Wildlifer
JF-Expert Member
- May 12, 2021
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Watu wengi huuchukulia mzozo sa Israeli na Palestine kama wa kidini, lakini kiuhalisia ni mgogoro unaotokana hasa na maslahi ya kiuchumi na kisiasa ya kimataifa i.e Geopolitics. Kwa dhana ya kidini pia mgogoro huu unatazamwa kuwa umeanza miaka zaidi ya 1,000, kiuhalisia umeanza miaka ya 1910 wakati wa vita ya Kwanza ya dunia.
Hii ilitokana na maslahi ya kimkakati kati ya Ufaransa na Uingereza. Eneo hili lilikuwa ni njia muhimu ya kibiashara katika ukanda wa Mediterranean, na ambaye angelidhibiti eneo hili basi ingempa uhakika wa biashara na India. Uingereza alihitaji kulidhibiti eneo hili. Hivyo aliona njia pekee ni kuidhibiti Suez Canal. Lakini uwepo wa jeshi la wanamaji la dola ya Ottoman (uturuki ya leo) iliwapa tishio. Ottoman ilikuwa ikidhibiti eneo la Levante (mashariki mwa Mediterranean na mashariki mwa Asia- kwa maneno mengine ni Syria, Jordan, Israel, Palestine Lebanon, eneo la kubwa la uturuki, na kusini mashariki mwa mito mikubwa ya eneo hilo).
Uingereza na Ufaransa waliona njia ya kuidhibiti Ottoman, ni kuanzisha dola ndogo ndogo nyingi ili iwe vigumu kwa Ottoman kutawala kwa urahisi. Mkakati huu waliutekeleza wakati wa vita ya kwanza ya dunia.
Moja ya eneo ambalo Ottoman ilikuwa ikilidhibiti ni Adanan Syria (Lebanon, Israel, Jordan na Syria za leo). Mwaka 1916 Uingereza na Ufaransa ziliingia mkataba wa siri ulioitwa Sykes-Picot kwa baraka za Urusi na Italia. Lengo la mkataba huu ilikuwa ni kuyagawana maeneo ya dola ya Ottoman ikiwa Tripple Entente (kambi ya Uingereza kwenye WWI) ingeishinda Ottoman kwenye vita ya dunia.
When the Ottoman Empire began to collapse, the British and French had a different idea. In 1916, the British diplomat Colonel Sir Mark Sykes took a grease pencil and drew a crude line across a map of the Middle East. It ran from Haifa on the Mediterranean in what is now Israel to Kirkuk (now in Iraq) in the northeast. It became the basis of his secret agreement with his French counterpart François Georges-Picot to divide the region into two spheres of influence should the Triple Entente defeat the Ottoman Empire in the First World War. North of the line was to be under French control, south of it under British hegemony.
The term Sykes-Picot has become shorthand for the various decisions made in the first third of the twentieth century, which betrayed promises given to tribal leaders and which partially explains the unrest and extremism of today. This explanation can be overstated, though: there was violence and extremism before the Europeans arrived. Nevertheless, as we saw in Africa, arbitrarily creating “nation states” out of people unused to living together in one region is not a recipe for justice, equality, and stability.
Prior to Sykes-Picot (in its wider sense), there was no state of Syria, no Lebanon, nor were there Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Israel, or Palestine. Modern maps show the borders and the names of nation states, but they are young and they are fragile. [Prisoners of Geography, Tim Marshal].
Katika mkataba huu, Sykes na Picot waliigawa katikati eneo hili kwa kuchora mstari kati Mosul na Baghdad hadi Mlima Hermon. Ufaransa alichukua eneo la kaskazini na Uingereza akachukua eneo la kusini.
Katika siasa, mataifa au dola zote kubwa hupiga hesabu za miaka mia ijayo. Ndivyo Ufaransa na Uingereza walivyotazama pia eneo hili. Hawakutaka tena itokee taifa babe (kama ilivyokuwa Ottoman) na kuwasumbua. Hivyo waliamua kuyagawa zaidi maeneo hayo. Katika makubaliano haya, Uingereza alichukua maeneo ya leo ya Israel kusini, Palestine, Jordan na Kusini ya Iraq.
