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Israel and Her Neighbors
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ISRAEL
Israel Land
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Dead Sea – shores are the lowest place on earth, saltiest body of water
Negev desert covers half of Israel
Ways of Life
Kibbutz – people live in the same community and share all property
Moshav – people share in farming bur own private property
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The People 80% are Jews 6.7 million
population Democratic
republic Language:
Hebrew
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Economy
crude oil, grains, raw materials, and military equipment.
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ZIONISM– 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
ISRAEL
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British Mandate
After World War I, Ottoman Empire was dis-membered.
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British Partition in 1946
Palestine – primarily for Jews
Arabs in Palestine are disturbed at the prospect of a Jewish state
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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
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DIVISION INTO JEWISH AND ARAB AREAS
BRITISH EVACUATE PALESTINE IN 1948
PROCLAMATION OF ISRAEL AS A STATE (14 May 1948)
UN PARTITION PLAN FOR PALESTINE
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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.
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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
ARAB – ISRAELI CONFLICTS
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•Golan Heights
•West Bank
•Gaza Strip
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
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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
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JERUSALEM
17E.J. PALKA
E.J. PALKA
CULTURAL DIVERSITY
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Wailing Wall – foundation of the Temple
Dome of the Rock(Holy Islamic Shrine)
Jews praying at the wailing wall
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E..J. PALKA
Rock where where he stood when Muhammad was taken up to see heaven.
Interior of the Dome of the Rock Mosque
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E..J. PALKA
DOME OF THE ROCK
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Christian Holy PlacesProtestant location for Golgotha
Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem – Catholics believe it is built over both Golgotha and the tomb.
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Catholic view of the site
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E..J. PALKA
CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHER
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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
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Tragedy of Conflict
Palestinian suicide bombers kill Israelis indiscriminately and so do Israeli retaliatory strikes at the Palestinians.