Zionist Frequently Asked Questions

From Palestine Remembered

Zionist Frequently Asked Questions

The Zionist FAQ section has been specifically built to counter the prevalent Israeli Zionist propaganda, which unfortunately has gone mostly unanswered in the West and Israel. We have assumed that the reader is familiar with the evolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and has some questions for Palestinians to answer. So if you're a beginner to the conflict and would like to know more, we recommend visiting our introductory section that contains a short list of articles about the conflict, click here for further details.
A special thanks goes to Mark Kober- Smith, an anti-Zionist British Jew, for editing and proofreading this important book. Over several months, Mark put an incredible amount of time and effort to bring this section to what it is today.

Historical Zionist FAQs

Why do Palestinians want to destroy Israel and drive Israeli Jews into the sea?
Why did Arabs reject the proposed UN GA partition plan which split Palestine into Jewish and Arab states?
Why did seven well equipped Arab armies attempt to destroy the poorly armed and newly founded 'Jewish State'?
Isn't it true that Palestinians left their homes during the 1948 war because their leaders asked them to leave?
Why do Palestinians insist on a country of their own? Isn't it true that Palestine was empty and inhabited by nomadic people?
Why should Palestinians have their own country? Isn't it true that Palestinians never had either a state, nor any distinct culture or language of their own?
Isn't it true that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East?
Aren't Palestinians as responsible as their leader al-Hajj Amin Hussieni who collaborated with the Nazis during WW II?
Isn't true that Palestine was destitute until Israelis made its desert bloom?
God promised the descendants of the prophet Abraham the 'Promised Land', why are Palestinians defying the Almighty's prophecy?

Current Zionist FAQs

Why did Arafat reject Barak's "generous" offer at Camp David?
Palestinians are not the only people to have been subjected to population transfer, it is normal in human history
Isn't it a fair 'population exchange' between Palestinian refugees and Jewish refugees from many Arab countries?
Why Palestinians fight the "peaceful Israelis"?
Why don't Arabs welcome their Palestinian Arab brothers?
How could Palestinians send their kids to riot against Israeli soldiers?
Israel is the strongest force in the Middle East, how come Arabs are not willing to accept this fact?
Why do Palestinians seek to destroy Israel's 'Jewish Character' by insisting on their return to their homes in Israel?
How come Arabs fail to understand the unique and special connection Jews have for Eretz Yisrael?
Why do Arabs ONLY understand the language of force?

http://www.palestineremembered.com/ZionistFAQ.html

Palestinian-Israeli Conflict For Beginners

From PalestineRemembered:

Palestinian-Israeli Conflict For Beginners

The CORE issues of the Palestinian-Israeli are the collective dispossession and ethnic cleansing (compulsory population transfer to achieve political objectives) of the Palestinian people for the past six decades. In our opinion, the conflict would have been at the same level of intensity even if both parties had been Jewish, Muslims, or Christians. We have compiled the following articles to introduce the reader to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict:

Zionism 101, Zionism and its impact.
Chronology of Palestinian History.
"The Origins And Evolution Of The Palestine Problem, 1917-1947" by the United Nations.
Zionist Frequently Asked Questions, answers to the MOST frequently asked questions by Israelis and Zionists.
Refugees 101, The Birth Of The Palestinian Refugees problem.
Ethnic Cleansing 101, how Palestinians became refugees.
Looting, Looting And More Looting, the looting and plunder of Palestinian homes, farms, factories, businesses, banks, ... etc.
Right of Return 101, the key to ending the Palestine-Israeli conflict.
A Survey of Palestine, especially produced by British Mandate for the UN before the partition resolution. (1,300+ pages)
How Palestine became Israel, great couple of pages about the core issues of the conflict (requires a PDF reader)
Palestine's Population from 1800-2000
Quiz yourself in Israeli Democracy.
Documentary Videos: Responding to Zionist Propaganda
Video: Sands of Sorrow -Depicting the lives of Palestinian refugees soon after Nakba
Palestinian Frequently Asked Question
Famous Zionist Quotes, here we introduce you to major Zionist leaders BASED on what they said and wrote.
Video: The Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer report on the influence of the Israel Lobby on U.S. Foreign Policy
Israeli racism explained by Joseph Massad
Nakba deniers, explained
How The Spartan Jew Was Born?
What would you do if you were born a Palestinian?
Why Palestinian fight for their rights?
Palestinians don't have the right to defend themselves, they've the right to die silently!
Why Is Gaza's Message Threatening To Some?
Talking to a Wall : Palestine in the Mind of America
Buying Palestinian National Rights
Tatar and Turkish Khazars and the their connection to European Judaism.
JNF: Financing Racism and Apartheid
UNDP: Arab Human Development Report 2002-2004
Nakba by Aref al-Aref (Arabic). The Palestinian narrative to what happened during Nakba.
Geography of Palestine by Mustafa Murad al-Dabagh (Arabic).



http://www.palestineremembered.com/index.html

Palestinian nonviolent resistance

Palestinian nonviolent resistanceHope and Empowerment: Theory, practice and history of Palestinian and International Nonviolent Resistance 1878-2008



http://qumsiyeh.org/palestiniannonviolentresistance/

Palestine, Israel and the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Primer

Palestine, Israel and the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Primer

Table of Contents
Page 1
Introduction
The Land and the People
Page 2
Zionism
Page 3
The British Mandate in Palestine
Page 4
The United Nations Partition Plan
Page 5
Palestinian Arab Refugees
Palestinians
Palestinian Arab Citizens of Israel
Page 6
The June 1967 War
Page 7
The Occupied Territories
Jerusalem
Page 8
The Palestine Liberation Organization
UN Security Council Resolution 242
Page 9
The October 1973 War
Camp David I
Page 10
The Intifada
Page 11
The Madrid Conference
Page 12
The Oslo Accords
Page 13
Camp David II
Page 14
The Fall 2000 Uprising


http://www.merip.org/palestine-israel_primer/toc-pal-isr-primer.html

The British (1917 – 1948)

The British (1917 – 1948)

History of Palestine

During World War I, Palestine was the base for large Turkish forces which occupied Sinai and made two major attacks against British forces stationed along the Suez Canal.

German contingents and advisors assisted these Turkish forces, who were under the command of Jemal Pasha, the Turkish governor-general of Syria and Palestine. In the autumn of 1917, British forces in Egypt under the command of General Sir Edmund Allenby thrust through southern Palestine and, on 9 December 1917, Allenby made his victory march into Jerusalem. The Turks and a German contingent, however, retained most of Samaria and Galilee until their final retreat from Palestine in September 1918.

Jamal Pasha had ruled with a rod of iron, and his hand was heavy on all Palestinians suspected of anti-Turkish sentiments. The war also thinned-out the population of Palestine and wasted its resources; while plagues of locusts took their toll, and extreme corruption of the Turkish officials bled the Palestinians white.

The worst, however, was yet to come. Five weeks before the British were even to occupy Palestine; they delivered their most crippling blow to the Palestinians.