Pia bandari za Haifa na Acre [zilizopo Israel] ili aweze kudhibiti Mediterran. Ufaransa alichukua eneo la Kaskazini ya Iraq, Syria, Lebanon na eneo la Kusini mashariki ya Uturuki. Italia yeye alipewa eneo la Anatolia kusini huku Urusi nae alipewa eneo la upande wa magharibi la Armenia, Constantinople na njia za usafirishaji katika bahari ya Uturuki (Turkish straits). Nchi ya Syria Ilifanywa ya pekee na ilipewa jina kutokana na milima ya lebanon ambayo ni asili ya miinuko ya nchi hiyo. Kabla ya mkataba huu, hakuwahi kuwepo kwa taifa la Lebanon. Jambo pekee lilowaunganisha ni kuwa na watu wengi wa dini moja, Waislam.
Uingereza iliungana na makabila na koo mbalimbali za kiarabu Na kuingia nao makubaliano tofauti tofauti ambayo yalikuwa ni kinzani. Mshirika wa muhimu sana wa Uingereza walikuwa ni familia (kabila) la Hashemites, ambalo walikuwa watawala wa eneo la Hejaz. Familia walikuwa ni watawala wa jordan, lakini pia walitawala maeneo mbalimbali kama kingdoms of Hejaz (1916–1925), Syria (1920) na Iraq (1921–1958). Pia walilitawala eneo la Maka kwa miaka mingi toka miaka ya 900.
Mataifa makubwa ya magharibi yaliitumia familia hii kufanya biashara eneo hili. Mwaka 1918, baada ya Sykes-Picot Agreement na kuanzisha mataifa mapya, Uingereza iliingia mkataba na familia hii ya Hashemites, ili watoto watatu wa Sharif Hussein bin Ali Al-Hashimi, ili wawe watawala wa nchi za Iraq, Jordan, Syria na eneo la Hejaz(eneo la Saudi Arabia). Katika makubaliano haya mwanae wa pili aitwaye Abdullah alitawala Baghdad na Mesopotamia kusini (iraq kusini), mwanae wa tatu Faisal akapewa Syria na wanne Zeid akapewa Mesopotamia kaskazini (Iraq kaskazini). Mesopotamia ndiyo Iraq ya leo. Mkataba huu, ndio sababu ya Sykes-Picot Agreement kufanyaa siri, kwani Shariff Hussein hakupaswa kujua kuwa Uingereza anaingia makubaliano yanayokiuka makubaliano yao yaliyopo.
Ikumbukwe kuwa miaka ya 1900, uko wa wasaudi walianzisha vita dhidi ya kuwait ili kurejesha milki ya maeneo yao, na mwaka 1925 walifanikiwa kudhibiti Eneo la mashariki na kati ya eneo ambalo leo ndio linajulikana kama Saudi Arabia. Hivyo Hashemites wakapoteza saudi lakini tayari walikuwa wamepewa maeneo mengine na Uingereza.
Lakini wafaransa na waingereza hawakuwa na nia nzuri kama walivyowaaminisha wenyeji wao, waliwatengenezea migogoro ili wavurugane wao kwa wao. Jambo lisilotegemewa na Waingereza na wafaransa lilitokea. Nchini Urusi yalitokea mapinduzi Nov 1917, Bolsheviks chini ya Vladimir Lenin wakampindua Nicholas Tsars II. Wakiwa ofisini, ndipo waligundua uwepo wa mkataba huu.
Kama ambavyo ilivyo leo, warusi wanatibua mipango ya western powers huko middle east, ndivyo walivyofanya wakati huo. Waliuchapisha mkataba huo, na siku tatu baadae magazeti Uingereza yakauchapisha. Kuvujishwa huku kulizua mgogoro huko Mashariki ya kati.
Toka miaka ya 1880, wayahudi wa ulaya walikuwa wakiingia eneo la Palestina Magharibi iliyokuwa chini ya dola ya Ottoman. Hawa walikuwa wakiungana na jamii za wayahudi [ingawa ni ndogo ndogo] zilizokuwepo eneo hilo kwa karne nyingi. Kuja huku kwa wayahudi ilikuwa chini ya vuguvugu la wayahudi la Zionism, ambalo kimsingi lilikuwa na lengo la kuanzisha taifa la wayahudi katika eneo hilo. Matajiri wa kiyahudi barani ulaya walikuwa wakikusanya fedha kwa ajili ya kununua ardhi huko Palestina. Wamiliki wa ardhi hizi walikuwa ni landlords waliokuwa wakiishi Cairo, Beirut na Dmascus ambao walizipata ardhi hizi kutoka kwa watawala wa Ottoman.
