Religion as the Main Cause of the Conflict in the Middle East Since 1914

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Religion as the Main Cause of the Conflict in the Middle East Since 1914

The conflict in the Middle East has been unsolved for years and since

then there has been much violence and suffering. Arabs and Jews both

have a claim to the land that we now call Israel. In biblical times

God promised Abraham the land of Canaan, now Israel if he and his

followers spread the word of God. The Jews settled there. "Then the

Lord appeared to Abraham and said 'To your descendants I will give

this land'". (Genesis 12:7). Over the next 700 years different

societies had control over the land. When the Romans took control, the

Emperor Hadrien pushed the Jews out of Israel and they became a

scattered people.

In the early Middle Ages, the Arabs controlled a huge empire covering

the Middle East, North Africa and parts of Western Europe. Gradually

this declined but the Arabs still kept Palestine. An important

religious development took place during the 7th Century when most

Arabs converted to Islam, after the death of their leader Muhammed.

Jerusaluem, in the heart of Palestine, became a holy Islamic city as

many Arabs believed this is where their great leader Muhammed had

ascended to heaven. This made Jerusaluem a great religious centre for

Arabs.

In 1896 a Jew named Theodor Herzl published the Jewish State which

says that the Jewish people needed a homeland. He wanted to call for

immediate attention and start the Jews fight for their homeland. It

states "Let us Jews be given sovereignty over part of the world big

enough to satisfy the needs of a nation." Both Arabs and Israelis

believe that Israel is their homeland. " O ye Arabs! You all dwell in

...

... middle of paper ...

...The Yom Kippur War were backlash from a previous war, and

was Palestine trying to seek revenge from previous damage done and so

other Arab nations became involved in invading land as by means of not

being defeated. Terrorist groups such as the PLO were also just

seeking revenge and responding to backlash, and the greed for more

land.

What had begun as a religious claim for the land from the Israelis

"This is our homeland. Our ancestors lived here in ancient times" and

the counter claim of the Arabs that they had always been there ("The

Arab case is based on the principle that only people who can claim

ownership of their country are those who are born there" David

Humphries) has developed into a conflict which now includes factors

such as foreign interests, world oil resources and the position of

Palestine itself.

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