On 2 November 1917, Arthur Balfour, the British foreign secretary, made, on behalf of the British Government, the following historic declaration:

‘His Majesty’s Government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people… it being understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine.’

At the time of the ‘Balfour Declaration ’the Palestinian Jews constituted about eight per cent of the total population. The British Government was therefore signalling its intent to enforce a massive settlement of European Jews in Palestine. The Declaration was also an insult to the overwhelming 750,000 Christian and Muslim Palestinians referred to as the ‘non-Jewish communities’.

The rest is known history. In 1948, the Jewish immigrants – mostly from Europe – declared the creation of the State of Israel. They had increased in such numbers and strength that they were able to overrun most of Palestine; except for the West Bank of the River Jordan and the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinians retreated before the advancing Jewish forces, becoming refugees in their ancient homeland.

The Jews claim Palestine has been promised to them through Abraham.
The Palestinians refugees want their ancient homeland back.
Is there a compromise?

Zionism

Zionism

History of Palestine

During the 1880s, a group of Jewish intellectuals in Eastern Europe launched a political movement called “Zionism”. It called for the establishment in Palestine of a Jewish state to provide a haven for World Jews from the threats of minority status, assimilation and religious persecution. Theodor Herzl, a Hungarian Jew, published Der Juden Staat, a treatise that outlined the prevailing Zionist ideas regarding Jewish settlement in Palestine; and in 1897, he convened the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, and the World Zionist Organization was created.

However, the number of Palestinian Jews in Palestine was negligible. When the Turks opened their empire to the thousands of Jewish refugees fleeing persecution during the Spanish Inquisition, the vast majority had obviously not chosen Palestine, as in 1587 they numbered only 980 in Jerusalem. In the 1880s the Jews in Palestine numbered some 25,000, compared with 600,000 Christian and Muslim Palestinians.

The first Zionist colony in Palestine was established in 1878, and in 1914 some thirty colonies had been founded, despite repeated Ottoman legislation to restrict them.

Relations between all three religions in Palestine was always peaceful and stable, mellowed by thousands of years of coexistence and shared adversities. As the number of Zionist settlements increased, however, the Palestinians began feeling uneasy.

The Ottoman Turks (AD 1516 - 1917)

The Ottoman Turks (AD 1516 - 1917)

History of Palestine

To win over the Arabs, the conquering Turks declared themselves champions of Islam; and to prove their point Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (1520 - 1566) built a new wall for Jerusalem. The Khasseki Sultan, the favourite wife of Suleiman, built a complex in Jerusalem to feed and shelter the poor and the distressed. The complex included a monastry and an inn with a public kitchen, Bakery, stables and store rooms. During the British Mandate khasseki Sultan's public kitchen and bakery were still functioning.

Palestine, however, continued slumbering, as Constantinople's un declared policy was to keep its subjects illiterate. As Europe advanced through its schools and universities, Palestine and the rest of the Arab countries stagnated in illiteracy. During the seventeenth century, the Ottomans went into defensive to protect their large empire, which stretched from Hungary to Egypt. They conscripted large numbers of Palestinian peasants into the Turkish army, and the fertile plains of Palestine once again began to erode.

To block Britain's trade route with India and the far East, Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt, then Palestine, in February 1799, after besieging Jaffa, the French army savagely massacred the local population. When a pernicious plague began devastating the French army, the French interpreted this as a Divine retribution for the sins which they had committed in the Holy Land. A demoralized French army moved northwards to capture Acre but its ruler, Ahmed Al-Jazzar, held off Napoleon despite a steady, concerted French bombardment. Acre was finally relieved when thirty Ottoman ships landed 10,000 Anglo-Turkish troops. Napoleon ordered the burning of he harvest in the surrounding area and, for the first time, was forced to retreat. He made his way back, from where he sailed for France.

The long Dark Age which had gripped Palestine finally began to lift when Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt invaded Palestine in November 1831. Ibrahim Pasha was the son of Mohammed Ali, Egypt's colorful ruler who defied Turkey as the new power of the Middle East. Ibrahim Pasha opened a string of Arabic schools in Palestine, and he even encouraged the European missionaries to open schools to educate the Palestinian Christians. Ibrahim's ten-year rule of Palestine (1831 - 1840) was sufficient to spark off the long-awaited renaissance for the Holy Land. Great Britain, However, finally sided with Turkey against Egypt, and Ibrahim Pasha was forced to retreat back home. The Turks reoccupied Palestine and immediately closed down Ibrahim's schools, but out of fear of reaction from the West, they kept clear of the missionary schools.

After 1840, European interests in Palestine steadily increased. Consulates and vice-consulates of the greater powers were established in Jerusalem and in some of the Palestinian seaports. Rivalry between the Latins, championed by Tzarist Russia, reached preposterous levels when they entered into a bitter feud over who had the right to mark with a star the birthplace of Christ in the Church of Nativity at Bethlehem. The feud sparked off much international tension, and it became one of the prime causes of the Crimean War.

In 1898, Kaiser Wihelm II of Germany paid a visit to Palestine, signalling to the European powers Germany's interests in the Arab East. When World War I broke out, Turkey sided with Germany against Great Britain. Great Britain, which had earlier occupied Egypt, now braced itself for Turkish attacks on the strategic Suez Canal.

The Mamluks (AD 1260 - 1516)

The Mamluks (AD 1260 - 1516)

History of Palestine

The agreement between Richard the Lionhearted and Saladin had left the Crusaders confined to the Palestinian coastline, but they yearned to regain Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

In the Far East, the Mongols were moving westwards, leaving behind them a ghastly trail of death and destruction. The Crusaders struck an agreement with the Mongols against the Muslims and, in 1258, Haulage, the grandson of Mongol leader Genhgis Khan, swept through Iraq and thoroughly destroyed Baghdad. The Mongols burnt down Baghdad's splendid palaces, and its renowned libraries.

They also deliberately set out to destroy the irrigation systems, which had kept Iraq prosperous and populous since its ancient times. These blood-crazed horsemen then hacked their way through Syria and Palestine, leaving behind the only work of which they were capable; decapitated heads stacked in the shape of pyramids. Delighted with their victories, the Pope in Rome sent these pagan hordes his blessings.

In response, a large Mamluki cavalry in Cairo headed for Palestine and, in 1260, at Ain Jalut, near Nazareth, they routed and defeated the Mongols. Baybars, the Mamluki leader, then took his revenge on the Crusaders for their alliance with the Mongols. He mercilessly destroyed the Crusade strongholds along Palestine's coastline, leaving them clinging to Acre, Tyre and Tripoli. In 1291, the Mamluks overran Acre, the last Crusade stronghold, to become the undisputed leaders of Egypt and Palestine.

Rudolph of Suchem left us this impression of the Mamluk Sultan al Ashraf khalil besieging the Crusaders in Acre: 'He pitched his tents, set up sixty machines, dug many mounds beneath the city walls, and for forty days and nights, without any respite, assailed the city with fire, stones, and arrows so that the air seemed to be stiff with arrows. I have heard a very honorable knight say that a lance which he was about to hurl from a tower among the Saracens was all notched with arrows before it left his hand.'

