Israel

[Gkntraining]

When will the fighting in Israel end????
so many people have died and so many people are ready to die and for what?? i know the whole history of it but it still a war that i believe should not be fought be will be fought for ever till a mass genocide of one of the side is occurred.. IF only people could actually try to put themselves into the shoes of the people thier fighting with and see that both end is suffering just as bad only cus of eachother. This whole issue had stirred up so much emotion in my soul because i have friends in The middle east and i am scared for them. i wrote a poem about all of this too...

Tell me the meaning of it all
why must we hate
why must we fight
we all come from
the womb of a woman
one life one love
yet, we still kill
hatred seem to be woven
within our soul,
but like a cancerous
tumor we can remove
this devil, come
together unite and stand bold.
close your eyes with me and imagine
life without the struggle,
life witout this hatred,
life without war,
union within every nations

[bob05]

wow, that's some deep stuff. well you know why all this is snowballing: no one wants to turn the other cheek. Well Israel attacked Palsitne in response to suisde bombs, which was becasuse Israel occupited the Gaza Bank, which was beacuse of the 6 day war, which was because of the forming of Israel after WW2, which was because of German occupation, which was beacuse ... well you get the picture. And the list goes on for a very long time. So long that no one knows who started it.

[Bovon]

There are some races and religious extremists that are bred and born into hatred. From day one, they are taught to kill anybody that dosn't agree completely with their own factions. They are never concerned about dying...to them, dying is to go to the 'happy hunting grounds' somewhere. Being a martyr is the ultimate.

There is no way to reason with any of these, to them...there is no reason. If they don't eat peanuts, then they will kill you if you do. Their 'vision' is so narrow, that it is hundreds of times worse than tunnel vision.

Unfortunately there is only one way to deal with such as this, and that is to rid the earth of the source. The 'peace' loving peoples can never win out with such hatred and small, narrow minds. Any so called society that will equip a 4 year old with automatic weapons, and teach him to go kill, needs to be exterminated.

Yeah...I have a bad outlook on this, but damnit...its us or them...which will you choose?

[Gkntraining]

Ok you are right these people are raised to feel like they need to hate the other race. My friend who's a muslim from Saudi truly do hate Jews wit a passion. He was raised to feel this anger... He's right Jews killed alot of muslims and probably alot of innocent people too but the muslim have done the same thing to them.. They kill each other and build their hatred... What we need to do is deprogram the way they thinks... I wish one day my friend could switch places with a Jewish family who' livin in the middle of the fight and i want him to notice that the Jews are people too just like me and him.... I want him to reliaze that they feel like the muslim are tryin to suppress the jews the same way how he feelz the jews is tryin to suppress his people...... The thing is he so into what he feels that he said the the holocaust was a good thing.... We just need to change the way these people are raise and change the way they think. Hopefully 1 generation will reliaze the struggle that is bein caused and will stand up and try to make peace... till then it's hell on earth (at least on that part of the world)....

[michaeln]

Originally posted by Bovon
Unfortunately there is only one way to deal with such as this, and that is to rid the earth of the source. The 'peace' loving peoples can never win out with such hatred and small, narrow minds. Any so called society that will equip a 4 year old with automatic weapons, and teach him to go kill, needs to be exterminated.

Yeah...I have a bad outlook on this, but damnit...its us or them...which will you choose?

I can sympathise but I can't agree. If they can be indoctrinated to kill they can be indoctrinated not to kill. I know it will take time and many more deaths but it can be done.

As for four year olds with weapons - where do you think they get them?

[Bovon]

Originally posted by michaeln
I can sympathise but I can't agree. If they can be indoctrinated to kill they can be indoctrinated not to kill. I know it will take time and many more deaths but it can be done.

Time is really not an option anymore. These wandering bands of desert peoples have been killing each other for hundreds of years. As long as they confined their 'wars' to themselves, the rest of the world looked away, now that they have resources that allow them to kill anywhere in the world, no society is exempt. I don't like to even consider killing anybody, but when it becomes a problem on my doorstep, I will take action. I can understand your thoughts and your concern...maybe if something had been started reindoctrinating these illiterate, small minded, desert dwellers a hundred or more years ago, there may have been that possibility. Sorry, I just don't see that as an option now.

