To fully understand the issue between Israel and Palestine, we need to go back 3 thousand years.

Those who are interested in this subject should definitely read the book of creation in the Torah. To summarize briefly; The origin of the people is Hz. It is based on Abraham. Hz. Ibrahim’s son Hz. Isaac, Hz. Isaac’s son is Hz. It is Yakub. Hz. Jacob’s other name, Israel, gave his name to the people. Hz. The 12 sons of Jacob formed the 12 tribes of the Jews, the eldest of which was Hz. They are the tribe of Judah, the 4th son of Jacob. It is accepted that the origin of the Jews is connected to this tribe. According to the narrative in the Torah, Hz. When Abraham left the city he lived in, he migrated to a place called the land of Canaan. (From there he went to Mecca and built the Kaaba there, but since this is about Islam, it is enough to just mention it.)

Hz. Abraham’s migration to the land of Canaan, God’s Hz. This is because he promised Abraham and his descendants a great nation in the land of Canaan (the region that includes Palestine today). Hz. Abraham migrated to the land of Canaan, where he encountered the “Philists”, the local people who were most likely of Cretan origin. In the following period, his tribe was in a struggle with this tribe called “philists” for the lands of Canaan. This tribe is Hz. It was defeated during the reign of David.

The famine in the land of Canaan during the reign of Yusuf and Hz. Because Yusuf was the ruler in Egypt. Jacob migrated to Egypt with his people, and when the land of Canaan was captured by the Egyptians, the Jews remained in Egypt and became slaves. Hz. Moses took the Jews out of Egypt and started the return to the promised land. However, during this journey, the tribe was imprisoned in Sinai for 40 years and at the end of this period, they reached Jerusalem. The main purpose here was to build a temple because Jews could only pray in their temples. Hz. A mishkan (tent temple) was built until the actual temple was built by Moses. (To reiterate, in the Jewish belief, a temple is mandatory for worship / prayer. This temple must be built for the acceptance of prayers.) The struggle of the Jews for the construction of the temple continued and Hz. During the reign of David, Jews dominated the region, all tribes united under one roof and the temple was built by Hz. It was built during the reign of Suleiman. From here it is possible to proceed by specifying the dates…

930 BC

This union did not last long and the Kingdom of Israel, consisting of 10 tribes in the north of Jerusalem, and the Kingdom of Judah, consisting of 2 tribes in the south of Jerusalem, were formed. With this division, other groups in the region revolted and independent city-states were formed and Jewish domination ended.

710 BC

The Assyrians occupied the kingdom in the north and exiled the 10 tribes there to the south, that is, to Jerusalem under the Kingdom of Judah, and the existence of independent city-states continued.

608 – 598 BC

The Kingdom of Judah, which continued to exist as a kingdom, was surrounded by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, and Jewish sovereignty in the kingdom, that is, the region, ended. However, when the Jewish communities rebelled against this situation, they besieged Jerusalem again, this time the temple was destroyed and the Jews were exiled to Babylon.

Babylonian Exile 608 – 538 or 586 – 516 BC

Jerusalem was occupied by Nebuchadnezzar, the temple was destroyed and the Jewish people were exiled to Babylon. This exile, which covered a period of 70 years, ended when the Persians captured Babylon in 538 BC, and the Persian King Cyrus the Great ended the exile and rebuilt the destroyed temple.

332 BC

The region was conquered during Alexander the Great’s advance to Egypt. The Jewish people, who obeyed Alexander (or rather did not rebel) during his time on the throne, rebelled again after his death and established the Kingdom of Judah in Jerusalem, which is celebrated by the Jewish people as the Hanukkah holiday.

165 – 143 BC (Reestablishment of The Kingdom of Judah)

With the death of Alexander, the empire disintegrated and independent states were formed. The tribe, which continued to exist under the Ptolemaic dynasty, was one of them, and later came under the rule of the Seleucid Empire in 200 BC. During this period, the temple was looted and turned into a Zeus altar. In 165, when the Seleucid kingdom began to weaken, rebellions increased, and with the Maccabean uprising in 164, the Hasmonean kingdom was established, and this kingdom completely dominated the region in 143. This kingdom is the last independent state established by the Jews.

37 BC – 4 Governor-King Herod (Roman) Period

After the collapse of the Hasmonean kingdom, the Romans dominated the region and left the administration of the Jews to Herod. During this period, the Jewish kingdom was, to some extent, a statelet dependent on Rome. Herod repaired and expanded the second temple built during the period of occupations and uprisings. The retaining wall of this temple, which was built by Cyrus the Great and expanded by Herod, and is known today as the wailing wall, has survived to the present day. The wailing wall is not part of the temple. It surrounds the area where the temple rises, and today the dome of the rock rises in the place of the temple built on top.

4 – 70 AC

The Kingdom of Judah, which was a region ruled by tetrarchy within the Roman Empire after Herod, was constantly under siege due to the rebellions of the Jews, and as a result, the second temple was destroyed by Titus. With this incident, Jews were prohibited from being in the Jerusalem area. For this reason, the dispersal of Jews to different regions through migration accelerated.

