Terrorist Violence Essay

Terrorist Violence has been a major problem in the world for decades. Countries such as Israel, Palestine, and Pakistan are among the countries that have been severely affected by terrorism-related activities. Factors such as state-sponsored terrorism have contributed to thriving terrorist activities in Arab nations.

Palestine was the first Arabic nation to peacefully get rid of the status quo. They made a massive decision to go to the ballot and democratically elect a person of their choice into leadership. There were eleven parties involved in the election (Wright, 1993, p. 21). For a long time, Palestine got accustomed to one-party leadership and autocracy as well as intolerance for opposing parties. Being one of the smaller Arab countries, it has still managed to be the most advanced politically. Additionally, despite not having a state for six decades, their political experience has been more distinctive compared to other Arab nations (Wright, 1993, p.23). I feel the Palestinians made a huge stride in conducting a democratic election. It had always been the norm for Arab countries to be plagued by war during their electioneering period but Palestinians showed that it is possible to have a different experience.

While walking across the border of Lebanon and entering Israel, one effortlessly notices how everything looks straight (Friedman, 2006, p. 322). This is very different to the nature of the farms back in Lebanon. Everything seems symmetrical from banana groves to family houses, the coastline and paintings on roads. I find it fascinating that a country that is perceived to be constantly at loggerheads with its neighbors can be this organized. Other developing countries in Africa and Asia are ever peaceful but they find it difficult to attain such a level of organization.

On arriving there, anyone may be fooled by Israel's symmetrical lines (Friedman, 2006, p. 323). It may take a long time to go through the right angles of the forests and discover that just below the surface lurked a fault line. Only one fault line between Israel and the West Bank separated the Palestinian Arabs and the Israeli Jews. On the other hand, there were various fault lines that split the Muslim and Christian sects in Lebanon. While the Israeli government was always strong, the government of Lebanon experienced numerous shake-ups along its fault lines that eventually a huge tremor in the year 1975 sent the government crumbling (Friedman, 2006, p. 324). The government of Israel was strong enough to absorb all the tremors that came its way over the years 1967-1987. After the Palestine -Israel war of 1967, the Israelis and Palestinians had melded back together into a single society. Gaza Strip and the West Bank had been integrated into the Israeli municipality. Notably, when driving into the West Bank from original Israel, there was no sign welcoming any visitors to the west bank or any changes to the original structures and physical scenery at the West Bank. The unity became strong between the Palestinians and Israelis, to the extent that by the 1980s the Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank were taking tea and coffee together in restaurants (Friedman, 2006, p.326). There was also issuance of a national identity card by the government of Israel to Palestinians in Israel. I think the move by the Israeli government to create harmony between its citizens and the Palestinians was a strong move whose result would only be peaceful coexistence between the two groups.

However, the Palestinians in a way felt mistreated by the Israeli authorities with a few of them complaining of arbitrary arrests. A rebellion by the Palestinians led to a situation in which they were to make a decision to stop boarding the egged buses, end creation of Jewish settlements, and an end to the talk about joining the City Council of Jerusalem. There were only two possible outcomes from this situation; either a marriage that will lead to an end to all the problems or a divorce. Many thought there would be a marriage but the latter prevailed. In the end, I think the government of Israel spoiled a good relationship that was created between the two divides. However, I also feel that it would have been a better option for the Palestinians to choose marriage because choosing a divorce meant there was still a long way to go before attainment of a peaceful coexistence.

In Stern's "Commanders and their Cadres," on the author's return to Pakistan from Harvard, he hoped to learn the way of the leadership of the Jihadists. There were numerous positive and negative effects of serving in the jihadist group (Stern, 2000, p.188). The benefits of being a member of the organization included: salaries, training, and glamour. However, the punishment for flouting the rules in the organization was very severe including death. The "Islamic Front for Jihad against the Jews and Crusaders" had been formed by Osama Bin Laden in the year 1998 as an umbrella organization. Harkat-ul Mujahideen (HUM) was a member of this organization (Stern, 2000, p.189). It was the organization responsible for the 9/11 attacks. It is also suspected of a number of major attacks and hijackings in India and Western countries. The groups were also well funded by operatives in Iran and the Gulf to conduct its operations. I understand that these groups were very powerful and secretly backed by influential people from around the world. I also feel that the Arab nations could have done more in exposing the places where the terrorists were hiding so that they can be smoked out.

In the year 1968, the terrorist group PFLP captured a flight with 38 passengers. Twelve among the passengers were Israeli and therefore, the attack became an international affair. It was different from the ongoing terrorist activities within Israel (Unfinished business, Slide 18). The plane landed in Israel and non-Israelis were released alongside other passengers. They kept custody of flight operators and released them later in exchange for 24 Palestinians who were in different jails across Israel. In the year 1979, a crowd consisting of approximately 16000 people including a group of students linked to the Islamist party invaded the U.S embassy located in Islamabad, torched the cars and disrupted other activities of the embassy (Unfinished business, 51). I believe that the beliefs of people are not enough to push them to commit such crimes.

Conclusion

Overall, factors such as funding of terrorist activities and conflict between countries, and intolerance between religious groups have contributed massively to terrorist activities in the world. I feel that the respective governments from Palestine, to Israel, and Pakistan did not do enough to create unity among rival groups and foster peace between religiously different groups.

References

Friedman, N. (2006). Terrorism, Afghanistan and America's New Way of War. Canada's Professional Journal On Army Issues, 9, 131.

Wright, R. (1993). Sleeping on a Wire-Conversations with Palestinians in Israel-Grossman, D.

Stern, J. (2000). Pakistan's Jihad culture. Foreign Affairs, 115-126.

Unfinished Business. (No date). Palestine and Pakistan. IS 4700, 1- 86.