By: Dr.
Saeb Shaath
Gaza held to be
of major strategic importance; the only overland
route between Africa and Asia, which led
predynastic Egypt to establish in 3500 B.C. the
citadel of Tell Sakan on the banks of the Wadi
Ghazzeh, some twelve kilometers from the modern
city. In the second millennia BC, The Egyptians
lost control of the city to the
“Hyksos”, who expanded Gaza nearer to
the sea front and built “Tell al
Ajjul”. Hyksos people marched southward and
captured the Great Egyptian Empire, about 1650
BC. They lasted around 100 years, before the
Egyptian army chasing them out to the outskirts
of Gaza “Tell al Ajjul”, the Egyptian
besieged Gaza for over of 3 years. History
informs us that the Egyptian then failed to crack
Gaza and retreated, 200 years later Gaza however
fell once again under the domination of Egypt, an
event marked in History as the conquest by
Thutmose III on 25 April 1468 B.C.
Gaza's history has been shaped by its strategic
location; in 734 B.C., the Assyrian empire took
complete control of Gaza. The Persian Empire in
539 B.C. expanded and annexed Gaza. In Gaza there
is the ancient Greek city of Antidon dated to
around 520 B.C a port and settlement four
kilometers from Gaza city. In 332 BC, Alexander
the Great besieged Gaza, the last city to resist
his design, for the control of the ancient world.
Most of the old Babylonian domain, including
Egypt, swiftly crumbled into Alexander's hands.
Gaza dared to resist; nevertheless, a siege of
two months followed by a ruin as complete as that
of Tyre. The defenders, mostly local Arabs,
fought to death, the women and children were
taken captive. In 145 BC Gaza was conquered by
Jonathan the Hasmonean (Brother of Judah the
Maccabee) who destroyed the suburbs of Gaza by
fire .The Jewish king Alexander Jannaeus after a
siege of a year, brought destruction and
massacres around 96 BC. Neither Alexander the
Greta’s bloody conquest in 332 B.C. nor the
brutal one by Alexander Janneus in 96 B.C. could
vanish Gaza who endured and rose again.
Around 50
B.C. Gaza became magnificent and so luxurious
under the Romans. Gaza would reach the peak of
civilization; Gaza’s exports in the 5th
century A.D _Byzantine empire era, reached as far
as England, Ireland and Geneva, Gaza’s
Schools graduated leading theologians such as
Barsanuphius, John of Gaza and Mark the Deacon,
whose writings profoundly influenced Christianity
at its very early stages. According to the
Jewish Encyclopedia : Famous Gazan Jews have
included the medieval liturgical poet Israel
Najara, who is buried in Gaza's local cemetery,
the Sabbatean prophet Nathan of Gaza as well as
rabbi Abraham Azulai who lived in Gaza in 1619,
it was there that he wrote the book for which he
is remembered, his cabalistic work "Hesed
le-Avraham".
The arrival of the Islam in 637 A.D. would not
change its unique character. Gaza remained a
central crossroad. From the 8th century sheltered
the most highly celebrated school of law in all
of Islam, founded by Muhammad al-Shafi. The
Crusaders under Baldwin I fought hard the Arabian
armies to control Gaza. In the 1170 the Crusaders
lost Gaza to Saladin.
Gaza became a prosperous city under the Mameluks
_ Between the 13th and 16th century,
"A city so rich in trees it looks like a
cloth of brocade spread out upon the land,"
wrote the 14th-century Syrian scholar al-Dimashqi
of his extensive view of Gaza City. In1516, at
the battle of Khan Yaunis _Gaza’s Southern
major Town, Turkish forces under the Grand Vizier
Sinan Pasha defeated the Mameluks in KhanYaunis,
Gaza falls under Turkish control. In 1660,
Hussein Pasha made Gaza the capital of Palestine.
Napoleon captured Gaza city In February 1799,
when his forces entered the city terrible plague
engulfed them and forced Napoleon to retreat from
Gaza. In 1832 Mohammad Ali made Gaza part of
Egypt ,soon it becomes part of the Ottoman Empire
who fought the British three Battles in
defence of Gaza. The Ottomans lost it to the
British in the Third Battle of Gaza on 7 November
1917 during the First World War. Sir Archibald
Murray who led the first and the second Battle of
Gaza in 1916 - 1917 was dismissed and replaced by
"the Bull” -General Edmund Allenby, who
deceived the defenders by attacking Beersheba and
then besieging Gaza. Gaza fell, Allenby’s
road to Jerusalem opened up. On September 12,
2005, the Israeli cabinet formally declared an
end to military rule of Gaza; the IDF dismantled
the settlements and retreated behind the walls
and electric fences. It was another astonishing
reminder of Gaza’s history and defiance.
* Writer,
thinker public speaker on Middle Eastern affairs,
and a former diplomat. He is the co-founder of
Irish Map (Medical Aid for Palestine).
Mufti condemns Israeli
decision to demolish
historic mosque near Jerusalem
Jerusalem – Ma'an 03 / 02 / 2008
– The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh
Muhammad Hussein has condemned a decision by
Israeli authorities to demolish the Al-Omari
mosque in the village of Umm Tuba near Jerusalem
under the pretext that the building had been
built without a license on Sunday.
Sheikh Hussein told Ma'an that the mosque was
built more than 700 years go, and it was last
restored in 1963. It is the only mosque in Umm
Tuba.
The Mufti claimed that Israeli authorities have
been attempting to wipe out historic Islamic
sites in Palestine which is violation of all
religious values and international treaties.
He warned of the repercussions and called on the
United Nations Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) which is charged with
protecting human cultural heritage around the
world, and other international organizations to
prevent the demolition of the mosque.
|
