A Brief History of the Israeli -Palestinian Conflict
By David Lawson
David Lawson has been involved with Precept Ministries since 1981, first as a student, then as a leader, and later as a Trainer. On staff with Precept he has served as Co-Director of Transform Student Ministries, as an author of various Bible studies, a featured teacher on several Precept videos and currently is working in Social Media. David is passionate about helping people learn to study the Word of God for themselves. He firmly believes the Word of God is what the Spirit of God uses more than anything else to mature the children of God.
As a Christian I am wired to see things as black or white, right or wrong, sin or righteousness. It’s just simpler that way. However, many issues in this world don’t always fit into nice neat little packages. Sometimes things can’t be explained in 140 characters or even a facebook post. But, you knew that.
I have discovered the world is always more complicated than we are willing to admit.
The Israeli and Palestinian conflict is like that. There is enough pain, suffering, and blame to go around. No one is completely innocent in the conflict. But sometimes understanding the “why?” helps us as outsiders know how to pray.
A Brief History
I realize history is not everyone’s favorite subject, so I will make it very brief. From the beginning of Islam in the early 7th century until World War I the Jews and Arabs got along fairly well. A quick study of history shows that it was the Christians and not the Muslims who caused the Jewish people the most trouble.
In the late 19th century there was a growing anti-Semitism in Europe and the idea of an independent Jewish state began to be discussed.
Prior to the end of WWI, the British Balfour Declaration supported a national home for the Jews in Palestine. At the end of WWI, the Ottoman Empire was dismantled and the British occupied Palestine, having been mandated to administer the region west of the Jordan River. Conflict between Jews and Arabs in Palestine escalated immediately and they fought frequently until the outbreak of World War II.
After the war, and the murder of six million Jews in the Holocaust, the United Nations voted to partition the country west of the Jordan River to create both a Jewish state and an Arab or Palestinian state.
The Jews agreed to the plan but the Arabs rejected it.
1948
The British mandate ended on May 14, 1948 and they disengaged their forces. The Jews proclaimed the independent State of Israel that day and the next day they were attacked by Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon. But by December the little country of Israel had won its independence.
That win shocked the Arab world, which today refers to it as al-Nakba (Arabic for The Catastrophe) and set the course for the rest of the Arab – Israeli conflict.
1967
In 1967 Egypt and Syria, backed by Iraq and the Soviet Union, prepared to attack, but on June 5th Israel launched a preemptive strike against both countries while pleading with Jordan not to get involved. But Jordan engaged and began shelling civilian populations.
A week later Israel controlled Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the Golan Heights, Gaza, and the Sinai . The Arab world was again shocked and today the 1967 war is commonly referred to as an-Naksah, “The Setback.”
1973
Syria and Egypt, backed by several Arab countries and Cuba, launched a surprise attack against Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for the Jewish people. Within three weeks the Israeli forces were across into Egypt fighting towards Cairo and also shelling the outskirts of Damascus in Syria. Disengagement agreements were signed and Israel left Syria and Egypt, although they kept the Sinai.
1979
Egypt agreed to recognize Israel’s right to exist and became the first Arab state to sign a peace agreement with Israel.
Why these wins matter.
Let me give you two quotes to help with perspective.
“The most underestimated emotion in Arab politics is humiliation. The Israeli-Arab conflict, for instance, is not just about borders. Israel’s mere existence is a daily humiliation to Muslims, who can’t understand how, if they have the superior religion, Israel can be so powerful.”
Thomas L. Friedman in his post “Middle East Rules To Live By”, 2006.
“It gnaws at the people in the Middle East that such a small country as Israel,… can defeat the Arab nation with its 350 million. That hurts our collective ego. The Palestinian problem is in the genes of every Arab. The West’s problem is that it does not understand this.”
Ahmed Sheikh, Al Jazeera’s then editor-in-chief, interview with the Swiss weekly Die Weltwoche, December 7, 2006,
Who Are The Palestinians?
Palestinians are those Arab nationals and their descendants who, until 1947, normally resided in Palestine. This includes the Arabic speaking Christians, Samaritans, and Druze. Today most of the Palestinians live in Jordan, the West Bank area of Israel, and Gaza.
Although the Druze fit the original definition they do not think of themselves as Palestinians first, but as Druze. They are not Muslim and tend to stay together in their own villages.
Who is Hamas?
Hamas is Palestinian political party:
was formed in 1987.
was designated a foreign terrorist organization by the US in 1997.
essentially becme the ruling political party of Gaza in 2005.
Today they essentially have two branches, one political and one military. Both are committed to the destruction of Israel and became famous for using suicide bombers to terrorize civilian populations in Israel. When Israel built the infamous separation wall, and through a combination of tactics stopped the suicide bombers, Hamas began intermittently firing rockets from Gaza toward towns in Israel. Since January of this year they have fired over 3000 rockets into Israel provoking the current Israeli response.
My Personal Opinion
The Arab world has been frustrated by the fact that Israel still exists. As Ahmed Sheikh said, “That hurts our collective ego.” As a result the Arab world has been offended by the existence of Israel and that offense has extended even to the non-Arab Muslim world. Today Israel’s greatest threat is probably Iran who although they are a Muslim nation, are not Arabs.
Like the Jews of the early twentieth century the Palestinians want a home land, a place to call their own. Many of them want to live and raise their families in peace. However the poverty, hurt ego, and a radical religion have combined to raise up an angry religious fringe element and a political system that fuels itself on revenge and the promise of martyrdom, leading to a very sensual paradise.
I believe the Palestinian people are the victims of the radical elements of Islam that can see no further than the destruction of Israel. The existence of the State of Israel is after all, an insult to Allah. If the god of Islam is so powerful why can’t 350 million Arabs destroy 7 million Jews living in Israel? It must be someone else’s fault! And that is where the US and Christianity come in. It must be our fault for helping Israel.
Let me say again, the fact that Israel and Christianity exist implies to the radicals that Allah is weak.
The Result?
The Arab world, and especially the Palestinians, continue to teach hate and prejudice to their children. They nurse in their babies a hatred for Israel, and also for the Christians. They glorify suicide bombers as commandos, and killers of women and children as martyrs for Allah because they cannot win a direct military conflict with Israel. History has already proven that.
Our Response?
Our response is clear and obvious. Jesus told us how to respond. We love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matt 5:44).
We pray for
our brothers who are persecuted in Gaza and the West Bank.
for the Muslim Palestinians because they live without hope.
God to destroy Hamas because it is evil and it murders women and children, both Palestinian and Jewish.
the peace of Jerusalem.
the Jewish people to recognize that Jesus is their Messiah.
We pray!
Wrap up
The Israeli -Palestinian Conflict is just one of many things going on in the world that we, as believers, need to pray about. But how do we pray effectively? Essentials of Effective Prayer will teach you key principles of prayer and enable you to gain a deeper understanding of how prayer can draw you closer to God’s heart, and thereby empower you to pray more effectively.