On May 14, 2018, the United States and Israel celebrated the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem. Israel had long declared Jerusalem its capital, but the United States, in an attempt to appease Palestinian nationalists, kept its embassy in Tel Aviv. This policy was reversed by President Donald Trump in 2017.
The opening of the embassy was celebrated with speeches, fanfare, and a video message from the American president. But in the Gaza Strip, hundreds of Palestinians gathered to denounce the move.
Israel’s defense forces, well-prepared for the protests, were given orders to repel anyone nearing the border fence. And indeed, some of the Palestinian protestors were intent on damaging and getting across the border.
It wasn’t long before things went awry. Israeli drones fired tear gas at the Palestinians from above. Soldiers shot rubber bullets and live ammunition into the crowds. Some Palestinians threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at the Israeli soldiers.
I’m not a historian. Just grew a new interest in the history of Islam and specially history of the region what today is known as Middle East.
Loved the storytelling themed podcast on google podcast of episode. The whole episode was beautifully detailed inspite of the flood of information. Waiting for the part 2.
PS. I loved the other Episodes and still in a process of listening and loving to other Episodes on Ottoman Era and Europe. Great work!
Thanks for the feedback Wajid.
Yeah, I’ve reconsidered providing so much information in one episode. That’s why I’m breaking the WWI episodes into smaller, 20-30 minute chunks.
We’ll return the Israel-Palestine after completing WWI. Israel-Palestine Part I ends with the beginning of WWI. Once we’re through this series, we’re going to see how the former Ottoman Empire became the modern ME.
And that includes the state of Israel.
I really liked your podcast. It was quite detailed and very informative. It was amazing how you managed to cover so much in an hour’s worth of time. However, there was one key point I felt I must point out – you mentioned the story of Ibrahim A.S and I felt as though you may have made an error in narrating his story. Ibrahim A.S never looked at the sun, the moon or the stars as though he was considering them as “gods” to be worshipped. Ibrahim A.S was always upon monotheism. Unlike his people, he wasn’t in “search” of a god, a deity to worship. He knew Allah is the One to worship. In the Quran, when Allah tells us that Ibrahim A.S. looked at the sun, the moon and the stars and was saying to himself – “is the sun my master? how can I worship something that goes away…” (rough translations of the verses) he was indirectly talking to his people, pointing out to them how silly their idolatry was and how much eh hated the idols they worshipped. Ibrahim AS was always a monotheist, he knew Allah is his Master, he wasn’t “searching”. The Quran uses literary devices such as these. All prophets were always upon monotheism. It is extremely wrong as Muslims to assert the notion that a prophet was “confused” or was “searching” for who to worship. We strongly believe that all of Allah’s prophets and messengers were always upon monotheism.
As-Salaamu Alaykum, thank you for the input and clarification.