The Inter-Arab politics has taken different dimensions and trajectories since post World War I. There are different amalgamations and dissociations within the Arab states that can be traced to the historical disruptions projected towards earlier establishments of the Ottoman Empire, which had significant control on most Islamic nations in the nationalist era. Following the collapse of the Ottoman leadership, European colonialism found its way into the Middle East up until the 1940s. However, the British rule on the Arab nations extended to the 1970s. Through this transition process, the Arabic countries struggled for independence and sovereignty. This led to the most historic and political infractions among different jurisdictions that existed then. Among the historical and political events that depict the imbalance within the sovereignty of the Arabic states include the Palestine-Israeli conflict, economic development, and the state relations among the Islamic nations (Vatikiotis, 2016) . Collectively, significant individual contributions were factored in establishing the stature of the Arab world politics as perceived today. In this regard, this paper evaluates the effects that individual leaders had on the inter-Arabs politics in relation to shaping patterns of discord and collaboration among the Arab states since the inception of the World War I through to the Iranian revolution.
Notably, the Palestine-Israeli relations marks one of the most intractable conflicts that later resulted in the insurgencies experienced between the Arabs and the Jews. Haj Amin al-Hussein is the first leader from Damascus who foresaw the rise of the Palestinian Arab nationalists’ struggle that challenged the settlement and continued migration of the Israelis into Palestinian proclaimed territories such as Hebron and Gaza ( Aly, Feldman & Shikaki, 2013 ). Amin al-Hussein had a substantial effect in shaping the independence of the Palestinian nation in line with the British’s duty on declarations and protection of the Palestinians settlement portion from the Ottoman rule. Amin al-Hussein aspirations for Palestine independence led to the disharmony that was later experienced by the rise of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Arab nationalism denotes the collectivism of Arab nations, the disputes, and disregard for the Israeli proclaimed ownership of ancestral homelands ( Johnson, 2013) . Specifically, Amin al-Hussein perceived Jewish migration as an intrusion on what should have been a home for the Arabs in Palestine. Thus, Amin al-Hussein organized anti-Jewish riots in Jerusalem and Jaffa in two concurrent years. These initiated riots led to the massive extermination of Jewish lives in Hebron and Safed. In addition, several other Jewish occupants were evacuated from these areas. Amin al-Hussein exemplified phenomenal opposition on Zionism, which sought to reclaim territories initially purported to belong to the Israelis. Indisputably, Amin al-Hussein influenced Arab Nationalism even with the strategic relationships he created with the British Empire administration to aid the Palestine nation on strengthening their jurisdictional liberties. At this time, the British high commissioner crowned Amin al-Hussein as the grand mufti of Jerusalem. Nevertheless, Amin al-Hussein fled for protective exile in the French mandate of Lebanon, following the eventualities of the 1936-1939 revolt against the British administration. Amin al-Hussein contributed substantially on establishing radical anti-Semitism among the Islamic fundamentalists even though his intentions do not provide a clear depiction on whether the leader’s staunch opposition on Zionism was for the sole urge for nationalism or anti-Semitism ( Aly, Feldman & Shikaki, 2013 ). It is important to note that Palestinian nationalism later transitioned to ideologies that rejected non-domestic rule on the laws established by the Egyptians on territories such as Gaza strip, Jordan, and West Bank.
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Consequently, the Arab nations came together through the formation of the Arab league, formally known as the League of Arab Nations. This was a regional organization for the Arabian countries that was formed in Cairo in 1945 to facilitate and promote political, economic, scientific, economic and social programs that abide with the interests of the Arabian world. Although the Arab leagues indicate the representation for the nationality, the discord is established through the continued attempts of forming the Arab union. The 2 nd Egyptian president, Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, is a noteworthy influencer and advocate for the pan-Arab unity that had sprung from the British’s administration compulsions and encouragements on Arabic rejection of the Ottoman Empire. Though without much fruition, Nasser had gathered significant popularity in Egypt after successful stewardship in 1952 overthrowing of the Egyptian monarchy ( Mufti, 2018 ). Additionally, Nasser led the triumph against the Muslim brothers, which was a Sunni Islamist organization led by Hassan Al-Banna, an Islamic scholar. This organization has since been regarded as a terrorist group by governments such as Bahrain, Russia, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates. Though major efforts were put by Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein and other leaders such as Hafez al-Assad, Faisal I, and Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, several proposed union attempts did not materialize. The notable successful unifications that originated from the pan-Arabic proposals are the unification of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the Yemeni unification ( Mufti, 2018 ). However, Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein’s aspirations continue to blossom with the recent indication of interest in reviewing the Arab union proposal that was presented in the Arab League summit in Cairo in 2004, by the Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Anwar Sadat, the third president of the Egyptian nation, was influential in disrupting the long-held Arab grudges on the Israelis. Again, Sadat is renowned for his struggle to offset the Nasserism tenets trajectory in the Egyptian political and economic systems. He is also credited for the reinstitution of the multiparty system in the Egyptian nation. Anwar Sadat ensured the Egypt-Israel peace treaty on the 26 th of March in 1979. The signing of the treaty was overseen by the United States president, Jimmy Carter on realizing the mutual recognition and cessation of the Arab-Israeli conflict, which had existed since 1938 ( Johnson, 2013) . Through such efforts, President Sadat earned worldly recognition, as indicated through his win of the 1978 Nobel peace prize, for guaranteeing peace among the two states. While some people considered his actions as a projection of human consciousness at the global arena, much criticism emanated from staunch Arab nationalities who opposed Zionism. As a result, Arabs such as the Palestinians denounced the undertaking of the Egyptian president. Particularly, the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Yasser Arafat, held a strong oppositional standpoint in disparaging Sadat’s efforts ( Johnson, 2013) . Additionally, Sadat’s pursuit of peace with the Israelis led to the suspension of Egypt’s membership in the Arab Union between 1979 and 1989. To further this discord among the Arabs, members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad assassinated Anwar Sadat in October 1981.
Conclusively, various leaders have been impactful in defining Inter-Arab politics since the early 20 th century. While some leaders arose to oversee the formulation of independent and sovereign Arab states, others struggled to establish peaceful coexistence among the Arabic and the non-Arabic nations. However, among the various contentions, discord and collaboration within the Arab states have been achieved in equal measure. However, this is subject to the reception and responses accorded to the historic changeovers experienced over time. Particularly, Haj Amin al-Hussein initiated the Palestine-Israeli conflict due to the proclaimed land ownership wrangles. This resulted in significant hostilities between the two countries. Mainly, the Arab-Israeli conflicts stem from this initiative, which has remained an inherent problem in the Middle East history. President Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein contributed to the formation of the Arab Union without much fruition, but his ideas remain integral in achieving unification within the Arab states as experienced by the developments evidenced from the unification of the United Arab Emirates. Additionally, while leaders such as Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini influenced the Iranian revolution, attempts to quell the Arab-Israeli conflict were exercised by Anwar Sadat, the third president of Egypt. While the aspirations discussed above differ with the manifestos withheld by the leaders, they all have contributed to unifying or dissociating the political relationships among the Arab nations at large.
References
Aly, A. M. S., Feldman, S., & Shikaki, K. (2013). Arabs and Israelis: conflict and peacemaking in the Middle East . Macmillan International Higher Education Johnson, N. (2013). Islam and the Politics of Meaning in Palestinian Nationalism (RLE Politics of Islam) . Routledge.
Mufti, M. (2018). The United States and Nasserist Pan-Arabism. In The Middle East and the United States (pp. 128-147). Routledge.
Vatikiotis, P. J. (2016). Conflict in the Middle East . Routledge.
