The 20th century Holy Land has been a source of ongoing tension. It is sacred to Judaism as the site of the ancient Jewish kingdom and Temple, to Christianity as places where Jesus lived and died, and to Islam as the place where Muhammad ascended to heaven. After World War I, Britain encouraged Jewish immigration and settlement in Palestine, fueling Arab opposition as numbers grew. The Holocaust led to increased support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine, but this displaced Palestinians and has led to an ongoing conflict over claims to the territory between Jews and Arabs.

1. Holy Land:
Holy Trouble!
The 20th Century has been a hotbed of Holy Land
tensions
Monday, February 6, 2012

2. Monday, February 6, 2012

3. Holy Lands - Roman
Monday, February 6, 2012

4. Monday, February 6, 2012

5. Monday, February 6, 2012

6. Holy Land Sacred to Jewish
Why?
Jerusalem = ancient capital city
this region is considered their ancestral homeland (before
they were kicked out back around 500 BCE!)
Jerusalem has Western or W ailing W - of the Second
a$
Temple - most sacred site in Judaism
Monday, February 6, 2012

7. Holy Land Sacred to i
Why?
It’s a$ about Jesus Christ! Christians regard Jesus as their
Messiah and Saviour - messenger 'om God
Holy Land (Bethlehem + Jerusalem)- places where Jesus
was born, crucified and resurrected
This area became Christian a)er the Roman Emperor
Constantine forced everyone to adopt Christianity (313)
Monday, February 6, 2012

8. Sacred to Islam
Why?
Jerusalem - place where Mohammad (Muslim’s Messiah,
next a)er Jesus) ascended to heaven
3rd most sacred site in Islam
Holy Lands conquered by Muslims in 7th Century
Monday, February 6, 2012

9. Holy Land
Has been largely in the Muslim World since the 7th
century: Seljuk Turks, Ottoman Empire
WWI - Ottoman Empire breaks up a)er losing (they
joined Germany and lost). Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine,
Syria, Jordan and Kuwait are created. These “countries”
had never existed before
Monday, February 6, 2012

10. 20th Century
1917 - Britain gives the OK for Jewish
folks to start immigrating to Palestine
1920‘s-30‘s: Jewish numbers grow in Palestine
1930’s - Hitler’s rising power = rising tensions against
Jewish people in Germany
WW11 + Holocaust: mi$ions of Jewish people ki$ed in
Europe
Monday, February 6, 2012

11. Effects ofWorld War 11
Post-Holocaust: The world is ashamed
Jewish people need a safe place to go
Many believe they need to create a homeland somewhere
But where? Wherever they go wi$ cause tensions with
the local people... (eg: Europeans “discovering” America)
Monday, February 6, 2012

12. Holocaust Solution?
Palestine was chosen as a safe place for Jewish people to
create a new homeland - where they wi$ be safe 'om
persecution
Reasons?
i) Ancient Jewish Holy Land
ii) Jewish people have been moving there since 1917
Monday, February 6, 2012

13. What problems might this lead to?
Monday, February 6, 2012

14. Holy Lands
Today there are constant tensions in the Holy Land
between Palestinians (who are mainly Muslim but also
Jewish + Christian) and Jewish settlers.
Hundreds of people die and live in fear every year in
Palestine and Israel as a result
Monday, February 6, 2012

15. Monday, February 6, 2012

16. Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss
Monday, February 6, 2012

17. Monday, February 6, 2012