Katika mazingira haya yalizaa mtazamo wa namna mbili. Wayahudi waliona ni ununuzi wa ardhi wa kawaida na kihalali. Kwa waarabu wa Palestina, hii ilikuwa ni uvamizi wa wazi wa maisha yao kwani walilazimishaa kuachia ardhi. Kwa hiyo, hili lilianza kama ununuzi wa ardhi wa kawaida na ukaja kuwa ni kufukuzwa kwa wapalestine na hatimaye vurugu. Baada ya vita ya pili ya dunia, mambo yalikorogeka zaidi kwani mauji ya wayahudi huko Ujerumani miaka ya 1940, wayahudi Mamilioni walihamia Palestina na kugeuka kutoka jamii ya wachache enzi za Utawala wa Ottoman miaka ya 1880 hadi jamii ya wengi.
Nyakati hizi za 1940s, vuguvugu la uanzishwaji mataifa lilikuwa limeshamiri na kuingia uarabuni. Taifa jipya la Syria, lilizitazama Lebanon, Palestine Na Jordan kama maeneo yake ya asili. Waliuona mkataba wa Sykes-Picot kama unadhalilisha uhuru wa Syria. Kwa misingi hiyo ilipinga kuanzishwa kwa taifa huru la Israel na uhuru wa Lebanon na Jordan. Kwa mtazamo wa syria, watu wa jordan na lebanon zote ni wasyria na sio mataifa huru, hivyo ni maeneo yake. Vuguvugu hizi za utaifa, ziliikumba pia Jordan.
Baada ya kugawanyika kwa Palestine mwaka 1948, Jordan ilikamata udhibiti wa Ukingo wa magharibi mwa mto Jordan na Jerusalem mashariki. Lakini kulikuwa na taharuki kubwa kati ya Wapalestine na watawala jordan, Hashemites [hawa kumbuka walipewa utawala wa maeneo haya na Waingereza]. Hashemites waliiona Israel kama taifa litakalowapa uhakika wa usalama dhidi ya Palestine. Wahashmite hawakutaka kabisa Palestine iwe huru au kwa lugha nyingine hawakulitaka taifa la Palestine. Hivyo ilipelekea kupiganwa kwa vita iliyojulikana kama Black September Mwaka 1970 na kulifurusha kundi la Palestine Liberation Organization kwenda Lebanon. Baadae tena ikatokea vita nyingine ambayo Syria iliivamia Lebanon kwa lengo la kuwafurusha PLO na Fatah (vikundi vya wapalestine).
Hivyo kama ilivyokuwa kwa Jordan, syria nao hawakutaka kabisa kuanzishwa kwa dola ya Palestine. Huu ndio mzizi wa vita zote zinazoendelea leo kati ya Nchi za Lebanon [kundi na lake la Hezbollah], syria, Palestine, Jordan. Misri pia haiitambuia taifa la Palestine na sababu kuu ni Gaza. Misri inaichukulia Gaza na jangwa la Negev kama sehemu ya Peninsula ya Sinai iliyo Misri, so inaiona ni yake. Hii ilipelekea mwaka 1948 jeshi la misri kuivamia Gaza. Gamel Abel Nasser mwaka 1952 alipoingia madarakani,alikuwa na hesabu ndefu zaidi. Mpango wake ilikuwa ni kuanzisha Umoja wa Nchi za Kiarabu bila kujali zikoje na kuua mfumo wa tawala za kifalme ie Anti-monarchy. Mwaka 1958 ilizaliwa United Arap Republic iliyoundwa na nchi za Misri na na Syria. Umoja huu uliwatisha watawala wa Jordan, hivyo waliungana na Iraq na kuunda Hashemite Arab Federation mwaka 1958.
Muungano huu haukudumu sababu mtawala wa Iraq King Faisal alipopinduliwa kwa wanajeshi wa Naser.
Mipango ya Naser ya kuunganisha mataifa ya waarabu, a Socialist Union of Arab Republic haikuishia kwao tu kati ya Misri na Syria. Palestine pia, kwa mchango wa mashirikiano kati ya Yaser Arafat na Gamal Naser, ilijumuishwa kwenye mpango huu, lakini sio kama taifa huru bali sehemu tu. Mpango huu haukuungwa mkono na dola za kihafidhina za kiarabu na Naser alikuwa na mipango ya kuzipindua.
