Turn on the news. Most likely, one of the biggest stories will be an update on an ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Throughout history, the Middle East has been a land of conflict and violence. While it is difficult to pinpoint the source of all this conflict, one could argue that because the Middle East, particularly Jerusalem, is an important location for the world's three major religions, this region is bound to have tense relations. However, to fully understand this region, it is necessary to understand the three religions that lay claim to the Middle East. Those religions are Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Although on the surface these three religions seem completely independent, in reality they are closely linked and very similar. No matter how different the practices and beliefs of Jews, Christians and Muslims may seem, these three religions are similar because they all originated in the same region and were based on similar beliefs. Since the Middle East is the birthplace of three major related world religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam, these religions share similarities that bind them together, such as monotheism, prophets and teachings, similarities that are very important in today's Middle Eastern politics . it arose from the beliefs of the ancient Jewish people. “The Jews believed that God had made a covenant, or binding agreement, with Moses. Under this agreement, the Jews accepted God as ruler of heaven and earth. In return, God made the Jews the chosen people on Earth (Ahmad 563).” This pact strengthened the monotheism of the Jews; they fully accepted the idea that there was only one God (564). “The Jews recorded their primitive history as well as morality... in the center of the paper... the most important thing that these three religions have in common is the ethical worldview that they all profess. These moral standards could help unite people of these religions; this unity could help ease some tensions in the Middle East too. “Muslims believe that Allah is the same God as Jews and Christians (Ahmad 571).” The similarities between these three religions that worship the same God have origins in the Middle East, commonalities in prophets and teachings, and may well be an essential part of the solution to alleviating some of the tensions in the Middle East. Works Cited Ahmad, Iftikhar. World Cultures: A Global Mosaic. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2004. Blackadar, Andy, ed. "Part I: The Middle East Around the World." The Middle East in Transition: Questions for US Policy (2013): 2-18. Press.