The "Palestinian Question": Why We should Watch This Spot

By Fae MacArthur Clark

During my very short trip to Egypt and Lebanon this summer, the first topic of discussion with regard to US - Middle East politics wasn't Iraq, it wasn't Afghanistan, it was Israel.

In the shadow of conflicts in which we are actively involved, the US public has a tendency to view US policy towards Israel as a less than defining aspect of US relations with the "Muslim World"*. However, the Israel-Palestine conflict should probably garner a little more of our attention for three reasons.

First: People in the Middle East think it is important. The 2008 Arab Public Opinion Poll [warning: this links to a download] by the Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland found that 86% of Arabs (surveyed in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE) considered the “Palestinian question” as one of their top three issues and 42% responded that the possibility that “continuing trouble in Iraq will divert attention from other issues such as the Palestinian question” was one of their top two biggest concerns as to the consequences of the Iraq war.

Public opinion in the Middle East is important to the US on the most simplistic level because of its effect upon the availability of recruits to groups like Al Qaeda. But it is also important, in a far more complex and perhaps more consequential sense, because of its general effect upon the possibility of healing the rift between the West and the Middle East and the consequences that this entails such as the forging of increased diplomatic ties and the possibility for change considered “Western” such as more diplomatic political systems and more freedom for women.

Second: The Israel-Palestine situation is changing. We have a tendency to focus upon Israel only when violence breaks out, however, despite the lack of a major Israeli (or Palestinian) offensive currently, we might do well to keep an eye on the politics and the much softer exertion of power by Israel through settlements in the occupied territories (and the debate between Israel and the Obama Whitehouse on this topic). Yes, this has been going on for decades, but with a new US president pushing Israel for change and a growing appreciation both internationally and within Israel that the whole situation is heading towards a two-state solution, these power postures may have a greater effect than their earlier counterparts.

Third: The solution to Israel-Palestine issue has the potential to be a very unstable one in a region with no need for further political instability. US policy in the region over the next few years has the opportunity to have a great affect upon the forging of this solution and upon the eventual stability of the fledgling Palestine likely to emerge from it.

The events in Israel and Palestine over the next year as well as the part the Obama administration plays in them could very well turn out to be defining points in US - Middle East relations.



*The term "Muslim World" is a thoroughly inadequate descriptor which is highly misleading as to the nature of the nations involved, however, there is a distinct lack of a better term that encompasses the region in question.

Edited to add a title.