Israel and Palestine

Religious Issues become

Regional Conflict

Religious Conflict

Jerusalem:A Sacred City for Jews, Christians, & Muslims

Judaism

– King David established it as capital of Jewish nation in 1000 BCE

– Solomon built First Temple Center of Jewish Faith Site of creation Abraham & Isaac Site of the Arc of the Covenant

– By 600 BCE, Jews expelled due to invasions by Romans, Muslims, and many others

• Romans controlled the area for a long time “Palestina”

• First Temple destroyed in the battles

• Second Temple built around 516 CE but destroyed in battle w/Romans The only thing that remains is the Western Wall

– 19 BCE New construction of a Roman temple; Jews are banned from Jerusalem, but allowed to enter once a year to worship at the Western Wall of this new temple

» Becomes the “Wailing Wall” where the Jewish people believe Abraham was going to sacrifice his son, Isaac

Jews may often be seen sitting for hours at the Wailing-place bent in sorrowful meditation over the history of their race, and repeating often times the words of the Seventy-ninth Psalm. On Fridays especially, Jews of both sexes, of all ages, and from all countries, assemble in large numbers to kiss the sacred stones and weep outside the precincts they may not enter.

- Charles Wilson, 1881. (Picturesque Palestine, p. 41)

Christianity

– Romans controlling “Palestina” built a temple to the goddess Venus Church of the Holy Sepulchre

• This occupies the site Christians believe Jesus was crucified and buried

• It is a Christian pilgrimage site connected to the death and resurrection of Jesus considered to be among the holiest places in Christianity

Jerusalem:A Sacred City for Jews, Christians, & Muslims

Tombs located within the church where Christians believe Jesus was buried and resurrected

Jerusalem:A Sacred City for Jews, Christians, & Muslims

Islam

– Considered the 3rd holiest city in Islam (behind Mecca & Medina)

– By spreading their faith, Muslims enter Jerusalem around 637 CE

– Built a mosque, al-Aqsa, where First Temple may have been

– Later build the Dome of the Rock where Muslims believe Mohammad ascended to heaven

• This area is know as the Temple Mount for Jews it’s where they believe the First and Second Temples may have stood

Western Wall (Judaism)

Dome of the Rock (Islam)

Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Christian)

Israel and Palestine: Change from Religious Conflict

to Regional Conflict

20th Century History

The Conflict Today

The British are Coming!!!Ottoman Empire controlled Palestine for 400 years but lost it to Great Britain in WWI

Balfour Declaration set up Palestine as a homeland for the Jewish people

Ottoman Muslims living in Palestine angry w/British & start attacking Jews who settle in Palestine

British leave Palestine after WWII in 1947

Creation of Israel

Created by the United Nations in 1948 in response to the Holocaust and WWII

Took land from Palestine to make a homeland for Jewish Holocaust survivors– Partitioned land b/w Israel and Palestine

Muslims and surrounding Arab countries (Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, and Iraq) believe it should stay Palestine historical and religious roots

IsraelDavid Ben-Gurion Israel’s 1st Prime Minister

Surrounding Arab countries reject Israel’s creation & join together to try to eliminate it

1948 Arab-Israeli War

Arabs fled or were turned out during the war

Jewish refugees flood the country more than doubling the population of Israel

Ends in 1949 w/UN supervising an armistice agreement

Egyptian Involvement

1955: Egypt closed the Suez Canal and the Straits of Tiran to Israeli ships 1956: Israel invaded the Sinai Peninsula, backed by Britain and FranceThe US and UN intervened and forced the British and French to withdrawUN kept troops in border areas to monitor peace

1967: Six Day WarEgypt requested the withdrawal of UN troops

Israeli troops, under Ariel Sharon, started an air strike against Egyptian airfields

Israel successfully defeated Egyptians defending the Sinai Peninsula, Jordan from the East, and Syria from the North– Proved their military has power– Balance of power shifts in favor of Israel

1973- Yom Kippur War (also called the Ramadan or October War)

Egypt and Syria joined in a war against Israel on Yom Kippur to regain the territories lost in 1967. After weeks of fighting, Arab forces were set back by Israeli troops. The war led to a Saudi oil embargo on the United States; gas prices skyrocketed; and the fuel shortages of the 1970s began.

Negotiations- Late 1980s

Palestinians began an “intifada” (Arabic for uprising) against Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip

1993 Oslo Accords Established self-rule under the Palestinian National Authority in the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank.

– Precursor to the creation of a Palestinian state

However, Israel increased settlements in the West Bank and attacks by Palestinians continued.

1999 - Second IntifadaViolence and chaos continued

Included Palestinian suicide bombers

Instability among Palestinian leadership

International Involvement

2002: Former President George W. Bush created a “roadmap for peace”

Two-state solution

1st American president to call for a recognition of a Palestinian state

Homework Check!

Get out your homework from last night – it’s getting checked for (hopefully) 10 points!

Activity 1:

Read brief history and analyze attached maps.

Answer questions– You may need to use the articles from

homework assignments this week or any notes you took on the PowerPoint

2002-West Bank Barrier

Israel started to build part wall, part fence

Hoped to prevent Palestinians from attacking Israeli civilians

Barrier corresponded to Armistice Agreement from 1948– Israel maintains it is a security border– Some believe it will be a political division that

isolates Palestinians from social services.

Israeli Wall

As you view the following clip, – What is the issue?

– What is the Israeli perspective?

– What is the Palestinian perspective?

Daily Motion: Israel's Fence

Activity 2:

Read the “Separation Barrier” and complete the worksheet

Consider both perspectives.

Should the wall be built?

How could this conflict be resolved?

Continuing Story…

Formation of a multi-partisan Israeli government/Disengagement from the Gaza Strip

Hamas (a militant Palestinian group) has risen to power– Refuse to recognize Israel as a state– Considered a terrorist organization by the US

and EU

Videos

East Jerusalem Troubles

Israel Air Strikes Gaza (CNN)

Israeli Air Strike (BBC)

Israeli Air Strikes/Palestinian Christians (Mosaic/Al Jazeera)