The European inhabitants of Acre tried to evacuate by sea; many got away, but, because there were not enough boats, many were left on the quayside. One chronicler tells the story of 500 ladies of noble birth crowding around the harbor, promising sailors whatever they asked to get a place on a boat that would take them to safety.

Palestine was now sinking into a very long and depressive Dark Age that was to last some 600 years. The vicious plundering of the Mongols and the savage wars between the Mamluks and Crusaders overwhelmed this tiny land. In fear of the return of the Crusaders, the Mamluks destroyed the harbors, orchards, farmsteads, and irrigation systems in Palestine, paralyzing and crippling a shattered land.

The once prosperous Canaanite seaports now stood idle. Income from pilgrims dried up as the Mamluks succeeded in isolating Palestine from the West. Illiteracy became rampant, since the Mamluks were alien to Arab literature and Baghdad, the Arab cultural and scientific center, stood destroyed.

Two major discoveries in the fifteenth century added to Palestine's miseries. The discovery of a sea route around South Africa to the Far East, and the discovery of America, drastically shifted sea routes away from the eastern Mediterranean and the passage of foreign ships to Palestine almost ceased.

The Mamluks maintained their own oligarchy as they continuously imported more Turkish and Circassian slaves to replenish their ranks. Ironically, these ex-slaves are considered to be great patrons of arts, as they adorned Cairo to such an extent that it became one of the most beautiful mediaeval cities in the world. Palestine was largely ignored, although they continuously beautified the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

In Asia Minor, one of Islam's greatest dynasties was in the making. The Ottoman Turks had become the most powerful forces in Asia Minor after their cousins, the Seljuki Turks, had been greatly weakened by the Crusaders. In 1455, the Ottomans gave the long awaited deathblow to the Roman Byzantine when they overran Constantinople. In 1516, the modern Ottoman Turkish army invaded Palestine after decrimating the Mamluki cavalry with artillery and powder muskets, against which the proud Mamluks charged into battle with swords, lances and spears.

The Ayubid Arabs (AD 1187 - 150)

The Ayubid Arabs (AD 1187 - 150)

History of Palestine

The Kingdom of Jerusalem was founded on blood, suffering, and the expulsion of the Palestinian Muslims from Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Hatred surrounded that Kingdom, and the liberation of Jerusalem was constantly on the minds of the Muslims. Salah el Din al Ayuby, better known in the West as Saladin, was a native of Iraq who, after several illustrious military campaigns, had managed to become Sultan of both Egypt and Syria. He then turned his full attention to Palestine. At the famous battle of Hittin in 1187, Saladin defeated some 20,000 Crusade knights, after which he besieged and captured Jerusalem. In stark contrast to its bloody occupation by the Crusaders, Saladin offered amnesty and safe passage for the Crusaders and their families.

Saladin's victories in Palestine triggered the 'Third Crusade', headed by the three major kings of Europe: Philip Augustus of France, Frederick Bararossa of Germany, and Richard the Lionheart of England. Barbarossa drowned en route while crossing a river and his son, Duke of Swabia, insisted on burying his father's remains in Jerusalem. The body was pickled in vinegar, but it fared so badly on the long journey that the remains had to be interred in Antioch. One or two bones of the old warrior were, however, taken on to complete the pilgrimage. Meanwhile, Richard and Philip had occupied Acre. However, Philip - who had by then had enough of crusading - left for France.

Saladin was then camping outside Acre, negotiating with Richard for payment of a ransom for several thousand Muslim prisoners. When negotiations broke down, Richard coldly ordered the slaughter of the Muslims. He then proceeded southward to Jaffa; keeping to the coast and being supplied by English ships keeping pace with him just offshore. Saladin now struck, and the Norman minstrel, Ambroise, wrote this poem, describing the attacking Muslims:

With numberless rich pennons streaming

And flags and banners of fair seeming

Then thirty thousand Turkish troops

And more, ranged in well ordered groups,

Garbed and accounted splendidly,

Dashed on the host impetuously.

Like lightning speeds their horses' fleet,

And dust rose thick before their feet.

Moving ahead of the emirs

There came a band of trumpeters

And other men with drums and tabors

Except upon their drums to hammer

And hoot, and shriek and make great clamor.

So loud their tabors did discord

They had drowned the thunder of the lord.

Richard repulsed the attack, and for the next year the two leaders exhausted themselves in wars and skirmishes. Saladin and Richard finally agreed that the Kingdom of Jerusalem should be confined to the coastal cities, as far south as Jaffa, and the Ayubid Arabs (Saladin belonged to the Ayubid family) were to have the rest of Palestine. Acre became the capital of this shrunken European Kingdom, and Richard left Palestine in October 1192.

As Richard sailed back home to deal with his scheming younger brother John, his ship was wrecked in the Adriatic and he was captured by Duke Leopold of Austria. When Richard and Philip took over Acre, the British tore down the German standard, an insult that Leopold did not forget. Another grudge held against Richard was on account of the murder of Conrad, Philip's cousin. Speculation had it that Richard himself might have paid the 'Old Man of the mountains', Sheikh Rashid Sinan, to send down a couple of Assassins to knife Conrad. The German Emperor, Henry VI, accused Richard, while being held prisoner, of Canard's assassination.

The Assassins had made their headquarters in the mountains near Aleppo, Syria; and their dagger-men, or fidaees, swore a solemn oath to assassinate at a specific time, which they did under the influence of hashish. In the thirteenth century their fame was such that a widespread panic gripped France at a rumor that Assassins had landed and were on their way to Paris. The Assassins twice wounded Saladin, and he never managed to stamp them out. Richard was finally ransomed for a vast sum of silver raised through taxes and the sale of English gold and silver church plate.

On a mountain-top overlooking Cairo, Saladin built the Citadel, a castle from which his Ayubid dynasty ruled Egypt, Palestine and Syria (the Citadel continued as Egypt's ruling palace well into the nineteenth century).

Like the Abbasid rulers of Baghdad, the Aybids of Cairo relied heavily on Turkish elements to serve their army. These Turkish soldiers were called Mamluks (meaning being owned in Arabic) as they were captured in childhood and trained in every branch of warfare. In 1250, the Turkish Mamluk took control of the Citadel, and with it Egypt. Palestine was soon to follow.

The Crusaders (AD 1099-1291)

The Crusaders (AD 1099-1291)

History of Palestine

The history of the middle Ages presents no spectacle more imposing than of the Crusades, in which are to be seen the nations of Europe and the Near East armed against each other for control of Palestine. One could almost believe that there no longer existed in the universe any other country but the Holy Land, no other city but Jerusalem, and no other church but the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

Pope Urban II proved the catalyst for the Crusade wars when, in November 1095, before the Council of Clermont in France, he delivered one of the most effective speeches in history. He appealed to attribute to the Muslims or “Saracens”, in reference to the Seljuks. It was decreed that all who joined this Crusade should wear a red cross on their right shoulder; that they should enjoy plenary indulgence and obtain remission of all their sins. In response, about 250,000 peasants, led by Peter the Hermit, Walter de Pexejo and Walter the Seljuki, Turks, who had by then occupied most of Asia Minor, decimated them just as they left Constantinople.

