Religious Co-Existence in Israel - Research Paper Example

Religious Co-existence in Israel The earliest contact between the Arabsand the Jews dates back to biblical times (Zer-Aviv 16). For many years, the religious co-existence between the Arab and the Jewish people have been promoted and deemed possible. The term Arab is biblically used to refer to the itinerant people of the central and Arabian Peninsula. Diverse tribal groups comprise this communal lifestyle in the wilderness and an unrecorded code of honor called “muruwwa” (16; Bickerton and Klausner 4). On the other hand, the Jews draw their inheritance from the Hebrews and Israelites. Arabs and Jews have a long history of contact between each other from various periods: Hebrew, Assyrian, Babylonian, Roman, Byzantine, and Persian eras. And even during the rise of the Islam religion during the 7th and 8th centuries, Arabs and Jews continued to co-exist in extensive geographical domains from Morocco to some parts of China (16; De Lange 143). After many centuries have passed, another two religious groups cropped up in Israel, which further proved that religious co-existence is possible in Israel, and even in America. Today, the Christian denomination and the Druze population continue to peacefully co-exist with the Arabs and the Jews. Reiteratively, religious co-existence can progress in Israel. The Jewish Population The population of the Jews is scattered between Israel and the Western World. Majority of the citizens of Israel are Jewish, and a large proportion of this population practices Judaism. And despite the gradual and continuous rise of the Arab population, the Jews remain progressive even in the midst of the issue of religious co-existence (Stillman 91). The focus of this paper is bent on the Israeli Jews who are residing in the state of Israel. Israel, a Jewish state, is home to nearly 50% of world’s total Jewish population. The religious orientation of the Jews in Israel is relatively diverse (Cohen 72) – significant to several Jewish ethnic subdivisions (Farsoun and Zachariah 112). The Israeli-Jewish community shows an extensive array of Jewish cultural traditions, including the complete range of religious practices (Stillman 89; Lerner 143). A significant Israeli-Jew population that is spread between the Haredi and Hilonim Jewish civilizations employ the adherence to secular way of life, thereby contributing further to the religious diversity of the Jewish population in Israel (Scherman 17; Halper 32). In a recent survey conducted by Pittinsky et al. (2), the Jews manifest positive outlook on having to religiously co-exist with Arabs (Steiner and Berkley 129). While there is no reference to other religious groups such as the Christian denomination and the Druze population, 73% of the Jewish citizens expressed affirmative opinion of religious co-existence, with 57.5% who agree and 15.5% tends to agree (2). The Muslim Population As aforementioned, the Arab (Muslim) population has a long history of contact with the Jews; nevertheless, not too much with the Christians and the Druze, at least, in Israel. Jerusalem is the area of concentration for Muslims in Israel (Abu-Nimer 166; Lerner 12). As a matter of fact, Mount Moriah, which is in Israel, is the location of Jewish temples and Islam temples. This is only one of the many indications of how the religious co-existence between the Jewish and Muslim populations progressed for so many years (Lewis 28; Hillman 27). Majority of the Muslims in Israel are Sunni Arabs. Their domination supported and assured the importance and meaning of Islam as the leading religion in the region (Abu-Nimer 166; Lewis 52). The capture of the Palestine by the British people and the ensuing Balfour Declaration paved the way for the influx of a considerable population of Jews in the Palestine who commenced to incline the balance toward Judaism (Kadushin 203; Steinberg 36). In the recent decades, a more progressive development graced the state as Muslims in Israel were allowed to implement the teaching of Islam to Muslim children in their individual schools (Park 167; Patai 172; Lerner 78; Ma’oz 161); and over the years, the number of Islam-affiliated colleges and universities increased in number in Israel and other areas of dominion (Strack 95; Day 36) – a manifestation of how much religious co-existence is alive and improving in Israel (173; Cohen 176). The Christian Population in Israel It is often hard to believe that even in the quite exclusive tradition of religious norms in Israel that would have fairly existed between the Arabs and the Jews, Christianity would exist. Surprisingly, a large number of Christians in Israel are actually coming from the Arab population or arrived from other countries to land a job on churches and monasteries in Israel (Mansour 23). Christianity is significantly recognized in Israel. In fact, there are currently nine churches recognized by Israel’s confessional system especially in matters of marriage and divorce. These churches are the following: Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic (Latin rite), Gregorian-Armenian, Armenian Catholic, Syriac Catholic, Chaldean (Uniate), Melkite (Greek Catholic), Ethiopian Orthodox, Maronite and Syriac Orthodox churches, and Anglicanism (Mansour 23). Of all the nine recognized churches in Israel, it is the Greek Catholics that comprise the majority of the Christian population (40%) (23). Traditional beliefs mainly based on the Bible that Jesus lived and died in Jerusalem is considered to the focal point of Christianity in Israel (Mazie 45). However, there are fewer Christians lived in the region as compared to the population of the Jews and Muslims. The Druze Population in Israel Druze has probably the smallest number in terms of population in Israel among all four major religious groups (Nisan, 109). There is an estimated Druze population of only over a hundred thousand as of late (Dana 10). The Druze population together with Christians, Jews and Muslims co-exists amicably in Israel; nevertheless, the Druze follows strictly observes their own Gnostic religion. The Israeli government considers the Druze population as a divergent ethnic community (Landau 46; 10). The Druze population venerates Jethro as the most important religious figure in their own group. Conclusion The trend of the formation of Israel’s religious make-up cropped up as a result of centuries of tessellation originally between the Jews and the Muslim population; nevertheless, in the recent times, the influx of other religious groups such as the Christian population and the Druze moved to manifest the growing support of the Israeli government on religious co-existence. The growing number of Jews, Muslims, Druze, and Christians in Israel and the rarity of reported conflicts among these groups are only few of the many signs that indeed religious co-existence can peacefully take place in Israel. Works Cited Abu-Nimer, Mohammed. Dialogue, Conflict Resolution, and Change: Arab-Jewish Encounters in Israel. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1999. Print. Bickerton, Ian and Carla Klausner. A Concise History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. 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