Jerusalem, home to some 800 thousand people. Half a million Jews, almost 300 thousand Muslims and 14 thousand Christians. According to some records Judaism is roughly 3,000 years old, Islam is half that at around 1400 years. Islam and Judaism are both Abrahamic religions, by virtue of this, they have intrinsic values that span both religions. The Quran mentions both Christians and Jews, it refers to them as people of the book. As each religion is monotheistic, it could be argued that they both worship the same god. Moses, Abraham, and Noah are respected both religions as prophets, Islam holds the Torah and Bible in high esteem. The list of similarities goes on and on. The holy places of these two religions are shared as well, and this …show more content…
Jerusalem offers sacred sites to both religions. The Temple Mount (Haram Al-Sharif) is believed to be the site where Solomon built his temple to house the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark housed the original ten commandments given to Moses by god. These commandments were god’s laws passed down to the Israelites on their journey to the promised land. For Muslims, this site is where the Prophet Muhammad left earth to travel to heaven to converse with god. This used to be their direction of prayer before God instructed Muhammad to face Mecca instead. Mecca is now the holiest site in Islam. The wailing wall is also a source of contention for Muslims and Jews. Here we see a wall that is believed by Jews to be the site of the second temple built by ancient Jews. This spot is also revered by Muslims, as Muhammad is said to have ties his winged horse to it on his night journey into heaven. These sites have been prone to conflict for ages. There are two reasons for this, the first is easy to understand. Sacred sites allow a group of people to be closer to god, it can allow them to feel closer to the divine. When these sites are also points of contention, fighting follows. The second has a more insidious design. Political actors use these spaces to control a populace, or a set of believers. With this control they can use it to their own ends for their true reason, and that is …show more content…
The Christians and Muslims traded it back and forth during The Crusades, and the Jews control it now. The Israeli government still allows Arabs to utilize Jerusalem as a place of worship. Unlike when Jordan controlled this area Jews were forbidden to practice their religion worship on this ground. What is being afforded the Israeli government now, is an opportunity to show the rest of the world that it is truly a gracious government. Jerusalem as a shared space, must be a place for both peoples and religion to come together. This city has been passed from one owner to another throughout history, by forcible means. What if we were to pass this city one more time? Not to one set of people but to another kind of governing body, a blending of both Islam and
So why is the peace of Jerusalem important to some one in Paris, or London, or Peoria, Illinois?
The Crusades were a series of wars that were started by Christians to win back their holy lands from the Muslims. It started in July 1099 when the Christian Crusaders from Western Europe attacked Jerusalem, massacred its inhabitants and established states in Palestine, the Lebanon and Anatolia (173). It wasn't until 1187 that Jerusalem was taken back from Crusaders. The crusades would not be over for a long time. The property of the Holy land is crucial to a religion because it gives a sense of a homeland. If the homeland is occupied by someone else, then it's a priority to win it back.
The Palestinian and Israeli conflict can be resolved only if both countries agree to internationalize Jerusalem: this holy city is the home of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The city has important religious connections with all three faiths; the Jews and the Christians see it as has a land of prophets and a promised land for all children of Abraham, the Christians see it also as the birthplace of Jesus, and the Muslim have the al Aqsa Intifada. This has been an on going war between Palestinians who are Muslims and Israelis who are Jews caused by conflicting religious and historical claims to the city, the desire of displaced Jews for a homeland and Palestinian anger at the British and U.S backed takeover of the city by the Israeli Jews. The effects of the conflict have been terrorist attacks around the world by both sides and the deaths of many soldiers and civilians.
(John L. Esposito 2012 islamicity.org). Christianity accepts God’s covenant with and revelation to the Jews but traditionally has seen itself as superseding Judaism with the coming of Jesus. Thus, Christianity speaks of its new covenant and New Testament. So, too, Islam and Muslims recognize Judaism and Christianity: their biblical prophets (among them Adam, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus) and their revelations (the Torah and the New Testament, or Message of Jesus). In addition, Islam makes frequent reference to Jesus and to the Virgin Mary, who is cited more times in the Quran than in the New Testament (Esposito J,
“The sights and sounds testify to a kind of ongoing competition. Pressed tightly within the same small space, Muslim minarets rise above Christian bell towers, Israeli flags and rebuilt synagogues announce the renewed Jewish presence in their own historic quarter, while the peal of church bells clashes with the muezzin’s call to prayer. But there is more than the mere cacophony of sounds or blending of colors. Zealots, true believers, fanatics of all kinds thrive in this holy atmosphere. Religious extremism flourishes in Jerusalem’s clear air, and the merging of the ‘heavenly’ with the ‘earthly’ city continues to nourish conflicting sentiments and periodic outbursts of open conflict.”
... people are the factors in the political conflict over the holy land. During the Crusades, the popes were politicians and wanted more land to control, and the same is happening today in the holy land. Fighting over the holy land will be a continuous war, because one religion will never be satisfied over the amount they control.
