So effectively the Jewish occupation of Jerusalem as its rulers, to use the modern parlance, ended in 733BC, they were never be able to rule in the region until May 14th, 1948!
That was more than 2000 years apart. So they needed to search for another Promised Land because the inhabitants of Palestine were not ready to part with their own homeland.
While some Jews remained in Palestine hoping for some miracle, the rest of them, who formed the majority, were scattered all over the world.
So the claim today by the Jews that Palestine is their ancestral home is nothing but spurious and fake. The Philistines (which should be better called the Palestinians) via the Muslim rule have claimed back their rightful country.
The Islamic Dynasty in Palestine began in 636CE as pointed out in the first part of this narrative. It officially ended in 1917CE when the British Forces defeated the Ottoman Forces in the Battle of Jerusalem as part of the colossal World War I defeat.
However between 636CE and 1917CE there were a lot of events in Jerusalem.
It should be noted that there were times when the Christian World in their celebrated Crusades (about eight of them) made efforts in wrestling Palestine from the Muslims.
The Muslim victory was very decisive such that the Christian Powers mainly from France could not never have the former in-roads they had in Palestine.
The term "crusade' is freely used by Christians today in their evangelical efforts towards the Muslims. Though today the crusades are 'peaceful' but Christians have never hiden their disdain for the Muslims whenever they had the opportunity to use violence against the latter. The US forces had shown that in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, etc, in the recent past.
The First Crusade was proclaimed by Pope Unban I in 1095CE.
On 15th June, 1099CE, the Crusaders entered Jerusalem massacaring the Muslims and some Jews they met there. Even the European historians of later time were shocked by what the Crusaders did in Jerusalem. No Muslim was spared. They would later repeat that in Spain in later years.
(So it is not strange when the enemies of Muslims bomb them mercilessly anytime they have the upper hand against the Muslims).
It should be noted that Jerusalem at the time was in the hands of the Fatimid rulers (called Fatimiyyoon in Islamic usage), a sub-sect of the Shia, which was enmeshed in intra-conflict at the time. It was even stated that some rival Fatimid groups sided with the rampaging Crusaders.
Yes the Muslim Jerusalem saw a number of different Muslim rulers from time-to-time.
Banu Umayyah (the Umayyad) were the first Muslim rulers after the era of the Khulafaa Raashidoon.
It was Khalifah Abdulmalik b. Marwan that delineated the area of Aqsa Masjid in 691CE while his son, Al-Waleed, actually built it in 705CE.
The rulership passed to the hands of Banu Abbaas (the Abassid) until the Fatimids, from Egypt where they had rebelled against the Abassid Rule, took over in 969CE.
The Fatimid Rule in Palestine perhaps informed the presence of the Shia in the region. Though other Shia sects viz. the Ismailis, were present in the region.
There was this Baatiniyyah Shia sect which was made up of experts in assassination of prominent figures. It was formed by Hasan b. As-Sabbah in 1090CE which the European called his followers the Assasins. The word 'assasin' had its root in that usage.
So when you hear that those who form the bulk of the present-day Hamas legally that controls Gaza are Shia perhaps that is the reason. The same thing goes for the Hezbola of Southern Lebanon.
The Christian Rule went on again in Palestine until 1187CE when Sultan Salahudeen al-Ayyoobi (called 'Saladin' in western books) defeated the Christian forces at the Battle of Hittin. The Christian world would never forget that defeat. It was very devastating on the moral and physique of the Christians.
Part Three of this narrative would look at the personality of Sultan Salahudeen al-Ayyoobi and how he could achieve that feat in Palestine.
