Israelis and Arabs have been fighting over Palestine even before the formation of Israel in 1948. This blog series looks into the historical origins of the international conflict that has disturbed the stability of the Middle East ever since.
As the Middle East crisis intensifies with the latest conflict between Israel and Gaza, many of us are raising a common question - Why is all this happening? Sitting in the comfort of our homes, we are watching people die in hundreds on the news and are unable to understand the reason behind all the fighting.
Often, conflicts in the Middle East take place on four types of issues:
Land,
Oil,
Political/Financial Power or
Ideology.
Israel is a small country about the size of Meghalaya or Mizoram (if not smaller). Until recently, it depended on imports from surrounding Arab countries like Egypt for energy. There are only two oil fields in the whole states producing only 0.39 barrels of crude per day. In comparison, Ecuador, the smallest oil producer among the OPEC countries, produces more than 5 million barrels per day. It is only with the discovery of substantial natural gas reserves in the Mediterranean Sea in 2009-10 that Israel is hoping to become more self sufficient in energy generation. However, even these new-found fields are not extraordinarily large - just enough to support the country only for the next 20-30 years.
This small speck of a country does not even have any natural resources that may attract the attention of invaders. Its economy has grown on the talents of its countrymen. From high technology products to diamond processing, Israel has gained leadership in the industrial sector because of its human resource.
So what is it about this piece of land that has made it the focus of the Arab-Israel conflict since the 1940's?
I was as curious about the causes of this conflict as many others following the latest updates on the Israel-Gaza news. The internet is bounding with explanations on the entire conflict - some biased and some secular. My quest to understand the problem took me to many articles and videos. However, most of them started the story from the formation of the Israeli state for Jews. While these did tell me a lot about the current conflict, I was still wondering why the formation of Israel was so highly opposed? Why couldn't a small Jewish country exist in the midst of 24 Arab states?
The search for the answer led me to the depths of history and I realized that to understand the problem in its entirety, we need to look into the history of the first civilizations themselves! And that is exactly what I did, which has helped me draw a more complete picture of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the general hatred against Jews.
In this blog series, I will attempt to explain the situation - as I see it - right from its roots: the origin of the major Western religions.
Judaism - The Birth of The Jews
Once upon a time, so the Old Testament says, there lived a man named Abram.
(Although the Old Testament places him in the Bronze Age, about 2,000 BC, archaeological evidence dates the described events to the 1st millennium BC (1,000 BC) in the Iron Age.)
Abram lived in the city of Ur on the shores of the Euphrates River. The city, located in modern-day Iraq, was an important city in the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East. At the time, the predominant cultures of the region followed a pantheon of gods and deities. Abram, however, developed the thought of One God and seemed to enter into a personal conversation with the One God, Yahweh. Apparently God promised Abram of a great nation in the land of Canaan. In search of the Promised Land, Abram, his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot migrated from Ur to Canaan via the city of Haran. Whether he and his people formed the community of cattle herders in Canaan or they joined an existing community is a debatable point. This tribe of cattle herders came to be known as Hebrews, meaning nomads or wanderers.
In Canaan (pronounced k'ná'an in Hebrew), Abram had two sons. The elder son, Ishmael, was born to Abram's second wife Hagar. The younger son, Isaac, was born to his first wife, Sarai at a very late age. Abram was given several tests by God, including the sacrifice of his youngest son, Isaac. When he passed these tests, God renamed him Abraham, 'the Exalted Father of Many Nations', and promised him numerous descendants and prosperity.
Isaac, Abraham's younger son, carried forward his father's legacy and never left Canaan in the 180 years of his life. He had twin sons, Jacob and Esau. Esau gave up his birthright as primary heir to Jacob. Jacob was named Israel by an angel or God and was the father to 12 sons and a daughter. These sons were the first Children of Israel and formed the 12 tribes of Israel, the ancestors of the Jewish people.
