Holy Land Essay

All of us want to be able to live in our own homes in safety, to sleep at night without fear. The Israeli and the Palestinian conflict is really only about people fighting for a home to live in. The Jews lived in the Holy Land in the Ancient times, so Jewish Israelis saw it as a home they once owned. However, when most of the Jewish people were kicked out of the Holy Land long ago, they never lived comfortably and safely anywhere else. Finally in the 20th century, they returned and created a new nation of themselves, new hope and pride. But the same land was home to the Palestinians, whose Arab ancestors migrated there in the 7th century. The Arabs saw an increasing number of Jews coming to what they saw as their land—buying up property and becoming more organized—a serious threat that made them feel increasingly dispossessed. Many Jews preferred to ignore the signs, until riots broke out in 1921 and 1929. They attacked Jewish neighborhoods. I would take side of the Israelis. Imagine how you'd feel if one day someone forcefully removed your from your house and farm and turned you and your family into penniless refugees because that person's ancestors used to live there 3000 years ago. An entire population was removed from their home country and their homes and farms were simply confiscated. To them, it is particularly outrageous that in the modern world, one population can simply replace another. You may say that the Jews were there before anyone else so they deserve to reclaim their historical homeland. However, Palestinians have a broader historical perspective. They know that even before prophet Abraham, Palestine was ruled at various times by the Babylonians , the Phoenicians, the Canaanites, the Philistines, the Assyrians, the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans, who left their cultural and genetic marks on Palestine. To the Palestinians, Palestine never belonged to one single race, but since they can speak the Arabic language, the Holy Land is theirs, not eh Israelis. The conflict that the Holy Land belongs to the Palestinians because their ancestors ruled it for a period of time is like saying that England belongs to the Vikings.