Religious Issues become Regional Conflict 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)

Jerusalem: A Sacred City for Jews, Christians, & Muslims 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 Note: In the news today  major pilgrimmages during the Easter season

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) Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Christian) Dome of the Rock (Islam) Western Wall (Judaism)

20th Century History The Conflict Today 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

Israel David 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 UN supported Israel which is why the Arab nations were not able to destroy Israel

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 France The US and UN intervened and forced the British and French to withdraw UN kept troops in border areas to monitor peace Britain and France supported Israel, but when Israel attacks Sinai and goes on the offensive, the US and the UN intervene because they don’t want Egypt thinking they can control the Suez Canal.

Geography discussion  access to travel routes, merchants, etc Geography discussion  access to travel routes, merchants, etc. Sinai peninsula controlled by Egypt but borders Israel

1967: Six Day War Egypt 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 Israel’s army is mandatory  everyone has to serve; Jews throughout the world can become an Israeli citizen and serve in their army

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. ENLARGE IMAGES FOR FURTHER TEACHER UNDERSTANDING U.S. sold/gave weapons to Israel; Saudi Arabia didn’t like it so they put the embargo on the U.S.

Negotiations- Late 1980s Palestinians began an “intifada” (Arabic for uprising) against Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip GZ & WB are Palestinian strongholds; the rest of Israel is for Jews

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. Fighting stayed mostly at a local level and were brought to an end with the Oslo Accords

1999 - Second Intifada Violence 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 2 state solution  make Israel & Palestine  problem: Palestine wants WB & GZ but they’re not linked & they’d have to give up a lot of land which was originally Palestine

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

Green Line  official separation of Israel and neighboring Arab nations; many Palestinians live in Palestine but work in Israel; the wall was built to stop people from bombing, but it prevents people from getting to work, etc. Settlements  Where the Israelis live/are settling but not within the original borders from the UN (taken from Syria, etc.) Jerusalem is controlled by both Israel and Palestine

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 Note:Yasser Arafat- Palestinian, Ariel Sharon- Israeli Prime Minster, Hamas- Militant Palestinian terrorist organization Currently Benjamin Netanyahu is the Israeli PM; Mahmoud Abbas is the Palestinian National Authority President – his term expired in 2009 but he extended it for one year

Videos East Jerusalem Troubles Israel Air Strikes Gaza (CNN) Israeli Air Strike (BBC) Israeli Air Strikes/Palestinian Christians (Mosaic/Al Jazeera)