Tensions between Jews and Arabs have been present since biblical times in the Middle East. In 132 AD, when Israel was under Roman rule, the Jews revolted and fought for independence. In 135 AD the Romans crushed the Jewish revolt and expelled nearly all of the Jews of Israel. The Romans then renamed Israel-Palestine, so as to remove any connection between the land and the Jewish people. (Tessler, 12) The Jews never forgot their homeland, and prayed three times a day to return to Israel and to the holy city of Jerusalem.

In the 7th century, a new religion, Islam, arose in the Middle East. The Muslim Arabs c

The history of the Middle East after May 1948 has been dominated by the Arab-Israeli conflict. Both sides feel that Israel/Palestine belongs to them. Since the United Nations partition of Palestine in 1947 and the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948, there have been four major Arab-Israeli wars (1947-49, 1956, 1967, and 1973) and numerous intermittent battles. (Goldschmidt, 280) The Arabs still thirst for revenge, which is denied as the Israelis prevail once again. These issues still rage today and have fueled many armed conflicts between the two developing nations.

The basic cause for conflict between the new state of Israel and its Arab neighbors was that both the Jews and the Arabs claimed that Israel/Palestine was their homeland. (Cozic, 32-42) Nationalism was another cause for conflict. Zionism was an ideology and national movement that grew in Europe during the 1800s, proclaiming that all the Jewish people had the right to exist in a safe homeland of their own. (Cozic, 51) Zionism initiated the centuries-old desire of the Jewish people to return to the land of their ancestors. And once the Jews began to settle in the ancient Kingdom of Israel, they were no longer willing to leave. (Silverman, 51-56) The Jews also believed that Israel was their homeland, because Jerusalem had never been the independent home and capital of any other people but the Jews.

In 1976, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin ordered an invasion of several Arabic nations, which resulted in the rescue of over a hundred Israeli hostages, who had been hijacked and held by Palestinian terrorists at the airport at Entebbe, Uganda. In 1977, Egyptian President Anwar Sadar arrived in Jerusalem. He was the first Arab leader to visit Israel. This was the beginning of peace negotiations between Egypt and Israel. In 1978, Egypt and Israel signed the Framework for Peace in the Middle East. In 1979, the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty was signed in Washington D.C., ending thirty years of hostility between the two nations. It was also the first peace treaty between Israel and an Arab state. (Silverman, 91) In spite of this, during a military parade in Cario, Islamic militants opposed to the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty assassinated Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. (Goldschmidt, 333) In 1980, tensions were increased by the formal proclamation of the entire city of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. In 1982 Israel invaded Lebanon in an effort to destroy PLO strongholds and halt terrorist attacks on northern Israel. As a result, the PLO agreed to withdraw its guerrillas from Beirut, Lebanon. Israel also welcomed Jews from all over the world, althoug

Some common words found in the essay are:
United Nations, Jews Arabs, War Independence, Minister Rabin, Europe Jews, Israel Romans, Kingdom Israel, Holy Land, Jews Israel, Jerusalem Israeli, middle east, united nations, jews israel, peace treaty, jews arabs, jewish people, arabs jews, israel arab, arab neighbors, egyptian president, nearly jews israel, israel arab neighbors, egyptian president anwar, arabs living palestine, egyptian-israeli peace treaty,
Approximate Word count = 1783
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)