Some Hebrews are said to have settled in Egypt, where they were despised as foreigners. Over centuries, they began to be enslaved in Egypt. Moses is said to have rescued the Hebrews from Egypt and brought them back to Canaan, the Land of Israel. However there is no historical or archaeological evidence of Moses or the Exodus from Egypt.
Enter the Palestinians
The Jewish tribes thrived in the Land of Israel in Canaan. Then, around 1200 BC, began a major migration of Indo-Europeans that pushed some seafaring people into Mesopotamia and Anatolia/Asia Minor. Threatened by the invasion, the Egyptian Pharaoh Merneptah drove back the 'Sea People' as they called them. However, as the invasions continued, his successor Pharaoh Ramses III captured the whole region of Canaan up to the Plain of Jazreel in 1177 BC.
By 1100 BC, the Egyptian rule over Canaan ended and the Sea People were limited to five states - Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gath and Ekron. These people came to be known as 'Philistine', a word that stood for people belonging to non-Hebrew tribes. The region inhabited by them was called Philistia - the precursor to modern Palestine.
The Philistines adopted the local culture of Canaan. Inter-marriages with Canaanites and diffusion of cultures took place till even their religions melded.
So Who Were the Philistines?
Where did the Philistines come from? After inspecting their language and scripts, historians believe that they were Greeks from the Aegean region - the mainland of Greece, Cyprus and Crete. They were driven from their lands with the collapse of the Mycenaean Civilization.
Now Begin the Israeli-Philistine Conflicts
Soon the Philistines started expanding their territories and tried to capture the homeland of Hebrew tribes. They drove the Hebrew tribe of Dan to the north. In 1050 BC, after a period of much strife, the Hebrew tribes, for the first time, joined forces and fought against the Philistines. They lost two consecutive battles and the Philistines threatened to take over their entire area. In this period of crisis, the Hebrew tribes chose a monarch to lead them all in battle. This leader was Saul, who forced the Philistines to withdraw from Hebrew territories in at least three battles.
But the star of Saul's battles was David, a court musician and shield bearer, who showed excellence and bravery on the battlefield. The story of David vs Goliath brought such fame to David that Saul started feeling threatened by him and conspired to kill him. David fled with his followers to the wilderness near Hebron in southern Canaan.
The Philistines attacked the Hebrews again, which led to a massive defeat of the Hebrews. Three sons of Saul were killed and Saul himself chose death by his own hand over capture by his enemies. Philistines took over the majority of Canaan.
The surviving fourth son of Saul, Eshbaal, battled with David to gain rule over the remaining Canaanite region. But David defeated him and became the king of Israel in 1050 BC. King David started his conquest and defeated even the Philistines. By the end of his rule in 965 BC, his empire is believed to have stretched to the Euphrates River.
David is said to have brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. It was a chest holding the Tablets of Stone with the Ten Commandments, held sacred by the Hebrews. His desire to build a temple housing the Ark was fulfilled by his son Solomon, who succeeded the throne. The Solomon Temple on Mount Zion became the centre of Jewish worship and led to strengthening of Judaism as a religion.
Wait... Philistines were not Muslims? Where was Islam then?
Islam does not enter the picture till the Middle Ages. We are still discussing ancient history, when Islam had not reached the status of a major religion yet. However, its story does begin at the same time as Judaism. Remember Ishmael, the elder son of Abraham? He was born to Hagar, the second wife of Abraham.
When Ishmael was 14 years old, Isaac was born to Sarah, Abraham's first wife. In order to ensure Isaac as the heir, Sarah urged Abraham to send Ishmael and Hagar away. The distressed Abraham was reassured by God that Ishmael would also make a nation. The next day, he left the two to roam in the wilderness of Beer-Sheba. Finally they settled in the Desert of Paran (said to be in the Kingdom of Hejaz around Mecca), where Hagar found an Egyptian bride for Ishmael. Ishmael had 12 sons, who became tribal chiefs and controlled the area from Assyria to the border of Egypt. They are believed to be the ancestors of the Arabs. Prophet Muhammad is also believed to be a direct descendant of Ishmael.
