Geography 1002 – World Regions
Israel and Her Neighbors

Joseph Naumann
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ISRAEL
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
ZIONISM
ISRAEL
– POLITICAL MOVEMENT
– FOUNDED BY THEODOR HERZL (1897)
– OBJECTIVE: SECURE HOMELAND FOR JEWISH
PEOPLE

BALFOUR DECLARATION (1917)
– SUPPORTS CONCEPT OF A JEWISH HOMELAND
– WWI ALLIED (BRITISH) PROMISES TO ARABS –
REVOLT AGAINST TURKS - GET INDEPENDENCE

JEWISH IMMIGRATION TO PALESTINE

1922 – BRITISH MANDATE TO GOVERN
PALESTINE

RISING CONFLICT BETWEEN ARABS AND
JEWS
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British Mandate

After World
War I,
Ottoman
Empire
was dismembered.
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British Partition in 1946


Palestine –
primarily for
Jews
Arabs in
Palestine are
disturbed at
the prospect
of a Jewish
state
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2 Sided Conflict – Little Compromise

Israeli Position
– God gave us the
land & holy places
– Balfour promised a
homeland
– Holocaust proved we
need a country – a
theocracy
– We’ve made a desert
into a productive
land
– We won’t give up
land taken until we
have a guarantee of
safety

Arab Position
– We’ve lived here for
centuries – they left
– WWI promises of
independence if we
rebelled against
Turkey
– We have holy places
here
– Jewish immigration
was making us a
minority in our own
land – had to stop it
– Want an Islamic
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theocracy
UN PARTITION PLAN FOR PALESTINE

DIVISION
INTO
JEWISH
AND ARAB
AREAS

BRITISH
EVACUATE
PALESTINE
IN 1948

PROCLAM
ATION OF
ISRAEL AS
A STATE
(14 May
7
1948)
1948: ARAB INVASION (WAR
OF INDEPENDENCE)

ARMISTICE (1949)
– 900,000
PALESTINIAN
REFUGEES – NOT
ALLOWED TO
RETURN – REFUGEE
CAMPS

Israel possessed
more land than the
U.N. partition had
given it.
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ARAB – ISRAELI CONFLICTS

1956: SUEZ WAR (Israel returns captured land)

1967: SIX-DAY WAR – ISRAEL GAINS
CONTROL OF:
– GAZA STRIP
– SINAI PENINSULA
– WEST BANK OF THE RIVER JORDAN
– EAST SECTOR OF JERUSALEM
– GOLAN HEIGHTS IN SYRIA

1973: YOM KIPPUR WAR
– ISRAEL THROWN BACK INITIALLY –
– AURA OF ISRAELI INVINCIBILITY OVERCOME
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OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
•Golan
Heights
•West Bank
•Gaza Strip
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ISRAEL
Blue triangles = Israeli
settlements in the West
Bank
The West Bank
Likelihood of a 100%
pullout of the Israeli
security presence?
Peace talks ended for all
practical purposes in
2001-2002 – outlook is
bleak.
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STRUGGLE FOR JERUSALEM

HOLY TO JEWS, CHRISTIANS, AND MUSLIMS

JUDAISM: CAPITAL OF JEWISH KINGDOM 3000
YEARS BP; FAITH TOOK FORM IN THE FIRST
TEMPLE-DESTROYED BY BABYLONIANS IN 586 BC;
REBUILT AS SECOND TEMPLE-DESTROYED BY
ROMANS IN AD 70 – Wailing Wall is all that is left

ISLAM: PROPHET MUHAMMAD ASCENDED INTO
HEAVEN 7TH CENTURY AD (Dome of the Rock site)

CHRISTIANITY: BASED ON THE TEACHINGS OF
JESUS CHRIST; CRUXIFICTION & ASCENT
– Many sites in Jerusalem are considered sacred by
Christians
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STRUGGLE FOR JERUSALEM
(CONTINUED)

1947- UNITED NATIONS DID NOT INCLUDE
JERUSALEM AS PART OF ISRAEL

1947- PALESTINE PARTITION RESOLUTION
DESIGNATED JERUSALEM AS AN “OPEN CITY”

1948-49- WAR AND TRANSFER OF ISRAELI
GOVERNMENT FROM TEL AVIV TO JERUSALEM

1967- WAR AND AFTERMATH CHANGED
BOUNDARIES AGAIN

1980- JERUSALEM REAFFIRMED AS THE CAPITAL OF
ISRAEL

SUGGESTION FOR AN INTERNATIONAL, OPEN CITY
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WITH ACCESS TO ALL HOLY SITES REJECTED
JERUSALEM
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CULTURAL DIVERSITY
E.J. PALKA
E.J. PALKA
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Wailing Wall –
foundation of
the Temple
Dome of the Rock
(Holy Islamic
Shrine)
Jews praying at
the wailing wall
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Interior of the
Dome of the
Rock Mosque
Rock where
where he stood
when Muhammad
E..J. PALKA
was taken up to
see heaven.
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E..J. PALKA
DOME OF THE ROCK
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Christian Holy Places
Protestant location for
Golgotha
Church of the Holy
Sepulcher in Jerusalem –
Catholics believe it is built
over both Golgotha and the
tomb.
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Catholic
view of
the site
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E..J. PALKA
CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHER
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Obstacles to Real Peace
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


Arabs want return of land seized in 1967
Israel wants security from attack
Israeli settlements in the occupied land
are considered illegal by the Arabs
Israel wants Jerusalem as the capital of a
theocratic State of Israel – see it as a
God-given right!
Muslims want access to their holy places
in Jerusalem, as do Christians
Both sides “pay back” violence with
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violence and escalate the problem
Evil of Terrorism
Palestinian suicide
bombers kill Israelis
indiscriminately and so
do Israeli retaliatory
strikes at the
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Palestinians.
The victims of terrorism could
be Arab Palestinians or Israeli
Jews – both sides have done
terrible things in the name of
their God
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Negotiation Difficulties
Can they
get over
hating
each
other?
Can there
ever be
trust?
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Israel and Her Neighbors
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