Stargrove wrote:
A brief history of Israel
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The people of Israel (also called the "Jewish People") trace their origin to Abraham, who established the belief that there is only one God, the creator of the universe (see Old Testament). Abraham, his son Yitshak (Isaac), and grandson Jacob (Israel), are referred to as the patriarchs of the Israelites. All three patriarchs lived in the Land of Canaan, that later came to be known as the Land of Israel. They and their wives are buried in the Ma'arat HaMachpela, the Tomb of the Patriarchs, in Hebron.
The name Israel derives from the name given to Jacob (see Old Testament). His 12 sons were the kernels of 12 tribes that later developed into the Jewish nation. The name Jew derives from Yehuda (Judah) one of the 12 sons of Jacob. So, the names Israel, Israeli or Jewish refer to people of the same origin.
The descendants of Abraham crystallized into a nation at about 1300 BC after their Exodus from Egypt under the leadership of Moses (Moshe in Hebrew). Soon after the Exodus, Moses transmitted to the people of this new emerging nation, the Torah, and the Ten Commandments. After 40 years in the Sinai desert, Moses led them to the Land of Israel, that is cited in The Bible as the land promised by G-d to the descendants of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
The people of modern day Israel share the same language and culture shaped by the Jewish heritage and religion passed through generations starting with the founding father Abraham (ca. 1800 BC). Thus, Jews have had continuous presence in the land of Israel for the past 3,300 years.
The rule of Israelites in the land of Israel starts with the conquests of Joshua (ca. 1250 BCE). The period from 1000-587 BCE is known as the "Period of the Kings". The most noteworthy kings were King David (1010-970 BCE), who made Jerusalem the Capital of Israel, and his son Solomon (Shlomo, 970-931 BCE), who built the first Temple in Jerusalem as prescribed in the Tanach (Old Testament).
In 587 BCE, Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar's army captured Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple, and exiled the Jews to Babylon (modern day Iraq).
The year 587 BCE marks a turning point in the history of the region. From this year onwards, the region was ruled or controlled by a succession of superpower empires of the time in the following order: Babylonian, Persian, Greek Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine Empires, Islamic and Christian crusaders, Ottoman Empire, and the British Empire.
Some of the countries that have ruled in Israel:
587BC Babalon Destruction of the First Templ
538-222BC Persian Return of the exiled Jews from Babylon and construction of the second Temple
333-63BC Helenistic Conquest of the region by the army of Alexander the Great (333 BCE). The Greeks generally allowed the Jews to run their state. But, during the rule of the king Antiochus IV, the Temple was desecrated. This brought about the revolt of the Maccabees, who established an independent rule.
63BC-313AD Roman The Roman army led by Titus conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the Second Temple at 70 CE. Jewish people were then exiled and dispersed to other parts of the world. Bar Kokhba organized a revolt against Roman rule, but was killed in a battle in Bethar in Judean Hills. Subsequently the Romans decimated the Jewish community, renamed Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina and Judea as Palaestina to obliterate Jewish identification with the Land of Israel (the word Palestine, and the Arabic word Filastin originate from this Latin name). The remaining Jewish community moved to northern towns in the Galilee.
313-636 Byzantine
636-1099 Arab Dome of the Rock was built by Caliph Abd el-Malik on the grounds of the destroyed Jewish Temple.
1099-1291 Crusaders The crusaders came from Europe to capture the Holy Land following an appeal by Pope Urban II, and massacred the non-Christian population. Later Jewish community in Jerusalem expanded by immigration of Jews from Europe.
1291-1516 Malmuk
1516-1918 Ottoman During the reign of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566) the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem were rebuilt. Population of the Jewish community in Jerusalem increased.
1917-1948 British Great Britain recognized the rights of the Jewish people to establish a "national home in Palestine". Yet they greatly curtailed entry of Jewish refugees into Israel even after World War II. They split Palestine mandate into an Arab state which has become the modern day Jordan, and Israel.
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My two cents:
When the Israelites originally settled the area it was known as Canaann about 1800BC. This area was actually much larger than what is now modern day Israel. Since there is no one claiming to want the land in the name of the Canaanites, I think that probably settles the argument as to who was there first.
I do not think that Israel, in it's current incarnation, could have been anywhere but where it is now. It is the histroic land of the Israelites (or whatever ancient name you want to give them).
--Now to the original question of this topic, "Do you think the World would be as Polarized if we had not, in 1947 Created a Nation in a Land that was already occupied for centuries?"
Maybe, maybe not. Seems like a cop, out answer, huh? The extremist muslims seem to have three major beefs with us. 1) Our support of Israel, 2) Our troops on any muslim soil and 3) Support of corrupt arab regimes (in their eyes). I am sure there are others. Now, if you take away #1, You still have #2 & #3 and since we still need their oil and for the region to remain somewhat stable, they would probably still have a problem with us. There are also the fanatics that believe that all non-muslims should convert or die. I think that things would have taken longer to get to the point we are at today, but we probably would have still gotten there.
Sorry for the long post,
Stargrove
BTW: The Israelites are Arabs
the discussion who lived in that area first is pointless. even if you argue that the biblical documents are correct ( it is after all more a theological question than an archeological one ), it is still likely that various ethnic groups lived together in the same area. There were no boundaries back then, no nations as we know them today. As horseman has said, you could also make a case that other tribes lived in that area before and that those have a historical "right" for that land.
The decisive point to me is the fact that England after WWII
decided to give the jewish people that land, regardless of who was living there at the time. The jews were living in diaspora, spread throughout the whole world. I can only speculate why the British thought that the jews deserved a land of their own. Personally, I believe it was a bit of a guilty conscious.
After all, it was not the first time in history that a tribe was basically wiped off of the face of the earth.
It used to happen all the time. That's just how history works. Some tribes survive the struggle, others don't.
Most of the big empires have fought and eradicated ethnic minorities / tribes in their history and never looked back ( this includes the British, btw ).
my point is, you can't take an arbitrary point in time and say "well, we lived there at that time, so it is our land". history doesn't know such a concept. history only knows survival of the fittest, or extinction.
I mean, no one is demanding that the north american continent should be given back to the indians either..
Sure, they lived there a long time, but they were pushed out by a stronger tribe, and that was the end of that.
Of course, the concept of "nation" is relatively new to the world. But jews never had a nation, and only do so now because other nations decided to help them out.
It's basically like saying ( with regard to an endangered species ): "well, we know nature selected you for extinction, but we will give you this tiny habitat and pay for your food and defense so you can live on"