As for four year olds with weapons - where do you think they get them?

They get them with the cash from peoples like Ben Laden, and other such war lords, who make a fortune from western technology and oil. Where do you think they got them?...or are you asking who made these weapons and allowed them to fall into the hands of these war lords in the first place?. We build weapons in the US. Russia, Germany, England and just about anybody in any industrialized nation builds weapons. What I am trying to say is, responsible people do not place weapons in the hands of children and teach them to kill. If these people are going to do this, then one day it will come down to you vs them. Will you back up your words then?...and attempt to 'educate' a man that is intent on killing you and your family?, or will you try to defend yourself. This world has fought wars against evil nation leaders before, but never has the civilized world been put to a test against a evil populace. As far as weapons are concerned, remember that people back in the stone ages were killing each other with sticks and stones, the only thing that has changed is the weaponery and technology to deliver it.

[ironik311]

. As far as weapons are concerned, remember that people back in the stone ages were killing each other with sticks and stones, the only thing that has changed is the weaponery and technology to deliver it.

Certainly! You have an excellent point. Technology and media have changed to such a degree that fighting in Israel becomes an issue the entire world must deal with.

The Jews and the Palestinians have been fighting for an incredibly long time... back when they used to be called the Philistines in the BC's. The dispute is not only religious (which is unfortunately the backbone of the hatred) but it is also territorial. If they continue to have different religions and share a border they will always fight. The hatred is inbred over thousands of years! To unindoctrinate someone who has been raised as a warrior to kill is futile. You unindoctrinate one and there are 3 more raised to kill that you have missed.

.

...maybe if something had been started reindoctrinating these illiterate, small minded, desert dwellers a hundred or more years ago, there may have been that possibility.

I totally agree! The only way to stop the fighting is to forcibly remove either party somewhere else or change their religion. Both of which will never happen. Palestinians believe they are the opressed minority... They look at the situation, Israel is a huge military machine and they could never win in a direct fight, so they fight back with terrorism. They don't see what they are doing as wrong... only as a racial necessity. Its too late to reindoctrinate!

Territory and religion = a fight that no one will win with war... In this fight everyone looses.

[michaeln]

Both Bovon and ironik311 have very valid points. My view is simply that might and military force will /NOT/ solve or even begin to solve any of the problems now being experienced in the Palistine/Israel forum.

Any country that has gone down the road of armed conflict ultimately learns that at the end of the day, when all the bodies on both sides have been counted and laid to rest, when all the super powers have made their fortunes on selling/supplying the means to continue the fight, when all the tin pot dictators have spun their last, the only way forward is to talk.

Surely if we are to learn anything from recent history we must see that no amount of lead will create a solution - it merely creates a problem.

We have begun to learn that here in Ireland. South Africa has gone down the same path as ourselves (or to be more accurate we followed them). This is not to suggest that there will not be problems and setbacks (and deaths) along the way.

The problem is that the hatred is within. This hatred has to be addressed and the only way forward that will ultimately win is dialogue. It is stronger than any weapon yet developed. It is mightier than the almighty dollar and if people ar to be honest - money and power are at the root of the majority of global conflicts at the moment.

/UNFORTUNATELY IT IS THE INNOCENT WHO ALWAYS SUFFER IN THESE WARS/

JUST MY TWO CENTS WORTH

[ChrisDevismes]

Whoa .... Bovon. 'Happy hunting grounds'. That smacks a bit of 'lets do the 'ole indians'. OOps, sorry Native Americans. Or to be a bit more subtle, the original nations of America. Now tell me if I'm wrong but you 'ole yankees love a bit of nostalgia. Just you love the bit about castles and fair maidens an' even that stuff about roots an maybe even 'the scots fighting the english', you know 'braveheart' an all that. Well just to put the record straight, the English were the inventors of most of the hienious **** thats thrust at the world today, and maybe consider, that the arabs in the state called Palestine are still wondering, ' where the hell did all these people come from'?, why did they occupy our desert, why is their promised land. We grew up to believe in another system. And just like you good old americans they want their Boston Tea Party, and kick out the infiltrators, infidels, or maybe the limeys.

