roots of conflict august 2009

8/9/2019 Roots of Conflict August 2009

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PalestinePalestineRoots of ConflictRoots of Conflict

Dr. Azzam Tamimi

15 August 2009


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Understanding the Problem

Political dimension

Religious dimension

Humanitarian dimension


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Muslims and JewsMuslims and Jews

For more than thirteen centuries Muslims,

Christians and Jews coexisted peacefully.

When persecuted in Europe or banished from

it many Jews sought refuge in Muslim lands.

The problem in PALESTINE is not of

communal nature; it is not between two

religious communities that compete for

resources or power, but between its people, the

PALESTINIANS, whether Muslim, Christian or

Jewish on the one hand, and colonial invaders

on the other.


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The History of Palestine

Known as the land of Canaan,

Palestine is believed to have been first

inhabited 4,500 years ago by the

Canaanites who had come from theArabian Peninsula.

Early InhabitantsEarly Inhabitants


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Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim) migrated to Palestine

and made Al-Khalil (Hebron) his home.

The Israelites (the Children of Israel or Jacob), where

sent a succession of prophets that descended from

Abraham (Ibrahim) . They included Isaac (Ishaq),Jacob (Yaqub or Israel), Joseph (Yusuf), Mosses

(Musa), David (Dawud), Solomon (Sulayman) and

finally Jesus (Isa) peace be upon them all.

A person cannot be Muslim without believing in

these prophets and accepting them as messengers of

God.

The HebrewsThe Hebrews


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The Israelites ruled over parts of Palestineand not all of it for about four centuries (from

1,000 BC to 586 BC). Their rule faded away

and they were forced out of Palestine by the

Romans, who destroyed the second temple inthe year 70 AD.


By 135 AD the entire Israelite population of

Palestine had been transformed into a Jewish

Diaspora.

From Dominion to ExileFrom Dominion to Exile


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Since then most Jews adhered to theTalmudic passage in Tractate Keubot in

which God is said to have imposed three

oaths on the Jews:

1. They should not rebel against non-Jews;2. As a group, they should not massively

emigrate to Palestine before the coming of

the Messiah; and

3. They should not pray too strongly for the

coming of the Messiah, so as not to bring

him before his appointed time.

The Talmudic CovenantThe Talmudic Covenant


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When the Muslims conqueredPalestine and took Jerusalem from the

Romans in 638 AD there was not a

single Jew in Palestine.

Having been severely persecuted and

enslaved by the Romans, the Arab

Christian population of Palestine saw

the Muslims as liberators rather than

conquerors.

Islam in PalestineIslam in Palestine


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The Islamic identity of Palestine was establishedfor the longest continuing period historically since

the Islamic conquest in the 7th Century.

Throughout that period and until the early years

of the 20th Century, Palestine remained underMuslim rule.

Under Islam, followers of the three monotheistic

religions coexisted peacefully, except for a brief period from 10991187 when Jerusalem was

occupied by the crusaders.

An Islamic IdentityAn Islamic Identity


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For many centuries, and until the

advent of nationalism in 18th Century

Europe and the rise of secular

political Zionism, most Jews believed

that the return to Palestine was

prohibited and should not be

attempted until the coming of theMessiah.

Forcing Gods HandForcing Gods Hand


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Two Birds with one StoneResolving the Jewish Problem of Europe

- anti-Semitism

- pogroms- Zionism; both Christian and Jewish

- Balfour Declaration

Maintaining Control of the M. East- booty of war

- colonialism by proxy

Colonial DesignsColonial Designs


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From Herzl to Hitler

Jewish opposition to Zionism

- Basle & Montreal conferences

- Rabbi Cook

The Nazis, the Zionists & the Holocaust

The Jews &The Jews &ZionismZionism


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During the First World War, Britain adoptedthe Zionist project and issued the Balfour

Declaration in November 1917 for the

establishment of a national home for the Jewish

people in Palestine. By September 1918 the

British occupation of Palestine was completed.

The League of Nations in July 1922legitimized Britains occupation in the guise of a

Mandate that included the Balfour declaration.