This peasant army was followed by the First Crusade, a more disciplined army-estimated at 300.000 and consisting of four main division-which set out to rendezvous in Constantinople. Once division came from Belgium, under the command of Godfrey de Bouillon. Another came from Italy, and was composed of Normans and Italians. A third division came from Provence and was commanded by the Count of Toulouse. The fourth came from Normandy and was led by Knights, townsfolk, peasants and criminals, promised pardon from the wives went along with their knights, together with some of their children and their households.

Although many of the knights were men of high principles, seeking the reopening of free pilgrim traffic and the recovery of their Saviour’s Tomb, there were many others who looked forward to grabbing land and riches in God’s land.

The four divisions rendezvoused in Constantinople to receive supplies and scouts and, after crossing the Bosphorus into Asia Minor; the Crusaders began their task of decimating the Seljuks. Their conviction in their mission was reinforced in early October 1097 when a comet with a tail shaped like a sword was seen in the heavens. The march to Jerusalem lasted two years, and some one hundred thousand Muslim dead were left behind in their wake.

The Crusaders reached Jerusalem in1099, and William of Tyre noted: When they heard the name Jerusalem called out, they began to weep and fell on their knees, giving thanks to Our Lord with many sights for the great love which He had showed them in allowing them to reach the goal of their pilgrimage, the Holy City which He had loved so much that He wished there to save the world. It was deeply moving to see the tears and hear the loud sobs of these good folk. They ran forward until they had a clear view of all the towers and the walls of the city. They then raised their hands in prayer to heaven and taking off their shoes, bowed down to the ground and kissed the earth.

The small Fatimid garrison looking out saw the sunlight flashing on the shields of a vast army covering the surrounding hills. Having heard of the Crusade atrocities, the Jerusalemites were adamant in holding them off. For five weeks the Crusaders bombarded Jerusalem with rocks and stormed its walls with troops on movable towers under the cover of archers.

The Arabs (AD 637-1260)

The Arabs (AD 637-1260)

History of Palestine

Sensing the futility of defending the Holy Land against the Arabs, Roman Emperor Heraclius carried away the True Cross of Christ to Constantinople. Marooned in Aaelia Capitolina (Jerusalem) with an Arab army besieging its walls, the future looked bleak indeed for its Patriarch, Sophronius. However, news reached him that the Arabs had not put Damascus to the sword. The Patriarch therefore despatched messengers to Omar ibn-al-Khattab, the third "Caliph" (successor to the prophet Mohammed) and supreme commander of the Arab armies, expressing his willingness to surrender Jerusalem to him.

Omar was a devout and modest man, and he rode from Syria across the pleasant hills of Galilee, accompanied only by a single servant, with whom he took turns in riding the camel.

He joined his army before Jerusalem in AD 637, and signed its surrender terms-which called for the protection of the Christians, their property and churches. This marked the first time in which Jerusalem was spared slaughter and destruction by a conquerer.

Omar then proceeded to search for the Rock on which Mohammed had prayed. The Holy Rock was at length discovered under debris and, after uncovering and clearing the site, Omar ordered that no prayers be made there until it had been cleansed by three falls of rain.

Caaesarea, the Roman capital of Palestine, was the last to fall in AD 640; having withstood an Arab siege because it was supplied by sea. Palestine finally became an integral part of the Arab World; its integration into the Arab world being a natural ending to a long series of Arab incursions into the land ever since the dawn of history.

Dissensions and rivalries soon broke out among the Muslim leaders. In Jerusalem, in AD 661, Moawiya proclaimed himself Caliph of the Ommayad dynasty (Moawiya belonged to the Ommayad family). He transferred the seat of the caliphate from Medina in the Arabian desert to Damascus and, like wildfire, Arab armies overran territories extending from Spain to Turkestan in Central Asia. In AD 691, the Caliph Abdel Malik ibn-Marwan constructed a mosque over the Holy Rock. This Dome of the Rock mosque is one of the Islam's holiest sites, and still remains one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.

In AD 750, Arabs calling themselves Abbasids seized power from the Ommayads, and transferred the capital of the Arab World to Baghdad. The Arabs were now the sole representatives of civilization. In contrast to the barbarism which had spread over Europe by the invasion of nothern peoples, the Arabs went back to Greek philosophy, and opened up new paths to the study of nature.

The Ommayad period was filled with wars of invasion, far-away expeditions and striking triumphs. Under the Abbasids, men's minds were filled with new ideas, and writings of all kinds sprang into being. Arabic became the medium of learning for the Middle East. To the caliph Abu Jafar al-Mansur belongs the credit for encouraging the studies of exact sciences; astronomy, chemistry and medicine were advanced, and algebra invented. But it was the word with which the Arabs prided themselves, as they sat listening to poetry and to such legendary stories as "A thousand and One Nights."

The Abbasy caliphs, however, relied heavily on Persian and Turkish elements, and when the Caliph Mootasim chose to employ only Turks as his palace guards, the Turks gradually gained the upper hand in the fabulous and plush Arab palaces. By AD 850 the Turks were in complete control of the puppet caliphs. Revolts broke out in Palestine, Syria and Egypt; as the people protested and refused the authority of the Turks, and the Abbasid authority over Palestine became nominal.

In AD 966 Fatimid Arabs (named after Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet Mohammed) occupied Egypt and Palestine. Cairo became the capital of the Fatimids, and ewhen Hakim bi-amr-Allah mounted the Fatimid throne he caused the church of the Holy Sepulchre to be entirely destroyed, an act which excited indignation throughout the West.

In the year 1070 Seljuk Turks from Turkestan in Central Asia invaded Palestine. These rugged Muslim horsemen began harassing the Christian pilgrims; and the lamentable accounts which the pilgrims gave on their return to Europe of the insults and oppression they had suffered, gave birth to the romantic notion of capturing the Holy Land. Although the Fatimids of Egypt reoccupied Palestine in 1098, they lost it a year later to the Crusaders.

The Romans (63 BC - AD 637)

The Romans (63 BC - AD 637)

History of Palestine

The Roman general, Pompey the Great, invaded Palestine in 63 BC, initiating seven long centuries of Roman rule. When civil war broke out between Julius Caesar and Pompey, Pompey took refuge in Alexandria - only to be treacherously murdered by Ptolomy XIV, the brother/ husband of Queen Cleopatra. Caesar then followed into Egypt and clashed with Ptolomy. His war against the Egyptians did not fare well until Antipater, an Arab Sheikh from southern Palestine, came to Caesar's assistance with several thousand Arab horsemen. Antipater was chief of the Idumaen tribe and his son was Herod, later to be known as 'Herod the Great'.

Cleopatra also sided with Caesar against her husband, who was finally defeated and drowned. Cleopatra also sided with Caesar against her husband, who was finally defeated and drowned. Cleopatra remarried a younger brother, but soon rid herself of him (by poison) and followed Caesar to Rome.