Hii ilipelekea kuibuka kwa kilichoitwa Arab cold war. Hii ilikuwa kundi la Socialist Arab ikiwa na Misri, Syria na Iraq ikiungwa mkono na Usoviet na upande wa pili ni Conservative Arab ikiwa na Jordan na Saudi Arabia wakiungwa mkono na Marekani.
Kwa sura hii unaona kuwa, vuguvugu la kudai Dola au Uhuru wa Palestina sio tu ni dhidi ya Israel bali pia mataifa mengine ya kiarabu. Mfano, Syria anayachukulia maeneo yote ya Jordan, Israel, Lebanon na Palestine kuwa ni maeneo yake ya asili toka kale na hivyo anaamini kuwa ana umiliki wa maeneo hayo. Misri bado ana sera iliyoasisiwa na Naser ya umoja wa waarabu hivyo anataka kuwa na milki ya maeneo ya Palestine hasa Gaza. So, syria na Misri 'watanyukana' juu ya Palestine.
Saudi Arab pia anaingia ili kulinda maslahi yake hasa vuguvugu la Anti-monarchy. Hivyo taifa la Palestine kutambuliwa kwake rasmi ni kugumu sababu kuna mataifa mengi ya kiarabu kwa sababu zao tofauti hawataki liwepo. Kwa mantiki hii hata kama Israel itapotea, Bado dola ya Palestine inaweza isizaliwe.
GAZA.
Hili ni eneo linalogombaniwa sana, kwa sasa mapigano makali yanaendelea kati ya Jeshi la Israel na Palestine. Maelezo yafuatayo yanatoa ufafanuzi nini hasa kinapelekea hayo.
The Gaza Strip is by far the worse-off of the two current Palestinian “entities.” It is only 25 miles long and 7.5 miles wide. Crammed into this space are 1.8 million people. It is in effect a “city state,” albeit a horribly impoverished one. Due to the conflict with Israel, its citizens are penned in on three sides by a security barrier created by Israel and Egypt and by the sea to their west. They can build only to within a certain distance of the border with Israel because the Israelis are trying to limit the ability of rocket fire from Gaza to reach deep into Israel. The last decade has seen an asymmetric arms race gain pace, with militants in Gaza seeking rockets that can fire farther, and Israel developing its antimissile defense system.
Because of its urban density, Gaza makes good fighting ground for its defenders but it is a nightmare for its civilians, who have little or no shelter from war and no link to the West Bank, although the distance between the two is only twenty-five miles at its narrowest point. Until a peace deal is agreed upon, there is nowhere for the Gazans to go, and little for them to do inside the Strip.
The West Bank is almost seven times the size of Gaza but is landlocked. Much of it comprises a mountain ridge that runs north to south. From a military perspective, this gives an advantage to whoever controls the high ground of the coastal plain on the western side of the ridge and the Jordan Rift Valley to its east. Leaving to one side the ideology of Jewish settlers, who claim the biblical right to live in what they call Judea and Samaria, from a military perspective the Israeli view is that a non-Israeli force cannot be allowed to control these heights, as heavy weapons could be fired onto the coastal plain, where 70 percent of Israel’s population lives. The plain also includes its most important road systems, many of its successful high-tech companies, the international airport, and most of its heavy industry.
This is one reason for the demand for “security” by the Israeli side and its insistence that, even if there is an independent Palestinian state, that state cannot have an army with heavy weapons on the ridge, and that Israel must also maintain control of the border with Jordan. Because Israel is so small it has no real “strategic depth,” nowhere to fall back to if its defenses are breached, and so militarily it concentrates on trying to ensure that no one can get near it. Furthermore, the distance from the West Bank border to Tel Aviv is approximately ten miles at its narrowest; from the West Bank ridge, any half-decent military could cut Israel in two. Likewise, in the case of the West Bank, Israel prevents any group from becoming powerful enough to threaten its existence.
Under current conditions, Israel faces threats to its security and to the lives of its citizens by terrorist attacks and rocket fire from its immediate neighbors, but not a threat to its very existence. Egypt, to the southwest, is not a threat. There is a peace treaty that currently suits both sides, and the partially demilitarized Sinai Peninsula acts as a buffer between them. East of this, across the Red Sea at Aqaba in Jordan, the desert also protects Israel, as does its peace treaty with Amman.
To the north there is a potential menace from Lebanon but it is a relatively small one, in the form of cross-border raids and/or limited shelling. However, if and when Hezbollah in Lebanon use their larger and longer-range rockets to reach deep into Israel, the response will be massive. [Prisoners of Geography, Tim Marshals].