But there was no known conflict between the Jews and Muslims of ancient times. Jews have had to face the persecution of rulers since before the Islamic conquest. [1]
Persecution? Hadn't the Jews just created a large kingdom?
After Solomon, King of the Jews, built the Temple of Jerusalem, Judaism and Jewish people prospered. But the good times were short-lived. Political differences developed among the people. Upon the death of Solomon in 931 BC, ten of the twelve tribes refused to accept the son of Solomon as their king. As a result, the kingdom was split into two parts. The northern part was called the Kingdom of Israel. The southern part was formed by the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who remained loyal to the House of David and had the son of Solomon, Rehoboam, as the King. It was called the Kingdom of Judah/Judea.
About 200 years later, in 721-22 BC, the Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Assyrians and the ten tribes of Israel were lost among the wave of Median (modern north-western Iran and south-east Turkey) and Persian (ancient Iranian) people brought into the captured region by the Assyrians.
The Kingdom of Judea became a vassal state of Assyria and had to pay tributes. However, the Assyrian Empire was declining and Judea was made a vassal of Egypt with a puppet-ruler at Jerusalem. At the same time, the city of Babylon under the Akkadian Empire was rising in strength. In 612 BC, Nabopolassar of Babylon fought with the Assyrians for two years, which led to the end of the Assyrian Empire at the battleground in Haran. Judea started paying tribute to Babylon but soon revolted. This led to a Babylonian invasion under Nebuchadnezzar II (of the Hanging Gardens fame) in 605 BC. Jerusalem was besieged and many Hebrews were taken as hostages to Babylon.
In 586 BC, when Judea revolted again, Nebuchadnezzar II again attacked and besieged Jerusalem. This time, they completely burned and destroyed the city and the Temple. Not only that, he killed all the sons of the King of Judea, Zedekiah, and took him as prisoner along with thousands of Jewish hostages to Babylon. This was the end of the Kingdom of Judea as an independent country.
Thousands of Jews were exiled to Babylon. Many escaped to Egypt and other surrounding countries like Moab, Ammon and Edom. [2]
The Babylonian Exile is a major event in the history of the Jews as it shaped much of the thinking and philosophy of Judaism. It is the start of the Jewish Diaspora - the trend of Jews living away from their native land.
The momentous event has been remembered in numerous songs since then. For an example, let's take Boney M, the famous music band of the disco era (Daddy Cool, Rasputin, Nightflight to Venus). Their song Rivers of Babylon, one of the few pop songs whose lyrics come directly from the Bible, was based on the Babylonian Exile of Jews. Listen to the song here. (Zion is another name for Jerusalem, derived from Mount Zion.)
Coming Up Next
The next part of this blog series will show the Jews returning to Jerusalem and entering into another conflict with Palestinians in a new avatar. The story will continue to the restoration of the Temple, the Roman and Islamic conquests, the Holy Crusades and Antisemitism in the modern world - all crucial events that lead to the formation of the State of Israel in 1948.
Read Part II... (coming soon)
As the Middle East crisis intensifies with the latest conflict between Israel and Gaza, many of us are raising a common question - Why is all this happening? Sitting in the comfort of our homes, we are watching people die in hundreds on the news and are unable to understand the reason behind all the fighting.
 |
| Rockets exploding over Gaza on 20-21 July 2014 |
Often, conflicts in the Middle East take place on four types of issues:
Land,
Oil,
Political/Financial Power or
Ideology.
Israel is a small country about the size of Meghalaya or Mizoram (if not smaller). Until recently, it depended on imports from surrounding Arab countries like Egypt for energy. There are only two oil fields in the whole states producing only 0.39 barrels of crude per day. In comparison, Ecuador, the smallest oil producer among the OPEC countries, produces more than 5 million barrels per day. It is only with the discovery of substantial natural gas reserves in the Mediterranean Sea in 2009-10 that Israel is hoping to become more self sufficient in energy generation. However, even these new-found fields are not extraordinarily large - just enough to support the country only for the next 20-30 years.
 |
| The red spot is Israel in the midst of Arab nations shown in green. The small piece of land has been the centre of violent conflicts since millennia. |
This small speck of a country does not even have any natural resources that may attract the attention of invaders. Its economy has grown on the talents of its countrymen. From high technology products to diamond processing, Israel has gained leadership in the industrial sector because of its human resource.
