The Conflict in the Middle East

The following is part of the transcript of Conflict in the Middle East:

Jews. Arabs. Who are they? Why can't they live in peace? Why is the conflict between them so intense? Is there any hope that the conflict between Jews and Arabs can be resolved?

Jerusalem. The city of peace. The city of controversy. We see the problems in the Middle East in the news all the time, but what affect do they really have on you and me?

Bible prophecy revolves around the Middle East. It explains the conflicts we see here in Israel and in the rest of the region.

Let's start by identifying who the Jews and the Arabs are...where they came from...and why they can't seem to get along.

Jews exist all over the world. There are actually two aspects of being Jewish... Jews are a nationality - descendants of the ancient nation of Judea. And Judaism is a religion, based upon what Christians call the Old Testament of the Bible. Many Jews all over the world look to the nation of Israel as a kind of home even if they've never been here. We have to have to take a look into history to discover how the Jews came to be scattered all over the world and what their relationship is to modern Israel.

The ancient nation of Israel was divided into two parts in the 10th century B.C. The northern kingdom, which retained the name Israel, was overrun by the Assyrian empire in the 8th century B.C. and disappeared forever. The southern kingdom was named Judah, after the dominant tribe, and had its capital in Jerusalem. In the sixth century B.C., this nation was also conquered by the Babylonian empire and many of the Jews were taken captive to Babylon.

When the Persian empire displaced the Babylonians, 70 years later, the Jews were permitted to return to their home. There they became a semi-autonomous province of Persia then Greece, and finally Rome, who called the area "Judea".

It was during the Roman era that Jesus of Nazareth arrived on the scene, and began preaching in about 27 A.D. About 40 years later, Jewish zealots rebelled from Rome, and in 70 A.D. Jerusalem was subdued and burned. After another rebellion in the 2nd century, the emperor Hadrian finally expelled all Jews from Judea in 135 A.D. He renamed the land "Syria Palestina" which was later shortened to "Palestine". For centuries, no Jews were permitted in Palestine, nor was there any other place that they called "home".

Jews today live in nearly every nation on earth as a result of the Babylonian captivity and the Roman expulsion. Because of their strong religious bond, and in direct fulfillment of Bible prophecy, the Jews have never been fully assimilated into the nations where they lived.

In the late 19th century a movement called "Zionism" began and Jews began returning to their ancient homeland. These Jews purchased land in Palestine - often swamp and desert land considered worthless. Immigration increased following World War I, but it wasn't until the Holocaust of Nazi Germany that a large number of Jews came back to their ancient homeland.

The Zionist movement eventually resulted in the reestablishment of a nation of Israel in 1948. For the first time in over 2500 years there was a free Jewish state! Today Israel has a population of over 4 million - a majority of which are ethnically Jewish. There's an estimated 13 million Jews in other countries. Religiously, both in Israel and around the world, there's a wide spectrum that ranges from Orthodox to agnostic.

Arab numbers are far larger. There are almost 200 million Arabs making up the predominant population of 18 countries of the Middle East and Northern Africa. The Arab people also have a very long and troubled history. The Arabs as we know them today are a result of several lines of ancient peoples, including the Biblical Egyptians, Hittites, Canaanites, Ishmaelites, Edomites, Ammonites, Mbytes, and others. Moroccans, Egyptians, Syrians, Lebanese and so on, are distinct nationalities, but they are united by the Arabic language, and by strong religious and cultural ties. The Palestinians are the people that occupied Palestine for the 1800 years between the expulsion of the Jews and their return. Many Palestinians live within modern Israel, but many others fled or were driven from their homes in 1948. They have been scattered all over the world since then and many still live in refugee camps.

Religiously, most Arabs are Muslim, although there are a significant number of Christians. It should be pointed out that many predominantly Muslim countries are not Arab - Iran, Turkey, the former Soviet republics of central Asia, Pakistan and others.

Hebrew and Arabic - the different languages on this sign represent different cultures in this land. Different cultures make for conflict. But the conflict between Jew and Arab is essentially a hostility between brothers. Jews and Arabs have common roots. Both trace back to the patriarch Abraham. Abraham had two sons - Ishmael and Isaac. Isaac also had two sons, Esau and Jacob. Jacob's name was changed to "Israel" and his twelve sons became the 12 tribes of Israel. The offspring of Ishmael and Esau, combined with other branches of the same family, formed the basis of the Arab people.

According to the Bible, God made important promises to Abraham, which were also made to Isaac and Jacob, but not to the other sons.

The above transcript comes from the first 7 minutes of the video series, Conflict In The Middle East.

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