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Example research essay topic: Islamic Fundamentalism Jewish Settlers - 1,850 words

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Zionism and Islamic fundamentalism has influenced political situation in Middle East to a great extent. Moreover, these two manifestations of religious enthusiasm has created a conflict that last more than fifty years and still unresolved to this day. The followers of these two movements generally despise each other: fundamentalist call Zionist aggressors that annexed Arab lands and Zionists stamp fundamentalist as terrorists and fanatics. Despite the differences, both groups call for revival. Zionists want to recreate Jewish state and fundamentalist want to revive traditional and often conservative Islamic values and rules. In understanding the role of Zionism in political landscape of Middle East one should begin with its historical background.

Zionism is the term coined by Nathan Birnbaum back in 1893, and means Jewish national movement for the return of the Jews to their homeland and the resumption of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel, advocated, from its inception, tangible as well as spiritual aims. Zionism was inevitably a product of frustration European Jews experienced in the course of Nazi and Stalinist persecutions. Zionism worked to channel the disappointment and despair produced by the near destruction of European Jewry into its campaign to get hold of a separate Jewish state, which was accomplished in 1948 through the partition of the British protectorate of Palestine. Initially, the establishment of Israel was viewed with sympathy by progressive people around the world who were sympathetic to the predicament Jewish people in the course of World War II. It was hailed as a new and progressive entity dedicated to building a democratic and even egalitarian home for the most terribly oppressed people of Europe and the world.

But the initial enthusiasm of Zionist state turned to disappointment as Israel was established through a military struggle to wrest control of the land from its Arab inhabitants, beginning with a systematic campaign of terror and bullying that drove more than three quarters of a million Palestinian Arabs from their homes. The founding principle of the Jewish state was the assertion of the ethnic and religious interests of Jews over those of Arab Muslims. Any criticism of this essentially anti-democratic and exploitive standpoint was denounced by Israel's Zionist rulers and their apologists as an expression of anti-Semitism. Zionist leaders even denied the very existence of a Palestinian people for 40 years. Their main slogan was: A land without people for a people without land. In official proclamations, the land that became Israel was portrayed as largely uninhabited prior to the arrival of Jewish settlers.

From the very day of its creation, as a result of their position, Israel was at war with its Arab neighbors and was consequently incapable of developing a genuinely democratic society. There existed no separation between the state and the Jewish religion, and therefore no concept of citizenship that extended equal rights to all. Israel quickly grew into a garrison state, a vehicle through which the US could exert its interests in the Middle East in return for massive financial subsidies, used primarily to build up Israel's military apparatus. Zionism occupations policies was evidently demonstrated in Jewish settlements in Palestinian land. Jewish settlers are most radical portion of Zionist movement and their influence has had a lasting and negative impact on Arab-Israeli relations.

Together with the ultra-orthodox groups encouraged by the propagation of pseudo-biblical justifications for Israeli expansion, they have become the social and political bedrock for the emergence of semi-fascist tendencies within the political and military establishment. This right-wing Zionist movement has urged Israel's oft-repeated claim that its military actions were determined by the necessity to defend its borders against hostile Arab powers was irredeemably exposed by its decisive victory against Egypt, Syria and other Arab powers in October 1973. The outcome of that war left Israel the undisputed military power in the region. Ever since, all of Israel's wars have been targeted directly against the Palestinians. The extreme Zionist views held by a sizable proportion of Israeli population, has urged the ruling class of that country to ignore economic and social costs associated with the occupation, both in terms of military expenditures and the pariah status Israel had acquired throughout the Arab world and elsewhere.

The impasse over the occupied territories had frozen the growth of Arab-Israeli economic ties, considered essential for the development of Israel's economy in an era when corporations had of necessity to carry out the production of commodities across national boundaries and sell their products on the world market. Israeli state has clearly demonstrated that revivalism in creation of the Jewish state was at the expense of Arab population and wherefore was in its nature undemocratic and oppressive. Islamic fundamentalism has also a revival notion, but it seeks revival of spirituality and laws of Islam, while Zionism seeks physical and political reemergence of Israel. The relation between Islam and political life is complex. There is no clear division between the secular and the spiritual within Islam, the tradition of Islam religion somewhat explains close ties between religious and political life. Both major branches of Islam, Sunni and Shia, have men studied in Koran, whose views are respected and followed in social life, including its political part.

Although as Jacques Jomier, rightly observed in his book How to Understand Islam, religion of lay people without priesthood... a society in which all the members enjoy equal religious status, there are special place for men learned in Islam, who serve as community leaders and public officials. In Islamic society, Community leadership rests on Ulama, men learned in Koran, and responsible for interpreting and administering Islam. Often Ulama are experts the tradition associated with exegesis of the Koran and the hadith.

