Palestinian Claim to Jerusalem - Essay Example

Palestinian Claim to Jerusalem Introduction Israelis and Palestinians remain in history as one of the warring neighbors whose conflicts have been much attributed to territorial dispute, especially the claim over Jerusalem (Lavi et al. 69). The Jewish colonization and the Palestinian nationalism is the main course of the raging conflict over Jerusalem because the Christians believe that the city has the religious significance as Jesus walked through the city and declared it holy. On the other hand, the Palestinians, mostly Muslims, have the strongest belief that the city is of a high historical significance for Islam as a religion (Rosen & Anne 935). However, the Palestinian claim to Jerusalem can be viewed from a political perspective where they want to gain control of the city so that the Muslims can use the city for political significance (Divine 137). For the Jews, Jerusalem belongs to them as evident from the biblical stories and claims while the Palestinians occupied the land after the Arab invasion of the city that displaced the Roman Empire (Romann & Alex 23). Since the end of the war, Palestinians have always claimed that the city rightfully belongs to them though the extent of these claims also needs to be substantiated from the Israel’s side and the USA that has been instrumental partitioning the territory and offering the city to the Jews. Jewish claims, though have been criticized on the possession of Jerusalem, have enough evidence that the city belongs to them (Hermann 139). The land, as evidence from the Bible, was rightfully promised to the people of Israel during the era of Abraham. On the other hand, the Palestinian or the Arabs claim to the land are baseless since they only part of the land and the city after they had lived for many years in Palestine(Lavi et al. 75). Besides, the Palestinians claim that the city belongs to them because they were the demographic majority until 1948 when the land was divided (Romann & Alex 28). Therefore, they do not support the notion that the land could have belonged to the Christians biblically. Nonetheless, the Arabs, use the biblical argument for the rightful claim of the land because they believed they were also descendants of Abraham. They reason that if God had promised to give the land to Abrahams children, then Ishmael too has the right over the land. It is, therefore, evident that the Bible provides the evidence that the land, which Jerusalem is part of, belongs to the Israelites as the endorsed and blessed children of God (Rosen & Anne 937). Conversely, the Arabs believe that they, in no time, should forfeit the land for the sake of compensating the Jews for the crimes committed against them by Europe, and they cannot forgo Jerusalem as a city with crucial Islamic significance. The Palestine may also lay claim on Jerusalem because the British Empire had promised to declare a free Arab state in land if they had supported them to overthrow the Ottoman Empire (Lavi et al. 72). In the beginning of the 20th Century, the Ottoman Empire that became weakened and the Europeans found the opportunity to increase their influence in the eastern Mediterranean regions. The British convinced the Arabs to revolt against the Ottoman rule in exchange of their emperor (Divine 139). After the Britons took over the land after the World War II, the terms of the agreements had changed since there were some other parts of the agreement that were ton clear to the Arabs (Romann & Alex 25). Therefore, the promise to give the land them bore no fruits as the British soon declared their support for a Jewish Nation. From the example, it is also clear that the Palestinians were not rightful residents of the disputed land since they wanted to take the advantage of their support against the Ottoman rule to take over the territory (Rosen & Anne 935). In this regard, the claim that Jerusalem belongs to the Palestinians is baseless since even the British did not support the Arabs to take over the territory that continues to ignite conflicts, even after many peace deals have always been signed to end the wars. The Palestinians also claim that the Jerusalem belongs to them from a religious perspective. However, the Holy Koran holds that Mecca is the declared eternal city for the Islamic faith (Lavi et al. 75). Therefore, the Islamic origins already declared Mecca as the most significant Islamic city that the non-Muslims are forbidden to go to. On the other hand, the medieval Muslims confirmed that Mecca was the holiest city to the Muslims as the Jerusalem was to the Jews (Rosen & Anne 938). Therefore, from historical evidence, Jerusalem could have not belonged to the Palestinians are being of Islamic significance as a holy city. Nonetheless, the modern scholars have already substantiated the importance of Mecca to Muslims and religious significance of Jerusalem to the Jews (Hermann 134). They too refute the claim that the Palestinians believe that the city belongs to them because it is historically the center for Muslim. Besides, most of these philosophical conclusions come from the Muslim Scholars who confirm that the Muslims only has one holy city, and that is Mecca as the one that Prophet Mohamed endorsed as the holy city (Romann & Alex 27). Unless there other claims, Jerusalem cannot be a center for Islamic Faith as Mecca is the declared holy Muslim city. Also from a historical perspective, the Palestinians have occupied Jerusalem when the city was not under any political control (Lavi et al. 