The History of PalestineColonial LandmarksColonial Landmarks


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During the British occupation period from 19181948, the doors of immigration into Palestine were

made wide open before European Jews.

There were 55,000 Jewish immigrants in 1918and 646,000 in 1948 .

During that period too, British support for Jewish

acquisition of Palestinian land enabled the Jews to

increase their land ownership from 2% to 6.7% ofthe land of Palestine.

The History of PalestineDaytime TheftDaytime Theft


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The Palestinians protested with

uprisings.

The first uprising known as TheJerusalem Uprising took place in 1920.

It was followed by the protests of

- Yaffa in 1921,

- Al-Buraq Wall from 1929 - 1933, and

- The Great Strike of 1936 1939.

The History of PalestinePalestinian ProtestsPalestinian Protests


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The British were compelled to issue awhite paper in 1939 promising:

- the establishment of a Palestinian state.

- discontinuing the sale of Palestinianland to the Jews

- an end to Jewish immigration after 5

years.

But by 1945 all these promises had beenbetrayed.

Broken PromisesBroken Promises


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On 29 November 1947 the United NationsGeneral Assembly issued Resolution No. 181

recommending the partition of Palestine into two

states.

It was suggested that the Arabs take 45% and the

Jews 54% while the remaining 1% (Jerusalem) is

designated as an international territory.

The Zionists announced the creation of theirstate Israel on the night of14th May 1948.

The History of PalestineThe State of IsraelThe State of Israel


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The Zionists seized 77% of the land ofPalestine and forcibly expelled 800,000

inhabitants out of a total of 920, 000

Palestinians outside the area allotted for theirstate.

In 1967 the rest of Palestine was lost. The

West Bank including East Jerusalem as well as

the Gaza strip were captured while 330,000

Palestinian inhabitants were made refugees.

The History of PalestineThe Palestinian HolocaustThe Palestinian Holocaust


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TheThe RefugeesRefugeesTheThe RefugeesRefugees

Fields of

operation

Official

camps

Registered

Refugees

Registered

Refugees in

camps

Jordan

Lebanon

Syria

West Bank

Gaza Strip

Agency Total

10 1,570,192 280,191

12 376,472 210,715

10 383,199 111,712

19 583,009 157,676

8 824,622 451,186

59 3,737,494 1,211,480


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Rate of increase of the landless, stateless and restricted

population of refugees in Gaza, West Bank, Jordan,Lebanon and Syria

Total number of refugees in, Gaza, West Bank, Jordan , Lebanon and Syria.

914,221

905,9861,120,889

1,280,8231,425,219

1,632,707

1,844,318

2,093,545

2,422,514

3,172,641

3,737,494

0

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

3,000,000

3,500,000

4,000,000

1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000

No. of

Refugees

No of refugees every 5 years


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Palestine toPalestine to thethe MuslimsMuslims

Dome of the Rock

Al-Aqsa Mosque Completed in 691

CE during the time

of Caliph Abd al-

Malik ibn Marwan,

the building

encloses a huge

rock from which

Prophet Muhammad

ascended (in Miraj)

to the heavens at the

end of his Night

Journey (Isra).

For more than fourteen hundred years Al Aqsa has

been venerated throughout the Muslim world as

the third holiest site in Islam. Known as the First

Qiblah (direction faced in prayer), it was to

Jerusalem that Prophet Muhammad made this Night Journey from the Masjid al-Haram in

Makkah.


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Palestine toPalestine to thethe MuslimsMuslims

Glory be to him

Who carried His servant by

night,

From the Holy Mosque to theFurthest Mosque ,

The precinct of which We

have blessed,

That We might show him

some of Our signs.

He is the All-Hearing, the

All-Seeing.

(Surat al-Isra)


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Useful References

Abdelwahab Elmessiri, Palestine the Land of Promise

Israel Shahak, Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel

Walter Laqueru,A History of Zionism

Uri Davis, Israel: Utopia IncorporatedHenry Cottan, The Question of Palestine

roots of conflict august 2009

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