You Decide For Yourself!

Despite the fact that we must constantly hear & read about the Palestinian/Israel conflict, many of us do not know of what actually started it.
In order for us to fully understand the complete situation we must have the facts concerning why, where, & how this all began.
Israel was formed as a modern state in 1948. The nation was founded as the result of the Zionist movement, an effort to establish an independent Jewish homeland, which began in the 1890s. Zionists sought a solution for diaspora (dispersion of Jews around the world) and anti-Semitism (the hatred of Jews). After World War II (1939–45), the United Nations (an organization that promotes international peace and democracy) created a special committee to address British control of Palestine. Palestine is the region in the Middle East (southwest Asia) that borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Lebanon to the north, Syria and Jordan to the east, and Egypt (the Sinai Peninsula) to the southwest; the narrow piece of land comes to a point in the south, where it fronts the Gulf of Aqaba. In November 1947, the United Nations carved Israel out of the Palestine region; areas of Palestine not designated as Israel were left to the Palestinians.
According to Biblical records, the nation of Israel takes its name from one of its ancestors, Israel (a.k.a. Jacob), son of Isaac, son of Abraham. The family groups of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were essentially nomadic people in the land in and around the area now known as Israel beginning about 1900 years BC. Jacob's descendants lived in Egypt for many years, but returned to the area to stay about 1400 BC (I expect there is some variation in the computed dates). Despite being conquered and dominated by several empires along the way, some descendants of Jacob have occupied parts of the region pretty much ever since.

The current boundaries of the nation of Israel were mostly established after wars (just like most every other country) in the mid 20th century (much more recently than most).

According to http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk... "From 1920 to 1947, Palestinians and Jews had been clashing in British governed Palestine. In 1947, Britain asked the UN to take over."

On May 14, 1948 the Jewish inhabitants proclaimed a "Declaration of Independence" immediately following the expiration of a British mandate for Palestine. On the same date, the USA provisionally recognized the new state of Israel. http://www.trumanlibrary.org/photos/israel.jpg

On May 15, 1948, "British leave Palestine; Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia declared war on Israel. Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian invasion began." ( http://www.mideastweb.org/timeline.htm ) Israel survived the invasions and ensuing war and won additional territory.

A permanent government took office in January of 1949 after elections were held.
The British force occupied Palestine during the first world war, 1917 to 1920: Britain put Palestine under Military rule 1920 to May 15, 1948: Britain ruled Palestine under the mandate awarded to them at the end of World War I. The government was called "government of Palestine." The mandate government was under the British crown. On November 2, 1917, the British foreign minister Arthur James Belfour with the consent of the British crown promised the Jews to give them the land of the Palestinians as a Jewish national homeland. This promise became known as the "Belfour declaration." France and Italy accepted the declaration in 1918. America accepted it in 1919. Japan accepted it in 1920. The Belfour declaration was a clear violation of the Palestinian people's right to their land and government.

Britain had a moral and legal obligation under international law to protect the people of Palestine and the Sovereign and territorial integrity of the country they occupied. With the arrogance of the victor Britain has violated every international law that gave them responsibility to protect people under occupation.

By May 15, 1948, the British mandate ended. The British force withdrew from Palestine and handed control over to the armed Jewish gangs who went on massacring Palestinian people and blowing up Palestinian homes. They changed the name of Palestine to Israel and announced the creation of a Jewish State on 77% of the land of Palestine. By the end of 1948 the Israeli Jews massacred thousands of Palestinian civilians, destroyed their homes, made 750,000 Palestinian civilians flee for safety in the neighboring countries. To this date Israel still refuses to allow these refugees and their descendents to go back to their homes and towns.

*In 1967 Israel occupied by military force the remaining 23% of the area of Palestine which puts all Palestine under Israeli Jewish control.

But on a more ancient historical note, the people that was promised in the book of the Old Testament. The Books of Moses, who sometimes are mentioned as the People of the Book who has become an "astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all nations". In most recently times was took captive and taken into boundage by force and scattered to North America, South and Central America (and now they exist throughout the globe) in an event known as the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade. They, the True Ones, soon will be delivered back to the land of topic the land of their Fathers.