So what is it about this piece of land that has made it the focus of the Arab-Israel conflict since the 1940's?
I was as curious about the causes of this conflict as many others following the latest updates on the Israel-Gaza news. The internet is bounding with explanations on the entire conflict - some biased and some secular. My quest to understand the problem took me to many articles and videos. However, most of them started the story from the formation of the Israeli state for Jews. While these did tell me a lot about the current conflict, I was still wondering why the formation of Israel was so highly opposed? Why couldn't a small Jewish country exist in the midst of 24 Arab states?
The search for the answer led me to the depths of history and I realized that to understand the problem in its entirety, we need to look into the history of the first civilizations themselves! And that is exactly what I did, which has helped me draw a more complete picture of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the general hatred against Jews.
In this blog series, I will attempt to explain the situation - as I see it - right from its roots: the origin of the major Western religions.
Judaism - The Birth of The Jews
Once upon a time, so the Old Testament says, there lived a man named Abram.
(Although the Old Testament places him in the Bronze Age, about 2,000 BC, archaeological evidence dates the described events to the 1st millennium BC (1,000 BC) in the Iron Age.)
Abram lived in the city of Ur on the shores of the Euphrates River. The city, located in modern-day Iraq, was an important city in the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East. At the time, the predominant cultures of the region followed a pantheon of gods and deities. Abram, however, developed the thought of One God and seemed to enter into a personal conversation with the One God, Yahweh. Apparently God promised Abram of a great nation in the land of Canaan. In search of the Promised Land, Abram, his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot migrated from Ur to Canaan via the city of Haran. Whether he and his people formed the community of cattle herders in Canaan or they joined an existing community is a debatable point. This tribe of cattle herders came to be known as Hebrews, meaning nomads or wanderers.
 |
| The Fertile Crescent in 2,000 BC to 1,000 BC. Abram migrated from Ur to Canaan via Haran. |
In Canaan (pronounced k'ná'an in Hebrew), Abram had two sons. The elder son, Ishmael, was born to Abram's second wife Hagar. The younger son, Isaac, was born to his first wife, Sarai at a very late age. Abram was given several tests by God, including the sacrifice of his youngest son, Isaac. When he passed these tests, God renamed him Abraham, 'the Exalted Father of Many Nations', and promised him numerous descendants and prosperity.
Isaac, Abraham's younger son, carried forward his father's legacy and never left Canaan in the 180 years of his life. He had twin sons, Jacob and Esau. Esau gave up his birthright as primary heir to Jacob. Jacob was named Israel by an angel or God and was the father to 12 sons and a daughter. These sons were the first Children of Israel and formed the 12 tribes of Israel, the ancestors of the Jewish people.
.jpg "The Children of Israel formed 12 Hebrew tribes, who collectively controlled the Canaan region.") |
| The Children of Israel formed 12 Hebrew tribes, who collectively controlled the Canaan region. |
Some Hebrews are said to have settled in Egypt, where they were despised as foreigners. Over centuries, they began to be enslaved in Egypt. Moses is said to have rescued the Hebrews from Egypt and brought them back to Canaan, the Land of Israel. However there is no historical or archaeological evidence of Moses or the Exodus from Egypt.
Enter the Palestinians
The Jewish tribes thrived in the Land of Israel in Canaan. Then, around 1200 BC, began a major migration of Indo-Europeans that pushed some seafaring people into Mesopotamia and Anatolia/Asia Minor. Threatened by the invasion, the Egyptian Pharaoh Merneptah drove back the 'Sea People' as they called them. However, as the invasions continued, his successor Pharaoh Ramses III captured the whole region of Canaan up to the Plain of Jazreel in 1177 BC.
