The Arab-Israeli conflict and the Treaty of Westphalia

In the coming week, Mahmoud Abbas is planning to use his speech at the United Nations in New York to call for a vote on Palestine becoming a member. Membership of the United Nations, by default, would create a state of Palestine. The United States, led by a President under pressure and with an election just over a year away, is vowing to veto the application in the security council. However, despite the position of the United States, the upcoming vote has brought the conflict between the state of Israel and the Palestinian authorities back into focus once again. It is a conflict which has been ongoing since the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, and inflamed further by the Six Day War in 1967. The Six Day War expanded the territory held by the state of Israel when it captured the Gaza strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) from Jordan and the Golan Heights from Syria.

Israel is located in a very hostile part of the world. It is a Jewish state surrounded by Islamic nations who do not believe it should be in existence. The situation between Israel and Palestine is made more fraught by Palestine's refusal to recognize the state of Israel. The religious dimension only adds to the confusion. Jerusalem is a focal point for the three major Abrahamic religions - Christianity, Islam and Judaism. For Jewish and Christian people, the city is a spiritual homeland with deep-rooted connections with their respective religions, and for Sunni Muslims it is traditionally considered to be a sacred place visited by prophets. The religious dynamic confuses the already various cultural differences.

The territorial dispute, therefore, is both cultural and religious. Geographical divisions along clear cut ethnic, cultural and linguistic boundaries are blurred in the Middle East. The region is not like Europe - with distinctive cultural and linguistic boundaries fitting the nation state theory. Like many areas of the former British Empire, the boundaries that were put in place at the time of independence have caused tensions: little consideration was given to ethnic and cultural distinctions in different regions. This is very clear in Israel,  a state that was artificially created after the Second World War. The Treaty of Westphalia system of independent sovereign states simply does not work in Israel and that area of the Middle East. The region is a melting pot of different cultures, religions and ethnic identities. The solution to the Middle East conflict of interests in Israel will not come in the form of a two state equals two distinct geographical areas solution. The geography of the region and the aforementioned  differences make it almost impossible.  Some form of solution whereby two states share the same geographical territory or overlap will need to be found. The founding of a state of Palestine and putting it on an equal footing with Israel will not solve the difficulties in the Middle East. Legitimizing the state will only fuel tensions and territorial feuds. The vote in the United Nations is not a solution and further bi-party negotiations will be needed to provide long term peace in the region.