There is much happening in the Middle East regions these days. I recently had to write a paper on Palestine, and the research enlightened me greatly. I thought I would post it here in hopes that it might shed a little light for you as well.
THE HISTORY OF PALESTINE
The Middle East has long been the theater of war, conflict, and power struggles. One particular parcel of land known as Palestine (Ancient Judea), has been in the center of it all since the Jews were given the land by God as a refuge, a land flowing with milk and hone. The Bible, in the book of Exodus, tells us the story of this gift to the Jews from God. Exodus 6:2-8 says; “God also said to Moses, "I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they lived as aliens. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant. “Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD. (NIV)
Although the land was a God given gift to the Israelites, it was under the rule of the Romans. Herod the Great sat in position of power at this time in history, and ruled with a very strong hand. He was prone to fits of rage, and at one point even killing his wife, some of her relatives, and a few of his own children. Herod was appointed as king by the Roman Senate around 40 BC, and ruled for 36 years until 4 BC. Following his death, aggression and resentment was on the rise between the Jewish people and the Roman authorities. “The impossibility of a working relationship between the Jewish and Roman authorities is well suggested in the New Testament account of the last days of Jesus Christ. The Jews of the Sanhedrin are determined that he shall die for blasphemy, but they want the Roman governor of Judea (Pontius Pilate) to condemn him. Jerusalem is in Pilate's province, but he tries to shift the responsibility on to Herod Antipas, a son of Herod the Great who is ruling Galilee - on the grounds that Galilee is where Jesus comes from. The lack of effective government implicit in this story is now typical of Palestine, apart from a brief period starting in AD 41. In that year Herod Agrippa is appointed king of Judaea.” (www.historyworld.net) Herod Agrippa rules for only 3 years before dying. Following his death, the region quickly returns to the tension and struggle prior to his ruling. Another effect of the Roman rule was that the Jewish population started to diminish. Islam and other Arab cultural influence’s started to weaken the Jewish settlements and they became the minority. Arabs effectively ruled this area for over one thousand years.
Fast forward to the 19 century, where following this time of rule by the Arabs, there arose a movement from among the Jewish people called Zionism; and was formed in 1861 in Frankfurt, Germany. It was designed to link the Jewish people with the roots of the land of Palestine going back as far as 1200 B.C., and to secure a national homeland for the Jewish people who realized that without such a sanctuary, they would not be safe from anti-Semitism. During the beginning of the 20th century, Britain held much control over the Middle East. During this time in history, the Middle East had become a major supplier of oil to the rest of the world. The British Empire, drafted the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which stated their public support for a Jewish national homeland.
Rosenberg (2009) writes; “This declaration was accepted by the League of Nations on July 24, 1922 and embodied in the mandate that gave Great Britain temporary administrative control of Palestine. In 1939, Great Britain reneged on the Balfour Declaration by issuing the White Paper, which stated that creating a Jewish state was no longer a British policy. It was also Great Britain's change in policy toward Palestine, especially the White Paper, which prevented millions of European Jews to escape from Nazi-occupied Europe to Palestine.”
Further setbacks and atrocities were in store for the Jewish people. Nazi Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, systematically executed and destroyed over 6 million Jews and in the process 3-4 million non-Jews through the use of concentration camps, gas chambers and firing lines. This was a program designed to exterminate all Jews because they were thought to be “radically inferior”. This carnage and mayhem underscored the need for the Jewish to have a place of refuge, and thus the push for a national homeland for the Jews was reignited. A mass exodus was again seen as multitudes of Jews pushed their way into Palestine. “According to official records, 367,845 Jews and 33,304 non-Jews immigrated legally between 1920 and 1945. It was estimated that another 50–60,000 Jews and a small number of non-Jews immigrated illegally during this period.” (Wikipedia) The events that occurred while Hitler was at the helm of the killing machine have had far reaching impacts on all nations. America is home to hundreds of thousands of Jewish people, and the effects of this dark period in history, is felt to this day. Anti-Semitism is a sensitive subject and something that still exists, especially in the Middle East.
