INTERNATIONAL 8th USBİLİM EDUCATION, ECONOMY, MANAGEMENT AND SOCIAL SCIENCES CONGRESS
TWO DIFFERENT PROJECTIONS OF THE STATE CONCEPTION IN THE MIDDLE EAST: PALESTINE AND ISRAEL
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Akademik Paylaşım Platformu Publishing House - APP Publications
The answer to the question of “why is the state necessary?”, which is among the subjects addressed by political philosophy, should be the same for all societies. We can express this situation in the light of the thoughts of Plato and Hegel as follows: The most important phase of social existence is the emergence of the state. However, the state has been seen as necessary not only for the establishment of social order but also for establishing rational relations with other societies on an equal level. It is known that the state has emerged in different forms (such as city/city-state, kingdoms, empires) throughout the course of historical development. It can be said that the idea of the nation-state has come to the fore in the modern period. The influence of political and social events that took place in the West is extremely important in the formation of the nation-state form. The revolutions that began in the second half of the eighteenth century and continued in the nineteenth century ensured that the concept of the nation-state became more established. In addition, the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) and the Congress of Vienna (1815) have been shown as the most important steps taken towards the concept of an equally sovereign state. The Western world has managed to establish peace within itself, albeit partially, and for a short period, to keep the war away from its own lands. During the same period, the spread of nationalist movements and the concept of nation-state in other parts of the world, especially in the Ottoman Empire, has been remarkable. The policies implemented to accelerate the collapse of the Ottoman Empire have also been felt in the Middle East. However, it can be accepted that the developments in the Middle East are the result of the desire and pressure of Western countries with political ambitions in the region, rather than the societies living in this geography. Therefore, the collapse of the Ottoman Empire has led to both the emergence of many nation-states and the chaos that has continued to this day and sometimes affected the entire region. The Palestinian territories have undoubtedly been the most affected by this chaos. The Jewish/Zionist state, which was established on Palestinian lands as a result of the plans made by Western countries among themselves (the Sykes-Picot Agreement, the Balfour Declaration, etc.), has continued the mission assigned to it as the cause of many wars in the region to this day. The Western world, on the other hand, has continued to stand by Israel, which disregards international law and tolerates all kinds of injustice against all societies in the region, especially the Palestinian people. In this study, based on literature review and current research, the latest developments in the Middle East are discussed within the framework of interstate relations and the concept of equal-sovereign state. The study focuses on the fundamental reasons for the Gaza genocide, which Israel launched in October 2023 with the support of Western countries and has continued until today. In this context, the concept of the state, the global political system and the current understanding of international law are examined with a critical eye. The study also addresses the regional and global conflict risks caused by the West's biased approach to the states of Palestine and Israel, which were declared by the UN in 1947 with resolution 181 upon the division of the Palestinian territories.
