The History of Palestine

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The History of Palestine

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Before Palestine

Palestine was originally called the Kingdom or Nation of Israel (~1000 BCE), not to be confused by the modern-day nation called Israel. The capital of Israel was Jerusalem, which hosted many kings. One popular and widely recognized king was King David, who replaced King Saul. Most Jews and Christians will be familiar with the story of Saul and David. (It seems as though many Muslims are unfamiliar with the story of David and Saul even though Islamic scholars often praise how King David was a prophet in Islam.)

Israel was very much a Jewish kingdom. The kingdom’s religion was Judaism, though often the people fell away from Judaism and would practice religions from countries surrounding them. The culture was Jewish, and their the God, Elohim/Yahweh, would speak through prophets to the kings and citizens. (prophets such as Samuel and Nathan.)

Israel fought with and against many other kingdoms. Some wars Israel won, other wars they were led into captivity. The kingdom split shortly after the death of King Solomon, the son of King David. The two kingdoms were called Israel and Judah/Judea. Israel’s capital became Samaria, as Judah’s capital became Jerusalem. Jerusalem was often conquered and at times even destroyed, yet the Jewish people would come back to rebuild what they could.

Palestine

In 63 BCE, Rome captured Jerusalem. The Romans named the region of Judea “Palestine” and went about erasing any remnants of a kingdom. The same Romans went about killing rebels and “messiahs” of the Jewish people, including Jesus.

Eventually, Palestine would host people from around the known world, including Romans, Greeks, Arabs, Egyptians, etc. Jerusalem hosted many synagogues and later house churches, showing a strong Jewish and Christian connection. (Islamists teach that Jerusalem was built by Arabs for Arab Muslims. This is incorrect.)

Modern Palestine/Israel

The area of Israel and Palestine have continued to be held captive throughout the centuries by various groups, mostly Islamic empires which would often spread anti-Jewish/Christian and pro-Islamic propaganda, with the Ottoman Empire having the longest modern conquest (1517-1917).

During the 1800s, people living in the region of Palestine began wanting to become free from the oppressive rule by the Turks and aimed to create a new nation called Palestine. palestine as a country was made known in 1947. During 1948, Jews were given an area in their old homeland, making Jerusalem their capital once again.

News

Palestinians believe they should have Jerusalem as a capital. Palestine was never country until 1947. In 1948, Israel became established in the same territory as well. This caused strife between those that supported Palestine as a country and those that supported Israel as a country. Since then, numerous wars have broken out, mostly inflicting death on civilians on both sides. While people often point out that more children and civilians are killed by Israeli rockets, one must remember that Israel has the iron dome and can deploy more rockets. Often, rockets fire at Israel from civilian locations, knowing that rockets will be fired at those locations, dangering the lives of civilians. A two state solution has been up in the air, though neither side wants to cede Jerusalem.

Jerusalem

Jerusalem originally hosted the Jewish Temple, many synagogues, and churches. It is claimed that Muhammad went to pray at a mosque in Jerusalem. However, there is no evidence of Islam, Muslims, or mosques in Jerusalem at the time. Instead, decades after Muhammad’s death, Umar, the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, built a mosque upon the location of the second Temple. The Wailing Wall was also renamed in honor of an unproven event where Muhammad tied his never-seen creature. This ultimately would strip the Jews any rights to Jerusalem if Islamic leaders could effectively erase any jewish ties to the city. Later on, Crusaders claimed Jerusalem and made the mosque into a palace and built a church in its stead.


Sources

Encyclopedia:

https://www.britannica.com/place/Jerusalem/History

https://www.britannica.com/place/Palestine

Scholarly Sites:

https://www.bibleodyssey.org/tools/map-gallery/i/map-israel-and-judah

History Sites:

https://www.history.com/topics/middle-east/palestine