“Jerusalem - to so many the Holy City, the theather of some of earth’s most terrible tragedies but also the symbol of some of earth’s highests hopes”. Jack Finegan, Professor Emeritus, Pacific School of Religion

The center of more than three faiths - holy but bitterly contested ground. A city whose very walls shake with special pleading and exclusive claims. Many refer to the City and country of Israel through prayers, songs and benedictions. Others with curses, rage or frustration. What makes this place so special, that people and religions react so strongly about?

Judaisms, Islam, Christianity, relate to the Holy Land as crucial and important in their faitjs. Yet there are other religions who have their center in this land. The Baha’i, an independent world religion founded in Persia, mid-19th century has the world headquarters in Haifa, in the Shrine of Bab, with another shrine near Akko.

The Druze relate to Nebi Shueb (the tomb of Jethro, father-in-law of Moses) near the Horns of Hittin (Karney Hittin) in the Galilee, near Tiberias as their holiest place.

Then there are more: The Karaites, a Jewish sect dating back to the 8th century, with their own religious courts and marry among themselves, and the Samaritans that regard themselves as Jews, near by Nablus (Shchem) on mount Grizim where they believe Abraham tried to sacrifice Isaac and Solomon built the first Temple.

The three graet monotheistic religions share a heritage from one of the world’s most troubled regions - the Middle East.From the sixth century BCE when the Jews returned from exile in Babylon, to that time in the Middle Ages when the three religions approached their present form, there have been important parallels and equally important differences among the three related communities that the Muslims themselves accurately characterize as “The People of the Book”, and who all believe in a God who intervenes in history on behalf of his people. Also they are referred to many times righteously as the descendants of Abraham. (F.E. Peters - Children of Abraham). There are several interactions among the three.

In order to better understand the explosive nature of today’s conflict between the people in the Middle East and elsewhere, one needs to study in depth our cultural history, learn about those forces out of the past that shaped these conflicts up till today.

Reading texts from the three religions one can see the many similarities, as well as the diferrences.

Do Islam, Christianity and Judaism have different origins? Many think that no, they don’t. The revelations given to Abrahamic and other prophets reaching back to Adam all came from One True God. This explains many similarities in beliefs and values the three share.

Abraham is mentioned in the Quran as one of the great Prophets and was honored with the title “Friend of God”. According to the Quran Abraham and his eldest son, Ishmael, were commanded by God to build a place of worship, the Ka’bah, in what is today the city of Makkah, Saudi Arabia. The Quran itself admits though that the land of Israel belongs to the Jews.

The land of Israel became a Jewish kingdom for the first time in history in 1020 BCE under the first king, Saul. Although exiled in the sixth century BCE and several times later, the Jewish people never lost connection with this land. Conquered by many durind bloodly battles, the land and the people suffered for many hundreds of years. Judaism began to develop in a religious framework and way of life outside the Land, ultimately ensuring the people’s national survival and spiritual identity and imbuing it with sufficient vitality to safeguard its future as a nation.

Foreign domination

The Persian king Cyrus allowed Jews in 538 BCE to come back to the Holy Land on the First Return, led by Zerubabel, descendant of the house of David. The second followed with the leadership of Ezra the scribe. They rebuilt the Second Temple and restored Jewish life in the country. Jewish life flouirished again under the Hasmonean dynasty 147 BCE for about 80 years.

Then the Romans replaced the seleucids as the great power in the region and Jews were granted limited authority under Hyrcanus II and the Roman governor of Damascus. When the Temple was destroyed, and Jerusalem burnt to the ground, Jews and Judaism survived in Yavneh and Tiberias.Gradually Jewish life recovered with the joint efforts of the returning exiles.

By the end of the 4th century, following emperor Constantine’s conversion to Christianity (313) the land of Israel became a predominantly Christian country, under the Byzantine Empire. Jews were deprived of their former relative autonomy, were forbidden to enter Jerusalem or to hold public positions. The Jews helped the Persians invade in 614, in hope of possible messianic deliverance dreams. They were granted the rule of Jerusalem for three years, but lost it again to the byzantines.

It was now turn of the Arabs to conquer the Land in 636 a few years after the death of Muhammad. It lasted more than four centuries. Jewish settlement of Jerusalem resumed, with a protected status for non-muslims under Islamic rule, in return for heavy taxes.

In the 11th century the Crusaders get a hold on the land for 200 years (1099-1291), and most of Jerusalem’s non-Christian settlers were massacred. The muslim army threw over the Crusaders and gave Jews more freedom in 1187, and the Mamluk muslim military class from Egypt came into power for another 200 years, with Jews poverty-stricken and reduced to small communities throughout the country.

With the Otomans ruling from Istanbul (1517-1917), as part of the province of Damascus, 1000 jewish families lived mainly in Hebron, Zefat, Gaza and a few villages in the Galilee.

Finally, under the British rule (1918-1948) and with the inspiration of the new national liberation movement, the Zionism, we arrive to the declaration of Independence of the State of Israel.

We did this short history crash course to get to the main point. In 1948, the Jewish community in Eretz Israel committed itself to the cause of democracy. The State of Israel, which had been authorized by the United Nations, granted automatic citizenship to all its residents, Jews and non-Jews alike, who were prepared to accept it.

The Israeli Declaration of Independence reads: “The State of Israel... will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the Prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality, of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex”.

