is associated with the Palestinians, governing the Palestinians of the regions mentioned above (Morris 623). The PLO is still present today, but many of its operations and duties were transferred to the PA and its influence weakened after the death of Yasir Arafat in 2004. In 2005, the PA’s President Muhammad Abbas, and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon agreed on a cease-fire (JVL). Abbas pledged to subdue Arab and Palestinian terrorist organizations while Sharon promised to dismantle Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. All of the negotiations and policies of both the Palestinian and Israeli governments are based on the conflict and are affected by its severity (JVL). The structure Israel’s politics, the PLO, and the PA are all present in today’s world because of the conflict. Without the conflict, the snapshot of Israeli and Palestinian government would be remarkably different.
The Arab Israeli conflict heavily influenced the economies and financial infrastructures of both Israel and the West Bank, a region that was granted temporary autonomous rule under the PA. To begin, the economy of Israel fluctuates in accordance with the conflict, with major economic sectors like defense spending, tourism revenue, and the number of trading partners appearing to be trapped on one side of an extremely sensitive scale, as the conflict weighs down the economy as it intensifies. For example, in 1992 Israel received $1.9 billion from tourism revenue, one year before the signing of the Oslo Declaration of Principles (JVL). Three years later, in 1995, the country received $2.9 billion, an impressive 50 percent increase in revenue that can be credited and connected to the sharp fall in violence and the advancement of peace agreements between Israel and the Palestinians. As violence and chaos subside, more individuals from countries around the world are drawn to visit sites like Jerusalem, Eilat, and the Dead Sea. As the number of terrorist attacks decreases, the number of tourists increases because they see the region as temporarily safe (IMF). Tourism in Israel will forever be connected to the Arab Israeli conflict, as the conflict itself directs the revenue of this lucrative sector.
Other than tourism, Israel’s sector of international trade has also experienced great effects because of the conflict. In the first forty years of its independence, Israel was economically isolated in the Middle East because of the problems that it caused for the Arab world and the Palestinian people (IMF). Virtually every Arab country in the Middle East refused to accept Israel’s creation and refused to trade with this new neighbor (IMF). So, Israel was forced to form economical and trade bonds with countries outside the Middle East in order to survive. As these trade agreements developed over the decades, Israel proved to have successfully found many trade allies, including the United States, Ukraine, Turkey, India, Australia, Canada, and China (IMF). The country relies heavily on trade, and its many trading partners allowed the economy of Israel to grow over time through revenue from exports. Although it was at first isolated from the economy of the world, Israel overcame this obstacle to become more involved in the international economy than any of its neighboring Arab countries. However, the inability of Israel to trade with its neighbors has also yielded some problems, as seen in the trade agreements that Israel signed with Jordan in 1993. After the agreement as signed, Israel exported $9 million worth of exports to Jordan (IMF). This number increased to $20 million in 1997, and to $29 million in 1998. Such rapid growth of revenue would be evident everywhere if only Israel could trade with countries like Syria and Iraq (IMF). The revenue from the Jordanian market is only a small coin compared to the sea of potential billions of dollars that can be earned through trade with Arab countries in the Middle East. However, the animosity over the Arab Israeli conflict and the hatred from past generations limits the economy of Israel to only the international sector (IMF).
On the other hand, the economy of the Palestinians and the West Bank has also been heavily affected by the Arab Israeli conflict. Because of the conflict and its consequences, the Palestinians were left without a home. Even though they have been allowed temporary autonomous rule in the West Bank, the Palestinians are still attached to Israel economically (JVL). Since the Palestinians do not have a country of their own, they are unable to trade internationally. Therefore, they are forced to trade with their only truly close neighbor, which is Israel. The main export of the Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank is labor (JVL). Palestinian workers are hired in Israel and it is estimated that the Israeli market provides jobs for about 9 percent of all the Palestinians. As violence rises as a result of the conflict, the percentage of employment decreases (JVL). An example of this economic function is the fact that in 2000 before the breakout of the Intifada, about 22 percent of all Palestinians were employed in Israel (JVL). However, as the conflict escalated, employment dropped to today’s rate of only 9 percent (JVL).
Moreover, the wages of Palestinians are extremely sensitive to the intensity of the conflict, a situation similar to the one experienced by Israel’s economy. In 2000, the average income per person in the West Bank and Gaza was $1,660 (JVL). However, as the Intifada broke out and the conflict worsened, the wages dropped rapidly. After the Intifada, the average wage of only $1,340 in 2001 showed the devastation of the conflict on the economy of all Palestinians. The wages of workers dropped as the conflict caused unemployment rates to rise. High unemployment rates were seen in 2004 with 29 percent of Palestinians unemployed (JVL).