Personally I think it could all be solved by taking away the religious manics on both sides cos' they've both got such a lot to offer to the world. (ie veg' grown in sand by people who know how to grow it!)

Ah well, it feels a lot better getting that off.

[ironik311]

Well just to put the record straight, the English were the inventors of most of the hienious **** thats thrust at the world today, and maybe consider, that the arabs in the state called Palestine are still wondering, ' where the hell did all these people come from'?, why did they occupy our desert, why is their promised land.

Is this a "who was there first argument" - No doubt that the palestinians were there first... but was it a state? not to my knowledge. I thought they were nomads? Israelies created the state and the cities... Just an observation

[ChrisDevismes]

Ironiik - does creating a state make it OK then. Where in the rulebook of civilisation does making a state give you the right to enforce your will on another people. Many people in the world live without even understanding the 'meaning' of 'the state'. The Bushmen of the Kalahari, Mongols in Mongolia, those tribes living in the Amazon Rainforest. Those people certainly get to know what a state can do when their kicked off their traditional lands for the sake of the State - usually so that some resource can be exploited !! Maybe its got something to do with a religious thing. Therefore, my belief system is the right one and you 'must' change to my way !!

Anon.

[ironik311]

Where in the rulebook of civilisation does making a state give you the right to enforce your will on another people

hehe.. Where is this rulebook of civilisation? In life the strongest survive. We didn't have the same "rules" of civilisation in the time when the jews settled israel. They made the state in a time where conquering was prevalent and countries were forming. I'm not saying what they did was right... probably far from it by todays standards (or should I say by todays "rulebook of civilisation"?).

getting back to the point... after all of this history, you can't indoctrinate these people not to fight with each other!

[spoilt]