In gratitude for his assistance, Caesar appointed Antipater as governor of the districts of Judaea, Samaria and Galilee. Antipater in turn installed his sons, Heord and Feisal, as governors of Galilee and Judaea, respectively. This put an end to the rule of the Jewish Hasmonaean kings over Judaea, but it cost Antipater his life. The Jewish high priest of Jerusalem invited Antipater to dinner, during which poison was slipped into his wine.

When on the Ides of March, 44 BC, Caesar was murdered in Rome, one Cassius Longinus, who was responsible for Caesar's assassination, moved on to take over the eastern parts of the empire. Subsequently, the victory of Mark Antony and Octavian over Cassius left Antony in control of the Eastern Empire. Antony summoned Cleopatra to Tyre to answer a totally unfounded charge of aiding Cassius. But, like Caesar before him, he fell captive to her charms.Whilst Antony dallied in Alexandria with his regal lover, the Persians occupied Palestine. Herod narrowly made his escape to Alexandria, where Cleopatra provided him with a ship to continue his journey to Rome. Herod was warmly welcomed in Rome by both Mark Antony and Octavian, and Antony urged the Roman Senate to elect Herod as king of Judea. Herod's mother was a Nabataean, and he had inherited his father's clear-thinking intelligence and Diplomacy. With the aid of several Roman legions he drove the Persians out of Palestine; except for the Kingdom of Nabataea and Phoenicia.

Herod, however, had now to deal with Cleopatra, who had grandiose designs. She wanted to establish and Eastern Empire for her sons from Caasar and Antony to inherit. She persuaded Antony to give her the Palestinian coastal cities, including the balsam groves of Jericho whose produce was world-famous and extremely valuable. But in deference to his friend and ally Herod, Antony refused to give her the rest of Palestine.

During a visit she made to Palestine with Anthony, Cleopatra tried winning Herod over by seduction. Her seductive arts apparently failed, but she did succeed in starting a war between Herod and the powerful king of Nabataea. She even conspired with his wife, Mariamne, and his mother-in-law, to overthrow him. When Octavian defeated Antony at the naval battle of Actium, Cleopatra's threats ended.

Octavian entered Alexandria on the 1 August 30BC and found Antony had already committed suicide; though, from all accounts, not very efficiently. Barely forty, Cleopatra offered her charms to Octavian.

Octavian, however, put her under arrest, planning to parade her before the street mobs of Rome in his victory procession. The proud queen forestalled him by committing suicide with the aid of one or two poisonous snakes, secretly conveyed to her and pressed against her bosom. Octavian (now titled Augustus Caesar) kept Herod in place because of his unfaltering loyalty to Antony. With Cleopatra out of the way, Herod embarked on an ambitious programme to improve Palestine, winning him the title of 'Herod the Great'. He erected magnificent buildings, founded cities, built roads and fortresses, established games in honor of the emperor; and for the Jews he restored the temple at Jerusalem. He also built one of the finest seaports on the Mediterranean, which he named 'Caesarea' in honor of Augustus Caesar. The Romans chose Caesarea as the capital of Palestine and, in appreciation of his loyalty to Rome, Augustus presented Herod with two large regions in southern Syria, stretching his domain up to Damascus.

Herod died in 4 BC, two years after the birth of Jesus. Augustus Caesar divided Palestine between Herod's three sons; Archelaus, Herod Antipas and Philip. Archelaus was given Judaea, Samaria and Idumaea, but was later deposed and his territory put under a Roman procurator (governor) stationed in Caesarea. Herod Antipas was given the districts of Galilee and Peraea, ruling from 4 BC to AD 39.

Philip was given the districts east of Galilee, ruling from 4 BC to 34 AD.

The Macedonian Greeks (c. 332 - 70 BC)

The Macedonian Greeks (c. 332 - 70 BC)

History of Palestine

The Persians had no sooner crushed the Palestinian uprising, when Alexander the Great of Macedonia came plundering through the land. Alexander defeated the Persian army in Asia Minor (333 BC), and upon reaching Phoenicia found its kings were absent with the Persian fleet in the Aegean. The cities of Aradus, Byblos and Sidon welcomed him, the latter showing special zeal against the Persians. But the Tyrians refused to surrender, and history's most memorable and ferocious siege followed. The siege lasted seven months.

Tyre was a walled island and made a formidable target. With tremendous labor, Alexander built a mole from the mainland to the island, enabling him to bring up his stone-throwing catapults and his battering rams. Ships from the other Phoenician seaports and from Cyprus lent Alexander a hand. The Tyrians retaliated with arrow-firing catapults, anti-personnel harpoons, whirling marble wheels, which deflected the blows of missiles, and armored ships to cut cables. They also poured down loads of red-hot sand on the besiegers.

At night, they sent their underwater divers to harass the besieging ships and to destroy the mole being built towards their island. The island was at length breached in July 332 BC, and Alexander took a savage revenge on the fallen city by slaughtering 8,000 Tyrians. He also crucified 2,000 inhabitants and sold 30,000 into slavery. For a while, Tyre lost its political existence, and the newly founded city of Alexandria began its place.

When Alexander died in Babylon at the age of 32, his generals grabbed parts of the conquered territories. Ptolmy took Egypt and Palestine, and Seleucus took Syria. Feeling overconfident, the Syrians overran first Palestine, then Greece in 198 BC. The Romans, however, drove them back with such heavy losses that the Seleucid Empire began to collapse.

The Jews in Judaea now took advantage of Syria's weakness. When the Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanes, forced the Greek gods on his Seleucid subjects, one Jewish rebel called Judas- nicknamed 'Maccabean', or the 'hammerer'- led a rebellion which was able to cleanse the Temple in Jerusalem of the Greek idols.

This act has from that time been commemorated annually by Jews as the feast of Hanukkah.

Although the Syrians killed Judas in 161 BC, his brothers continued the fight until Syria granted them autonomy, and the district of Judaea was then ruled by priest-kings, who were known as the 'Hasmonaean kings'.

An Arab kingdom in southern Palestine, called Nabataea, was never conquered by the Greeks and the Kingdom of Nabataea became the most powerful indigenous force in Palestine.

This kingdom eventually extended its sway over territories reaching Damascus; its capital, Petra, was hidden behind a range of mountains accessible only through a long and narrow gorge. Petra was a breath taking rose-colored city, having magnificent Greek style palaces carved into the surrounding rose-red mountains.

The Persians (c. 539- 332BC)

The Persians (c. 539- 332BC)

History of Palestine

Up to now it seemed as though the whole-civilized world was to be dominated by Semitic rulers. Thus, when Cyprus the Great of Persia destroyed Babylon in 539 BC, he marked an important turning point; the Persians put an end to the Semitic supremacy until some 1,200 years later when the tribes of Arabia began spreading Islam.