In addition to jobs held by Palestinians, a major part of the Palestinian economy relies on foreign aid (JVL). It is estimated that the West Bank and Gaza received about $3 billion in aid in the mid-1990s from Germany, Norway, Japan, the United States, and the European Union (JVL). The economy of the West Bank and all Palestinians s would crumble and collapse to nothing if it wasn’t for international aid. The Palestinians are not established enough to experience any significant economic growth. Only the establishment of a Palestinian homeland would be a stepping stone in creating a stable economy for Palestinian generations to come (JVL). On the other hand, Israel will only be freed out of its economic prison if the Palestinian problem is solved.
In addition to its effects on the economy of both Israelis and the Palestinians, the Arab Israeli conflict’s effects on Israeli and Palestinian culture are also evident through the arts. The most prominent example of the conflict’s effects is seen in the music world of Israel. The Israeli music industry is intertwined with the severity of the conflict, with different world events affecting Arab artists and Jewish artists independently (Faar). Before the second Intifada of 2000 and the escalation of the conflict and the violence, both Arab artists and Jewish artists expressed optimism about the future of Israel and the two people living side by side peacefully (Faar). For example, in the song “Friends of all Colors”, by the female Jewish artist Sarit Hadad, the lyrics urge equality and acceptance of all people, regardless of cultural background or skin color (Faar). The lyrics hint at the widespread discrimination of Arabs in Israel. The song deals with the softer side of Sarit’s many “friends” who live side by side with her, repeating lines such as “it is true that [they] are so different from me, but how can you give up [friends] like [them]?” and urging acceptance (Faar). Moreover, in the song “The Song of Peace,” performed by a diverse group of Jewish and Arab artists, the atmosphere is peaceful and hopeful. The harmony present in lines from the chorus such as “we sing a prayer asking that the peace will come…that the pain will cease…that there will be an end to the wars” is an example of the positive attitude that was present in the Israeli music world before the Intifada of 2000 (Faar).
However, the optimism for peace disintegrated during and after the Intifada of 2000, evident in the rise of darker and more violent Arab and Jewish rappers (Faar). Before the Intifada, the world of Israeli rap was a discreet one with few fans. But, a hip hop revolution took place during the time of the Intifada, with Jewish artists rapping in Hebrew and Arab artists rapping in Arabic, each addressing their own people (Faar). The most powerful example of the effects of the conflict on music is present in the lyrics of the Jewish rapper Subliminal, the right wing “hip-hop king” of Israel’s Jewish teens, whose Hebrew lyrics are packed with power, anger, and influence (Faar). For example, in his first album, “The Light and the Shadow”, Subliminal addresses the listener with a minute and thirty second speech about his mission to “deliver Israel out of the prison of darkness that surrounded it toward the revolution to annihilate the enemies who threaten the existence of the Jewish homeland.” Moreover, in his song “Without Me”, Subliminal promises that his people will “never leave [the] land, for Zionism runs in the Jewish blood” while the song “Divide and Conquer” is a vow to “never give up”.
In summation, the cultural impacts of the conflict will continue to affect future generations of Israeli Jews and Palestinians. Although many people around the world are optimistic about the new advancements and agreements in the Middle East between Israel and the Palestinians in 2005, skepticism about a permanent and total peace is equally widespread. Peace will only be achieved through the efforts of Israel’s Jews to let go of their settlements around the borders of the country and give a part of the land back to the Palestinians. On the other hand, peace will only be achieved if the Palestinians annihilate all terrorist organizations working against Israel and would put down their weapons in their bloody jihad for the land. If such deeds are accomplished, only economic and political unity between the two peoples will bring prosperity to the region.
David Abodaher, “Youth in theMiddle East: Voices of Despair.”
Dan Faar, “Conflict of Music.” Rosh 1 Magazine, Issue 263.
Israeli Ministry of Finance (IMF), “Economic Outlook: 2000 in View of Recent Peacemaking Developments.” Economic Outlook.
Jewish Virtual Library (JVL), “Aid to the Palestinian Authority.” The Palestinian Authority.
Benny Morris, “Righteous Victims: A History of thePalestineLiberation Organization.”
Diana Reische, “Arafat and thePalestineLiberation Organization.”
Stewart Ross, “Causes and Consequences of the Arab Israeli Conflict.”
