Israel and the Palestinians: 2. From the Muslim conquest to the 19th Century

The second of 10 programmes examining the origins and tracing the history of the Middle East conflict takes the story from the Muslim conquest of the region in the seventh Century AD through to the early 19th Century. Presenter Jonny Dymond is joined by historian Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Jerusalem: The Biography, and Eugene Rogan, professor of Modern Middle Eastern History at Oxford University.

They discuss the coming of Islam, the establishment of Arab rule, the significance of the Crusades, the 20th Century Muslim commander Salah ad-Din (Saladin) who fought the Crusaders, the persecution of Jews in the Diaspora in the Middle Ages and their relationship to the Holy Land, the Ottoman conquest of the Holy Land in the 16th Century, and the nature of society there under Ottoman rule in the following centuries.

(Photo: Malek Nasser Yusuf Saladin, 1138 - 1193, Sultan of Egypt and Syria and founder of the dynasty, circa 1175. His later years were spent fighting the Christians on the crusades. Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Presenter: Jonny Dymond
Producer: Ben Carter
Editor: Penny Murphy