Religious Populations in Israel

Israel-Palestine: The Conflict

Carly York

Missy Fiesler

March 12, 2004

EDGE Winter Quarter

Israeli-Palestine: The Conflict

Tolerance: the capacity for or the practice of recognizing and respecting the beliefs or practices of others. People around the world continually violate this one word everyday. What does this word mean in relation to the Israeli-Palestine conflict? Throughout history, tolerance of other religious groups has not been good. There are many accounts of extreme violence because of intolerance of another group’s religious beliefs. Everyday we hear about bombings and innocent people being killed in Israel. Why is this happening and how can we make it stop? Tolerance is the solution, in specific, religious tolerance. Yet this suggestion is easier stated than executed. When groups of people fight for thousands of years, it is hard to break out of tradition and correct the unrest caused by history. Some have categorized this conflict as the worst the world has ever seen and the most unstable situation in the world today. This paper will discuss the history of the conflict, history and synopsis on both Islam and Judaism, ramifications of the conflict, problems with political leaders, and explore possible peace resolutions. It will also touch on historical issues that contributed to the heated situation today, as well as the current state of affairs in Israel and population analyses of Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza strip from the late 1800’s until today. In order to give an accurate view from both sides of the conflict, both Judaism and Islam will receive a full historical account as well as how each religion functions and what their beliefs and practices are. Religious tolerance must be a first-rate priority for the future if this situation will ever be solved. Sacrifices and compromises must be made if people expect the Israeli-Palestine situation to be resolved soon.

Judaism is one of the world’s oldest religions. The fact that makes this religion intriguing is that it still strongly thrives today. We will look into the historical factors that have contributed to the survival of this ancient religion as well as what changes Judaism has gone through as a means of survival over centuries of societal, cultural, and political transformations.

Civilization started in the Fertile Crescent between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Mesopotamia around 5000 BCE. Abraham migrated from Mesopotamia to Egypt in about 1700 BCE ( Nigosian 236). The Jews believe that they are direct descendants of Abraham, so this is around when Judaism took its roots. The earliest records of Judaism are from a nomadic Semitic tribe that wandered around Arabia. Abraham was an avot (father/patriarchal-like) in one of these nomadic tribes (237). As biblical tradition goes, God promised Abraham and his people a permanent place in Canaan (modern day Israel). Abraham followed God’s promise and he settled in Canaan. His son and grandson, Isaac and Jacob, took over when he died. Abraham’s people lived in Canaan until 1700 BCE when there was a great famine. They immigrated to Egypt and things went well for about 3-4 centuries. The ruling under the pharaoh at that time was harsh, and they were soon enslaved into forced labor. Then something happened that is the foundation of Jewish faith. The story of Moses leading the Jews out of bondage is not only famous, but also very important in Jewish faith. During this hard time in Egypt, the Jewish population had become so large that the pharaoh ordered the killing of all male Jewish babies. Moses just happened to be one of these babies, but his mother wanted to save him so she put him in a basket in the river hoping he would find a better home. Consequently, the daughter of the pharaoh found him in the Nile and raised Moses as a royal. Before Moses lead the Jews out of Egypt, he had two experiences that changed his life. The first was the witnessing of an Egyptian beating a Jew. Something came over him and he killed the Egyptian promptly and fled to safety eastward. The second was when he witnessed a divine being in a burning bush when he was herding sheep. This divine being, or God, said that he would lead Jews out of Egypt and into the “promised land” and that he would have the power and leadership to lead them well (238).

When Moses went back to Egypt to try to persuade the pharaoh to let the Jews go, he was met with much resistance—the pharaoh repeatedly refused. Moses, with the help of God, struck Egypt with 10 plagues. The 10th plague killed all the Egyptian’s first-born children, including the pharaoh’s son. Miraculously, all of the Jewish babies were “passed over” and the pharaoh let Moses lead the Jews out of Egypt. This is why Passover is one of the most important holidays for the Jewish people, and one of the most significant events that shaped their history. Moses then led the Jews through the Red Sea and to Mount Sinai where he received the Ten Commandments, or the Covenant, from God (238). These are the same Ten Commandments that Christians use and are supposed to live their life by.

When the Jews finally reached the “promised land” of Canaan, they suddenly rebelled against Moses and God. God immediately punished them with wandering through the wilderness for 40 years. They finally crossed the Jordan River into Canaan under Moses’ successor, Joshua (240).

