Have Jews and Muslims lived in peace for most of human history, with conflict only becoming widespread after the rise of Zionism and the creation of Israel? The answer is partially yes but with important caveats
✅ Long Periods of Coexistence
For over 1,000 years, Jewish communities thrived under Muslim rule in regions like Al-Andalus (Muslim Spain), the Ottoman Empire, and North Africa
🌟 These societies were not utopias but far more tolerant than Christian Europe at the time. Jews held positions as advisors, physicians, and even military leaders. Many fled Christian persecution like the Spanish Inquisition in 1492 and found refuge in Muslim lands
📚 In Islamic Spain, Jewish culture flourished in the “Golden Age of Jewish Culture”. Figures like Maimonides wrote in Arabic and Hebrew under Muslim rule
⚠️ Not Always Peaceful
Despite long periods of coexistence, violence and discrimination did occur
🔥 Massacres like the 1066 Granada massacre and 1834 Safed pogrom show anti-Jewish violence existed in Muslim lands, though less frequently and less systematically than in Christian Europe
⚖️ Dhimmi laws imposed legal inferiority on Jews and Christians, but they also granted protection and religious freedom
Peace was the norm but it was never guaranteed
🌍 Modern Conflict: Zionism and the Israeli-Arab Wars
The modern conflict between Jews and Muslims, especially Arabs, intensified sharply with the rise of political Zionism in the late 19th century and the creation of Israel in 1948
📈 Zionist immigration to Palestine, especially after the Balfour Declaration (1917), led to rising tensions with Arab populations fearing displacement
⚔️ Violence escalated through the 1920s–1940s, culminating in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, mass displacement of Palestinians, and subsequent wars and intifadas
🕌 Islamist ideologues like Sayyid Qutb reframed the conflict in religious terms, portraying Jews as eternal enemies of Islam, a modern ideological shift rather than a continuation of medieval theology
🧭 Summary
✡️ Historically, Jews and Muslims often lived in relative peace, especially compared to Christian Europe
❗ Violence did occur but it was not constant or defining
🌐 The modern Israeli-Arab conflict, rooted in 19th-century nationalism and land disputes, dramatically escalated tensions and reframed Jewish-Muslim relations globally
In short: peace was more common than conflict for most of history, but today’s conflict is largely a 20th-century political and territorial dispute now deeply entangled with religion and identity