A look at the ancient history of the land of Palestine up to the advent of Islam
The land of Palestine, which in ancient times was known as Canaan, covers an area of 25,000 square kilometres, lies on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea and borders Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. Palestine is a fertile land enjoying a temperate climate. It witnessed the advent of such great prophets as Jesus (pbuh) and Moses (pbuh) and was the land through which Hazrat Abraham (pbuh) traversed and where he lived. From a geo-political point of view too, it is a very sensitive and strategic country.
The city of Jerusalem (Yerushalayim (Hebrew), known by Muslims as the city of Beit ul-Moqaddas or al-Quds or simply ‘Quds’ meaning ‘the holy’) was built in the Judean hills and is situated, along with a temple to Jehovah, atop Mount Moriah. It is one of the important sites of Palestine, to its east lies Mount Zion and on its west the Mount of Olives.
The eventful history of Palestine begins with the names of the prophets of our forefathers. The prophet Jacob was also known by the name Israel, and the Bani Israel are the descendants of Jacob who enjoyed power about thirteen centuries before the birth of Christ. At the time of the Pharoah’s rule and before the advent of Moses (pbuh), the Israelis formed a huge community in Egypt. Four hundred and thirty years after Jacob’s arrival in Egypt, Hazrat Moses led the Bani Israel tribe away from bondage in Egypt across the desert towards the Promised Land.
The journey was to take forty years and was not without incident. One of the most notable was while Moses (pbuh) spent forty days away from his people on Mount Sinai where he was inspired by God to write down the Ten Commandments on tablets of stone. In his absence, his tribe once again turned to idol worship and it was because of their disobedience that they had to spend forty years in the desert. Throughout this long period, Moses did not desist from guiding his people, but time and again the Bani Israel rebelled and transgressed.
After his death in Moab, within sight of the Promised Land he had never reached, Joshua, his successor, led the Bani Israel through Jordan towards the Promised Land. Their arrival there signalled the start of a campaign for conquest which included the plunder and killing of the local people. The ruler of Jerusalem united with the rulers of five other cities against Joshua and his men, but all were defeated and hanged. The people of Palestine, however, continued to resist the invasion and eventually prevailed over the Bani Israel. Bloody battles persisted between the two sides in which the inhabitants of Palestine continued to impose defeat. Eventually, however, the Bani Israel amassed power and gained control over the main cities and in c. 1010 BC Hazrat David was able to snatch Jerusalem from the Palestinians and found the Beit ul-Moqaddas or the House of God there. This building was completed by Hazrat Solomon.
Beit ul Moqaddas was built about 1100 years after the building of the Ka`ba in Mecca by Hazrat Abraham (pbuh) and 970 years before the birth of Christ. Hazrat David is a fourteenth generation descendant of Hazrat Abraham, the founder of the Ka`ba, and according to the Gospel of Matthew, Hazrat Jesus’ lineage reaches back twenty-eight generations to David. Consequently, Mecca (the Ka`ba) is the first sacred place of the monotheists and the al-Aqsa mosque in Quds the second.
The Ark of the Covenant: The Ark of the Covenant in Muslim tradition is the box in which Moses was laid by his mother and cast into the waters of the river Nile. Moses placed his stone tables, his chain mail and the tokens of his prophethood in this box so that no one could touch them. At the time of Hazrat David, this box was lined both within and without with gold and transferred from Hebron to Mount Zion where an altar was built to keep it. For a while it lay in the hands of the victorious Palestinians but was eventually handed back to the Bani Israel. It was kept on Zion until the time of Hazrat Solomon when upon completion of the Beit ul-Moqaddas building, the ark was transferred to Quds. Solomon ruled for forty years and returned peace to Quds, but following him the oppression and plundering of the Bani Israel began again.
About 730 BC, King Shalmaneser invaded Israel, imprisoned the Bani Israel and settled Babylonians in the area. In 586 BC, the land of the Jews was attacked once again, this time being overrun by the Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar. During this assault, most of the population was expelled or imprisoned, the Jewish monarchy was overthrown and the First Temple built by Solomon razed.
Since the arrival of the Bani Israel or the Israelites in Palestine 480 years before the founding of Quds (about 1300 years before Christ) under the leadership of Joshua, this land has been afflicted with strife. Today, 3300 years later, Palestine has still not found peace.
Subsequent Jewish prophets such as Jeremiah, Isaiah and Daniel, whose words and prophecies are recorded in the Old Testament, comforted the Jews during years of suffering and imprisonment and the destruction of Jerusalem, continuously promising deliverance and offering glad tidings of the coming of a great messiah. The conquests of Cyrus, the Achaemenian king who rose in the East and created his empire taking one land after another, pleased the Jews and their rulers. Cyrus went on to take Babylonia, where he freed the Jews from their captivity, and Palestine and Jerusalem, to where he allowed them to return. Cyrus ruled his empire with moderation and treated all tribes and religions well. It was on his orders that the House of God was once again constructed.
Peace reigned in Jerusalem until towards the end of the reign of Darius III, when in 333 BC the Persians in Palestine were overpowered by Alexander, king of Macedon. Upon his succession, Alexander had immediately set about the invasion of the Persian empire, wresting Egypt, Syria and Phoenicia from the hands of the Persians, leaving a trail of death and destruction in his wake. Much of Iran’s treasures were plundered during this period and in revenge for the destruction of Athens by Xerxes, Takht-i Jamshid, the seat of Persian government, was sacked and burned and Alexander’s commanders made rulers over conquered Persian cities.
After Alexander, Palestine fell into the hands of his successors. In 63 BC, Roman domination began with the capture of Jerusalem by the Roman general Pompey. Twelve thousand Jews were killed in the siege and the walls of the city were destroyed. Under such conditions, the advent of Jesus was eagerly awaited by the people of that region who saw in him the fulfilment of their hopes.
The promised messiah was born in Nazareth, a town of lower Galilee, to a mission which came to be marked, as the Bible relates, by many miracles. In Jerusalem, Jesus spent all his days teaching and learning at the temple, thus provoking the jealously of the Rabbis who set about trying to get rid of him. Eventually, on the instigation of the Jewish Council, which issued a ruling against him, Jesus was crucified by the Roman procurator, Pontius Pilate, who, it is said, actually liked Christians.

