Religion and Conflict:Israel and Palestine

November 3, 2004

“Essentially the battle between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs is not a religious war, although the fanatics on both sides are trying very hard to turn it into a religious war. It is essentially no more than a territorial conflict over the painful question of ‘whose land?’ It is a conflict between right and right, between two very powerful, very convincing claims over the same small country. Not a religious war, not a war of cultures, not a disagreement between two traditions, but simply a real-estate dispute over whose house this is.”

- Amos Oz, 2002

The Dome of the Rock

The Wailing Wall

The Dome and the Wall

"If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither, let my tongue cleave to my palate if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy.“

- Psalm 137, Verses 5-7

“Dear Muslim youth the world over: there is no doubt about the situation prevailing in the Muslim Umma, the Muslim nation. This situation is clear to everyone, old and young. . . . before we had power, then we became weak. We live in humiliation, where we once lived in dignity. We are ignorant where we were once wise. We are now bringing up the world’s rear, where we were once its leaders.

“I have decided to take up arms and follow the brigade of Izzs al-Din al Qassam martyrs in order to make the Jews feel some of the suffering and devastation they subject my people to every day, and have subjected them for a long time.”

- Ismail Masawabi, suicide bomber, Khan Yunis, Gaza, 2001

Israel v. Palestine

A war over land ?

A war over rights?

A war of faiths?

Timeline: Israel and Palestine 1882-1903 First wave of immigration (Aliyah), mainly from

Russia. 1897 1st Zionist Congress, organized by Herzl. 1904-1914 2nd Aliyah, mainly from Russia and Poland. 1917 Balfour Declaration issued. 1919-1923 3rd Aliyah, mainly young people from Russia 1921 Arab anti-Jewish riots. 1922 League of Nations confirms British Mandate for

Palestine. 1924-1929 4th Aliyah, mostly from Poland. 1929 Widespread Arab riots – 70 Jews are killed in

Hebron. 1933-1939 5th Aliyah, mainly from Germany. 1936-1939 Arab Revolt, led by Haj Amin Al-Husseini. 1937 Peel Commission recommends partitioning

Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. 1939 British White Paper is published, restricting Jewish

immigration and purchase of land.

Timeline: Israel and Palestine 1947 UN Resolution to create separate Jewish and Arab states in

Palestine is approved. 1948 Outbreak of 1948 Arab-Israeli War marks failure of UN partition

plan. 1956 Israel invades and occupies Sinai peninsula. 1964 Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is founded. 1967 Six Day War: Israel occupies Sinai and Gaza, West Bank, and

Golan Heights 1973 Yom Kippur War. 1982 Israel invades Lebanon to fight PLO; Israel completes withdrawal

from Sinai. 1985 Shimon Peres orders unilateral withdrawal most Israeli troops from

Lebanon. 1987 Intifada begins in Gaza and West Bank. 1993 Oslo Declaration of Principles. 1995 PM Yitzhak Rabin assassinated by right-wing extremist Israeli. 2000 Sharon visits Temple Mount. Renewed intifada. PM Barak resigns. 2001 Ariel Sharon elected Prime Minister. 2002 Israel begins construction of “security barrier” in the West Bank.

Theodor Herzl

“We have sincerely tried everywhere to merge with the national communities in which we live, seeking only to preserve the faith of our fathers. It is not permitted to us. In vain are we loyal patriots, sometimes super-loyal; in vain do we make the same sacrifices of life and property as our fellow citizens; in vain do we strive to enhance the fame of our native land in the arts and sciences, or her wealth by trade and commerce. In our native lands where we have lived for centuries we are still decried as aliens… The majority decides who the alien is; this, and all else in the relations between peoples, is a matter of power... If we were left in peace... But I think we shall not be left in peace.”

- Theodor Herzl, The Jewish State, 1896

Zionism:

The futility of assimilation

The identity of the Jews

The necessity of a state

Yasser Arafat as a Young Man

The Palestinian National Movement The futility of assimilation: within Israel or

within the Arab world

The identity of the nation: secular and socialist

The necessity of a state

The necessity of armed struggle: rejectionism

Excerpts from the Palestinian Charter (1968)

“Palestine is the homeland of the Arab Palestinian people…” (Article 1)

“Palestine, with the boundaries it had during the British Mandate, is an indivisible territorial unit.” (Article 2)

“The liberation of Palestine, from an Arab viewpoint, is a national duty and it attempts to repel the Zionist and imperialist aggression against the Arab homeland, and aims at the elimination of Zionism in Palestine…” (Article 15)

The Crisis of Secular Nationalism

The Failure of Zionism

Failing to define the boundaries of the state

Failing to maintain a partner for peace

Failing to make Palestinians equal citizens

Failing to address the religious challenge

Israel: The Religious Challenge The resurgence of orthodoxy

The religious parties

The religious settlers

The challenge to secular Zionism

The Failure of Palestinian Nationalism Failing to accept the reality of Israel

Failing to maintain a partner for peace

Failing to maintain Arab support

Failing to develop good government

Failing to address the religious challenge

Palestine: The Religious Challenge The Muslim Brotherhood

Hamas

Suicide Bombing

Politics as Martyrdom

The Way Forward: Human Rights Dimensions of the Conflict

Israeli Rights of Self-Determination The Security Claim: A nation without a state

cannot survive

The Faith Claim: Zion as God’s home for the Jewish people

The Settlement Claim: What we have improved by our labor is ours

Palestinian Rights of Self-Determination The Security Claim: A nation without a state

cannot survive

The Faith Claim: Jerusalem as the holy site of Islam

The Settlement Claim: We were here first

The Way Forward: Sacred Dimensions of the Conflict

Rights and the Sacred

The indivisibility of rights

The indivisibility of the sacred

Rights and Equality Constraints Rights bearers are equal

Self-determination claims are equal

Equal rights claims must be negotiated

Recognition through equality

Sacred Resources

The Children of Abraham

What cannot be divided must be shared

Recognition through the Spirit