Israel has been a modern nation only since 1948.  The Jews and the Arabs have fighting each other in various forms since then. The conflict (aka feud) itself is actually centuries old and will likely never end until one side annihilates the other. And honestly, that’s (annhilation) probably not going to happen either.  Some 20 years ago Thomas Friedman published his now well-read and respected book titled From Beirut To Jerusalem. I remember reading it and thinking “at last I understand some of the intractability of this conflict.” Once again the centuries old conflict is in the news.  The latest skirmish is the Israeli commando raid of the Gaza relief boats.  Some have turned it into a “cause”  to fight about.  I commend Friedman’s book as one among many – as a good starting point if one is interested in a better understanding of the human psychology that supports the state tension in the middle eastern corner of the world (see map below).

What follows is a really brief history of events offered up as a shortcut for readers desiring some background on Middle Eastern disputes.  I realize that many readers have a much better grasp of this subject than I do.  I am in no way an expert on this topic.  I always find it useful; however, to have some historical context on issues when I read my current events.  I am neither a Jew nor an Arab.

The history of Israel may be viewed from many dimensions: theological, political, cultural, intellectual, environmental, and from a personal narrative perspective.   It is not just biblical; however, much of its history is portrayed through that lens.  The first biblical stories located the Jews on the east bank of the Jordan River, and then having moved to the West Bank area.  The Book of Genesis speaks of Israelites being the slaves of Egyptians.  The number of Israelites leaving Egypt (Book of Exodus) for Canaan is the subject of historical dispute (maybe a million or more?).  The BC centuries are replete with historical disputes as to the exact nature and growth and demise of Israel and its peoples.  Israel as a kingdom appears to have been first established around 900 B.C.  In 331 BC, Alexander the Great defeated the Persian Empire and this included Israel.  The Roman Senate appointed Herod the Great as the King of the Jews in 40 B.C.  So let’s understand that the modern day conflict is grounded in history some 3,000 years old. It didn’t just begin in 1948.

This latest dustup appears to have begun about 2000 years ago when the Greeks and Jews began to have battles over religious tensions. Hmmm...battles over religious beliefs...now that has a familiar ring to it. There occurred (1^st century A.D.) a series of Jewish uprisings (wars) against the Romans, until the Empire prevailed with the conquest of Jerusalem.  Jews scattered into the hillsides, or were sold into slavery. Some accounts claim over 1,000,000 deaths, mainly Jews. There are stories of Jews being forced to fight animals in the coliseums for spectator sport.  For centuries afterwards there are continued revolts and skirmishes.

The last pagan Roman Emperor, Julian, permitted the Jews to return to Jerusalem.  At one time the Jews were driven from the Arabian Peninsula (now parts of Syria and Iraq) by the Arabs because Jewish communities began to dominate the local geography. The Christian Crusades around 1095 resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Jews throughout Europe and the Middle East.  During the 1300’s Jews were regularly persecuted in Western Europe.  This history includes persecution by one nation, and a welcome by another. During the American Revolution freedom of religion in America was declared, and this included Jews.  George Washington himself welcomed the Jewish community that had settled in Rhode Island. The conflict then has its American story dating back to the Founding Fathers.

In 1882, the first large scale immigration of Jews to Palestine occurred as the result of persecution in Russia and Romania. In 1896 an Austrian journalist, Theodore Herzl (the founder of modern Zionism), called for the establishment of a Jewish state. In 1916 the Ottoman Empire was divided up after its defeat in WWI. Britain won control over Palestine, and France over what is now known as Lebanon and Syria.  British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour endorsed the idea of a “national home” for the Jewish people in Palestine.  From 1936-39 the Arabs of Palestine attacked Jewish settlements (and some British army units) to prevent the establishment of a Jewish homeland.  In 1943 Lebanon became a state independent of France, under a power sharing arrangement between Christians and Muslims. In 1947 the United Nations voted to partition Palestine into two states: one for the Jews and one for the Palestinian Arabs, with Jerusalem to become an international enclave.  In 1948 Britain withdrew from Palestine. 

The surrounding Arab states joined with the Arabs in Palestine to try to stop the development of an independent Jewish state, but Israel was established despite this effort.  Jordan occupied the West Bank and Egypt the Gaza Strip.  Since then it has been attack and counter-attack for land.  Israel occupied the Sinai Peninsula (with help from Britain and France) in 1956, but withdrew under pressure from Russia and the U.S.  The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) was established in 1964 and Yassir Arafat was elected head in 1969. In 1967 the Six Day War occurred and Israel occupied the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank.  In 1973 Egypt and Syrian attacked Israel and occupied the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights.  Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1979. And so it goes….there are many more important moments…and they continue today.

 The Jewish struggle for a homeland is thousands of years old.  One thing that is so interesting to me is that Israel is a nation founded to support a religion.  In the rest of most of the world, modern nations support, allow, tolerate, or prohibit religious expression; however,  religion does not dictate the state laws.  Israel is a democracy.   Israel has is eyes on its geographical regions, but in controlling these areas puts the Jewish population at a distinct minority.  The Jews have a history of persecution –in modern times Israel was largely settled with Holocaust survivors - and this history is part of the culture that makes the need for a geographical homeland so vital.  So a mix of politics, geography, history, cultures, personal narratives, and religious beliefs define modern day Israel.

Given that this modern day conflict has been occurring for thousands of years, it is unlikely that it will end in our lifetime. So it goes...