According to http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761575008/israel.html

The origins of the present-day struggle between Israel and Arab nations predate the creation of Israel. Throughout the early 20th century Palestine, as the birthplace of Judaism and site of the ancient Hebrew Kingdom of Israel, became a center of Jewish immigration, encouraged and organized by a movement known as Zionism. Jews clashed with the Palestinian Arab inhabitants of the region throughout the British administration of Palestine from 1918 to 1948. In the years after World War II (1939-1945) the United Nations (UN) developed a plan to partition Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. The Arabs rejected the plan, but the Jews accepted it, and the independent nation of Israel was created in 1948. Five Arab nations—Egypt, Transjordan (now Jordan), Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq—immediately attacked Israel. In the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-1949 and subsequent wars with its Arab neighbors Israel acquired territory beyond its 1948 boundaries. As a result of the Six-Day War of 1967 Israel took and later annexed the Syrian territory of the Golan Heights, a claim not recognized by most nations. Israel also occupied the West Bank (formerly of Jordan) and the Gaza Strip (formerly of Egypt), areas now partially under Palestinian Arab administration. Even Jerusalem, the city Israel claims as its capital, remains an area of dispute. Predominantly Jewish West Jerusalem has been part of Israel since independence in 1948; Israel captured mostly Arab East Jerusalem in 1967. Israel has since claimed the entire city as its capital. However, the United Nations does not recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

These territorial conflicts, combined with continued Jewish immigration, have caused major changes in population structure since Israel’s independence. Much of the Palestinian Arab population in the territory that became Israel fled or were expelled during the 1948-1949 war and became refugees in surrounding Arab countries. Still more Palestinians fled from the areas captured by Israel in 1967 (known collectively as the Occupied Territories; often referred to in Israel as “administered territories”), and thousands of Jews have settled in these areas. Meanwhile, Jewish immigration continued. By the late 1990s Israel had absorbed 2.1 million immigrants since 1948, four times the Jewish population before independence.

Economically, the twin challenges of national security and immigration have been very costly. The economic burden of the military fosters dependence on foreign economic aid, particularly from the United States . Further, political conflict has severely isolated Israel economically from much of the region. Meanwhile, although the absorption and integration of so many immigrants from all over the world is an immense financial undertaking, the constant influx of people with many different skills and backgrounds also contributes to Israel’s economic well-being. Both factors have stimulated the drive to create a successful industrial economy to help pay for necessary infrastructure and services.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia we find the following:

Israel is a representative democracy with a parliamentary system and universal suffrage.^[16][17] The Prime Minister serves as head of government and the Knesset serves as Israel's legislative body. The economy, based on the nominal gross domestic product, is the 44th-largest in the world.^[18] Israel ranks highest among Middle Eastern countries on the UN human development index,^[19] freedom of the press,^[20][21] and economic competitiveness.^[22] Jerusalem is the country's capital, seat of government, and largest city, while Israel's main financial center is Tel Aviv.^[1]

Etymology

Over the past three thousand years, the name "Israel" has meant in common and religious usage both the Land of Israel and the entire Jewish nation.^[23] According to the Bible, Jacob is renamed Israel after successfully wrestling with an angel of God.^[24]

The earliest archaeological artifact to mention "Israel" (other than as a personal name) is the Merneptah Stele of ancient Egypt (dated the late 13th century BCE) which refers to a people of that name.^[25] The modern country was named Medinat Yisrael, or the State of Israel, after other proposed names, including Eretz Israel ("the Land of Israel"), Zion, and Judea, were rejected.^[26] In the early weeks of independence, the government chose the term "Israeli" to denote a citizen of Israel, with the formal announcement made by Minister of Foreign Affairs Moshe Sharett.

Early roots

Further information: History of ancient Israel and Judah

Masada

The Land of Israel, known in Hebrew as Eretz Yisrael, has been sacred to the Jewish people since Biblical times. According to the Torah, the Land of Israel was promised to the three Patriarchs of the Jewish people, by God, as their homeland;^[28][29] scholars have placed this period in the early 2nd millennium BCE.^[30] According to the traditional view, around the 11th century BCE, the first of a series of Israelite kingdoms and states established rule over the region; these Israelite kingdoms and states ruled intermittently for the following one thousand years.^[31] The sites holiest to Judaism are located within Israel.