Vyanzo; Books- Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshals, History of Zionism by Walter Laquer. Mitandao; Wikipedia, Atlantic Post, British Encyclopedia. YouTube; Caspian Report.
Hii ilitokana na maslahi ya kimkakati kati ya Ufaransa na Uingereza. Eneo hili lilikuwa ni njia muhimu ya kibiashara katika ukanda wa Mediterranean, na ambaye angelidhibiti eneo hili basi ingempa uhakika wa biashara na India. Uingereza alihitaji kulidhibiti eneo hili. Hivyo aliona njia pekee ni kuidhibiti Suez Canal. Lakini uwepo wa jeshi la wanamaji la dola ya Ottoman (uturuki ya leo) iliwapa tishio. Ottoman ilikuwa ikidhibiti eneo la Levante (mashariki mwa Mediterranean na mashariki mwa Asia- kwa maneno mengine ni Syria, Jordan, Israel, Palestine Lebanon, eneo la kubwa la uturuki, na kusini mashariki mwa mito mikubwa ya eneo hilo).
Uingereza na Ufaransa waliona njia ya kuidhibiti Ottoman, ni kuanzisha dola ndogo ndogo nyingi ili iwe vigumu kwa Ottoman kutawala kwa urahisi. Mkakati huu waliutekeleza wakati wa vita ya kwanza ya dunia.
Moja ya eneo ambalo Ottoman ilikuwa ikilidhibiti ni Adanan Syria (Lebanon, Israel, Jordan na Syria za leo). Mwaka 1916 Uingereza na Ufaransa ziliingia mkataba wa siri ulioitwa Sykes-Picot kwa baraka za Urusi na Italia. Lengo la mkataba huu ilikuwa ni kuyagawana maeneo ya dola ya Ottoman ikiwa Tripple Entente (kambi ya Uingereza kwenye WWI) ingeishinda Ottoman kwenye vita ya dunia.
When the Ottoman Empire began to collapse, the British and French had a different idea. In 1916, the British diplomat Colonel Sir Mark Sykes took a grease pencil and drew a crude line across a map of the Middle East. It ran from Haifa on the Mediterranean in what is now Israel to Kirkuk (now in Iraq) in the northeast. It became the basis of his secret agreement with his French counterpart François Georges-Picot to divide the region into two spheres of influence should the Triple Entente defeat the Ottoman Empire in the First World War. North of the line was to be under French control, south of it under British hegemony.
The term Sykes-Picot has become shorthand for the various decisions made in the first third of the twentieth century, which betrayed promises given to tribal leaders and which partially explains the unrest and extremism of today. This explanation can be overstated, though: there was violence and extremism before the Europeans arrived. Nevertheless, as we saw in Africa, arbitrarily creating “nation states” out of people unused to living together in one region is not a recipe for justice, equality, and stability.
Prior to Sykes-Picot (in its wider sense), there was no state of Syria, no Lebanon, nor were there Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Israel, or Palestine. Modern maps show the borders and the names of nation states, but they are young and they are fragile. [Prisoners of Geography, Tim Marshal].
Katika mkataba huu, Sykes na Picot waliigawa katikati eneo hili kwa kuchora mstari kati Mosul na Baghdad hadi Mlima Hermon. Ufaransa alichukua eneo la kaskazini na Uingereza akachukua eneo la kusini.
Katika siasa, mataifa au dola zote kubwa hupiga hesabu za miaka mia ijayo. Ndivyo Ufaransa na Uingereza walivyotazama pia eneo hili. Hawakutaka tena itokee taifa babe (kama ilivyokuwa Ottoman) na kuwasumbua. Hivyo waliamua kuyagawa zaidi maeneo hayo. Katika makubaliano haya, Uingereza alichukua maeneo ya leo ya Israel kusini, Palestine, Jordan na Kusini ya Iraq.
Pia bandari za Haifa na Acre [zilizopo Israel] ili aweze kudhibiti Mediterran. Ufaransa alichukua eneo la Kaskazini ya Iraq, Syria, Lebanon na eneo la Kusini mashariki ya Uturuki. Italia yeye alipewa eneo la Anatolia kusini huku Urusi nae alipewa eneo la upande wa magharibi la Armenia, Constantinople na njia za usafirishaji katika bahari ya Uturuki (Turkish straits). Nchi ya Syria Ilifanywa ya pekee na ilipewa jina kutokana na milima ya lebanon ambayo ni asili ya miinuko ya nchi hiyo. Kabla ya mkataba huu, hakuwahi kuwepo kwa taifa la Lebanon. Jambo pekee lilowaunganisha ni kuwa na watu wengi wa dini moja, Waislam.
