Middle East Conflict: Contrasting Religion And Not Land

Question: To what extent was the Middle East Conflict a war based on contrasting religion and not land?

The Middle East Conflict between Israel and Palestine, is a war based on contrasting religions of Judaism and Islam to a greater extent. The spiritual connection to the land outweighs the arguments of the need resources of the conflict caused by the division of land.

The origins of the conflict lie in Biblical times. Moses led the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt and across the Red Sea, Moses later received the Ten Commandments (placed in The Ark of the Covenant) on Mount Sinai. Moses led the Hebrews to the “Promised Land” which became Israel. Solomon’s Temple was built as a symbol for justice and righteousness. Israel existed up until 70AD

The desire for a homeland became evident after World War II and atrocities of the Holocaust became known to the world. The call to return home to the “Holy Land” was actively promoted by the Zionist movements in Britain and the USA (Source E). The importance of spiritual and religious connection to the “promised land”, combined the need to unite all scattered Jews in a country of their own, free from persecution. This is what guided the United Nations decision to divide Palestine in half shared by Arabs and Jews equally.(Source C)The division of Palestine had been proposed by Winston Churchill as early as 1922 (Source G) but this idea never became reality due to the opposition of Arabs of having the Jewish Nation as their neighbors. (Source E) The conflict between the two opposing religions increased to a large extent and resulted in a series of riots, opposing the division of Palestine in 1929(Source G). After the Holocaust and the immediate problem of hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees to deal with arose (Source E), the United Nations formally proposed the Partition Plan (Source C). The Jews were finally going to have their own independent homeland, situated on the very place that had historically and spiritually been deemed as their “Promised

Moreover, the city of Jerusalem, the home of Sacred Mosque was placed under United Nation administrations and shared, equal access to both religions needed to be allowed (Source G). This provision of the Partition Plan would result in increasing conflict between the opposing religions due to the fact that Jerusalem lay in the heart of Israeli portion of land (Source C) making it more difficult for Muslim worshippers to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The partition of land between Israel and Palestine resulted in the Declaration of Independence of Israel in 1948. This act of independence escalated the conflict into a full scale war when a united Arab Nation attacked Israel the day after they declared independence. The Arabs suffered a great defeat which they called “Al Naqba”- great disaster- whereas the victory for the Israelis strengthened their resolve to claim that God had promised the Jews land and their victory as an act of divine intervention. In Deuteronomy 7, the fifth book of Moses in the Holy Bible (Source F) it argues for the Jews that God indeed promised them the land as their homeland in which he would drive out all enemies. Both religions are nonetheless, fighting for the right to claim the land as their