1. Geography 1002 – World Regions Israel and Her Neighbors
Joseph Naumann

2. ISRAEL

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

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

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

6. 2 Sided Conflict – Little Compromise
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
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

7. UN PARTITION PLAN FOR PALESTINE
DIVISION INTO JEWISH AND ARAB AREAS
BRITISH EVACUATE PALESTINE IN 1948
PROCLAMATION OF ISRAEL AS A STATE (14 May 1948)

8. 1948: ARAB INVASION (WAR OF INDEPENDENCE)
ARMISTICE (1949)
900,000 PALESTINIAN REFUGEES – NOT ALLOWED TO RETURN – REFUGEE CAMPS
Israel possessed more land than the U.N. partition had given it.

9. ARAB – ISRAELI CONFLICTS
1956: SUEZ WAR (Israel returns captured land)
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
1973: YOM KIPPUR WAR
ISRAEL THROWN BACK INITIALLY –
AURA OF ISRAELI INVINCIBILITY OVERCOME

10. OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Golan Heights
West Bank
Gaza Strip

11. ISRAEL
Blue triangles = Israeli settlements in the West Bank
The West Bank
Likelihood of a 100%
pullout of the Israeli
security presence?
Peace talks ended for all practical purposes in – outlook is bleak.

12. STRUGGLE FOR JERUSALEM
HOLY TO JEWS, CHRISTIANS, AND MUSLIMS
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
ISLAM: PROPHET MUHAMMAD ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN 7TH CENTURY AD (Dome of the Rock site)
CHRISTIANITY: BASED ON THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS CHRIST; CRUXIFICTION & ASCENT
Many sites in Jerusalem are considered sacred by Christians

13. STRUGGLE FOR JERUSALEM (CONTINUED)
UNITED NATIONS DID NOT INCLUDE JERUSALEM AS PART OF ISRAEL
1947- PALESTINE PARTITION RESOLUTION DESIGNATED JERUSALEM AS AN “OPEN CITY”
WAR AND TRANSFER OF ISRAELI GOVERNMENT FROM TEL AVIV TO JERUSALEM
WAR AND AFTERMATH CHANGED BOUNDARIES AGAIN
1980- JERUSALEM REAFFIRMED AS THE CAPITAL OF ISRAEL
SUGGESTION FOR AN INTERNATIONAL, OPEN CITY WITH ACCESS TO ALL HOLY SITES REJECTED

14. JERUSALEM

15. CULTURAL DIVERSITY
E.J. PALKA
E.J. PALKA

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

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

18. E..J. PALKA
DOME OF THE ROCK

19. 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.

20. Catholic view of the site

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

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

23. Evil of Terrorism
Palestinian suicide bombers kill Israelis indiscriminately and so do Israeli retaliatory strikes at the Palestinians.

24. The victims of terrorism could be Arab Palestinians or Israeli Jews – both sides have done terrible things in the name of their God

25. Negotiation Difficulties
Can they get over hating each other? Can there ever be trust?

26. Israel and Her Neighbors