By 1100 BC, the Egyptian rule over Canaan ended and the Sea People were limited to five states - Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gath and Ekron. These people came to be known as 'Philistine', a word that stood for people belonging to non-Hebrew tribes. The region inhabited by them was called Philistia - the precursor to modern Palestine.
The Philistines adopted the local culture of Canaan. Inter-marriages with Canaanites and diffusion of cultures took place till even their religions melded.
 |
| Philistia in Canaan comprised of five city-states (Pentapolis) - Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gath and Ekron. Barring a brief Egyptian rule, the rest of the Canaan region was home to the 12 tribes of Israel. |
So Who Were the Philistines?
Where did the Philistines come from? After inspecting their language and scripts, historians believe that they were Greeks from the Aegean region - the mainland of Greece, Cyprus and Crete. They were driven from their lands with the collapse of the Mycenaean Civilization.
 |
| The Mycenaean Greece is where the Philistines are believed to have come from. After struggles against the Egyptians, they settled in five cities in Canaan. Their region was called Philistia, which became modern day Palestine. |
Now Begin the Israeli-Philistine Conflicts
Soon the Philistines started expanding their territories and tried to capture the homeland of Hebrew tribes. They drove the Hebrew tribe of Dan to the north. In 1050 BC, after a period of much strife, the Hebrew tribes, for the first time, joined forces and fought against the Philistines. They lost two consecutive battles and the Philistines threatened to take over their entire area. In this period of crisis, the Hebrew tribes chose a monarch to lead them all in battle. This leader was Saul, who forced the Philistines to withdraw from Hebrew territories in at least three battles.
But the star of Saul's battles was David, a court musician and shield bearer, who showed excellence and bravery on the battlefield. The story of David vs Goliath brought such fame to David that Saul started feeling threatened by him and conspired to kill him. David fled with his followers to the wilderness near Hebron in southern Canaan.
.jpg "When David, the Hebrew shepherd, fought and killed the giant Philistine, Goliath, his fame rose higher than the King's.") |
| When David, the Hebrew shepherd, fought and killed the giant Philistine, Goliath, his fame rose higher than the King's. |
The Philistines attacked the Hebrews again, which led to a massive defeat of the Hebrews. Three sons of Saul were killed and Saul himself chose death by his own hand over capture by his enemies. Philistines took over the majority of Canaan.
The surviving fourth son of Saul, Eshbaal, battled with David to gain rule over the remaining Canaanite region. But David defeated him and became the king of Israel in 1050 BC. King David started his conquest and defeated even the Philistines. By the end of his rule in 965 BC, his empire is believed to have stretched to the Euphrates River.
 |
| King David of the Hebrews conquered the Philistines and created a large kingdom over the entire Canaan region and beyond. |
Wait... Philistines were not Muslims? Where was Islam then?
Islam does not enter the picture till the Middle Ages. We are still discussing ancient history, when Islam had not reached the status of a major religion yet. However, its story does begin at the same time as Judaism. Remember Ishmael, the elder son of Abraham? He was born to Hagar, the second wife of Abraham.
When Ishmael was 14 years old, Isaac was born to Sarah, Abraham's first wife. In order to ensure Isaac as the heir, Sarah urged Abraham to send Ishmael and Hagar away. The distressed Abraham was reassured by God that Ishmael would also make a nation. The next day, he left the two to roam in the wilderness of Beer-Sheba. Finally they settled in the Desert of Paran (said to be in the Kingdom of Hejaz around Mecca), where Hagar found an Egyptian bride for Ishmael. Ishmael had 12 sons, who became tribal chiefs and controlled the area from Assyria to the border of Egypt. They are believed to be the ancestors of the Arabs. Prophet Muhammad is also believed to be a direct descendant of Ishmael.
 |
| The attributed location of the Desert of Paran, where Ishmael and Hagar had settled. |
But there was no known conflict between the Jews and Muslims of ancient times. Jews have had to face the persecution of rulers since before the Islamic conquest. [1]
Persecution? Hadn't the Jews just created a large kingdom?