[spoilt]

The Most Noble Qur’an actually rejects the story of Christ’s crucifixion as believed by the Christians and states instead: "But they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them . . . Nay, God raised him up unto Himself." (Qur’an 4:157). Be that as it may, Christianity, the religion of which Jesus is the central figure, lived on and went on to attract many followers.
Repressive Roman administration sparked numerous revolts by the Jews which the Romans dealt with harshly, resulting in the deaths of many Jews. In 70 AD, Titus, the elder son of the Roman Emperor Vespasian, put down a Jewish revolt in Judaea with an army of 80,000, and after a siege lasting a few months, destroyed Jerusalem causing the Jews to disperse once again.
About three hundred years after the death of Christ, when Constantine I (the Great 306-337 AD), emperor of Rome, converted to Christianity making it the official religion, Jerusalem underwent a revival. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, begun in 325 AD on the site believed to be that of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion at Calvary, was completed ten years later and Jerusalem became a holy Christian city. For more than five centuries, from 135 AD when the Roman Emperor Hadrian seized and destroyed the city reconstructing it as a Roman colony and banning all Jews, only a small number of Jews ever lived there.
At the time of Chosroes II Aparvez, the Sassanian king, war between the two empires of Iran and Byzantium broke out. It lasted from 604 to 630 AD and saw the defeat of the Byzantines by the Iranian armies. With the help and guidance of Jews who lent their assistance to Iran during the war, the Persians captured Palestine in 614 AD. However, after the death of Chosroes, this land once again fell into the hands of the Christians with its capture by the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius in 628 AD.
Jerusalem after Islam
In the first thirteen years of his mission, when Hazrat Muhammad (upon whom be peace) lived in Mecca, the al-Aqsa mosque (the Remote Mosque) in Jerusalem was the Muslim’s qibla (prayer direction), the first. Two years after his migration to Medina, at the Bani Sulameh mosque in Medina, the qibla of the Muslims was changed on God’s command from the al-Aqsa mosque to the al-Haram mosque (the Sacred Mosque containing the Ka`ba) in Mecca. Perhaps the most important reason for the change was to rob the Jews of the excuse to pour scorn on the Muslims for praying in this direction.
After the death of the Prophet, at the time of the first caliph, the Muslim army was sent to face the Byzantines in Syria and Palestine. It was during the rule of the second caliph, however, that the Byzantine armies were defeated and Syria and Jerusalem fell into Muslim hands. The inhabitants of the city initially put up strong resistance and a siege lasted for many months leading to food shortages and the spread of disease which, among other things, finally forced their surrender.
The second caliph entered the conquered city to conclude a peace treaty wearing simple even shabby raiment and riding an unembellished mount, much to the surprise of the inhabitants. The caliph treated his subjects with tolerance and moderation. Under his rule, Jews were allowed to return and Christians given freedom of worship.
From 637 AD (15 AH) until the twentieth century, Palestine was to remain in Muslim hands. The population of Jerusalem comprised mostly Muslim Arabs and because it had been the first qibla for Muslims, it was held in great esteem and was recognised as a holy place.
The Crusades
With the attack by western European Christians led by Godfrey of Bouillon on the Muslims in 1096 (488 AH), resulting in the capture of Jerusalem, the wars known as the Crusades began and lasted for nearly two centuries. Several motives for the start of these wars have been cited, not least among them the Christians’ desire to exact an earthly revenge for advances made by the Muslims on the western front; the lure of eastern wealth and land; and in some cases, though by no means all, the genuine religious belief that heaven awaited those who ascended there from the site of Christ’s tomb. However, as historians have concluded, what lay at the heart of the matter was the issue of Palestine and the city of Jerusalem, the tributary status of the Christians of this city and the unpropitious treatment they came to be exposed to.
In the Middle Ages - the period of European history from the fall of the Roman Empire in the West (476 AD) to the fall of Constantinople (1453 AD) at the hands of the Ottoman Sultan Muhammad II the Conqueror - Europe was ruled despotically by the Church. The pope of the time, Pope Urban II, in order to start the first crusade, resorted to deceit. Priests spread the rumour that signs of Christ’s coming had appeared in Palestine. Consequently, large numbers of Christians set off for Jerusalem in the hope of witnessing the second coming of Christ. It didn’t happen, but every year the priests preached that it had been postponed until the following year, in this way increasing the number of pilgrims to Palestine.
In the early days of this affair, the Pope set off on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, accompanied by seven hundred pilgrims. He turned back for Europe upon reaching Cyprus and spread the rumour that the Muslims had stopped him entering the holy city. With such tricks the flames of war were fanned and for nearly two centuries claimed their victims.
In the first crusade, seven hundred thousand men, mostly from the masses of poor to whom, with their depressed economic and social conditions, taking the cross was a relief rather than a sacrifice, set off towards Jerusalem with a number of knights. Along the way, as the story goes, others joined them increasing their number to millions. However after three years of fighting, plundering and a slow advancement, only forty thousand men reached Jerusalem, the others either having been killed in battles with the Muslims or having succumbed to illness. After a month’s siege and a difficult battle, the besiegers finally stormed the city and perpetrated an indiscriminate massacre involving all ages and both sexes, and plundered everything in the name of booty. Godfrey their leader, who shortly after the victory was crowned king of the Crusader state in Palestine, in a report to the Pope wrote: "As to those who fell into our hands in Jerusalem, know this, our men rode in a sea of Muslim blood as deep as the horses’ knees."
So it was that for the next ninety years, Palestine lay under the sway of the Christians. Although the first crusade resulted in the capture of Jerusalem and the establishment of Crusader states in the Holy Land, the second (1147-9 AD / 542-544 AH) failed to stop a Muslim resurgence and Jerusalem fell to Salah al-Din (Saladin) Ayubi in 1187. Following this victory, most of the remaining Christian strongholds in the region were seized in a series of brilliantly executed campaigns. The Christians were swept out of the conquered lands and only Antioch, Tripoli and Tyre, besides certain smaller towns and castles, remained in their possession.