The Christians have their book known as the Bible. Lastly, the Islamic people have their book known as the Quran. All three of these books have scriptures. These three major religions also share a belief that there is one major area that they claim as their Holy Land. The Jews and the Christians claim Jerusalem, Israel as their Holy Land while the Islamic people claim Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
There are many differences and similarities between Muslim, Jews and Christians. One similarity that all three religions share is the belief in one god, although, Muslims refer to God as Allah. (242). All three religions have places where they go to pray and worship their god along with gathering with others of their faith for various other reasons (247). A Mosque is what the Muslims call their house of worship, a church is where Christians worship and a synagogue is where members of the Jewish community worship (247). Muslims do not believe in the Trinity as Christians do because Muslims do not consider Jesus to be the son of God, nor did they find him to be a “divine” being, meaning he is not god like (243). To Muslims, Jesus was just
Palestine and Israel have a big fight that should of ended long ago. During the late nineteenth hundreds the standard Zionist began a movement into the promised land known as Palestine to reclaim their ancestral homeland (The Origin of..). After moving into Palestine Zionists started to create an exclusive Jewish state, however the Arab community caught on to the movement and opposed this by not allowing Jewish immigration into Palestine along with not permitting them to buy land. Thus one can see the struggle Palestine and Israel are involved in currently, which has transformed the Promised Land into a place with extreme terrorism and constant bickering between the Jews and Arabs. Now Palestine is fighting for the land that was once there’s and although many feel as though the two state solution will not work and because Israel has its own Jewish community in one state, this currently is the best solution as long as Israel learns to negotiate with Palestine.
There has been a long tradition of conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis, though religion and ethnic differences have not been the ultimate causes of the conflict, like most civil unrests. The struggle has been mainly over an important religious, historical, and economical piece of land. Until 1949, the territory of land that has brought a lot of conflicts between the groups was known internationally as Palestine. However, Jews and Palestinians went to war in 1948, the outcome was to divide the land into three parts: the state of Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The Jewish claims to the land are based on a biblical promise to Abraham and his descendants, claiming that the land was a historical site of the Jewish kingdom of Israel. Palestinians would disagree claiming that they’re the true keepers of the land, based on continues residence in the territory, for hundreds of years.
The conflict is going on today and both peoples don’t want to give-in or back down. If they did they feel like that would be a sin against GOD. Boarders are unclear and the Jews keep on destroying Palestine settlements. The United Sates of America’s tax-payers are giving about eight million dollars to Israel a day which is fueling their military. What can be done about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? They could just get over themselves and become one peaceful state regardless of their religion. That wouldn’t work though because the hatred wouldn’t decease. They could spit 5the land into two different states. That would be difficult to draw the boarders because the Jews and the Muslims want Jerusalem and don’t believe in splitting it up. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is confusing and complex. No one can figure out an answer that would please both sides. Will they ever solve this problem? And more importantly…When will this
that exists and this can be read in the sacred texts, the Koran and the Bible. For all three monotheistic religions, God is the only one that can be considered as the Creator of the Universe, the All-Powerful and the venerable divine being that is gracious and merciful. They also accept the fact that this god is the same God that Abraham worships as stated in the Old Testament. This particular similarity between these three religions has given them the name “the Abrahamic religions” by some experts. Despite the varying names these three religions have for this particular god, in essence, they are one at the same. Abraham is also considered the father to the children of God, which are often referred to as the people of Israel. (Lin) What differs in the three religion’s concept of God is how they advocate them. One can see that Christianity and Judaism are close to their belief of God. They noted that Je...
Jerusalem. Some know it as the capital of Israel, a religious hot spot, or like William Blake does, as “The City of God on Earth.” For William Blake, Jerusalem was the holiest place on earth, a city that he wished to recreate in his own homeland of England. However, the modern day Jerusalem is not as pristine and harmonious as Blake envisioned. Along with it being the focal spot for the world’s 3 major religions, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, Jerusalem is also a place of tension, and volatile relations. The religious importance of the city draws in millions of people for residence or vacation, which makes Israel the most literal melting pot country of the world. Just like a melting pot, multiple types of people reside there, living in a boiling
Territorial disputes over which religion should have control over the holy lands have been ongoing for about two thousand years with little to no resolution in sight. Everyday, on the news, there is a story about how there was retaliation over the killing of a Palestinian or Israeli. As a result of these more are killed leading to the cyclical pattern of retribution. This conflict has diminutive weight in the eyes of the people of the world since it has been carried on for so long. The argument for both groups is a claim that Jerusalem is the rightful possession of their religion and the key to the survival of their cultures. Promises for peace are frequent but never upheld by either side. As the everyday struggle for peace continues little is accomplished to up hold that pledge for peace to end the violence and hate. The shouting voices of the Palestinian People in the streets cry out in anger, ”Down the olive branch, long live the gun.” There is more to the never ending holy war than that of which the media allows us to see, the fear and loathing for that of a better life. The trifling stories of the individual are frequently untold even though they are a transgression committed against personal liberties.
Islam and Christianity have a vast amount of similarities as well as differences. Islam searches for guidance from the Qur’an and Christianity depends on faith in Jesus. Islamic faith believes in the God, Allah. Above anything else, all religious Muslims obey Allah and his commandments to obtain peace. On other hand, Christianity puts faith in Jesus who is the son of God. A major concept that separates both of the religions is the fact that the God of each faith has different qualities. This means Islam and Christianity don’t worship the same God. Islam and Christianity are two separate belief systems in which two separate Gods exist.