Uingereza iliungana na makabila na koo mbalimbali za kiarabu Na kuingia nao makubaliano tofauti tofauti ambayo yalikuwa ni kinzani. Mshirika wa muhimu sana wa Uingereza walikuwa ni familia (kabila) la Hashemites, ambalo walikuwa watawala wa eneo la Hejaz. Familia walikuwa ni watawala wa jordan, lakini pia walitawala maeneo mbalimbali kama kingdoms of Hejaz (1916–1925), Syria (1920) na Iraq (1921–1958). Pia walilitawala eneo la Maka kwa miaka mingi toka miaka ya 900.
Mataifa makubwa ya magharibi yaliitumia familia hii kufanya biashara eneo hili. Mwaka 1918, baada ya Sykes-Picot Agreement na kuanzisha mataifa mapya, Uingereza iliingia mkataba na familia hii ya Hashemites, ili watoto watatu wa Sharif Hussein bin Ali Al-Hashimi, ili wawe watawala wa nchi za Iraq, Jordan, Syria na eneo la Hejaz(eneo la Saudi Arabia). Katika makubaliano haya mwanae wa pili aitwaye Abdullah alitawala Baghdad na Mesopotamia kusini (iraq kusini), mwanae wa tatu Faisal akapewa Syria na wanne Zeid akapewa Mesopotamia kaskazini (Iraq kaskazini). Mesopotamia ndiyo Iraq ya leo. Mkataba huu, ndio sababu ya Sykes-Picot Agreement kufanyaa siri, kwani Shariff Hussein hakupaswa kujua kuwa Uingereza anaingia makubaliano yanayokiuka makubaliano yao yaliyopo.
Ikumbukwe kuwa miaka ya 1900, uko wa wasaudi walianzisha vita dhidi ya kuwait ili kurejesha milki ya maeneo yao, na mwaka 1925 walifanikiwa kudhibiti Eneo la mashariki na kati ya eneo ambalo leo ndio linajulikana kama Saudi Arabia. Hivyo Hashemites wakapoteza saudi lakini tayari walikuwa wamepewa maeneo mengine na Uingereza.
Lakini wafaransa na waingereza hawakuwa na nia nzuri kama walivyowaaminisha wenyeji wao, waliwatengenezea migogoro ili wavurugane wao kwa wao. Jambo lisilotegemewa na Waingereza na wafaransa lilitokea. Nchini Urusi yalitokea mapinduzi Nov 1917, Bolsheviks chini ya Vladimir Lenin wakampindua Nicholas Tsars II. Wakiwa ofisini, ndipo waligundua uwepo wa mkataba huu.
Kama ambavyo ilivyo leo, warusi wanatibua mipango ya western powers huko middle east, ndivyo walivyofanya wakati huo. Waliuchapisha mkataba huo, na siku tatu baadae magazeti Uingereza yakauchapisha. Kuvujishwa huku kulizua mgogoro huko Mashariki ya kati.
Toka miaka ya 1880, wayahudi wa ulaya walikuwa wakiingia eneo la Palestina Magharibi iliyokuwa chini ya dola ya Ottoman. Hawa walikuwa wakiungana na jamii za wayahudi [ingawa ni ndogo ndogo] zilizokuwepo eneo hilo kwa karne nyingi. Kuja huku kwa wayahudi ilikuwa chini ya vuguvugu la wayahudi la Zionism, ambalo kimsingi lilikuwa na lengo la kuanzisha taifa la wayahudi katika eneo hilo. Matajiri wa kiyahudi barani ulaya walikuwa wakikusanya fedha kwa ajili ya kununua ardhi huko Palestina. Wamiliki wa ardhi hizi walikuwa ni landlords waliokuwa wakiishi Cairo, Beirut na Dmascus ambao walizipata ardhi hizi kutoka kwa watawala wa Ottoman.
