1 Israel and Her Neighbors

2 ISRAEL

Israel Land 3 Dead Sea – shores are the lowest place on earth, saltiest body of water Negev desert covers half of Israel

Ways of Life n Kibbutz – people live in the same community and share all property n Moshav – people share in farming bur own private property 4

The People n 80% are Jews n 6.7 million population n Democratic republic n Language: Hebrew 5

Economy n crude oil, grains, raw materials, and military equipment. 6

7 n ZIONISM –POLITICAL MOVEMENT –FOUNDED BY THEODOR HERZL (1897) –OBJECTIVE: SECURE HOMELAND FOR JEWISH PEOPLE n BALFOUR DECLARATION (1917) –SUPPORTS CONCEPT OF A JEWISH HOMELAND –WWI ALLIED (BRITISH) PROMISES TO ARABS – REVOLT AGAINST TURKS - GET INDEPENDENCE n JEWISH IMMIGRATION TO PALESTINE n 1922 – BRITISH MANDATE TO GOVERN PALESTINE n RISING CONFLICT BETWEEN ARABS AND JEWS ISRAEL

8 British Mandate n After World War I, Ottoman Empire was dis- membered.

9 British Partition in 1946 n Palestine – primarily for Jews n Arabs in Palestine are disturbed at the prospect of a Jewish state

10 2 Sided Conflict – Little Compromise n Israeli Position –God gave us the land & holy places –Balfour promised a homeland –Holocaust proved we need a country – a theocracy –We’ve made a desert into a productive land –We won’t give up land taken until we have a guarantee of safety n Arab Position –We’ve lived here for centuries – they left –WWI promises of independence if we rebelled against Turkey –We have holy places here –Jewish immigration was making us a minority in our own land – had to stop it –Want an Islamic theocracy

11 n DIVISION INTO JEWISH AND ARAB AREAS n BRITISH EVACUATE PALESTINE IN 1948 n PROCLAM ATION OF ISRAEL AS A STATE (14 May 1948) UN PARTITION PLAN FOR PALESTINE

: ARAB INVASION (WAR OF INDEPENDENCE) n ARMISTICE (1949) –900,000 PALESTINIAN REFUGEES – NOT ALLOWED TO RETURN – REFUGEE CAMPS n Israel possessed more land than the U.N. partition had given it.

13 n 1956: SUEZ WAR (Israel returns captured land) n 1967: SIX-DAY WAR – ISRAEL GAINS CONTROL OF: –GAZA STRIP –SINAI PENINSULA –WEST BANK OF THE RIVER JORDAN –EAST SECTOR OF JERUSALEM –GOLAN HEIGHTS IN SYRIA n 1973: YOM KIPPUR WAR –ISRAEL THROWN BACK INITIALLY – –AURA OF ISRAELI INVINCIBILITY OVERCOME ARAB – ISRAELI CONFLICTS

14 Golan Heights West Bank Gaza Strip OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

15 STRUGGLE FOR JERUSALEM n HOLY TO JEWS, CHRISTIANS, AND MUSLIMS n JUDAISM: CAPITAL OF JEWISH KINGDOM 3000 YEARS BP; FAITH TOOK FORM IN THE FIRST TEMPLE-DESTROYED BY BABYLONIANS IN 586 BC; REBUILT AS SECOND TEMPLE-DESTROYED BY ROMANS IN AD 70 – Wailing Wall is all that is left n ISLAM: PROPHET MUHAMMAD ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN 7TH CENTURY AD (Dome of the Rock site) n CHRISTIANITY: BASED ON THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS CHRIST; CRUXIFICTION & ASCENT –Many sites in Jerusalem are considered sacred by Christians

16 JERUSALEM

17 E.J. PALKA CULTURAL DIVERSITY

18 Wailing Wall – foundation of the Temple Dome of the Rock (Holy Islamic Shrine) Jews praying at the wailing wall

19 E..J. PALKA Rock where where he stood when Muhammad was taken up to see heaven. Interior of the Dome of the Rock Mosque

20 E..J. PALKA DOME OF THE ROCK

21 Christian Holy Places Protestant location for Golgotha Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem – Catholics believe it is built over both Golgotha and the tomb.

22 Catholic view of the site

23 E..J. PALKA CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHER

24 Obstacles to Real Peace n Arabs want return of land seized in 1967 n Israel wants security from attack n Israeli settlements in the occupied land are considered illegal by the Arabs n Israel wants Jerusalem as the capital of a theocratic State of Israel – see it as a God-given right! n Muslims want access to their holy places in Jerusalem, as do Christians n Both sides “pay back” violence with violence and escalate the problem

25 Tragedy of Conflict Palestinian suicide bombers kill Israelis indiscriminately and so do Israeli retaliatory strikes at the Palestinians.