Essay Sample about Israel

For countless years Palestine and Israel have disagreed on who the land rightfully belongs to. Religion has played an influential role in the conflict between Israel and Palestine throughout history. The disagreements between Judaism and Islam span thousands of years. Israel is filled with bat and bar mitzvahs, hummus, falafel, and beautiful religious sites that are of monumental importance to both Palestinians and Israelis. Israelis have been through it all from the Roman empire to WWII. Both Palestinians and Israelis believe that this land is rightfully theirs. 

Israelis and Palestinians have been fighting for years over whose land Israel belongs to. It all began in 721 BC when Israel was conquered by the Babylonians. For the next several centuries Israel was conquered by various groups, forcing the Israelis to flee from their homeland. When the Israelis were forced to flee, Palestinians took over and renamed what had been Israel, Palestine. After WWII, the UN decided that the Jewish people deserved their land because of all the awful things they had been subjected to. Innumerable Jewish refugees returned to their original homeland in search of a brighter future free from all the previous terrors they had faced. Countless Palestinians were driven off their land. The conflict between Palestine and Israel continues to this day. 

The history of Jewish displacement begins after the death of King Solomon. Israel split into the kingdom of Israel and Judah. Assyrians overthrew the kingdom of Israel in 722 BC and the people of the kingdom of Israel fled to Judah. Assyrians ruled for a year in the kingdom of Israel but in 721BC they were overthrown by the Babylonian empire. The Babylonians would not allow the Jewish people to practice their religion and would hold them captive in Babylon. The Babylonians were conquered by the Persians in 538 BC. The leader of Persia was Cyrus the Great and he was tolerant toward the Jews and built a second temple where the original temple had been destroyed by the Babylonians. However, the problems of the Jewish people were far from over. The Greeks soon arrived and attempted to force the Jews to believe in their gods, however, the Jews fought the Greeks and drove them out. In 63 BCE the Roman empire took over Judah. Many Jews were executed under Roman rule. The Jews revolted against the Roman Empire from 66-73 BC which resulted in the Romans destroying the second temple and the walls of Jerusalem. The second uprising in 135 CE caused 580,000 Jewish people to be killed in battle. They were driven out of Judah and forced to flee to other countries.  

Jewish people have faced so many hardships in the past, perhaps the worst being the holocaust which took place during WWII. The second world War started in 1938 when Adolf Hitler annexed Austria. Hitler then proceeded to take over Poland, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Norway, Italy, Holland, and Belgium. Hitler and his followers the Nazi’s wanted there to be a world without Jewish people. Meanwhile, the Israelis had recently fled from Israel to Europe and there was a large Jewish population there. Hitler sent Jewish people all over Europe to concentration camps where they were forced to work as slaves. If they were not strong enough or old enough to work as slaves they were sent to the gas chambers where they were killed by toxic gas. An estimated 6 million Jewish people were killed during the holocaust. After World war two ended in September 1945, the United Nations was formed, the United Nations which consisted of any countries allied against Germany in WWII decided that the remaining Jewish population deserved a homeland free from the atrocious horrors they had previously faced. Israel was established and the remaining Jewish population returned to their original homeland. 

The most commonly spoken language in Israel is Hebrew. Which is the language that the Torah was written in. Hebrew is a traditionally religious language and is often spoken by the citizens of Israel. None of the other countries in the Middle East have Hebrew as their primary language. Throughout the 1st and second centuries CE, the usage of Hebrew was less and less frequent, due to the popularity of the language Aramaic, especially when the Neo Babylonian empire who spoke Aramaic controlled most of Jerusalem. And by the end of the second century CE, Hebrew was mostly considered dead. However, it slowly began to be used again and a thousand years later it sprung back to life making it the only successfully revived language in existence. 

There are many beautiful traditions that shape Israel to this day and unite the people. There is Rosh Hashanah which is the Jewish new year. Yom Kippur is another holiday of great importance to the people of Israel, it is a day of atonement, the day on which the Jewish people are closest to god. On Yom Kippur Jewish people ask God and other people for forgiveness. On Yom Kippur Jews fast for 25 hours, it is also traditional to refrain from bathing and wearing leather shoes which were seen as a luxury in ancient times. Many Jews also wear white to symbolize purity and renewal. Hanukkah meaning ‘dedication’ in Hebrew is a day celebrating the victory of the Maccabees over Syria in 165 BCE. 1 candle is lit every night for 8 nights to symbolize the miracle of Hanukkah. This is when the Jews were hiding from the Syrians and they ran out of oil, they only had enough to last one night but it somehow burned for 8 days and kept them alive until the Maccabees beat Syria. There are also many bar and bat mitzvahs that celebrate a child coming of age. Bar and Bat mitzvahs are celebrated by the kid reading from the Torah to recite prayers and readings in Hebrew. These traditions fill Israel's holy streets with joy, prayers, and love and without these important traditions, Israel would not be the same. 

Israel is well known for its delicious food. The origins of their foods stem from African and European influence. Their world-renown hummus is made with chickpeas and similar to the majority of their food, is vegetarian. They also boast their falafel which is a national Israeli dish. Although falafel originates in Egypt it is most commonly eaten in the middle east today. Pickled vegetables and tossed vegetable salads can also be found at many places in Israel. The food in Israel is delicious, nutritious, and filled with love.

The most commonly practiced religion in Israel is Judaism. Islam is the most commonly practiced religion in Palestine. Judaism's founding prophet was Moses who, according to Jewish beliefs had been chosen by God to lead Israelite slaves out of Egypt. Jews believe that camped under Mount Sinai, Moses gave the Israelite slaves the Torah of their god. They wandered the desert for 40 years and went to live in what is now known as Israel, which they believe is God's gift to them. Islam was founded by the prophet Muhammad in the year 622 BC. Followers of Islam are called Muslims. Muslims believe in only one god, and that God chose Muhammad to be his prophet and revealed the Quran to Muhammad. Muslims believe that after death they will be presented to God on judgment day and will be rewarded for every atom's weight of good and either forgiven or punished for evil deeds. Different groups of Jews believe in different things after death, some groups believe in reincarnation and others believe nothing comes after death, however, heaven is not included in the Torah. 

Israel is a country filled with religion and beautiful traditions that keep Israel’s bustling streets full of love. The languages they speak, much like Israel, have long histories. In the air lingers a rough history that should never be repeated. And all around them, Palestinians and Israelis fight for land. So whose land is it?

Works Cited

"World War Two Timeline" History on the Net © 2000-2022, Salem Media. February 24, 2022, https://www.historyonthenet.com/world-war-2-timeline-2

John, Green. “Conflict in Israel and Palestine” Crash Course World History, Youtube. 15 January 2015.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wo2TLlMhiw 

“History of Jews in 5 minutes” Past to future, Youtube. 19 June 2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIYHMdOr5Aw&t=63s 

Melissa, Petruzzello. “Diaspora: Judaism” Britannica, May 28, 2020 https://www.britannica.com/topic/Diaspora-Judaism

Encyclopedia Britannica. “Israel: From its Founding To The Peace Process” Newsela, 14 October 2017. ​https://newsela.com/read/lib-israel-history/id/31537/