Nevertheless the Canaanite ships and sailors became indispensable to the Persians in their wars against Greece. The Canaanites welcomed the opportunity to weaken Greece, their ancient maritime rival, and the wars between Persia and Greece were actually a contest between the sea powers of Greece and Canaanite Phoenicia.

In 481 BC, the Persian king Xeras launched the greatest attack ever on Greece. The Greek historian Herodotus (c. 484- 425 BC), often called the 'Father of History', estimated (no doubt overgenerously) the Phoenician fleet as having been manned by about half a million oarsmen, sailors and marines. He also tells us that 674 vessels were used to support two bridges constructed over the narrows of the Hellespont (today the Dardanelles in Turkey) to permit the passage of the Persian army.

The chief architects were the men of Tyre and Sidon, who proved to have more advanced knowledge of marine architecture and of rope and cable work than any other nation in the Mediterranean. They also built landing craft vessels, designed to land horses for the Persian army. The Greeks were able to repulse the Persian attack, which, if successful, may have given the Western world the Persian religion of Zoroaster in place of the Greek gods and Greek philosophy and literature.

Cyrus the Great permitted the exiled Jews to return to Judah- now called 'Judaea'- though many Jews remained in Babylon, unwilling to leave their possessions. Those who returned to Jerusalem built the Second Temple on the place where Solomon's Temple once stood.

But the number of Jews in Palestine was now small, estimated as between 20,000 to 40,000. The Samaritans, regarding Judaea and Samaria as theirs, resented the influx of strangers claiming Jerusalem as their own on the grounds that their fathers had been banished some fifty years before. Thus began a long and drawn out hostility between Jews and Samaritans.

During the reign of the Persian king Artaxerxas II (404- 358 BC), Egypt and Palestine revolted. The Persians moved into Palestine and ruthlessly crushed all opposition.

The Babylonians ( c.586-539 BC)

The Babylonians ( c.586-539 BC)

History of Palestine

In 612 BC the Babylonians over Nineveh and the Assyrian Empire immediately collapsed. The Babylonians were from southern Iraq and they so thoroughly destroyed Nineveh that when explorers began their search for it in the nineteenth century it was still popularly believed that Nineveh, like Troy, was only a myth. However, the discovery of the great winged bulls which guarded the entrance to each gate lead us to believe that Nineveh was that great city mention in ancient writings.

The Babylonians installed a puppet king, Zedekiah, in Jerusalem; but when he became involved in political intrigue with Egypt, King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon destroyed Jerusalem in 587 BC. He also burnt down Solomon’s Temple and carried Jerusalem’s leading citizens back to Baylon.

The Hebrews who were taken to Babylon were apparently well-treated, some becoming wealthy merchants. It was Babylon that the old Hebrew faith gradually transformed itself into Judaism, conforming to a rigid monotheism, with stress on fasting, confession, prayer, laws-reading and study.

Nebuchadnezzar also overran Philistia and Phoenicia, but Tyre recorded history’s longest siege when it held back the Babylonians for thirteen long years. In the end, the Babylonians gave up the siege in despair.

Nebuchadnezzar was not all war. When his wife complained that Babylon’s climate in the summer was too hot and humid, Nebuchadnezzer built for the fabulous “Hanging Gardens”, so that she could enjoy a cool breeze at an altitude. The Hanging Gardens were later counted as one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

THE ASSYRIANS (C.700- 612 BC)

THE ASSYRIANS (C.700- 612 BC)

History of Palestine

The Assyrians struck terror into everyone's hearts. They cruelly tortured their war prisoners and deported en masse the inhabitants of towns they occupied; replacing them with people from different regions. Nineveh, their capital in northern Iraq, is mentioned more than thirty times in the Old Testament. It was the 'Wicked and Lustful City', and the Book of Isaiah laments that when its inhabitants approach, they bring 'death, darkness and sorrow like a whirlwind'. Nineveh was fortified by 1500 watchtowers and its walls were so thick that three chariots could easily ride abreast on them. Their army was unmatched in power. They had powerful iron chariots; large numbers of archers, engineering corps to built bridges, and battering rams to destroy city walls. Byron's stirring lines, reminiscent of school-day oratory, ring in the memory:

The Assyrians came down like the wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold,
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

In 868 BC, the Assyrians extracted tribute from the kings of Tyre and Sidon, as well as other Canaanite cities. In 700 BC, they stormed the Phoenician coastline, forcing Luli, the king of Sidon, to take refuge in Cyprus. Tyre, however, held out and even boldly defeated an Assyrian armada in a bloody sea battle.

Assyria's incessant harassment of Tyre seriously eroded her colonial powers. In the Greek islands the Phoenicians were being displaced by the advancing tide of Dorian colonization; and as Tyre declined in power, more and more of its colonies turned to Carthage as their natural parent and protector.

The Assyrians also overran Philistia, reaching as far south as the Egyptian border. Worried about Assyria's growing might, Egypt encouraged the Philistine City of Ashdod to revolt, but the Assyrian ruthlessly crushed the uprising.

In 722 BC the Assyrian king, Sargon II, overran and destroyed Samaria, and the kingdom of Israel disintegrated. In typical Assyrian style, the inhabitants of Israel were removed to the Median Mountains and replaced with colonists from Kutha in Iraq. The deported Israelites became known as the 'Lost Ten Tribes of Israel', and the new colonists became known as 'Samaritans'. The district of Israel now became known as 'Samaria'. Judah was also ravaged, but it managed to survive as a vassal state. Philistine mercenaries were brought in by the Assyrians to garrison Hebrew towns, and Judah's kings sent their tributes to Nineveh.

THE CANAANITE PHOENICIANS (C.925-700 BC)

THE CANAANITE PHOENICIANS (C.925-700 BC)

History of Palestine

The Canaanites had lost a good portion of the hinterland of Palestine to the Israelites, and the southern coastline to the Philistines. As a result, the Canaanites suffered the loss of good three-quarters of their territory and at least nine-tenths of their grain land. Canaanite ingenuity, however, was to handsomely compensate for this loss.

Tyre was built as a fortified island off the mainland, and it embarked upon the most ambitious colonial programme of ancient times. The Tyrians sailed far out into regions where no one else dared go. They carefully guarded the secrets of their trade routes, their knowledge of winds and currents; and they began planting trading colonies at some of the best harbor sites in the Mediterranean- such as Cadiz in Spain, Valletta in Malta, Bizerta in Tunisia, Cagliari in Sardinia, and Palermo in Sicily. In 814 BC, Tyre established its greatest colony, Carthage, on the North coast of Africa.

Tyre gradually monopolized the Mediterranean trade business. Like the British in later centuries, these Canannites started out as traders, but soon realized that in order to look after their colonies they needed a powerful navy, as well as administrators. After all, Tyre's greatness rested directly on its colonies, which paid tithes on their revenues to Tyre's Chief Baal, the god Melgarth, ending envoys annually to his feast.

