ABSTRACT
The Middle East is a puzzle to most people, and among the many confusing dimensions of the modern history of the area, the Arab–Israeli conflict is perhaps the most perplexing. One problem with the term Arab-Israeli conflict is that it is used inclusively to apply to larger ongoing conflicts, like those in the Persian Gulf, that are only peripherally related to the conflict between Israel and its neighbors. The Christian world is fascinated by the Arab–Israeli conflict for a number of reasons. The names and places in the land are familiar to most Christians through their reading of the Old Testament, and the fate of the Holy Land is a central issue in Christian theology. The insistence that Christians have some say in the future of the holy places in and around Jerusalem has made resolution of the issues surrounding that city even more complex.