Katika mazingira haya yalizaa mtazamo wa namna mbili. Wayahudi waliona ni ununuzi wa ardhi wa kawaida na kihalali. Kwa waarabu wa Palestina, hii ilikuwa ni uvamizi wa wazi wa maisha yao kwani walilazimishaa kuachia ardhi. Kwa hiyo, hili lilianza kama ununuzi wa ardhi wa kawaida na ukaja kuwa ni kufukuzwa kwa wapalestine na hatimaye vurugu. Baada ya vita ya pili ya dunia, mambo yalikorogeka zaidi kwani mauji ya wayahudi huko Ujerumani miaka ya 1940, wayahudi Mamilioni walihamia Palestina na kugeuka kutoka jamii ya wachache enzi za Utawala wa Ottoman miaka ya 1880 hadi jamii ya wengi.
Nyakati hizi za 1940s, vuguvugu la uanzishwaji mataifa lilikuwa limeshamiri na kuingia uarabuni. Taifa jipya la Syria, lilizitazama Lebanon, Palestine Na Jordan kama maeneo yake ya asili. Waliuona mkataba wa Sykes-Picot kama unadhalilisha uhuru wa Syria. Kwa misingi hiyo ilipinga kuanzishwa kwa taifa huru la Israel na uhuru wa Lebanon na Jordan. Kwa mtazamo wa syria, watu wa jordan na lebanon zote ni wasyria na sio mataifa huru, hivyo ni maeneo yake. Vuguvugu hizi za utaifa, ziliikumba pia Jordan.
Baada ya kugawanyika kwa Palestine mwaka 1948, Jordan ilikamata udhibiti wa Ukingo wa magharibi mwa mto Jordan na Jerusalem mashariki. Lakini kulikuwa na taharuki kubwa kati ya Wapalestine na watawala jordan, Hashemites [hawa kumbuka walipewa utawala wa maeneo haya na Waingereza]. Hashemites waliiona Israel kama taifa litakalowapa uhakika wa usalama dhidi ya Palestine. Wahashmite hawakutaka kabisa Palestine iwe huru au kwa lugha nyingine hawakulitaka taifa la Palestine. Hivyo ilipelekea kupiganwa kwa vita iliyojulikana kama Black September Mwaka 1970 na kulifurusha kundi la Palestine Liberation Organization kwenda Lebanon. Baadae tena ikatokea vita nyingine ambayo Syria iliivamia Lebanon kwa lengo la kuwafurusha PLO na Fatah (vikundi vya wapalestine).
Hivyo kama ilivyokuwa kwa Jordan, syria nao hawakutaka kabisa kuanzishwa kwa dola ya Palestine. Huu ndio mzizi wa vita zote zinazoendelea leo kati ya Nchi za Lebanon [kundi na lake la Hezbollah], syria, Palestine, Jordan. Misri pia haiitambuia taifa la Palestine na sababu kuu ni Gaza. Misri inaichukulia Gaza na jangwa la Negev kama sehemu ya Peninsula ya Sinai iliyo Misri, so inaiona ni yake. Hii ilipelekea mwaka 1948 jeshi la misri kuivamia Gaza. Gamel Abel Nasser mwaka 1952 alipoingia madarakani,alikuwa na hesabu ndefu zaidi. Mpango wake ilikuwa ni kuanzisha Umoja wa Nchi za Kiarabu bila kujali zikoje na kuua mfumo wa tawala za kifalme ie Anti-monarchy. Mwaka 1958 ilizaliwa United Arap Republic iliyoundwa na nchi za Misri na na Syria. Umoja huu uliwatisha watawala wa Jordan, hivyo waliungana na Iraq na kuunda Hashemite Arab Federation mwaka 1958.
Muungano huu haukudumu sababu mtawala wa Iraq King Faisal alipopinduliwa kwa wanajeshi wa Naser.
Mipango ya Naser ya kuunganisha mataifa ya waarabu, a Socialist Union of Arab Republic haikuishia kwao tu kati ya Misri na Syria. Palestine pia, kwa mchango wa mashirikiano kati ya Yaser Arafat na Gamal Naser, ilijumuishwa kwenye mpango huu, lakini sio kama taifa huru bali sehemu tu. Mpango huu haukuungwa mkono na dola za kihafidhina za kiarabu na Naser alikuwa na mipango ya kuzipindua.
Hii ilipelekea kuibuka kwa kilichoitwa Arab cold war. Hii ilikuwa kundi la Socialist Arab ikiwa na Misri, Syria na Iraq ikiungwa mkono na Usoviet na upande wa pili ni Conservative Arab ikiwa na Jordan na Saudi Arabia wakiungwa mkono na Marekani.