Their war galleys were easily distinguished by the long pointed ram at the bows, as well as a mast with a single square sail and a double bank of oars. The Tyrians became an imperial power by accident. However, they were not conquerors except in a commercial sense. Their trade spread civilization, and it helped revive the eastern Mediterranean nations, which had collapsed at the hands of the Sea Peoples. The Tyrians also became the main agents for spreading the metal culture-copper, tin, bronze, iron, gold and silver-they knew where to find it, buy it, and sell it.

A vivid description of Tyre's trade and prosperity is given by Ezekiel (xxii. 12-15). It shows its extensive commercial relations, not only by sea but by land as well. He describes how from Babylonia regular trade routes led to Tyre and Sidon with trading-stations on the way; and how the Arabian caravan-trade in perfume, spices and incense passed through Canaanite hands en route to Greece and the West.

As proof of the seaworthiness of their ships and their navigational skills, the Tyrians ventured into the mysterious Atlantic Ocean, reaching Cornwell in England in quest of tin, which they needed to harden copper into bronze.

About 800 BC Greece began to have important places of trade, and they began calling the Canaanites 'Phoinikes', or 'blood-red', either in reference to their trading in a purple dye, or on account of their sunburnt skin. Strangely enough, though, this Greek word became their name sake, and the Canaanite coastline became known as 'Phoenicia'. However, it is very unlikely that these early Palestinians would have called themselves Phoenicians, as even in Christian times peasants around the ruined city of Carthage still called themselves Canaanites.

At the time Homer was writing, the ships of the Homeric Greeks were primitive compared to the Canaanite galleys. Greek sailors noted with admiration and envy the discipline kept on board the Canaanite ships and the skill with which they were handled. The Canaanite ships were unmatched in speed and size.

The Israelites The Kingdom of David (c.975- 925 BC)

The Israelites The Kingdom of David (c.975- 925 BC)

History of Palestine

As the all-powerful Philistines settled along the southern coastline, the Israelites in eastern Palestine were struggling for their existence. They fought off or attacked such groups as the Amorites, the Midianites, the Amelekites, and descendants of Lot, the Moabs and the Ammons. But their deadliest threat was to be the Philistines.

The Philistines began expanding their trade eastward to Arabia, and conflict with the Israelites became inevitable. It was customary for the twelve Israelite tribes to chose a 'judge' from among themselves, someone they respected, to guide and counsel them. One of these judges was Samson- who allegedly killed a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass. But it was Samson's misfortune to fall in love with Delilah, the beautiful Philistine, to whom he revealed that the secret of his strength lay in the length of his hair. Whilst he slept, Delilah cut off his hair and the Philistines blinded him, and dragged him off in chains to the arena in Gaza. In his final act, Samson allegedly pushed down the pillars supporting the arena and brought it tumbling down over the spectators and himself.

Desperate for salvation, the Israelites demanded a king from their judge Samuel. A king, they said, could unite and strengthen their lot against the Philistines. Samuel chose Saul as king. This first attempt at a kingdom ended disastrously when the Philistines met the Israelites in battle on mount Gilboa. Saul and his sons were killed and the Philistines remained masters of the land.

The Philistines now installed David as their vassal king over the Jews. David had earlier taken refuge with the Philistines as Saul attempted to murder him. Ever since David slew Goliath, the giant Philistine, and the Israelites acclaimed David a hero, Saul had become increasingly jealous of David, and when he became Saul's target for assassination, David made his escape to the Philistines.

As ruler, David was not willing to continue as a vassal to the Philistines. He united the Israelites, put together a powerful army and occupied Jerusalem, that majestic city which sat high over a plateau. By that time, Jerusalem was controlled by the Jebusites, cousins to the Canaanites; and David's storming of Jerusalem was regarded by the Philistines as a rising against their supermacy. The Philistines now attacked their erstwhile vassal in his new capital, laying waste the surrounding districts which were the city's granary. But David defeated them with such losses that they retired to Philistia, never again to regain their supermacy. This was in about 975 BC.

David's son and successor, Solomon, (c.960-925 BC) wanted to built a temple in which to offer his sacrifices to God, and to house the 'Ark of the Covenant', a wooden chest in which the writings of Jewish law were kept. But Solomon did not have the architects, craftsmen and masons required for such an undertaking. He therefore turned for help to Hiram, king of Tyre.

Tyre was then a rich and prosperous trading centre, and Hiram sent his skilled labour to Jerusalem; where they built the famed 'Solomon Temple', using cedarwood brought in from Mount Lebanon. The Canaanite temples consisted essentially of an ante-room, an open courtyard or a large pillared room, and a sanctuary beyond, usually on a higher level reached by a short flight of steps. In this sanctuary was the altar on which sacrifices were offered in the sight of the assembled worshippers.

THE PHILISTINES (c. 1200-975 BC)

THE PHILISTINES (c. 1200-975 BC)

History of Palestine

About 1200 BC, one eastern Mediterranean civilization after another crumbled before the advance of the so-called 'Sea Peoples'. Ramses III of Egypt tells us: 'No country could stand before their arms… inscriptions set up in Egypt by Pharaoh Ramses III tell of assaults by the Sea Peoples against Egypt and the Canaanite cities; and that the Canaanite princes and their charioteers joined the Egyptian commanders in resisting the Sea Peoples.

The Sea Peoples attacked by sea and by land, and it look only a few years for Greece, the Hittite Empire, Cyprus and Palestine to crumble into total disarray, and Egypt almost collapsed under their attacks. How did such catastrophes occur with civilizations that had withstood countless upheavals in the past? Who were these Sea Peoples, and where did they come from.

Nobody has any definite answers, but they apparently originated from the island of Crete and consisted of five groups: the Pelesets (the Philistines), Shardanas, Denyens, and the Shekeleshs. What seems to have given them their fighting edge was their advanced iron weaponry, the manufacturing process of which they so jealously guarded.

They swiftly annihilated Mycenae, the most advanced and powerful of the ancient Greek kingdoms, and Greece was thrown into a Dark Age that lasted some 400 years. Troy was destroyed at about the same time. Hattusa, the Hittite capital in Asia Minor, was massively fortified and only an army with advanced technical skills could have breached its walls. The Sea Peoples breached it, and the Hittites were forever wiped out of history.

The prosperous Canaanite coastal cities were totally destroyed. Letters found in Ugarite, which may well date from this time of crisis, tell of looting and burning while the inhabitants of Sidon fled to Tyre.

After devastating the Canaanite cities, a great number of these Sea Peoples settled the southern coastline of Palestine, building their own cities over the ruins. They rebuilt the five towns of Gaza, Ashdod, Ascalone, Ekron and Gath. One group, the Pelesets, became known as the 'Philistines', and the Sea Peoples in Palestine became known by this name.

Their territory, the southern coastline, became known as 'Philistia'. Later, Herodotus and other Greek and Latin writers were to derive the name Palestine from Philistia, and gradually the name Palestine replaced that of Canaan.

In 1183 BC, the Sea Peoples attacked Egypt by sea and by land. The Egyptian navy, under Pharaoh Ramses III, repulsed their naval attack off the Nile Delta, while the Egyptian army fought off their attack along the Egyptian-Palestine border.