89). At that point in history, there were Jews co-existing with the Palestinians and were using the city for Religious significance. The Arabs were free to practice their Islamic religion as the Christians were practiced their faith. However, the Jews living abroad, in Europe specifically were driven back to the land and came back as immigrants (Quigley 431). The Palestinians saw this as the move by the European countries to exercise their country in the region by establishing a Jewish state (Romann & Alex 29). In response, the UN in 1948, declared the city an International zone where was neither under the control of the Jews or the Palestinians (Rosen & Anne 939). Even the recent claims By the Prime Minister, Natanyu that the city is the capital of Israel has been rejected by the international community. If going by this example, then the Palestinians should not lay claim to the city as belonging to them. The UN still has declared the city an international zone and still has not recognized both the Palestinians as the Israelites to exercise their control over the city (Hermann 137). Nonetheless, the Palestinian’s claim on Jerusalem is motivated y political factors because the city is strategic located and can be used for exercising political control over the region (Lavi et al. 73). Initially, the battle over the land began when most regions around the world were considering forming strong nations with political organizations that could defend and rule over their lands. Therefore, the Jews believed that since Jerusalem was a holy city, would be the perfect center for political control (Hermann 139). However, the Palestine Arabs were rather angered by the move to create a Jewish nation and were also confronted at a time when they also needed a strong nation with a political organization and this they wanted to establish through Jerusalem (Romann & Alex 23). Therefore, their claim on the city is a rather a politically motivated ambition since the Arabs want the city to exercise their control over the oil-rich Middle East region (Rosen & Anne 938). As far as the war continues, the Palestinians will still push for having Jerusalem as the center of their political control despite the City rightfully belonging to the Jews. The Palestinian claim on Jerusalem was also instigated the Cold War between the USSR and the USA where the Communists backed the Palestinians in a bid to subdue the capitalist back Jews (Lavi et al. 70). However, the Palestinians also took the opportunity to fight over what they claim to be their land including Jerusalem. In this example, Jerusalem is again seen as the center for political control that was much sought after by the Palestinians during the Cold War (Rosen & Anne 936). Therefore, the Arabs would lay claim to the land including the city, Jerusalem, as a politically significant city where the Palestinians would establish their strong arms race (Hermann 134). However, the USA backed the Israeli government and was successful in subduing the efforts made by the USSR to back up the Palestinians so that the city would be used to spread communist ideologies in the Middle East region. Nonetheless, the Palestinian claim on Jerusalem, from the USA and Israeli perspective can be seen as a provocation to the Christianity as a faith (Hermann 134). Though initially the war between the two states was a territorial dispute, the contemporary wars have been instigated by the quest for religious supremacy. The Muslim dominated Palestinians believe the city is the best opportunity to subdue the influence of Christianity over the region. On the other hand, the battle for religious supremacy is also the reason behind the constant attacks by the Islamic radical groups that claim that the USA is favoring Israel over the ownership of City because they are the Christian majority (Rosen & Anne 936). Even the 9/11 attacks on USA were instigated by the fact that the USA had been supporting Israel’s dominance and ownership of the major cities like Jerusalem. Conclusion In a nutshell, the war between the Israelis and the Palestinians is the fight over the rightful ownership of Jerusalem as a critical and significant city. However, from the biblical evidence, Jerusalem is a city of religious importance to the Jews as it is a promised land by God. On the other hand, Palestinians are wrong to claim the ownership of the city as evidence show that Jerusalem has no significant Islamic importance as the Palestinians claim. Besides, the Palestinians are just interested in the city for political reasons since they want Jerusalem to become the future capital of Arab-led political faction. Works Cited Divine, Donna Robinson. "Jerusalems Wars: In Heaven and On Earth." The Middle East Journal 69.1 (2015): 137-139. Hermann, Tamar. "Zionism and Palestinian Nationalism: Possibilities of Recognition." israel studies 18.2 (2013): 133-147. Lavi, Iris, et al. "Protected by ethos in a protracted conflict? A comparative study among Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem." Journal of Conflict Resolution 58.1 (2014): 68-92. Romann, Michael, and Alex Weingrod. Living together separately: Arabs and Jews in contemporary Jerusalem. Princeton University Press, 2014. Rosen, Gillad, and Anne B. Shlay. "Whose right to Jerusalem?." International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 38.3 (2014): 935-950. Quigley, John. "The Palestine Declaration to the International Criminal Court: The Statehood Issue." Is There a Court for Gaza?. TMC Asser Press, 2012. 429-440. Read More