Kwa sura hii unaona kuwa, vuguvugu la kudai Dola au Uhuru wa Palestina sio tu ni dhidi ya Israel bali pia mataifa mengine ya kiarabu. Mfano, Syria anayachukulia maeneo yote ya Jordan, Israel, Lebanon na Palestine kuwa ni maeneo yake ya asili toka kale na hivyo anaamini kuwa ana umiliki wa maeneo hayo. Misri bado ana sera iliyoasisiwa na Naser ya umoja wa waarabu hivyo anataka kuwa na milki ya maeneo ya Palestine hasa Gaza. So, syria na Misri 'watanyukana' juu ya Palestine.
Saudi Arab pia anaingia ili kulinda maslahi yake hasa vuguvugu la Anti-monarchy. Hivyo taifa la Palestine kutambuliwa kwake rasmi ni kugumu sababu kuna mataifa mengi ya kiarabu kwa sababu zao tofauti hawataki liwepo. Kwa mantiki hii hata kama Israel itapotea, Bado dola ya Palestine inaweza isizaliwe.
GAZA.
Hili ni eneo linalogombaniwa sana, kwa sasa mapigano makali yanaendelea kati ya Jeshi la Israel na Palestine. Maelezo yafuatayo yanatoa ufafanuzi nini hasa kinapelekea hayo.
The Gaza Strip is by far the worse-off of the two current Palestinian “entities.” It is only 25 miles long and 7.5 miles wide. Crammed into this space are 1.8 million people. It is in effect a “city state,” albeit a horribly impoverished one. Due to the conflict with Israel, its citizens are penned in on three sides by a security barrier created by Israel and Egypt and by the sea to their west. They can build only to within a certain distance of the border with Israel because the Israelis are trying to limit the ability of rocket fire from Gaza to reach deep into Israel. The last decade has seen an asymmetric arms race gain pace, with militants in Gaza seeking rockets that can fire farther, and Israel developing its antimissile defense system.
Because of its urban density, Gaza makes good fighting ground for its defenders but it is a nightmare for its civilians, who have little or no shelter from war and no link to the West Bank, although the distance between the two is only twenty-five miles at its narrowest point. Until a peace deal is agreed upon, there is nowhere for the Gazans to go, and little for them to do inside the Strip.
The West Bank is almost seven times the size of Gaza but is landlocked. Much of it comprises a mountain ridge that runs north to south. From a military perspective, this gives an advantage to whoever controls the high ground of the coastal plain on the western side of the ridge and the Jordan Rift Valley to its east. Leaving to one side the ideology of Jewish settlers, who claim the biblical right to live in what they call Judea and Samaria, from a military perspective the Israeli view is that a non-Israeli force cannot be allowed to control these heights, as heavy weapons could be fired onto the coastal plain, where 70 percent of Israel’s population lives. The plain also includes its most important road systems, many of its successful high-tech companies, the international airport, and most of its heavy industry.
This is one reason for the demand for “security” by the Israeli side and its insistence that, even if there is an independent Palestinian state, that state cannot have an army with heavy weapons on the ridge, and that Israel must also maintain control of the border with Jordan. Because Israel is so small it has no real “strategic depth,” nowhere to fall back to if its defenses are breached, and so militarily it concentrates on trying to ensure that no one can get near it. Furthermore, the distance from the West Bank border to Tel Aviv is approximately ten miles at its narrowest; from the West Bank ridge, any half-decent military could cut Israel in two. Likewise, in the case of the West Bank, Israel prevents any group from becoming powerful enough to threaten its existence.
Under current conditions, Israel faces threats to its security and to the lives of its citizens by terrorist attacks and rocket fire from its immediate neighbors, but not a threat to its very existence. Egypt, to the southwest, is not a threat. There is a peace treaty that currently suits both sides, and the partially demilitarized Sinai Peninsula acts as a buffer between them. East of this, across the Red Sea at Aqaba in Jordan, the desert also protects Israel, as does its peace treaty with Amman.
To the north there is a potential menace from Lebanon but it is a relatively small one, in the form of cross-border raids and/or limited shelling. However, if and when Hezbollah in Lebanon use their larger and longer-range rockets to reach deep into Israel, the response will be massive. [Prisoners of Geography, Tim Marshals].
Vyanzo; Books- Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshals, History of Zionism by Walter Laquer. Mitandao; Wikipedia, Atlantic Post, British Encyclopedia. YouTube; Caspian Report.
