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    The Origins of the Crisis Between Israel and the Palestinians: Its Causes and How to Address Them
    The Origins of the Crisis Between Israel and the Palestinians: Its Causes and How to Address Them
    The Origins of the Crisis Between Israel and the Palestinians: Its Causes and How to Address Them
    Ebook123 pages1 hour

    The Origins of the Crisis Between Israel and the Palestinians: Its Causes and How to Address Them

    By Ismail Rifaat

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    A Word from the Author

    The text of this book was first published in 2015 shortly after the US invasion of Iraq, under the title “The Crisis of Islamism”. I wrote the book at the time to express my criticism of the invasion of Iraq, and to explain the events that led to the emergence and actions of Isis which I abhorred. In 2016 the book was awarded the Bronze Medal in the category of “Current Events I” by the Independent Publisher Book Awards.
    I am exasperated by Hamas’s action and Israel’s response in 2003. Instead of trying to cover these developments which are unfolding as I write now, and since the narrative of my book is historical in nature and remains to be valid, I decided to republish the original text without modification in an effort to address the underlying issues of decades’ long conflicts between Israel and the Palestinians.
    In the Preface of the book, I express great praise for the military’s takeover of the government form the Moslem Brotherhood in Egypt years ago. Believing that religious fanaticism lies at the roots of many global problems, I remain stead fast in taking this position; albeit, with less enthusiasm in what I wrote in the case of Egypt due to the more recent negative economic developments there.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisheriUniverse
    Release dateJun 15, 2015
    ISBN9781491768280
    The Origins of the Crisis Between Israel and the Palestinians: Its Causes and How to Address Them
    Author

    Ismail Rifaat

    Ismail Rifaat, a native of the United States, has deep family roots in Egypt, and graduated as an architect from the University of Alexandria, Egypt in 1957. He is an architect and urban planner, as well as the author of Planning for Survival and For the People by the People.

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      Book preview

      The Origins of the Crisis Between Israel and the Palestinians - Ismail Rifaat

      Copyright © 2015 Ismail Rifaat.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      iUniverse

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.iuniverse.com

      844-349-9409

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

      ISBN: 978-1-4917-6829-7 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4917-6828-0 (e)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2015909252

      iUniverse rev. date: 01/17/2024

      Contents

      Preface

      Introduction

      Chapter 1

      A Personal Perspective of Pertinent Developments in Egypt

      Chapter 2

      Israel’s Culpability and Potential Action

      Chapter 3

      Imperialism and The USA’s Culpability and Potential Action

      Chapter 4

      The Culpability and Potential Action of Arab Leaders

      Chapter 5

      Zionism and Islamism and the Separation of State and Religion

      Epilogue

      Preface

      The most topical issues being discussed worldwide today relate to ominous developments in the Middle East (ME), and to international efforts to contain their menacing threats.

      Current conditions in several Moslem countries in the region reflect a dire state of affairs. The manifestations of problems are painfully evident. They include lack of security, civil wars, the death, injury and uprooting of millions of innocent people, and the collapse or ineffectiveness of several national governments. In particular, action by radical Islamist entities such as the Islamic State for Iraq and Syria (ISIS; also referred to as ISIL), is threatening the security of both Middle Eastern and Western countries. Furthermore, the pace of deterioration of conditions in some ME countries such as Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Yemen could accelerate with potentially more ominous consequences.

      The book aims to address these conditions by exploring the historical developments that contributed to the emergence of this sad state of affairs, and proposes ways to address identified problems.

      Writing the book was inspired by the events that took place on June 30th, and July 3rd of 2013 in Egypt, whereby elected President Morsi was ousted from power. I felt that this development was extremely significant. On July 12, 2013 I posted an article on my website. It partially states:

      "Here in the US we have just celebrated the fourth of July. The French will soon celebrate the fourteenth of July. I feel that the third of July -the day the Egyptian army ousted former President Morsi- might assume a similar status in the annals of history. … the army -presumably- acted in response to overwhelming popular outrage. It is specifically the nature of the outrage, rather than the army’s action, that is most significant in considering the third of July as a potentially historic date. From what I have seen and heard, the outrage seems to reflect a sentiment that craves emancipation from religious radicalism; as such it could usher a new era of rational and sustainable development, both in Egypt and elsewhere."

