Essays on Holy Land

Group A. Q1 Christianity and Islam in Spain

The crusades were religious and politically motivated wars that were dominated the 1096-1291 with the aim of controlling the holy land Jerusalem. In the first crusade, (1096-1102) initiated by pope Urban II was aimed at helping the Christian Byzantine empire which had been invaded by the Muslim Seljuk Turks. In this crusade, the Europeans were able to capture Jerusalem in 1099. This led to the merging of various Muslim faction against the Christians forces which had occupied the holy land. However, in 1291, the Muslims were able to control Jerusalem and parts of the coastal areas, which they controlled ...

Conflicting religious ideologies accounted for the atrocious attack on the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks. That single attack changed foreign policies and relations for the entire globe. However, it was not the first time that religious considerations had triggered violent conflicts that changed world affairs. The crusades also played a crucial role in influencing the political and international relations among different nations. In November 1950 at the Council of Clermont, Pope Urnbanus II called for an armed crusade to unshackle the holy land from Muslim rule. His call would shape or influence world history for many years. The causes ...

The First Crusade was organized in 1096 by the decision of Pope Urban II at the request of Byzantine Emperor Alexius I with the aim of helping the Eastern Christians in the defense of Anatolia (Asia Minor) from the onset of the Seljuks. During the campaign, further objective turned out to be the liberation of the holy city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the Muslims. Initially, the Pope`s appeal was addressed only to the French knights, but, later, the Crusade turned into a full-scale military campaign, and its idea spread to all the Christian states of ...

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in 1999 founded the Jamāʻat al-Tawḥīd wa-al-Jihād which is the present day ISIL. Initially, the organization pledged support to the Al Qaeda and fought alongside them against the Multinational force which invaded Iraq in 2003 (Spark 3). In 2006, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi died and the remnants of his militant organization founded the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI). Subsequent leadership who had the ability to keep the group aligned to the ideology of Al Qaeda died in US led attacks (Spark 4). Eventually, the Al Qaeda, in 2014 realized it could no longer keep ...