324 – 335 AC

With Constantine I becoming the ruler of Rome, Christianity was accepted as the official religion, the general principles of the religion were determined in the Council of Nicaea, the city of Jerusalem stood out as a holy city for Christianity, and the emperor’s mother (saint) Helena was buried with some holy relics of Hz. He found the area where Jesus was buried and Constantine I had the church of the Holy Sepulcher built here.

637 AC

Jerusalem, a sacred city for Islam, was conquered by Muslims.

687 – 691 / 705 AC

First the Dome of the Rock and then the Masjid al-Aqsa were built on the top of the temple by Abdülmelik bin Mervan. The name of this structure is actually the Qibla Masjid, and Masjid al-Aqsa actually includes the entire area on the temple hill.

Developments Between 705 and 1897

During this period, the city began to constantly change hands between Christians and Muslims. The region, which became the focal point of a 1100-year power struggle in the hands of the Umayyads, Fatimids, the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Ayyubids, Mongols, Mamluks and the Ottomans, came to the agenda of the Jewish community again with nationalist movements.

1897 1. Zionist Congress

The fact that nationalist movements began to take an important role in the world also affected the Jewish communities and led to the emergence of Jewish nationalist groups in Europe. Theodor Herzl, who emerged as the founder of the Zionist movement in this period, wrote his views on the establishment of an independent Jewish state in his book Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State) (1896). At the same time, on August 29, 1897, to declare this idea and to get the support of other Jews. The Zionist congress convened, where decisions were made such as the purchase of Palestinian lands, the establishment of a fund to provide financial support for these purchases, and the work to establish a Jewish state in the purchased lands. Herzl about this congress; “I founded the state of Israel in Basel. “This will be a reality within 50 years at the latest,” he said, and indeed the state of Israel was established 50 years after this congress.

1901 Herzl’s II. meeting with Abdulhamit

Herzl II because the Palestinian lands were in the hands of the Ottoman Empire. He wanted to express this wish to the sultan by meeting with Abdulhamid and held this meeting on 17 May 1901. The sale of Palestinian lands was not approved during the meeting. who did not find it appropriate for Jews to live in a single area ii. Although Abdulhamid made an offer that they could live in different regions in Mesopotamia, this offer was not accepted by Herzl.

Balfour Declaration of 1917

After the First World War, the Ottoman Empire collapsed and the region came under British mandate. In the declaration published by Arthur Balfour, who was the British Foreign Minister during this period, the establishment of a Jewish state was allowed on the condition that “the civil and religious rights of other inhabitants of the country (actually the Palestinian territories) are not violated”. With this permission, the Jews intensified their efforts to acquire land and establish a state in Palestine. This point is important because most criticisms come in the form of “if the Arabs had not sold their lands too”, but the lands purchased by the Jews in this way constitute 6% of the area. Other regions were taken over by Israel as a result of the occupation.

1931 Islamic General Congress

The congress, which was held as one of the leading organizations of the pan-Islamism movement, is seen as one of the important turning points because it is against the Zionism movement. In the 1931 decisions of the organization, which is headquartered in Jerusalem, the issues of protecting Bayt al-Maqdis, its reconstruction and preventing Jewish immigration were touched upon.

1939 – 1945 2. World War and The Founding of The UN
1947 UN Partition Plan

The killing of more than 6 million Jews in the World War greatly accelerated the efforts of the Jews to establish a state of their own, and as a result, the issue was taken up by the UN. In the partition plan made by the UN; “The establishment of an Arab state in an area of ​​11,000 square kilometers, including the coastline extending from the city of Jalil, Aqqa, Ashdod to the city of prosperity, the West Bank and the Sahara region on the border with Egypt, and for the Jews, from the coast of Haifa to Tel Aviv, including the eastern Jalil, the Negev, Eilat and the Lake of Tiberias.” It was planned to establish a state of 15 thousand square kilometers. It was aimed for Jerusalem, Bethlehem and surrounding towns to remain under international tutelage. This plan, which was not accepted by the Palestinians and the Arab states and was never implemented, is still being discussed.

1948 Establishment of the State of Israel (May 14)

The partition plan, which was not accepted by the Palestinians, was accepted by Israel and the State of Israel, within the borders in accordance with the plan, was established by David Ben-Gurion.

1951 King of Jordan I. Abdullah Assassination

king of jordan i Abdullah supported the Peel Commission, which was proposed for Palestine in 1937, in which a small Israel and the remaining lands would be left to the Kingdom of Jordan. The decision, which the Jews reluctantly accepted, was not accepted by the Arabs and was not implemented. Again, between 1946 and 1948, he supported the division of Palestine under the British mandate and had many meetings with Israeli intelligence. Although mutual agreement was reached on the partition and the 1947 British independent partition plan, it could not be implemented due to the murder of the king.