[spoilt]

The fall of the holy city aroused Europe. The Pope, who saw the fall as a humiliation for the Christians, issued a religious edict for holy war. In response, hostilities among Europe’s rulers were buried and Frederick Barbarossa, emperor of Germany, Richard I Coeur de Lion, king of England, and Philip Augustus, king of France, took the cross. These three were the most powerful sovereigns of western Europe, and with them the third crusade (1189-92 AD / 585-588 AH) began.
Frederick, who was the first to set off, was drowned while crossing the River Calycadnus in SE Asia Minor. Most of his followers subsequently returned home. But the kings of England and France entered the fray, capturing some lost ground (although Jerusalem eluded them) and leaving a trail of slaughter in their wake, harrowing accounts of which European chroniclers have recorded. Peace between the two belligerents was finally achieved and following the death of Salah al-Din Ayubi, which came only a few months after the peace, the sultanate he had built was divided amongst his various heirs of the Ayyubid family.
In Europe, after much conflict between the popes and the kings, Pope Innocent III (1198-1216 AD) won maximum authority, excommunicated the kings and issued a religious edict for holy war with the Muslims. After only a few short years of peace, the flames of war were rekindled. The crusaders set upon their fourth crusade (1202-1204 AD) capturing Constantinople.
The fifth crusade (1217-21 AD / 614-618 AH) was started once again at the instigation of Pope Innocent and his successor. The Church wanted the European kings to return Jerusalem to the Christian fold. They, however, were not inclined to embark on such a campaign and thus a religious decree for holy war with the Muslims was once again issued. This crusade resulted in a Christian defeat.
Papal incitement was once again behind the start of the sixth crusade (1228-9 AD). In 1229, due to serious disputes which had arisen among the Ayyubids, Jerusalem was yielded to Frederick II of Germany, leader of the Crusaders, as the result of an infamous treaty which guaranteed one Ayyubid leader Frederick’s aid against the others. The al-Aqsa mosque, however, remained in Muslim hands. Jerusalem remained under Christian control until 1244 when a contingent of Khwarizm Turks, previously dislodged from their Central Asian abode by Chengiz Khan, restored the city to Islam.
The seventh crusade (1248-54 AD / 646-652 AH) ended in disaster for the Christians in Egypt. Their leader Saint Louis (Louis IX) of France had embarked on the campaign in revenge for the defeat of the Christians in Gaza. His army, however, was entirely destroyed and he, along with most of his nobles, was taken prisoner. After a month of captivity, he and his men were released on the payment of a ransom and the restoration of Dimyat (an Egyptian city that had earlier surrendered to his forces). In 1270, he led another futile crusade, the eighth and last (1270-1 AD), now to Tunisia, where he died.
Following the seventh crusade and the death of the last Ayyubid king, the Mamluks (a dynasty of slaves) took over the reins of power, dominating for about two and three-quarter centuries (1250-1517 AD) one of the most turbulent areas of the world. These slave sultans cleared their Syrian-Egyptian domain of the remnants of the Crusaders and checked for ever the advance of the redoubtable Mongol hordes of Hulagu and Timur.
Meanwhile, in Anatolia the Ottoman dynasty, founded by Uthman I (Osman) 1259-1326 AD, was busy securing its power. At the end of the thirteenth century, Uthman established the Turkish state which was expanded by his successors, by dint of many battles and victories, to include all of Asia Minor and much of SE Europe. Jerusalem came under Ottoman rule in 1517 where it remained until it was captured by British forces in December 1917. But it was the capture of Constantinople - an important Christian trade centre and the capital of the Easter Roman empire - earlier in 1453 (857 AH) by Uthman’s descendant Muhammad II the Conqueror (1451-81 AD) which formally ushered in a new era, that of the Ottoman empire.