Between the time of the Israelite kingdoms and the 7th-century Muslim conquests, the Land of Israel fell under Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Roman, Sassanian, and Byzantine rule.^[32] Jewish presence in the region dwindled after the failure of the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Roman Empire in 132 CE and the resultant large-scale expulsion of Jews. In 628/9, the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius conducted a massacre and expulsion of the Jews, at which point the Jewish population probably reached its lowest point. Nevertheless, a continuous Jewish presence in the Land of Israel remained. Although the main Jewish population shifted from the Judea region to the Galilee,^[33] the Mishnah and part of the Talmud, among Judaism's most important religious texts, were composed in Israel during this period.^[34] The Land of Israel was captured from the Byzantine Empire around 636 CE during the initial Muslim conquests. Control of the region transferred between the Umayyads,^[35] Abbasids,^[36] and Crusaders over the next six centuries, before falling in the hands of the Mamluk Sultanate, in 1260. In 1516, the Land of Israel became a part of the Ottoman Empire, which ruled the region until the 20th century.^[37]

Zionism and the British Mandate

Jews living in the Diaspora have long aspired to return to Zion and the Land of Israel.^[38] That hope and yearning was articulated in the Bible,^[39] and is a central theme in the Jewish prayer book. Beginning in the 12th century, Catholic persecution of Jews led to a steady stream leaving Europe to settle in the Holy Land, increasing in numbers after Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492.^[40] During the 16th century large communities struck roots in the Four Holy Cities, and in the second half of the 18th century, entire Hasidic communities from eastern Europe settled in the Holy Land.^[41]

Theodor Herzl, visionary of the Jewish State, in 1901.

The first large wave of modern immigration, known as the First Aliyah (Hebrew: עלייה), began in 1881, as Jews fled pogroms in Eastern Europe.^[42] While the Zionist movement already existed in theory, Theodor Herzl is credited with founding political Zionism,^[43] a movement which sought to establish a Jewish state in the Land of Israel, by elevating the Jewish Question to the international plane.^[44] In 1896, Herzl published Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State), offering his vision of a future state; the following year he presided over the first World Zionist Congress.^[45]

The Second Aliyah (1904–1914), began after the Kishinev pogrom. Some 40,000 Jews settled in Palestine.^[42] Both the first and second waves of migrants were mainly Orthodox Jews,^[46] but those in the Second Aliyah included socialist pioneers who established the kibbutz movement.^[47] During World War I, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour issued what became known as the Balfour Declaration, which "view[ed] with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people". At the request of Edwin Samuel Montagu and Lord Curzon, a line was also inserted stating "it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country".^[48] The Jewish Legion, a group of battalions composed primarily of Zionist volunteers, assisted in the British conquest of Palestine. Arab opposition to the plan led to the 1920 Palestine riots and the formation of the Jewish organization known as the Haganah (meaning "The Defense" in Hebrew), from which the Irgun and Lehi split off.^[49]

In 1922, the League of Nations granted the United Kingdom a mandate over Palestine under terms similar to the Balfour Declaration.^[50] The population of the area at this time was predominantly Muslim Arab, while the largest urban area in the region, Jerusalem, was predominantly Jewish.^[51]

The Third (1919–1923) and Fourth Aliyah (1924–1929) brought 100, 000 Jews to Palestine.^[42] From 1921 the British subjected Jewish immigration to quotas and most of the territory slated for the Jewish state was allocated to Transjordan.^[52]

The rise of Nazism in the 1930s led to the Fifth Aliyah, with an influx of a quarter of a million Jews. This caused the Arab revolt of 1936–1939 and led the British to cap immigration with the White Paper of 1939. With countries around the world turning away Jewish refugees fleeing the Holocaust, a clandestine movement known as Aliyah Bet was organized to bring Jews to Palestine.^[42] By the end of World War II, Jews accounted for 33% of the population of Palestine, up from 11% in 1922.^[53][54]

Independence and first years

Main articles: 1948 Palestine war and Declaration of Independence (Israel)