Ulama can serve in various community positions as teachers, preachers, market-inspectors, judges, notaries or can be employed as state servants like scribes, secretaries, and royal counsels. Islamic leadership has a wide variety of other titled man in addition to Ulama. An Imam leads players; Muezzin calls Muslims to prayer; Muftis are scholars in Islamic law; She branch of Islam has Mullahs or clergyman, a Milan with the highest level of Koran understanding called Ayatollah. Over the history of Islam, ulama was a collective name for any learned Muslim who brought wisdom of Islam to people, often leading them in their struggle against internal tyrant or external aggressor. Ulama always were in high esteem, at the same time they remain equal citizens to everybody else, so the Islamic institution of Ulama could hardly be called theocratic; Islam permeated every aspect of community life, yet it does encourage theocratic rule.

In his life, every Muslim is guided by Koran and other Islamic scriptures. Therefore, Islam have great influence on the political life of Islamic countries, even if a secular rule is declared. As Lt. Col.

David Kibble rightly put it, Islam is divided into various groups, each with its own interpretation of the Muslim holy booth Quran -- and the prophet Muhammad's sayings and deeds [Military Review, 1995, p. 40 ]. Yet, a Western commoner has a misperception of Islam as militant extremists religion, although extremist are a tiny part of Islamic community. Even Islamic fundamentalism, which is also only a fraction Islam, is not necessarily propagate extremism, as Lt. Gen.

Anthony Zinni, deputy commander of U. S. Central Command clarified in a recent Army Time interview: Were very careful to separate fundamentalism from extremism... Some people relate fundamentalism and extremism as being the same. We dont. There are fundamentalists that are not violent, that are not hostile, they just have a very conservative approach to their religion.

But theres a small group of extremists and then a small group of countries, like Iran, that encourage extremism. " (18 Nov 96, p. 10. ) Extremist are fanatic fundamentalists, who twist the actual meaning of the Koran. They reinterpret it for their political purposes. Islam becomes "politicized. " Scholar Served Nasr further explains the place of "fundamentalist" and "extremist" movements within Islam: "Traditional Islam is like a huge mountain. Scarred by geological formations, crevasses, and landslides, these details represent fundamentalist streams of thought. The permanent, solid, unchanging mountain is much more akin to Islam itself. People study and report on the surface activity, often ignoring the vast, solid structure which underlies all. " (See Our Religions, p. 515. ) It is important to understand the reasons behind the spread of Islamic fundamentalist because its emergence is inevitably is an attempt to answer some insistent questions raised in the process of development of Middle East countries.

Definitely there are some major trends that contributed to the resurgence of fundamentalism, among these are modernization, reaction and the end of Cold War and retreat of the West. A popular notion twenty-five years ago was that the modernization would reduce peoples desire for the sacred. Rather than drive people from faith to secularism, however, social, economic and cultural change urges people back to their religious frame of reference. Reason and technology cannot provide to spiritual needs. The distinctly religious dimension of humankind resurfaces. As urbanization increases -- so does desire for community and meaning.

Religion meets such need. Islamic fundamentalism came as a reaction and counterbalance to secularism, moral relativism, self-indulgence, pollutions, indecency, crime and narcotics, excessive consumerism, stressing the material over the spiritual, interest in religion -- especially fundamentalist expressions with clear cut answers to societal ills -- resurfaces. A reaffirmation of community, values, order, discipline, work and mutual assistance all are bolstered by fundamentalist religious underpinnings. The end of cold war brought down long standing struggle between communism and Western democracy ideologies, inevitably creating a void readily full filed by religio's fundamentalism. Western democracy model with its urbanization, development, industrialization, technology has not instilled its values in Middle East region.

Relativism, egotism, consumerism and degenerate influence often accompanying Westernization were hugely rejected and despised as lacking spirituality pertinent to Islam. The need for stronger spiritual values has led to revival of Islamic fundamentalism. Islamic fundamentalism is not monolithic though. It is as diverse as each country in which in can be found. Fundamentalism has many dimensions, however, there are some common influences that shaped different groups of Islamic fundamentalism most evident are those brought by different religious axis of Islamic world like modernism and revivalism. While modernist Muslims understand Koran in terms of contemporary knowledge, revivalists reject Western ideas as converse to the true teaching of Koran.

These two interpretations of Islam support different social models. Modernists position includes accepting scientific ideas such as evolution and in gender issues, they support women emancipation. Revivalist rebuff such views as non-Islamic and call for strict observance of Koran and Sharia, regardless of modern influences. Fundamentalists can be called revivalist because they too call for the return of traditional Islamic views. At the same time revivalist are not necessarily fundamentalist or extremists because there are some very peaceful revivalist group that view Islam as a spiritual world; these groups often despise political interpretations of Islam.

The nature of Zionism and Islamic fundamentalism is essentially the same it is the return to the traditional and often conservative worldview that largely ignores the changing realities of the modern world.


Free research essays on topics related to: islamic fundamentalism, arab israeli, islam religion, jewish settlers, zionist movement

Research essay sample on Islamic Fundamentalism Jewish Settlers

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