The Philistines are represented in Egyptian reliefs as fighting in ships; some manned by warriors with feathered helmets, while others show warriors with low, horned helmets. They sport a pointed kilt decorated with tassels and many have a medallion hanging on a cord around their necks. They carry a pair of spears, sometimes a full-sized rapier sword, and around shield with a handle. Their ships are powered by sail only, with a prow ending in a duck's head. In scenes of land fighting, all the warriors wear feathered helmets and they fight from a chariot with crews of three, while their families follow in wooden ox-drawn carts.

The Philistines became the most powerful group in Palestine and remained so for approximately two centuries (c. 1200-975 BC). They were governed by five 'lords' meeting in council, who co-ordinated the policies of their confederation.

THE EGYPTIANS (C. 1468- 1200 BC)

THE EGYPTIANS (C. 1468- 1200 BC)

History of Palestine

Considerable insight into the status of Palestine after Armageddon was gained through the discovery of the ' Amarna Tablets', a large collection of tablets found at El- Amarna in middle Egypt. These tablets are mostly letters from the royal archives of the pharaohs.

Many of them are written directly from or Palestine, in the period between 1450 and 1350 BC. Some similar documents have also been discovered in Palestine. In short, the tablets show that the Egyptians had left the Canaanite princely houses in control of their own territories, but under the supervision of Egyptian and Canaanite commissioners. Inspectors were appointed to estimate the yield of the harvest in Canaan and overseers collected the revenue. This tribute became the test of Canaanite loyalty to pharaoh.

But what really interested Egypt was the prosperous trade business of the Canaanite seaports of Gaza, Jaffa, Acca, Tyre, Sidon, Byblos and Ugarite, who traded their goods far and wide. The Amarna tablets show that the Canaanites were mostly concentrated in the Coastal cities; the hinterland was but sparsely settled with concentrations around well-water centres as in Megiddo, Shechem, Jerusalem and Hebron. There are some seven letters written from the rulers of Jerusalem- then called Ursalim, or the City of Salam or Peace-beseeching help from pharaoh against marauding bedouin.

When Pharoah Seti I succeeded to the Egyptian throne in 1318 BC, many of the Canaanite city-states ere hostile to Egypt, and even engaged in warlike operations against towns which were still loyal to Egypt. Apparently, the Hitties were behind this uprising. The Hitties had built up a powerful army of charioteers in Asia Minor, and Palestine loomed as a gold coast.

The campaigns of Seti I into Palestine are recorded in a series of scenes carved on the east and north walls of the temple of Amun at Karnak; with reliefs showing action in the field, submission of defeated rulers, and prisoners-of-war being presented to Amun, the national god. Despite Seti's apparent successful military campaigns in Palestine, the Hitties continued pushing and inciting the Canaanite kings against the Egyptians. When Seti's son, Ramses II, succeeded to the throne, he decide on a showdown with the Hitties.

Heading four divisions, each named after an Egyptian god, Ramses crossed the Sinai into Palestine and then into Syria, where the clash of the two superpowers took place in an area called Kadesh. The Hitties unleashed some 3,500 chariots against the Egyptian army. Both sides were so badly beaten that when, on the next day, the Hittie king asked for an armistice, Ramses was only too gald to accept.

The battle of Kadesh undermined Egypt's prestige among the Canaanites and many of the Canaanite sities rebelled; compelling Ramses to return to Palestine to storm its cities. In order to secure Palestine, in 1280 BC Ramses signed with the Hitties history's first international peace treaty; in which Syria was recognized as part of the Hittie Empire, and Palestine part of Egypt's sphere of influence. And to improve relations with his former adversary, Ramses married the daughter of the Hittie king; adding her to his large circle of wives, who allegedly exceeded one hundred.

The Canaanites (c. 2000 BC- 1468 BC)

The Canaanites (c. 2000 BC- 1468 BC)

History of Palestine

About 2000 BC, a Semitic people of remarkable industry, enterprise and intelligence occupied Palestine as well as Lebanon. They were called "Canaanites", and Palestine and Lebanon then both became known as "the land of Canaan".

The Canaanites settled mainly along the coastline, leaving the hinterland sparsely populated, unlike the rest of the Semites who had settled the Near East.

as middlemen and as manufacturers. They brought goods inland and from Iraq, Syria and Arabia, then sailed off and resold them elsewhere. This eastern Mediterranean strip soon became the most prosperous Trading area in the ancient world, especially Ugarite and Sidon were probably the most prosperous of the Canaanite seaports.

Canaanite mythology marks 'Baal' as the greatest Canaanite deity. He appears as a warrior god, "the prince", lord of earth", and "the Rider on the clouds". He is a thunder and lightening storm-god that sends rain on earth to fertilize "Ishtar", the goddess of earth, to give birth to vegetation. His daughters 'Mist' and 'Dew', and his father 'Dajan', the personification of corn. Elsewhere, Baal is said to be the son of the god 'Ei'.

About 1900 BC, the Canaanites marked a remarkable invention, the Alphabet where they used 22 letter system for their writing. Through them the Alphabet was transmitted to the Greeks and the rest of the European nations. In addition to the most formidable fighting machine of ancient times- the Chariot; it was pulled along by two horses and manned by two men, one to manoeuvre and the other to shoot arrows.

Concerning their literature, it was rich and full of lyrics and legends related mostly to religious rituals and choruses.

The Canaanites ruled Egypt through an aristocratic class of chariot warriors, making their capital the fortress town of Avaris, off the Nile Delta. They influenced Egypt in many ways, especially their language, which was subsequently sprinkled with Canaanite words. The Canaanites deities were also extensively worshipped in the eastern Delta; the chief god was Sun-Baal, for whom they built a great temple in Avaris. The Hyskos kings seem to have fully appreciated that it was better to exploit the country than to devastate it. They retained the temple scribes and other officials of the native rulers and, contrary to common belief, were tolerant of the Egyptians and their Customs.

ABRAHAM

It was probably during the Hyskos rule of Egypt when the prophet Abraham was born in Iraq, in a town called Ur. Briefly, here is the story of Abraham's children.

Accompanied by his wife Sarah and his nephew Lot, Abraham left Iraq for Egypt. In Egypt Abraham took a second wife, Hagar who gave birth to his first descendent, Ismail who all settled in Hebron and although there were houses there, Abraham and his family continued living in tents as always.

When Sarah delivered Isaac, she demanded from Abraham to banish both Hagar and Ismail. Abraham did so, settling them in Mecca in western Arabia where, with Ismail, he built the 'Kaaba'. Ismail had twelve sons who multiplied as Ishmaelite Arabs who moved towards the fertile plains of Palestine. And not to forget that centuries later prophet Mohammed was born of the Ishmaelites in Mecca.

Isaac, Abraham's second son, who was called also Israel, had twelve sons. They multiplied as the 'twelve tribes of Israel', apparently living in the Nile Delta region.

Lot on the other hand moved his flock to Sodom by the Dead Sea to avoid problems with his uncle. His descendents formed the two tribes "Moab", and "Ammon" controlling the river Jordan.