1967 Israeli Occupation of Eastern Jerusalem (Six-Day War)

Although the Strait of Tiran was reopened to Israeli ships as a result of the dispute over the “Strait of Tiran” that started in 1956, Israel’s occupation of Egypt when Egypt’s sea passageways were closed to Israeli ships, and the events known as the Suez crisis, the Egyptian state closed its doors in May 1967. President Gamal Abdul Nasser announced that the Strait of Tiran would be closed to Israeli ships again, then mobilized the Egyptian army towards the defense lines on the Israeli border and ordered the immediate withdrawal of all UNEF personnel. Thereupon, on June 5, 1967, on the day UNEF was about to begin its process of leaving the region, Israel organized a sudden air operation, destroying the entire Egyptian air force in one day, and launched a ground operation into the Gaza Strip on the same day. As a result, the Sinai Peninsula was evacuated and on the sixth day of the war, Israel occupied the entire Sinai Peninsula and eastern Jerusalem.

1969 Al-Aqsa Mosque Attack

After Israel occupied Eastern Jerusalem after the Six-Day War, the Al-Aqsa Mosque was burned to the ground on August 21, 1969, after a two-year occupation period. Intervention in the fire was prevented by Israeli forces, and at the end of the 5-hour fire, the structure was seriously damaged.

1973 Yom Kippur War

The war started with the attack of Egypt for the first time around the time when the Jewish religious holiday Yom Kippur was celebrated. In the war that took place in the regions occupied by Israel in 1967, Egypt’s ultimate goal was to obtain a safe area on the eastern bank of the Suez Canal and to regain the occupied Sinai Peninsula, but Israel won the war

1978 Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s recognition of Israel (the first Muslim state / Islamic Republic to recognize it)

Anwar Sadat, who developed good relations with Israel since November 19, 1977, when he visited Jerusalem as a result of cutting off relations with the Soviet Union after the war (1975), signed the Camp David Agreement by sitting at the table with Israel under the mediation of the USA on September 17, 1978. With this agreement, Egypt recognized Israel, and Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula, which it had captured in the Six-Day War, to Egypt. As a result of peace efforts, Anwar Sadat, who received the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize together with Menahem Begin, was killed as a result of an assassination in Egypt.

1980

Israel declared Jerusalem as its capital (not recognized by the UN pursuant to UNSC Article 478)

1987 – 1993 1. Intifada

The first intifada, the first rebellion of the Arab people against the Israeli occupation, started in 1987. The resistance, which declined in 1991, ended with the signing of the Oslo Agreement in Norway in August 1993, in which the “autonomous Palestinian administration” was accepted.

1996 Israel Tunneled The Wailing Wall

Israel opened a tunnel on the temple hill in 1980, citing archaeological research initiated in the Harem-i Sharif region. It has come to the fore as a problem because the tunnel extending from the Ömeriye School in the old city area to the Burak (Wailing) Wall also causes deep cracks in the properties of Palestinians.

2000 – 2005 Masjid al-Aqsa Raid and The 2. Intifada (Al-Aqsa Intifada)

The Oslo Agreement caused opposition on the Israeli side, and Prime Minister Izhak Rabin, who signed the agreement in 1995, was assassinated. Disagreements over settlement plans continued, and the search for a solution (Camp David summit) remained inconclusive. In this environment, Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount with a delegation from the Liqud party and hundreds of riot police on September 28, 2000. After receiving assurances from the security chief of the Palestinian administration that there would be no problems during the trip, he entered the area during tourist visiting hours, but this The situation was interpreted as a symbolic rebellion and protested by Palestinians. After the Friday prayer performed one day after this visit, major riots occurred in Jerusalem, and then the riots spread to the West Bank and Gaza. This high tension increased further with the arrest of two Israeli soldiers in Ramallah on October 12; The detained soldiers were killed by a Palestinian group that raided the police station, claiming that they were spies. Thereupon, Israel hit targets belonging to the Palestinian administration in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with air strikes and ensured the evacuation of the police stations where the deaths took place. The events that started in this way continued in 2003 as a result of practices that were interpreted as provocative under the name of regulation of entry and exit to the Harem-i Sharif (freeing the entry of Jews and imposing restrictions on Muslims). The intifada ended without a declared agreement between the end of 2004 (death of Yasser Arafat) and the beginning of 2005 (election of Mahmud Abbas as president).

2016

UNSC’s request to stop illegal settlement activities in Eastern Jerusalem and Palestinian territories

2017

Recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by the USA

2023 (Possibility of 3. Intifada)

Israeli attacks, especially concentrated on Muslim holy days, have continued until today, and the Palestinian people have been blockaded in the West Bank and Gaza strip. Although attempts to break this blockade continue until today, no results have been achieved. On October 7, 2023, the most serious operation to break the blockade in recent years began with the entry of the al-Qassam brigades to the Israeli border. Although it is too early to interpret this situation as an intifada, there were reports in the Israeli press at the beginning of the year that the probability of such an operation was high.