Brief History of the Holy Land
These highly condensed histories are here as a service to the world regarding the current and ongoing Middle Eastern crisis. The information was taken from sources that I consider to be fact-based and nonpolitical and nonreligious in nature, holding no particular bias. The source is given credit at the end of each section. Author: Teri Lee Earl.
Most present day biblical scholars date the Hebrew exodus from Egypt at the end of the Bronze Age, late thirteenth century B.C. A victory inscription of Merneptah, an Egyptian pharoah who reigned from 1236-1223 B.C., provides the earliest non-biblical reference to "Israel"
The Iron Age (ca. 1200-333 B.C.) roughly corresponds to Old Testament times. Israel was divided into two separate kingdoms after Solomon's death (ca. 925 B.C.). The northern Israelite kingdom, still called Israel, was destroyed by the Assyrians in 722 B.C. (2 Kings 17) The southern Israelite kingdom, called Judah, was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C., and many of its leaders exiled (2 Kings 25) Under Persian rule, the exiles were allowed to return (Ezra 1)
Alexander the Great invaded Middle East, defeating Persia in 333 B.C. This introduced Greek and Roman influence and culture, and this period was called the Hellenistic Period (333- 64 B.C.), after the "Hellenes" as the Greeks referred to themselves. After Alexander's death, his empire was divided and ruled by his top military officials. Two of these officials, Ptolemy and Seleucus, gained control of the Middle East at that time. In 166 B.C. the Jews rebelled against Antiocush IV, one of the Seleucid rulers, and established an independent kingdom in Jerusalem. This was the so-called "Maccabean rebellion" (see the Inter-Testament books of 1 -2 Maccabees) Jewish rulers who followed are known as the "Maccabean" or "Hasmonean" rulers.
In 64 B.C. Pompey annihilated the Seleucid kingdom and in its place created the Roman province of Syria. The following year he marched on Jerusalem to settle a squabble between two contenders to the Hasmonean throne, Aristobolus II and Hyrcanus II. After this, and for the next two and a half centuries, Rome dictated who would rule what parts of the Holy Land, for how long. Surely the most famous Rome-appointed ruler was Herod the Great (37-4 B.C.) Jesus' ministry and the beginnings of Christianity belong to the first century A.D., in the aftermath of Herod the Great's spectacular reign. There were two major Jewish revolts -- A.D. 66-70 and 132-135, both of which were crushed ruthlessly by the Romans. During this Roman Period (64 B.C. - A.D. 324), the Holy Land was eventually incorporated into the Roman province system and became an integral part of the Roman population, in which a majority of the population worshiped pagan gods. The exceptions were the surviving Jewish and Samaritan communities, mostly in Galilee, and the rapidly growing Christian movement which remained primarily "underground."
Byzantine Period (A.D. 324-640) During the first 60 years of this time period, the Roman empire became divided into two realms -- the west looked to Rome for leadership while the east, which included the Middle East, looked to Byzantium. Constantine emerged as sole ruler of the Roman empire in 324 A.D., and made Byzantium his capital, renaming it Constantinople. The following year he presided over the Council of Nicea, and Christianity became the official religion of the Roman/Byzantine world. The Holy Land remained relatively secure within the Byzantine realm for the next 300 years.
An unsuccessful Persian invasion of Syria-Palestine in A.D. 611- 614 weakened Byzantium, and by 640 most of Egypt, the Holy Land, and Syria had fallen into the Muslim hands. Jerusalem fell to Caliph Omar in 637. The Middle East underwent a radical change as Arab culture and Islam took hold. During this Early Arab Period (A.D. 640- 1099), the Holy Land was dominated in turn by the so-called "Rightly Guided Caliphs," the Umayyad caliphs who ruled from Damascus (661-750), the Abbasid caliphs who ruled from Baghdad (750-969), and the Fatimid caliphs who ruled from Cairo (969-1171).