Arabs living in the land saw this as an intrusion to their way of life, and once again violence broke out in 1946. This prompted Britain, acting alone, to separate the land using the Jordan River, effectively giving Transjordan their independence. The other side of the Jordan River was designated as the National Homeland for the Jews. This brought several years of fighting between the Jews and Arabs, and eventually Britain pulled out, and the land was further divided by the United Nations in 1947. The division by the U.N. created an Arab state (Palestine), and a Jewish state (Israel). This division did not sit well with many of the Arabs and they tried to over throw the new state of the Jews.
Following the pullout of Britain, Israel started to gain respect in the Middle East. Two allies joined Israel and began talks to wage war on Egypt. However, the United States and Russia, who were positioning to pick up the spoils of the British occupation, urged restraint in the region. Because of the size and far reaching influence of the United States and Russia, the three countries backed down. During this time, many lessons were learned by Britain and Israel. “The British decided that they would never again act independently of the United States, but that they also needed to be part of Europe. Israel decided that in the future, it must rely for its survival, apart from itself, on the United States alone. All three countries have held to these decisions ever since.” (Greer & Lewis 2005) The single greatest thing I notice from the actions of these countries is that they are constantly looking past the current events, and into the future. They recognize that events that are happening right now on the ground, not only effect today, but also are a part of the past and will have impacts on the future as well. Russia and the United States recognized that by creating allies in the Middle East following the British extraction would benefit them in the long run. The vast majority of the world’s oil resources are in the Middle East, the controlling power of these and other resources like it would most likely have the upper hand.
Other wars ensued against Israel in years, 1967 and 1973, over the same issues as wars past. Eventually, tension between Egypt and Israel developed over the territory of Gaza. In 1973, Egypt attacked Israel in hopes of regaining the small strip of land because they thought it to be crucial to the security of their country. Egypt eventually came to realize that the sway of western culture might be the key to making a difference in the Middle East conflict. In 1977-78, peace between Israel and Palestine seemed to be on the horizon. Anwar Sadat, the Egyptian President, and Menachem Begin, the Israeli prime minister, met with American President Jimmy Carter at Camp David to discuss the “Land for Peace” deal. Basically, Sadat suggested that Begin give Egypt back the Sinai and in return, Egypt would make peace with Israel. Begin accepted and held to the new contract. This agreement has held up to this day, however; there are growing concerns and speculation, that tunnels from Egypt into Gaza are being used to smuggle weapons and munitions to aid the continued fight against Israel.
This vicious cycle of bartering peace has continued to this day. The rise of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), the rule of Yassir Arafat; organization such as Hamas and Fatah, and meetings and peace negotiations with presidents, Regan, Bush (senior), Clinton, and Bush (junior) have promised peace, but gotten nowhere. Today the fight between Israel and Palestine wages on, and in some cases is even more brutal and deadly. As technology increases, war machines become more effective, more people die, and terrorism is common in the region and quickly spreading across the world. America and Britain are targeted as well because we support the cause of the Israelites and their right to a homeland and refuge. Just in the past 3 weeks, Israel waged war on Hamas, targeting Palestine and the Gaza strip. Israel stood by as Hamas fired rockets into Israel almost on a daily basis. They showed restraint and patients long enough. They have vowed to subdue Hamas and will continue the fight as long as Hamas fires rockets into Israel and threatens the security of the Jewish state.
No man, nation, or peace agreement will ever end this conflict, in my opinion. This war has been going on since the day Jesus walked this earth, and before. However, there will come a day, when God will bring his Kingdom and peace will surely become a reality. Revelation 21:1-4 says; “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (NIV) Amen.
References
Department for jewish Zionist education. (2009). Britains partition 1946. Retrieved
January 21, 2009, from http://www.jafi.org.il/education/100/MAPS/bpart.html
Greer, T. H. & Lewis, G. (2005). A brief history of the western world. (9th ed.). Belmont,
CA: Thomson Wadsworth
Historyworld. (N.D.). History of syria and palestine. Retrieved January 21,2009, from
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=569&HistoryID=ab29
Mideastweb. (2007). In a nutshell, israeli palestinian conflict. Retrieved
January 21,2009, from http://www.mideastweb.org/nutshell.htm
Rosenberg, J. (2009). Balfour declaration. Retrieved January 21, 2009, from
http://history1900s.about.com/cs/holocaust/p/balfourdeclare.htm
Wikipedia. (2009). Zionism. Retrieved January 21,2009, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zionist
No comments:
Post a Comment