      Debate was raging at the time -and continues today- about a breach of democracy and a military coup d’état in Egypt. The US particularly expressed concerns in this respect. However, while quite appreciative of these concerns, I was sympathetic with the revolution, and started writing in its defense and support.

      My sympathy with the revolution of July 2013 related primarily to its success in reversing the tide of growing Islamist movements in the Middle East. For decades I observed how radical Islamism was growing, and was deeply concerned about this trend. The momentous developments involving warring radical Islamists in Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Yemen which erupted in late 2014 vindicated my fears, and prompted me to continue writing to complete this book.

      I am an Egyptian born US citizen, an architect/Planner with substantial international experience in these fields. I did not receive any formal education in political science or other disciplines traditionally related to the subject matter of the book. Also, I have not been directly involved in politics neither in Egypt nor here in the USA. This being the case, I wish to clarify at the outset how I feel confident about addressing conditions in the Middle East.

      I come from a middle class Egyptian family. Similar families often sent their kids to private schools; usually, girls to French schools, and boys to English schools. My father elected to send me and my two brothers to public schools. He said: if you are to live in Egypt, you have to share the experience and education of the majority of the young people of the country. As it turned out, I left Egypt in Januray1959 shortly after graduating from the University of Alexandria on a post-graduate scholarship to Switzerland, and never returned to live in Egypt since then. Sadly, as I will recount, conditions in Egypt changed in certain ways that precluded my return to pursue a promising career.

      I lived in Switzerland for over eight years and in Canada for a couple of years before immigrating to the USA in mid 1967. Later on, I worked and lived intermittently in Kuwait, Qatar, Dubai, and Saudi Arabia. Over the years, I returned to Egypt occasionally on professional assignments and as a tourist.

      The fact that I went to public schools and to University in Egypt confirms my intimate knowledge of Egyptian society. The kind of people-sense that one develops from growing up with other young people and feeling the impact of developments jointly with others cannot be matched. As I grew up in Egypt, I experienced firsthand certain developments that are particularly relevant to the evolution of the current crisis.

      Egypt is a prominent country in the ME region, and developments there have had, and are likely to continue to have far reaching consequences in the region. Also, the USA -especially after the demise of the British Empire- exerted profound influence on developments in the ME, and is likely to continue to be actively involved in the affairs of the region. Over the years, I had a keen interest in following up on developments both in Egypt and the Middle East, as well as related developments here in the USA. This provided me with insights that are pertinent to the subject matter of the book.

      Thus, my relevant international experience, and my continued interest in developments in the Middle East primed me to write this book.

      The book is not conceived as an academic discourse where statements are buttressed by foot notes and references. Certain data, such as the accepted spelling of Arabic names, and the description and dates of certain relevant events were sometimes obtained on line. Irrespective however, I wish to assert that citing the sources of information, has little to do with the thrust of my arguments which are intended to focus on the issues that I have identified from personal experience. Thus, the book is essentially an expression of my own impressions, and views, and reflects how I feel and think about the problems of the Middle East.

      As I present my assessments with due humility however, I wish to point out that few ‘experts’ in ME affairs have the kind of experience and intimate understanding of historical developments as I do.

      Introduction

      258.png

      Map of the Middle East, Courtesy NASA Outline Maps

      Names of countries added by the author; Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories are not highlighted due to the small scale of the map.

      Several definitions of the Term Middle East exist and are in use by different international entities. The un-shaded areas in the above map depict NASA’s version. For the purposes of this book, I add Pakistan and North Sudan to the definition of Middle East; they are often included by others.

      The book is not intended to cover developments in each country in the region in a comprehensive manner; rather, it focuses on addressing issues relevant to the current crisis. Also, critical issues are covered only by citing relevant examples.

      The populations of all the countries of the ME region as depicted above are predominantly Moslem, with one exception, namely, Israel which has a majority of Jewish citizens and which proclaims itself as a Jewish State. The populations

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