Crusader Period (A.D. 1099-1260) Seljuk Turks from central Asia took Damascus in 1055 and by 1077 they conquered Jerusalem. It was primarily in response to this Seljuk conquest of the Holy Land and their disruption of Christian pilgrim routes that the Crusades were launched. As a result of the First Crusade (1097-1099), four Latin kingdoms were established: Edessa, Antioch, Tripoli, and Jerusalem. The Latin kingdom of Jerusalem existed for almost a hundred years (1099-1187) Saladin crushed the Crusader army at the "Horns of Hattin" in 1187, and by the end of that same year he conquered Jerusalem. The Crusaders hung on for another hundred years, mostly along the coast, until Babars of the Mamluks succeeded in expelling the Crusaders completely from the Holy Land. This Mamluk Period (A.D. 1260-1517) was an exceptionally harsh time for the local population, since the Mamluks were very harsh rulers who officially condoned the exploitation of their subjects. Finally, a clash occurred between the Ottoman Turks who had taken over Constantinople and the Mamluks, with the Turks victorious in 1516. This began the Ottoman Period (1517-1918) of Turkish rule over the Holy Land and Egypt. The Turks began to decline after the reign of Suleiman the "Magnificent" (1520-1566), and by the nineteenth century they were systematically losing large territories. Still, most of the Middle East remained at least nominally in Ottoman hands until World War I.
Today, ancient Persia corresponds roughly with present-day Iran, ancient Babylonia and Assyria are within modern Iraq, and ancient Phoencia approximates today's Lebanon. As for the east/west distinction of either side of the Jordan River in the Holy Land (ancient Israel), the area west of the Jordan was usually called "Canaan" in the Old Testament and the area east of the Jordan was simply known as "beyond the Jordan" "Palestine" is the English pronunciation of the word "Philistia" which is the "land of the Philistines" and in the Old Testament referred only to a narrow strip of coastal plain south of approximately where Tel Aviv stand today. Greek and Roman geographers began to use the name Philistia in a broader sense, and during the Mandate Period (described below), "Palestine" was officially designated as a larger area between the Dead Sea and the Jordan River. As for the people, from earliest recorded times until Alexander the Great, the land was dominated by Semitic speaking peoples. During the Hellenistic-Roman-Byzantine periods, Latin speaking peoples entered in and dominated the area for a thousand years. Then the Arabs occupied the Holy Land during the seventh century A.D., renaming cities according to their own preferences. Modern day Israeli's have a tendency to rename settlements again back to their Hebrew equivalents, including recalling Jerusalem by its original name instead of "el-Quds" (Arabic for "the holy place")
The Mandate Period began in 1918 after World War I, when both France and England took possession of the former Ottoman territories as "mandates." The roots of the present day political conflict between the Arabian population and the Israeli population of the Holy Land began here, because conflicting promises were made to the two different peoples. The Arabs were led to believe that Syria, which they understood in the broadest sense as including Lebanon AND the Holy Land, would become independent Arab territory (McMahon-Hussein letters, 1915; Anglo-French Declaration 1918), while the Jews were promised a national homeland in Palestine (Balfour Declaration, 1917). The League of Nations adopted the mandate concept as a solution, which was dissatisfactory to all . Under this solution, France received Syria, including present-day Lebanon, and England received Mesopotamia and the Holy Land, which was divided into two (explained below).
The source of the Arab promises began with an uprising against the Turks during World War I, led by Hussein Ibn Ali, Sharif of Mecca and his four sons. This uprising was encouraged by the famous Englishman, "Laurence of Arabia" who made certain promises to the Arabs upon their success. Afterwards though, the Holy Land was divided into two by the Mandates initiated by the League of Nations. The area west of the Jordan River was newly designated "Palestine" and administered directly by the British, while the area east of the Jordan was established as an emirate (kingdom) with Hussein's son Abdullah as emir (king), under the protection of the British. This was known as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordon, its capitol being the then small village of Amman. The British made this kingdom fully independent as a recognition of Abdullah's loyalty on May 25, 1946.
Meanwhile, Jewish immigration back to the Holy Land increased sharply after World War I (the unsuccessful Jewish revolts of the Roman Period followed by the rapid Christianization of the Middle East during the third and fourth centuries, had resulted in a sharp decline of Jewish presence, even though Jewish communities continued to exist) This immigration was encouraged by both the Balfour Declaration of 1917 initiated by Britain (already mentioned above) and the subsequent anti-Semitism which became especially murderous in the 1930's under Hitler in central Europe. This influx changed the population in Palestine from 90% Arab to a Jewish community of approximately one third the total population by 1947.