Living in Canaan was a very different lifestyle they had to convert from a nomadic lifestyle to an agrarian lifestyle. Eventually, they started to conquer other lands surrounding them. Under King David, they sacked Jerusalem and ruled over various parts of Palestine. King Solomon, David’s son, took over ruling and built a temple in Jerusalem—but this wonderful consolidation of the Jewish faith did not last long (240). About 100 years after it was established, it split in two—north and south.

The southern part of this split was Judah and the northern section was called Israel, the larger of the two. This split inevitably made the Jewish religion gain new influences and practices because the rulers of the split kingdoms accepted other forms of worship. Eventually, prophets

started to discourage and try to destroy the polytheistic practices of the people. Despite their efforts, the people continued to venerate multiple gods and practice idol worship until the multiple deportations of Jews to Babylonia (242). Along with the loss of the people, also came the loss of Solomon’s Temple, which had stood for 350 years. When these Jews returned to the holy land, they had to over come the polytheistic practices of the people that stayed behind. This marked a great change in Jewish religion. Synagogues started to emerge and the rebuilding of temples started (243).

Many different groups affected the Jews including the Persians, Romans, and Greeks. This contact with the Jews was mainly felt in their religious practices and beliefs. Persians influenced the Jews regarding different words for God. They tended to keep away from using the word Yahweh for God and started to substitute for the word Ado nay (Lord) (244). Alexander the Great and his Greek state was also a big influence on the Jews. Less from a religious standpoint, the Greeks influenced the Jews through their ways of education, recreation, and way of life. And finally, the Romans effect on the Jews was greatly felt in all areas of life. The Hellenistic way of life seemed to pervade Jewish thought and was extremely influential to the Jews, mainly because of the fact that the Romans were occupying most of the territory that Jews resided in (247-8). It was only natural for the Jews to pick up Roman customs and practices.

Judaism thrived in the eastern Mediterranean and proximity after the harsh Romans left, yet were still exposed to violence, intolerance, and threats of persecution. Although their checkered history posed considerable threat to Jews, they managed to survive with their hard work ethic and faith. All through from the eighth to the 20th century, Jews experienced persecution. The culminating result of all of this hardship was the Holocaust in the Second World War from 1941-1945. This event could have been the one of the many serious factors that pushed the Zionists’ to demand a homeland in Palestine. Incidentally, by 1948 with the help of determined Zionists and the UN Israel, it’s own independent state, was formed. This was the final stone in the building of a Jewish state, which many Jews believed to be their rightful homeland and birthright (250).

So, why do many Jews believe this particular piece of land is their rightful and legitimate home? For many reasons, all mentioned earlier. Some of these specific events include the Exodus from Egypt, the building of the Temple by King Solomon and its subsequent endless cycle of destruction and rebuilding in later centuries. The final event in 70 CE was when the Romans finally and totally destroyed the temple. Yet, even today Jews still go and visit the remaining western wall. They gather there to pray for the rebuilding and rededication of the temple—their center of worship—whose site right now is coincidently occupied by an Islamic mosque (250-1).

To sum up Jewish history, the basic facts show that they have had a long and difficult history, but still have managed to pull through and strongly survive until today. Many different groups have influenced them over time, which has help to shape and transform their religion and way of life, as well as contribute to their present day situation. The exploration of the Jewish religion and it’s history is necessary to properly assess the difficult situation today in Israel-Palestine as well as the issue of religious tolerance in this situation and around the world. To properly show both sides of this state of affairs, we will now discuss and explore the Islamic faith and history.

Unlike Judaism, Islam has a definite leader and founder of their religion and it has a definite starting location and time. In Arabia in the seventh century CE the Prophet Muhammad received several divine messages from the angel Gabriel. The angel told him to recite, but at first he did not know what to recite. Then the answer came to him:

“Recite—In the name of thy Lord who created! Created man form clots of blood! Recite—for thy Lord is most beneficent, who has taught the use of the pen; has taught man that which he knew not!” (Qur’an 96.14) (312).

At first, Muhammad was scared of these divine interactions, but his wife encouraged him to follow through with them and their message and he did. Just like any great leader, many people ridiculed and questioned his motives and actions. He was accused of being a sorcerer and even some modern day scholars argue that he suffered from epileptic seizures. Even though there are many critics, Islam is the world’s second largest religion, behind Christianity, and Muhammad’s behavior is not exactly out of the ordinary because it closely mirrors other prophet’s behaviors (313).

