What Is the Holy Land?
The Holy Land is a site in the Middle East thought to be reflected largely by the territory of the modern-day state of Israel (though not necessarily identical to its borders) and which is claimed, in whole or part, as a holy site by several Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Islam, Christianity and Baha'i. The Holy Land, instead of being a modern geographical concept, is a series of sites based on events, historical and religious, purported to have happened there as well as the spiritual and political importance invested in them by various peoples.
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History-Judaism
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The land of Israel and in particular the city of Jerusalem are main components of Judaism. Many believe that the Jews were delivered by God onto the land of Canaan, also called "the promised land," and that this land was to serve as a home after the liberation from slavery under the Pharaoh of Egypt. Jerusalem was the political and spiritual center of the ancient Jewish kingdom. It was, in particular, the site of the Temple, which was the holiest place in Judaism while it stood; a small portion of the historical Temple, the Western Wall, still stands in a part of Jerusalem called the Temple Mount, which is perhaps the most hotly contested area in the Holy Land.
History-Christianity
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In addition to the belief that the Holy Land was marked out to be the home of God's "chosen people," Christians attach importance to Jerusalem because of the many events in the narrative of Jesus's life that took place there. These include chasing moneylenders from the Temple when visiting Jerusalem in his youth, as well as the events leading up to and including the crucifixion. The "Via Dolorosa" (Latin for "Painful Path"), a reconstruction of the path Jesus took to the cross, is a central pilgrimage for Christians. It was the importance to Christians of the Holy Land that sparked the Crusades, a series of conquests that began in 1096 to capture the Holy Land from the Muslims who then lived there.
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History-Islam
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Jerusalem is the site of two important Muslim sites, the al-Aqsa mosque, which is considered to be third holiest site in Islam, as Mohammad is said to have been transported there during al-Isra wal-Miraj (or "night journey"), as well as the Dome of the Rock, a shrine said to be built on the location from which Mohammad ascended into heaven. Muslims also claim the Holy Land as a site important to many of its prophets, including Solomon and Jesus.
Significance
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The Jews, who had been scattered from Israel (then called Judea) after it was conquered by the Babylonians in the first century, always retained their attachment to the land, and a movement to return the Jews to the land (Zionism), under the guidance of Theodor Herzl, began to gain steam in the late 19th Century. According to the United Nations, there was an increase in Jewish migration to what was then the British colonial holding of Palestine in the early twentieth century, which increased with Nazi persecutions, with another wave following after Jewish war refugees were resettled to the area following World War II. The Jewish settlers came into conflict with the Arab Muslims and Christians who were already living in the region, problems that only escalated after the founding of the modern-day state of Israel and the War of 1967, during which Israel annexed large tracts of Palestinian territory.
Effects
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Deep and contradictory religious and political attachments to the land keep the Holy Land steeped in conflict. The Temple Mount is perhaps the most contentious location in the Holy Land, as it is claimed as a Holy Site by both Jews, due to the remnant of the Temple found there, and by Muslims, as a shrine known as the Dome of the Rock is located there. Though the city had been internationalized by the United Nations when it assumed political responsibility for the territory in 1947, a seemingly intractable conflict about how to do so remains at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with leaders such as Ehud Omert noting that no peace could be made without concessions in this area (noted in Israel's main daily, Haaretz).
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