As the influx increased, Arab/Jew tensions escalated with violence on both sides, yet world-wide anti-Semitism continued after World War II (details given below under the "World-Wide Anti-Semitism…" title), forcing more Jews to either immigrate to the Holy Land or die. The world's conscience was pricked and on November 29, 1947, the United Nations passed a resolution favoring the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine. The British announced that they would terminate their mandate on May 14, 1948 and withdraw. Upon British withdrawal, Israel proclaimed herself as an independent nation and a full scale Arab-Israeli war broke out immediately, which included Abdullah from east of the Jordan (Hashemite Kingdom). The day- old nation was able to defend herself, and armistice agreements were signed in 1949. Full-scale war initiated by the Arab nations or peoples exploded again in 1956 (the Port Said Incident), 1967 (the "Six Day War"), and in 1973 (the "Yom Kippur War") with Israel defending her existence each time.
The original boundaries of the new state of Israel did not include a large section of territory immediately west of the Jordan River, the same territory governed by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan from 1950 - 1967 (the same kingdom that helped attack the new nation upon her independence). Naturally, this population is almost entirely Arab and includes many of the "Palestinian refugees" (as they are known today), who settled there from 1947- 1948, and today this area is known as the West Bank. As a result of the "Six Day War" (which Israel won), this region is still governed by Israel and remains under Israeli military control. The peoples there after the wars were not driven out by Israel yet they also do not hold Israeli citizenship. Obviously, terrorists and others wish conditions to return to the self-government they had prior to the Six Day War. However, Israel insists that they need to maintain governmental control of this area thanks to the previous wars and present-day violence perpetuated against her citizenry by terrorist attacks that continue to this day. Israel prefers to call the West Bank by the old biblical names--- Judea and Samaria. The Gaza Strip, previously governed by Egypt until the Six Day War, is also similarly disputed. The Sinai was in a similar situation but was returned to Egypt after the Camp David Accord. The Golan Heights (upper Jordan Valley immediately north of the Sea of Galilee) have always been disputed after the armistice agreement of 1949 (after the initial war against the new nation of Israel) with the Arab's calling this a "no-man's land," insisting that Israel should not establish farm settlements there. These heights had been conquered again by the Israeli's, at great expense to human life, during the Six Day War.
Source: pp. 9-14, 32-33 and 47-52, Introducing the Holy Land by J. Maxwell Miller, copyright 1982, Mercer University Press
World-Wide Anti-Semitism Prior to the Creation of the State of Israel
As most people know, Adolf Hitler's measures against the Jewish people included what is known as the "Final Solution"--a plan for large-scale extermination of the entire Jewish race . However, they are probably not aware of the fact that anti-Semitism was actually world-wide at the time, including countries not occupied by German troops. Surprisingly, some of the most damaging policies that effectively worked against Jews as a race, were perpetuated by the very allied countries who liberated Jews from the Holocaust. After World War II, the world was finally shamed into providing the Jewish people a "safe" haven in the form of their own state, which is still today surrounded by hostile Arab countries and peoples.
Even during World War II, the Jews found little help for their plight. For instance, even though countries under the Third Reich’s control would have permitted over 400,000 visas for Jews to exit out of their borders, the U.S. State Dept. invented obstacles to prevent the immigration of Jews, some of which were quite unreasonable and rather baffling. Just as inexplicably, President Roosevelt continued to deny support for various rescue plans for distressed Jews that were put before him. It wasn’t until 1944, with the majority of the Jews already dead, that Roosevelt did finally take some serious action. All in all, by May of 1939, only 63,000 refugees had been admitted to the U.S. during the crises of World War II. In contrast, some countries, like Sweden, freely admitted all who could reach her borders. Of the other countries, Britain (whose towns and cities were being seriously bombed by Hitler) claimed to have no room for large-scale immigration, and Australia and Peru, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, Argentine, and Mexico, would admit none at all (At one point, Australia is quoted as saying, "We don't have a Jew problem, and we don't want one.").