This inspite of the long bloody history we Jews experienced in this Land, with Christians and Muslims here and elsewhere, in the recent years or during the Inquisition, in Spain, Nazi Europe or the Arab countries, etc. It was now our turn to do better.

We will seek to hold the reigns of power, like majorities everywhere, but are duty-bound to protect the right of Arabs and other minorities to religious and social life, but also the right to compete for political leadership and public positions. The adoption of democracy marked a break from the halachik conception of Jewish polity and sovereignity. The rule of the Rabbis has given way to the rule of the entire citizenry. This revolution is yet incomplete.

Among many tough questions we need to answer today he Middle East, and elsewhere, one needs to study in depth our cultural history, learn about those forces out of the past that shaped these conflicts up till today.

Reading texts from the three religions one can see the many similarities, as well the diferrences.

Do Islam, Christianity and Judaism have different origins? Many think that no, they don’t. The revelations given to Abrahamic and other prophets reaching back to Adam all came from One True God. This explains many similarities in beliefs and values the three share.

Abraham is mentioned in the Quran as one of the great Prophets and was honored with the title “Friend of God”. According to the Quran Abraham and his eldest son, Ishmael, were commanded by God to build a place of worship, the Ka’bah, in what is today the city of Makkah, Saudi Arabia. The Quran itself admits though that the land of Israel belongs to the Jews.

The land of Israel became a Jewish kingdom for the first time in history in 1020 BCE under the first king, Saul. Although exiledis also the question in what sense is Israel a Holy Land? Who determines its holiness, in view of the rival claims of Jews, Christians and Moslems to so many sites and structures? Even the jews among themselves do not agree on the rules that should govern certain sites and issues.

Democratic vote becomes irrelevant when it comes to holiness.

What should be the guidelines for relations with our non-Jewish neighbors in and outside the State of Israel? What should be Israel’s religious leaders in effoirts toward equalizing the political, economic and social level of Arabs and other mionorities with that of the Jewish majority?

These questions are now raised in a setting of a multi-ethnic and multi-religious democracy, unlike the biblical era, when none of the Canaanite people were regarded by the Israelites as possible partners tto the construction of a State. Today’s reality is different.

At present, the Jewishness of the state dominates its emerging, pluralistic culture. As times goes by, the distinction between Judaism and Israelism will become increasingly apparent. Israel’s minorities become more accepted and self-confident, and fight more against social discrimination. Arab, Moslem, Christien and Druze religiosity will lay a more active and visible political and cultural role. Eventually Arabs will occupy high governmental and diplomatic posts.

What are the numbers we are talking about?

81% of the overall population is Jewish. Over a million non-Jews. 14,4% muslim arabs, that make 76% of the non-Jewish population. Out of them 10% bedouin arabs, in 30 tribes. 2.8% (160,000) Christians, from many denominations, the majority Greek Catholic (42%), Greek Orthodox (32%) and Roman Catholic (16%). 1.7% are Druze and other: 95,000 druze (supposedly 600,000 in the world) in 22 villages. 3,000 circassians (Sunni Muslims) living in two villages, though they do not share Arab origin.

In many fields there is no real equality between the various ethnic minorities as compared to the conditions of the Jewish majority. Also, as time goes by, being an Israeli is not identical with being a Jew. According to some, although the desperate efforts of traditional Jews to restore halakhah as the basis of the Jewish-led government brought occasional victories, that battle has long been lost. In what ways will the future state remain Jewish, then? A small radical Jewish minority still sticks to the halakhic practice, as is well known. Though a political balance-factor, they are not of a major influence in the shaping of the future.

The future Israeli identity is a rather complex one, one that will have to find the balance between Judaism, citizenship and democracy, including peaceful coexistence with the developing minorities of the country. The different minorities will have to deal with similar questions, will have to put aside the many religious and cultural differences, hold on to the common interests and create a new national identity that will work for all. The Arabs will have to face a decision to choose between fundamentalist Islam or a more seccular attitude. Christian Arabs will have to decide between their Palestinian and Israeli identities, not to mention the Druze that have to decide their loyalty taking in consideration the possible land return of the Golan to Syria.

Democratic notions had a marked impact on Judaism and Christianity, and to a lesser extent on Islam. These seeds are present in the Abrahamic religions. Democracy encourages individuality and creativity, which is still somewhat suspect in the three religions.

Democracy and religion need each other in the formulation of ethical values for the 21st century. Democracy frees the imagination, but religion is needed tp prvent the human mind from losing touch with moral responsibility. The possibility of destroying ourselves, and earth with us, is frighteningly real.

Israelis, as professor Jack Cohen says, have to regard themselves as facing a new bibblical era. They will have to reconstruct the Jewish people on its native soil, this time without falling into the trap of the ethnocentrism. We will have to update the universal vision of the prophets so that the revitalization can be ablessing to all peoples of the Middle East and to all peoples.

On the other hand, all the Abrahamic religions in Israel must abandon their remnants of chauvinism they still possess. The democratic state we share must guarantee freedom for and from religious and anti-religious ideas and practices and encourage open debate about their respective validity and worth. The same applies to the Jewish Religious diversity issue, to an extent. We will continue to be the Jewish homeland, but can be considered democratic only if our minority groups can come to regard it as the locale of their fulfillment, individually and as members of historical communities.