In the 7th Century, The Muslim Conquest of the Levant was simple, effective and complete. Quick military victories over a decaying Byzantine Empire awarded the Arabs with a massive geographical area. Yet their population was small when you consider that the societies that they now controlled. (Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Palestine). They did not kill off everyone and repopulate with Arabs, because they were too small of a people group.

So how was it that in less than 100 years the predominant religion of Christianity and the common language of Greek were traded for Islam and Arabic?

It was all about money.

The Muslims established their governments with a minority of leading members of Mecca and they allowed Christians and Jews the freedom to exist and practice their religion. The new Muslim governments required that all commercial business to be done in Arabic and anyone who wasn’t Muslim to pay taxes. Muslim’s were exempt. Of course revolts were crushed.

The Romans did it a little different. They didn’t establish themselves because of superior engineering or law. They killed everybody who opposed them and established the Pax Romana with Language and Taxes.

Could Israel do the same and eliminate the Palestinian problem?