israel it's the only jewish nation in
the world
and it didn't officially exist until
1948
but many people associate israel with
its ongoing conflict with palestine
a violent dispute over land political
control and resources
to understand why we have to look back a
few thousand years
both jews and muslims have strong
religious and cultural ties to the
region
dating back about four thousand years to
abraham
considered the father of the two
religions
according to the old testament god told
abraham and his people to settle in a
land called canaan
which is in the approximate region of
modern-day israel
in 1000 bce king saul established the
israelite monarchy
which continued under king david and his
son
solomon who built the first jewish
temple in jerusalem
this historical legacy became part of
the jewish claim to the land of israel
the land would continue to be conquered
and ruled by various groups
including persians greeks romans arabs
egyptians fatimids seljuks crusaders
mamalux
and the ottomans who called the region
palestine it would become home to many
sites considered sacred by jews
muslims and christians alike
during these transitions jews were
forced to flee the area creating a
diaspora
a dispersion of people from their
homeland
but in europe the jewish diaspora also
faced oppression and persecution
so in the 1880s many jewish people
started emigrating back to the promised
land
in ottoman-controlled palestine
by 1914 there were more than 75 000 jews
in the area
after world war one great britain took
control of modern day
israel palestine and jordan from the
ottomans
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in 1922 the league of nations approved a
british declaration that promised a
national home for the jewish people in
palestine
but it would be more than two decades
before that promise was fulfilled
in 1939 world war ii broke out more than
six million jews were murdered in the
holocaust
with millions more displaced
in 1947 after the war was over the
united nations decided to partition
palestine into two countries
the jewish state of israel and the arab
state of palestine
israel agreed to the partition and
borders were drawn for two states
but many arab residents thought the
partition unfairly favored the jewish
population
violence soon broke out on may 14
1948 the state of israel was established
with david ben gurion as its prime
minister
almost immediately the arab league a
group of surrounding arab countries
rejected the partition and attacked
israel fought back
and after more than nine months of
conflict its armed forces occupied much
of the land designated to become the
arab state of palestine
egypt took control of the gaza strip
jordan then called trans-jordan took
control of the west bank
the original plan for a palestinian
state was scrapped
this historic event was a victory for
many jewish people
but approximately 720 000 arabs fled
or were expelled from their homes many
taking refuge in the gaza strip
and the west bank this war would be
remembered in hebrew as the war of
independence
and in arabic as the catastrophe
tension between jews and arab muslims in
the region would continue
for decades
fighting between israel and its arab
neighbors continued on and off for the
next
60 years in 1964 the palestine
liberation organization formed to
consolidate the power of many small
palestinian groups
in the 1967 six-day war israel defeated
the armies of egypt
syria and jordan and gained control of
significant territory
in 1987 following an incident with the
israeli defense forces that left four
palestinian refugees dead
palestinian militia led a violent
uprising known as the first intifada
that resulted in hundreds of deaths
after the first intifada israel and the
plo created a timetable for peace
the oslo accords further peace talks in
2000 proved unsuccessful
when agreements could not be reached on
issues like the status of jerusalem
the rights of refugees and increased
jewish settlements in palestinian lands
later that year ariel sharon who would
become israel's prime minister
visited the temple mount home to the
al-aqsa mosque in jerusalem
an act many palestinians found offensive
violent protests
riots attacks and suicide bombings broke
out
this period of violence called the
second intifada lasted nearly five years
and marked the end of any peace that had
come from the oslo accords
the violence ended in 2005 when israel
withdrew from gaza
in 2006 a militant sunni islamist group
hamas
won the palestinian legislative
elections many countries considered
hamas a terrorist group because of their
methods
such as carrying out suicide bombings
and calling for the destruction of
israel
hamas and israel continued to clash
violently
in 2017 hamas called for the formation
of a palestinian state using the 1967
borders
but it did not formally recognize israel
as a state
so israel did not accept today palestine
continues to fight for statehood
the conflict is further complicated by
israelis who continue to settle in the
west bank
several countries have pushed for peace
agreements in recent years and many
suggest a two-state solution
though a peaceful solution has yet to be
achieved the region remains a place of
significance for people of many
ethnic and religious backgrounds
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