Essay from the year 2002 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: Near East, Near Orient, grade: 18 of 20 (A), University of Aberdeen (Department of International Relations), course: Course: Issues in International Relations (PI 1506), language: English, abstract: In this essay the reasons for the Arab′s animosity towards the state of Israel will be outlined. For this purpose a chronological strategy will be applied. We will begin with the very roots of the animosity beginning with the Prophet Muhammad and continue to the creation of the state of Israel. The events from 1948 until today do not claim to be complete. Instead excerpts of the socalled highlights of the conflict between the Arabs and Israel will be emphasised. In addition to that it should also be noticed, that the discussion will be mainly limited on the quarrel between the already mentioned parties. The West will be just mentioned where it is necessary to make the context comprehensible. Finally some possible solutions to end the conflict will be sketched. Usually the animosity of the Arab world towards the state of Israel is approached by beginning with the Balfour Declaration of 1917 and proceeds to 1948 where the state of Israel was founded. Here another approach shall be made. Part of the hostility between Arabs and Israelis seems to be based on the religious issue of Islam versus Judaism. We will therefore start at the very beginning, when Islam was founded. [...]