Modern day Israel comprises a majority of the territory that has been historically known
as Palestine.
Over the course of thousands of years Palestine has become a holy ground for the three major
monotheistic religions of the world: Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.
Hey everybody This is Thought Monkey – today I will be beginning the three thousand year
journey that has led to one of the worlds major crisis – the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.
Before it was known as Israel or Palestine, the region was called Canaan – after a group
of people who migrated there from Mesopotamia.
It wasn’t until around 1200 BCE that both Jewish people – who called themselves “Bnei
Israel,” and Philistine people – from which the word Palestine comes from – moved
into the region.
The Jews inhabited the hilly interior of the region while the Philistine people, originally
from Greece, inhabited the coastal region.
Eventually the Jewish people united and formed the Kingdom of Israel.
They subjugated the Philistines, Canaanites and others under their rule.
But shortly after the kingdom was broken into two.
Both Jewish kingdoms were soon conquered by neighboring Mesopotamian empires.
On both occasions, after being conquered, the Jewish people were forced into exile.
Fortunately for them, when an even bigger empire –the Persians – conquered the Babylonians
in Mesopotamia, the Jews were allowed to return to Palestine.
For many years to come the Jewish people would face conflict.
They rebuilt their temples after returning, but then another empire converted the main
Jewish temple into a Greek temple blessing Zeus.
The Jews revolted and gained independence but they eventually found themselves revolting
against each other after becoming part of the Roman Empire.
During these revolts many of their holy sites were destroyed once again.
The Romans were pretty pissed about how crazy the Palestinian region was becoming and they
began destroying thousands of villages and enslaving and killing Jews.
The region lost any autonomy under the Jews and became a Roman colony called Syria Palestine.
Jews were also banned from entering the city of Jerusalem.
When Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire – and considering the
fact that Jesus’ home was Palestine – the region became sacred to the Christians as
well as the Jews.
Under the Byzantines, the same rules as the Romans had for the Jews were enforced.
Not much changed for the Jews until the Middle East fell to Arab invaders from the desert.
The new religion they brought with them to this region was Islam.
Muslims believe that Allah is also the God of the Christians and Jews.
Basically, a guy named Muhammed (kind of like Jesus) said that God spoke to him.
The words he heard are called the Qu’ran and his mission was to get as many people
to submit to those words as possible.
In the eyes of Muslims these three people – Jews, Christians, and Muslims – are
considered “People of the Book” but the Muslims are the ones who perfected God’s
message.
In Islam other people are allowed to practice their own religions – but must pay a special
tax.
So when the Arab Muslims conquered Palestine, the Jewish population was given possibly better
treatment than when subjugated to Christian rule under the Byzantine Empire.
Palestine is a sacred city for the Muslims because they believe they are the heirs and
perfecters of the Judeo-Christian tradition.
It also has one of their holiest temples in the region –the Dome of the Rock – a site
that the Islamic prophet Muhammad had once set foot.
Over the next few hundreds of years the area found itself in a bloodbath of violence due
to the Crusades.
Eventually Islam would prevail and by 1516 an empire that ruled for 400 years would set
its foothold on the region – the Ottoman Empire.
Under the Ottoman Turks Palestine was a very pluralistic society.
In fact one scholar remarks that “Muslims, Christians, and Jews worshipped and studied
side by side…Opportunities for advancement and prosperity were open in varying degrees
to all the empire’s subjects.”
Ottoman Palestine was often a place that European Jews would flee to avoid the persecution that
followed the Spanish reconquest of 1492.
By the 18th century, however, the Ottoman Empire began to become a place of economic
and political interest for many Europeans which may have contributed to its decline
over the next century.
Due to its decline, it was labeled the “sick man of Europe.”
And in 1914, after the Ottomans had allied with the Germans in WWI, lost the war, the
empire crumbled.
After WWI, Palestine would slowly begin to develop into the region that we know today.
Sometimes we make history too simple.
It’s them versus them.
But it’s history like this that shows us just how complicated conflicts really are.
The modern day conflict in the region known to some as Palestine and to others as Israel,
goes back thousands of years.
It’s interesting to think about why at some points the region was peaceful with Muslims,
Jews, and Christians all living side by side, while at others it was violent – with Christians
subjugating Jews, Jews conquering Philistines and Canaans, and Muslims claiming the land
to be theirs.
What are the factors that cause these times of peace or times of war?
On the next episode we will learn about the Zion Movement and the Peace Settlements that
would plant the seeds of the conflict we are all too familiar with today.