The capture of Constantinople was a watershed in European history. It marked the end of the Middle Ages and, just as the Crusaders had transferred the knowledge and civilisation of the Muslims to Europe, so too this city, which remained the capital of the Ottoman empire for five hundred years, would inspire changes during the Renaissance and subsequent periods. Following its capture, important strides were made in the fields of industry, literature and architecture, and the lands under Ottoman sway flourished as Europe looked on with a wary eye.
The rise in Iran of the Safavid dynasty, which made the Shi`ite branch of Islam the official state religion, and the overt and covert machinations devised by the European governments, in particular the British government, led to bloody battles between Iran and the Ottomans which lasted for more than two centuries. Consequently, at a time when Europe had embarked on its movement to revive art and learning (the Renaissance) after making peace with the Ottomans, the world of Islam was cleft by a great schism, the power of the Muslims was exhausted in these lengthy wars and instead of turning their thoughts to the defence of the Islamic civilisation, they were distracted by civil war and religious rancour.
Jerusalem and Palestine in the Twentieth Century
After the Industrial Revolution, the face of Europe changed rapidly and the Europeans began to surpass the Muslims in the different fields of science and art. During this period, the East had fallen into a stupor while Europe created modern industrial methods and mass produced manufactured goods. Domestic markets came to be saturated so foreign markets were sought to which surplus goods could be exported and raw materials obtained. Thus the era of colonisation and appropriation of other countries was begun.
Preparations for the establishment of an Israeli state and Palestinian and Arab reaction
At the end of the 19th century, revolts took place in Palestine, and the British, who up until that time had supported the Ottomans, suddenly shifted their allegiance and stood against them in support of the agitators. The reason behind this switch in allegiance lay in Britain’s need to protect India, its most important colony at the time and the source of its wealth and power, against possible incursion by Russia and France, two of her most powerful adversaries. In her attempts to do this, Britain saw no choice but to wrest sovereignty over certain Asian countries from the Ottomans, and in particular to gain control of the Suez Canal. The British government thus embarked on a policy of inciting the Arabs to rebel against the Ottoman Turks. Amongst its targets was the opportunist Ottoman representative in the Hijaz, Husayn, the Sharif of Mecca, who, with the promise of Britain’s help, was encouraged to break away from Ottoman rule. In 1916, at the instigation of the British, he declared himself the ‘king of the Arabs’ and began the Arab revolt.
In May 1916 (1334 AH), a secret agreement between London and Paris, the Sykes-Picot agreement, was signed to carve up the Ottoman Empire among Britain, France and Russia after their victory in the First World War. Later, however, on seeing that the agreement ran counter to its control over the Suez Canal and taking advantage of Russia’s weakened position and the revolution which was taking place in that country, Britain reneged on its agreement in 1917 (1335 AH) and made Palestine a British mandate.