As Muhammad started to spread his faith, others started to call on him for guidance with their problems and tribal feuds. In 622, a group of people from Medina called on Muhammad to help them settle their tribal fighting. Muhammad and his followers secretly fled to Medina on September 24, 622 and settled the fighting. This event marks the beginning of the Muslim calendar. He soon convinced the people of Medina of his faith and the soon started to follow his lead. Yet this lead was not just religious, he also tended to moral, political, and societal issues. This powerful leadership soon led Muhammad to form this small society into a Muslim state. During this time of conversion and state building, Muhammad wanted the Christians and Jews living around his area to convert to Islam because he had borrowed many of their ideas when constructing his Islam. They did not convert and consequently, he got himself into many disputes with both Christians and Jews (314).

Once he had established enough authority in Medina and the surrounding areas, he and his followers invaded Mecca. Their initial strike was moderately successful and they gained a lot both militarily and economically. Finally, Muhammad and his followers successfully invaded the Mecca in 630, promptly went to the holy temple

or ka’ba, and ordered all of the idols destroyed and restored the boundary pillars which made it safe for all Muslims to travel safely to Mecca on their pilgrimage. He was very successful for two years following, then died suddenly in 632 (314).

The Muslims had numerous leaders after Muhammad. The first most important ruler was ‘Omar who ruled from 634 to 644 CE. He fought numerous battles and conquered people from the Byzantine Empire to the Persian Empire. Within all of this conquering, many Christianity centers became under jurisdiction of the new Muslim empire. The only things that were asked of the conquered people were that they lived in peace, accepted Omar’s protection, and pay taxes—they were allowed to keep their own faiths (315-6).

Omar ruled for a few more years, but then was stabbed by a slave and died. The years that followed Omar’s death was full of political backstabbing and maneuvering. Islam’s leadership went through many different rulers from both dynasties and empires. Just to name some of the different leaderships: Umayyad Dynasty (started in 661), ‘Abbasid Dynasty (750), then empires ruled until about 1800—The Mongol, Ottoman, and Mughal (318).

Islam in modern times if often misunderstood. Even Muslims themselves have a tough time distinguishing between traditional values and modernity. Many Muslims look down upon embracing Western ideas, practices, and customs, but the truth is that most Muslim leaders are educated and trained in a Western manner. This raises issues within the Muslim community as well as within the world. Because the old tradition still stands hoping a one-man leadership will bring justice to the world and try to unify the world, this is where the term jihad, or holy war, arises. Muslims believe that it is their mission to unite the world and wage a holy war against unbelievers if necessary. The Islamic faith has specific obligations, such as the five pillars that will be talked about later, and jihad is part of these obligations. The Jihad obligation is an active struggle against non-believers and pagans, using violence and force when necessary. The more modern version of this word refers to the resistance of being liberal, modern, or Western (323).

The five pillars of Islam are: Shahada, Prayer, Almsgiving, Fasting, and Pilgrimage, these are the doctrines that every Muslim must accept and perform. Shahada is a proclamation of faith and they must recite this confession of faith in Arabic:

“There is no other god but God, and Muhammad is the Prophet of God” (336). The next pillar is prayer. Prayer is very important in the life of a Muslim. Prayer is required five times a day and it does not matter where they pray, just as long as they fulfill the requirement. Pillar three is Almsgiving to the poor as a sign of their faithfulness and godliness. Fasting is the fourth pillar and this pillar consists of fasting in the month of Ramadan. What makes this fasting special from other types of fasting is that all Muslims that are able, must abstain from drink, food, and sexual practices until the end of the month when the fast is broken in a large celebration. The last and final duty is to make a Pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime. This has been a sacred city for many years and Arabians used to go yearly to the cube-shaped shrine which holds the black stone placed there by Gabriel (337).

Obviously, there is much more to Islam as a religion, culture, and lifestyle, but this brief overview is enough to provide a deep enough contrast with the Jewish belief system and the way they practice their religion. Now that the basis is laid, the important issue of how this conflict started and why it started can be discussed and more easily understood.

There are many theories on how or why this conflict started. Many believe the deep-rooted conflict goes all the way back to a minute detail in the Bible, some believe it was just a build up of hundreds of years of conflict, and some even believe that it is a relatively recent development caused by superpowers of the world.