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MLS 610B-81
Spring 2003
WEEK 10: Monday, April 7.
The Roots of the Arab-Israeli Conflict
Background:
The modern-day names “Israel” and “Palestine” derive from two peoples
who emigrated into the region in large numbers at approximately the same time,
~1200 BC:
The kingdoms of David and Solomon split into two parts:
In 586 BC Judah was in turn defeated by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar
II, who destroyed the great temple built by Solomon and took thousands of
Israelites hostage, an event known as the Babylonian exile. When the
Persians conquered Babylon in 539 BC, they freed the Jews from captivity,
and many of them returned to Israel (Judah). The temple to Yahweh
in Jerusalem was rebuilt. Israel/Palestine was subsequently conquered
by Macedonia/Greece (Alexander the Great) in the 330s BC and Egypt in the
2nd century BC. A brief ~80-year period of Jewish independence ended
when Israel/Palestine was conquered by Rome in 63 BC.
Roman rule:
Despite constant pressure to assimilate into the societies they lived in,
Jews in the Diaspora maintained a separate linguistic (Hebrew), cultural and
religious identity.
The Arabs:
Ottoman Reforms:
Jerusalem: