Manan Shah
“When we burnt Al Aqsa Mosque, I did not sleep the whole night for fear of Arab armies! But when the sun rose the next morning, I came to know now we can do anything we want, for we are facing a nation which is asleep”– Golda Meir, PM of Israel, 1969-1974.
Ever since, for Israel, the continuous acts of terror and illegal occupation of Palestine have no looking back. One may ask Why? After all, Jewish refugees arrived in Palestine in 1943 with banners saying, “The Germans destroyed our families and homes, don’t you destroy our hopes”.
It was Palestine that offered refuge and therefore, it is high time for us to realize what went wrong!
The sister-religions
To look into the matter first we should attempt to know the history of Palestine itself. It is one of the oldest cities in the world, which is important to three religions; Judaism, Christianity and Islam. These three sister religions trace their lineage to Abraham. For Jews, it is the city where Solomon’s temple was situated and thus it holds divine importance. For Christians, it is considered the place where Jesus was crucified and resurrected. For Muslims, the third holiest site in Islam, a site where Prophet Muhammad traveled before “The Night Journey”.
Throughout history, Jerusalem, the capital city of Palestine, was ruled and besieged by different powers. Since it was important to three different religions no one had a definite claim.
Struggle for the Land
In 957 BC Solomon, son of David, built the first temple in the holy site known as ‘The first temple of Solomon’. By this time others retained their religious function until Josiah (c.648 – 609 BC), the King of Judah (division of ancient Palestine and one of the twelve tribes of the land) demolished that and established the temple as the only place to sacrifice in the Kingdom of Judah. It was Nebuchadrezzar II of the neo- Babylonian empire who, at first in 604 BCE and in 597 BCE, who removed the treasures from the temple and finally destroyed it in 587/586 BC. It is important to highlight that Nebuchadrezzar II followed ancient Mesopotamian religion which is said to form a basis for Syriac Christianity. This led to the deportation of Jews to Babylon in 586 BCE and 582 BCE.
Soon after, Cryus founded the Archimedean empire of Persia. He allowed the Jews to return and construct the new temple, the Second Temple of Solomon, which was completed in 515 BCE.
The second temple was completely refurbished and stood during the reign of Herod, who was a Roman Client King of Judea, also referred to as Herodian kingdom, economically and politically dependent on Rome, he acted as a subordinate. It was when the Jewish population rebelled against the Roman Empire (First Jewish-Roman War, 66 – 73 CE), the tension escalated due to religious differences, taxation policy and attacks on Roman citizens by Jews.
In the summer of 70 CE as retaliation, Titus destroyed Jerusalem and burned down the Second Temple of Solomon. On what is known as Tisha B’Av in Judaism.
The revolt led to the destruction of Jewish settlements, displacement of Jews and appropriation of land for Roman Military use. The arch of Titus in Rome commemorates his victory. The second temple stood on today’s Al-Aqsa Masjid which was constructed much later. It stood standing for about 585 years till the wrath of Titus. (516 BCE to c. 70 CE).
After the Roman Emperor Constantine I aka Constantine The Great converted to Christianity, he became the first Roman Emperor to profess Christianity declaring it as a state religion. The tension between Jews and Christians grew tremendously as Christians believed that the Jews were the killers of Jesus. Thus, began the rise of Christianity in Jerusalem. He built the Church of Holy Sepulchre, which he constructed on the traditional site where Jesus was crucified and buried. The site is also revered as the location where St. Helena, Constantine’s mother, located the True Cross of Christ’s Crucifixion. The Chapel of St. Helena was further built by Crusaders in her honour.
After the unification of the Arabian peninsula under the first caliph Abu Bakar, it was possible to expand Islam to lands beyond. In this regard, the call for Holy War (Jihad) was proclaimed. The conquest he started was carried forward by the next Caliph in line – Umar (634 – 644). In similar efforts, the Byzantine Empire also known as Eastern Roman Empire was defeated (336-636/37).
Under Rashidun’s leadership, actions in regards to the holy war to conquer Jerusalem took place. It was after the said efforts, The Patriarch Sophronius agreed to surrender, on a condition that he would submit to the Caliph, Umar. On this account, Umar travelled to Jerusalem which led to the Patriarch’s surrender. The Arab control after this in Palestine was not compromised until the First Crusade in 1099.
It is interesting to note that while surrendering to Umar, a condition was put forward by Patriarch Sophronius (a Christian). The condition was : Jews could come to pay homage to their place of religious importance and even trade but Jews shall not be allowed to settle in the land of Palestine, which was agreed upon.
It was further between 685 and 691 AD, The Dome of Rock was built by then Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, Masjid Al-Aqsa was further built-in 705 AD on a temple mount which was already laid to ruins by Titus. After the Crusade, The Dome of Rock fell into the hands of Augustinians, members of the Christian religious order, who turned it into a Church. While Al-Aqsa was turned into quarters for the Knight Templars. There were nine crusades and all were not desired and executed by the Church. Often the Crusaders retained control of the land.
Military conquest was launched by Al-Nasir Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, a Kurd, Sultan of Egypt and Syria, against Crusaders and Palestine was recaptured in 1187 by adherents of Islamic faith at the Battle of Hattin.
After Salah al-din’s conquest, a series of events took place, however, for most of it, Palestine was under Islamic regimes.
Genghis Khan’s declaration of Mongolia in 1206, Mongke Khan extending Mongolian empire and destroying Baghdad and defeating Ayyubids from Damascus (1251), The Mamluk Sultanate continuing the Islamic period from 1250 – 1517 till they were overthrown by the Turkish Empire better known as the Ottoman Empire. Ottomans ruled the land for about 6 centuries and were finally dissolved at the end of the First World War in 1922.
Jews who were scattered were looking for a place to settle down and inhabit. A place that they would call their own. This led to Jewish migrations taking place.
The Master-Mind
The Zionist movement had arisen which aimed at the creation of a homeland in Palestine. Completely neglecting the fact that Palestine was already inhabited. Settling down in Palestine would mean displacing indigenous Palestinians if Israel was to be created. The slogan being raised was, “A land without a people for a people without a land”.
Though the fact was realised by few Jewish leaders like Ahad Ha’am, who on his visit observed that it was difficult to find land which was not cultivated and to settle themselves would mean displacing the indigenous people of the land, mostly Muslims.
British Imperialism and Fall of Palestine
During the years of the First World War, Arab hostilities against the Ottoman empire were rising. One of the Arab leaders, Sherif Hussein, Emir of Mecca, wanted an independent state for Arabs and was negotiating with the Imperial British. Ottomans during this time had called for Jihad, the holy war against the British, especially in India, which was the home to the Khilafat movement. Hussein was promised that if Arabs would help them fight the Ottomans, they would be recognised as an independent state.
Meanwhile British Secretary of State, Arthur Balfour promised Lord Rothschild, a member of the British Jewish community, support for the Jewish homeland in Palestine, again not considering the rights of Palestinians already living there. This is what we know as The Balfour Declaration of 1917. At this point, the British had given their word to three different parties. Arabs – an independent state, Jews – establishment of Israel and France – colonies, they were interested in (Syria) keeping in view France was against an independent Arab. Britain and France divided the territory among themselves, under The Sykes-Picot Agreement. Britain would control Palestine, Jordan, South Iraq, Haifa and Acre while, France would control Turkey, North Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.
With the defeat of the Ottomans, Britain secured Palestine in 1918 and in 1922 League of Nations officially gave the British a mandate to control land west (Palestine) and east (Transjordan) to the river Jordan. A situation where the British were representing both, Jews and as well as the international community.
With no Muslim representation, it allowed the British to exercise and exploit the situation whichever way they wanted. With the British mandate, the Jewish population in Palestine grew tremendously from 60,000 in 1918 to 600,000 in 1947. Not surprisingly, this led to Arab revolts (1936-39).
British then came up with the two-state commission. The Arabs rejected it and the British soon realised that it wouldn’t work as the proposed territory of Israel had more than half the population of Arabs which meant 225,000 Arabs had to be forcibly removed and only 1200 Jews would have to leave the Arab area.
They then introduced the White paper of 1939, which states that Palestine should be a bi-national state inhabited by both Jews and Palestinians but that Jewish immigration would be limited for 5 years. However, immigration never stopped. The situation ran out of hand and the British handed over the country to the United Nation in 1948. This led to the partition – Israel for Jews and Palestine for Arabs.
The newly created state of Israel did not accept UN Resolution 181 and proposed the Israeli Declaration of Independence on 14 May 1948 which was recognised by the USA and USSR in no time.
Ever since then, Israel has been making an illegitimate claim over the Palestinian land and made attempts to illegally occupy the holy land.
Israel and its Illegal Approach
Israel began to occupy the rest of the territory which the neighbouring nations opposed and thus marked the first Arab-Israeli War, 1948. Israel illegally occupied the land intended for Palestinian by the UN and therefore gets divided into three parts; Jordan occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Egypt occupies Gaza and Israel occupies 78% of Palestine, which also includes West Jerusalem.
It is 1950 and Israel introduces the Law of Return, which guarantees Jews citizenship worldwide, and as a result, the Jewish population grew to 1,300,000. In 1964, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) was created with the support of different resistance groups. It has diplomatic relations with hundreds of nations and is recognised as the sole representative of the Palestinian people. In 1993, PLO recognised Israel’s right to exit in peace and rejected violence.
In 1967, a six-day war broke out between Israel and the neighbouring Arab countries. As a result Israel illegally occupied 100% of Palestinian land in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Golan Heights. Israeli settlements began to be established in Palestinian land. Even agricultural land was expropriated for Israeli use. This changed the approach of the PLO towards Israel. Though the PLO agreed on dividing the land between Palestine and Israel it did not stop the conflict, rather more people came to settle in occupied Palestine. Following the intifadas (uprisings) Hamas was born in 1987. A political movement to liberate Palestine including present-day Israel to establish an Islamic state. The United States, Israel and PLO met in Oslo, Norway and signed The Oslo Accord that split the West Bank into three sections; area A, under full Palestinian control, Area B, under mutual control and Area C- Under Israeli occupation. However, area C controls most of the agricultural land and water resources and Palestinians are given limited access to it.
Why Jerusalem?
We shall keep in mind the observations below are entirely based on analogical deductions put forward by various scholars and are based on mostly secondary sources rather than primary.
It should be clear from the facts above that Israel has majority control over the land and its resources and in that regard, we can safely assume it is not a matter of territory anymore nor is it about political integrity or sovereignty. It is about religion!
We shall take a note of the purpose behind the creation of Israel under the Zionist movement. i.e. the creation of the “Holy Land”. As mentioned earlier, the most sacred place to the Jews was The temple of Solomon which had been demolished not once but twice and lies destroyed.
In this view, all their attempts and will is to erect “The Third Temple of Solomon” and for whom? Their Messiah, who they believe will come and rule.
Haikal-e-Sulaimani, the temple, is said to have been built by David and was completed during the reign of Solomon. It served as a modern-day parliament of that time and a place of worship to the Jews back then. One more opinion put forward by The Philadelphia Trumpet (a magazine published by The Philadelphia Church of God) is that when a third temple will be erected, the throne of David will be placed there. It was a stone base on which David was crowned and after him Solomon and the next many sovereigns in line. When Titus demolished the second temple of Solomon, it was taken along to Rome and from there, it traveled to Ireland, Scotland and finally to England.
The stone was kept in the Church and in the 14th century, it was made to fit into a throne. The same throne was used by Britishers for the coronation ceremonies of Kings and Queens. The theory being, this throne will be placed in the third temple of Solomon. However, it is at this point when Jews and Christians have different opinions about the throne. Jews associate it with their Messiah and Christians associate it with Jesus’ second coming.
Unlike Jews, Christians believe the throne before David belonged to Jesus as according to them “He is the both, the root and offspring of David” (Revelation 22:16)
“It’s time to vote with our feet and send a clear message to the world that we truly believe that the Temple Mount is ours and we truly hope and pray for the rebuilding of the Third Temple,” wrote an Israeli newspaper, the Jerusalem Post, on August 7’19. (c.f. muslimmirror.com)
The significance of Temple-Mount for Israel was further stated in another article by The Jerusalem in November 12, 2019, which read, “The Israelite Temple, which served as the religious and national centre of the People of Israel since the days of King Solomon, was preserved in the historical memory of the nation as a symbol of national independence from foreign rule, Jewish uniqueness, and unity, and finally, in October 2019, by the reference Israel Antiquity Authority it was declared about findings of an ancient city 21, but crucially it was not disclosed then that the findings were of the once City of David.” (c.f. muslimmirror.com)
We also get references to the above from the Old Testament itself.
“Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.” (Ezekiel 37:28)
“Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things” (Joel 3:5)
“So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God a dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no d strangers pass through her anymore” (Joel 3:17)
“For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwelleth in a Zion” (Joel 3:21)
It provides substantial evidence of the theory for what one may understand that Israeli occupation is not a political ambition for land, power and resources, rather all efforts are to demolish Masjid Al-Aqsa. Only to construct the third temple of Solomon, even if it would mean to persecute hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
In this regard, Rabbi Chaim Richman, Director of the Temple Institution has come up with vessels of religious significance for the functions to be held in the temple. Also, priests are being trained to work for a similar cause known as ‘Kohanim’. He, further, said there is a connection between the need for a new level of spiritual attainment and the rebuilding of the Temple.
“I will bring back my exiled people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them.” (Amos 9:14–15)
Western Wall (Wailing Wall) is the railing around Temple mount, the place sacred to Jews and as a matter of fact, the only place for them to worship in the entire compound. Therefore they are desperate to erect Haikal -e-Sulaimani. Their temple lies in ruins for centuries and what is more hurtful to them is Al-Aqsa standing on it. In fact, Jews can no longer offer many of their sacrifices, out of 613, 202 mitzvot (commandments) mentioned in Torah cannot be performed unless a temple is erected. (free.messianicbible.com)
The Jewish community has to be credited for how they managed their own taxes, health care and education in occupied land only to consolidate their position, unlike Arabs. They created their own military (Haganah). Jewish institutions at the consolidating period promoted Jewish labour and goods, boycotting Arabs. Towards the end of the British mandate Histadrut, the federation of Jewish labour had become the second-largest employer and soon became political.
To Israel, the most humiliating part of them is their history itself. They take pride in what they have achieved mostly after 1945, no matter by what means. However, what still haunts them is their centuries-old past to which they lost their temple not once but twice. Today every move of theirs is directed to their only goal. Though they would have constructed it long back but before 1948 they were scattered and displaced. They had no land and no power nor any financial means. Now they have both!
Over the last few decades, Muslim Nations have relied on the imperialist powers and Foreign nations to give Palestinians their rights and free them from the illegal occupation of Isreal but that will not help. Israel holds a significant influence in the Gulf region, where most of the Arab countries have recognized the state and have normalized the terms with them. Israel is in a constant attempt to maintain its ties, aiming at no resistance from Arabs when they attempt to change the status quo and demolish the Al-Aqsa.
To end, the same message was specified by the great poet of the East, Allama Iqbal who attended the General Islamic conference in Jerusalem in 1931. He hints, to have faith in God and believe in ‘Khudi’ and not to trust the West and League of Nations. He writes,
– Zamanan Ab Bhi Nahi Jis Ke Souz Se Firg,
Main Janta Hun Woh Atish Tere Wujood Main Hai
( I know the fire that burns throughout your frame
The land of the world still fear its scorching flame)
– Teri Dawa Na Geneva Main Hai, Na London Main
Farang Ki Rag-e-Jaan Panja-e-Yahood Main Hai
(Your cure in Geneva or London you can’t tace,
The Wind-pipe of the Franks is gripped by Jewish Race.)
-Suna Hai Main Ne, Ghulami Se Ummaton Ki Nijat
Khudi Ki Parwarish-o-Lazzat-e-Namood Main Hai
(I know that subject nations freedom gain,
If they would nourish self, display its main.)