The situation became more and more desperate as time went on, both during the Holocaust of World War II and afterwards, while desperate Jews fled for their lives, mostly by sea. The whole world presumably knew the plight of the Jews by then, yet turned a cold shoulder with devastating results. For instance, the captain of the ship, the St. Louis, had more than a little trouble finding places to distribute his Jewish passengers. This sympathetic German captain even considered beaching his ship on the British coast rather than returning his cargo to the Third Reich. Other ships followed, including the Rumanian vessel, Struma which set sail in December, 1941. Palestinian countries refused to admit her Jewish passengers with British permits, and Britain refused to grant them. It was towed out to sea by the Turks, and the leaky ship sank off-shore with all but two of her 767 Holocaust survivors drowning, including a sizable number of women and children.
These were victims of the infamous British White Paper immigration policy, which had been put in place prior to the German death camp operations. The White Paper immigration policy was in reality a deal Britain had struck up with the Arab countries in 1939 in order not to anger them during a vulnerable time for Britain. Hitler’s anti-Jewish purposes already appealed to these Arab countries, one or two of whom announced they'd just assume Hitler win so that the world would be left with no Jews. Iraq iin specific, had waged an unofficial "war" against Britain in 1941, cutting off Britian’s oil supplies. So in order to make peace and continue her oil supply through to the end of the war, Britain created this White Paper policy in order to severely limit the number of Jews allowed into Arab British held territories with large Arab populations. The policy would permit no more than 75,000 Jews to enter Palestine territories within a five year year period, a number which was far below the number needed for the hundred of thousands of Jewish survivors of the death camps after the war— Jews who literally and physically had no other place to go.
As a result, Britain found herself essentially at war against these survivors, repeating variations of the St. Louis and Struma voyages fifty-seven times over. Eventually, Britain even erected (no doubt more humane) concentration camps of her own to hold the Jews in Cyprus! The Jews responded by engaging in various tactics including underground railroads to smuggle their people through. Although many British leaders, including Winston Churchill, had long been pro-Jewish, this hypocrisy of liberating the Jews from Hitler’s death camps in World War II one day only to make sure they were dead and homeless the next, began and the violent conflict between the Jews and the British at the time. Thus the violent Zionists movements began, bent on expelling British rule in Palestine as a solution.
Why did the Jews either insist on returning to their old homeland regardless of British policy or die out at sea? As already said, the Jews really had no where else in the world to go, either during World War II or afterwards when Europe had been razed by war. In fact, it is a little-known fact that anti-Semitism in the Palestine area became similar to Nazi rhetoric during conflicts with Jewish Zionists. For instance, The British League, after a Jewish terrorist attack in 1948, is said to have released a statement that boasted of their successful bombing reprisal like so: "…We attacked the center of the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem with high explosive, inflicting heavy losses on the vermin; more than 200 dead and 200 wounded, all Jews. We are proud to announce that no distinction has been made between the cowardly gangsters of the Haganah and the Sternist assassins. Jewish women and children, young and old, will be destroyed. We will finish the work that Hitler began."
Eventually, world conscience was aroused over the Jewish plight, and the world powers approved a Jewish state in Palestine as a matter of the survival of their race. Israel was the only state in history in the creation of which the nations of the world formally took part, and in this case the vote of the Assembly of the United Nations was a two-thirds majority and included the vote of the two superpowers at the time: U.S.S.R. and the United States. The British abstained from the vote and withdrew from the stewpot of Palestine on May 14, 1948, just prior to the first attack by Arab nations against Israel.
In their home of 2,000 years ago with the official stamp of approval
from most nations since 1948, Israel survives tenaciously amidst conflicts,
wars, terrorism, and threats of war amongst Arab neighbors who have oft-times
vowed to wipe both their race and State off the face of the earth. The
United States has been the only country that has supplied Israel with weapons,
even though its foreign policy has sometimes been little more than lip-service
to Israeli causes.
Source: pp. 103-158, The Nuremberg Fallacy, Wars and War Crimes Since World War II, by Eugene Davidson, copyright 1973, The Macmillan Company
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