After Solomon, King of the Jews, built the Temple of Jerusalem, Judaism and Jewish people prospered. But the good times were short-lived. Political differences developed among the people. Upon the death of Solomon in 931 BC, ten of the twelve tribes refused to accept the son of Solomon as their king. As a result, the kingdom was split into two parts. The northern part was called the Kingdom of Israel. The southern part was formed by the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who remained loyal to the House of David and had the son of Solomon, Rehoboam, as the King. It was called the Kingdom of Judah/Judea.
About 200 years later, in 721-22 BC, the Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Assyrians and the ten tribes of Israel were lost among the wave of Median (modern north-western Iran and south-east Turkey) and Persian (ancient Iranian) people brought into the captured region by the Assyrians.
 |
| The Assyrian Empire, at its height, stretched from Persia to Egypt. The Kingdom of Israel was taken over by the Assyrians as well. |
The Kingdom of Judea became a vassal state of Assyria and had to pay tributes. However, the Assyrian Empire was declining and Judea was made a vassal of Egypt with a puppet-ruler at Jerusalem. At the same time, the city of Babylon under the Akkadian Empire was rising in strength. In 612 BC, Nabopolassar of Babylon fought with the Assyrians for two years, which led to the end of the Assyrian Empire at the battleground in Haran. Judea started paying tribute to Babylon but soon revolted. This led to a Babylonian invasion under Nebuchadnezzar II (of the Hanging Gardens fame) in 605 BC. Jerusalem was besieged and many Hebrews were taken as hostages to Babylon.
 |
| The city of Babylon and the Hanging Gardens in the time of Nebuchadnezzar II, the greatest ruler of the Akkadian Empire, became the centre of civilization after the fall of the Assyrian Empire. |
In 586 BC, when Judea revolted again, Nebuchadnezzar II again attacked and besieged Jerusalem. This time, they completely burned and destroyed the city and the Temple. Not only that, he killed all the sons of the King of Judea, Zedekiah, and took him as prisoner along with thousands of Jewish hostages to Babylon. This was the end of the Kingdom of Judea as an independent country.
Thousands of Jews were exiled to Babylon. Many escaped to Egypt and other surrounding countries like Moab, Ammon and Edom. [2]
.jpg "After the destruction of Jerusalem, the capital of the Kingdom of Judea, thousands of Jews were taken as hostages to Babylon.") |
| After the destruction of Jerusalem, the capital of the Kingdom of Judea, thousands of Jews were taken as hostages to Babylon. |
The Babylonian Exile is a major event in the history of the Jews as it shaped much of the thinking and philosophy of Judaism. It is the start of the Jewish Diaspora - the trend of Jews living away from their native land.
The momentous event has been remembered in numerous songs since then. For an example, let's take Boney M, the famous music band of the disco era (Daddy Cool, Rasputin, Nightflight to Venus). Their song Rivers of Babylon, one of the few pop songs whose lyrics come directly from the Bible, was based on the Babylonian Exile of Jews. Listen to the song here. (Zion is another name for Jerusalem, derived from Mount Zion.)
Coming Up Next
The next part of this blog series will show the Jews returning to Jerusalem and entering into another conflict with Palestinians in a new avatar. The story will continue to the restoration of the Temple, the Roman and Islamic conquests, the Holy Crusades and Antisemitism in the modern world - all crucial events that lead to the formation of the State of Israel in 1948.
Read Part II... (coming soon)
Thank you so much for the effort+
ReplyDeleteI like how this is shaping.
ReplyDeleteWould be nice if you would make a conclusion, rather a points to remember section at the end of each article/part. Helps with reviewing the timeline for the reader who is not aware of things related to the issue but is interested (that is why he/she is here).
Or may be you could add it as a preface to each subsequent article from now on. I, for one, would certainly appreciate that extra effort as well.
Looking forward to the next piece.
Thanks for reading, Aditya and Diniel.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for the suggestions too! Will add a 'Story So Far' section from the next posts. Keep reading!