After 1945 the United Kingdom became embroiled in an increasingly violent conflict with the Jews.^[55] In 1947, the British government withdrew from commitment to the Mandate of Palestine, stating it was unable to arrive at a solution acceptable to both Arabs and Jews.^[56] The newly created United Nations approved the UN Partition Plan (United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181) on November 29, 1947, dividing the country into two states, one Arab and one Jewish. Jerusalem was to be designated an international city — a corpus separatum — administered by the UN to avoid conflict over its status.^[57] The Jewish community accepted the plan,^[58] but the Arab League and Arab Higher Committee rejected it.^[59] On December 1, 1947 the Arab Higher Committee proclaimed a three-day strike, and Arab bands began attacking Jewish targets. Civil war began with the Jews initially on the defensive but gradually moving into offence. The Palestinian-Arab economy collapsed and 250, 000 Palestinian-Arabs fled or were expelled.^[60]

David Ben-Gurion proclaiming Israeli independence from the United Kingdom on May 14, 1948 below a portrait of Theodor Herzl

On May 14, 1948, the day before the end of the British Mandate, the Jewish Agency proclaimed independence, naming the country Israel. The following day the armies of five Arab countries — Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq — attacked Israel, launching the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.^[61] Morocco, Sudan, Yemen and Saudi Arabia also sent troops to assist the invaders. After a year of fighting, a ceasefire was declared and temporary borders, known as the Green Line, were established. Jordan annexed what became known as the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and Egypt took control of the Gaza Strip. Israel was admitted as a member of the United Nations on May 11, 1949.^[62] During the conflict 711, 000 Arabs, according to UN estimates, or about 80% of the previous Arab population, were expelled or fled the country.^[63] The fate of the Palestinian refugees today is a major point of contention in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.^[64][65]

In the early years of the state, the Labor Zionist movement led by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion dominated Israeli politics.^[66][67] These years were marked by mass immigration of Holocaust survivors and an influx of Jews persecuted in Arab lands. The population of Israel rose from 800, 000 to two million between 1948 and 1958.^[68] Most arrived as refugees with no possessions and were housed in temporary camps known as ma'abarot. By 1952, over 200, 000 immigrants were living in these tent cities. The need to solve the crisis led Ben-Gurion to sign a reparations agreement with West Germany that triggered mass protests by Jews angered at the idea of Israel "doing business" with Germany.^[69]

During the 1950s, Israel was frequently attacked by Palestinian fedayeen, mainly from the Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip.^[70] In 1956, Israel joined a secret alliance with The United Kingdom and France aimed at recapturing the Suez Canal, which the Egyptians had nationalized (see the Suez Crisis). Despite capturing the Sinai Peninsula, Israel was forced to retreat due to pressure from the United States and the Soviet Union in return for guarantees of Israeli shipping rights in the Red Sea and the Canal.^[71]

At the start of the following decade, Israel captured Adolf Eichmann, an architect of the Final Solution hiding in Argentina, and brought him to trial.^[72] The trial had a major impact on public awareness of the Holocaust,^[73] and to date Eichmann remains the only person ever executed by civil authorities in Israel.^[74]

Conflicts and peace treaties

This article or section may be slanted towards recent events. Please try to keep recent events in historical perspective. (July 2009)

Main articles: Arab-Israeli conflict and Israeli-Palestinian conflict

See also: List of United Nations resolutions concerning Israel

Arab nationalists led by Nasser refused to recognize Israel or its right to exist, calling for its destruction.^[75] In 1967, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan massed troops close to Israeli borders, expelled UN peacekeepers and blocked Israel's access to the Red Sea. Israel saw these actions as a casus belli for a pre-emptive strike that launched the Six-Day War, Israel achieved a decisive victory in which it captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights.^[76] The 1949 Green Line became the administrative boundary between Israel and the occupied territories. Jerusalem's boundaries were enlarged, incorporating East Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Law, passed in 1980, reaffirmed this measure and reignited international controversy over the status of Jerusalem.

The failure of the Arab states in the 1967 war led to the rise of Arab non-state actors in the conflict, most importantly the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) which was committed to what it called "armed struggle as the only way to liberate the homeland".^[77][78] In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Palestinian groups launched a wave of attacks^[79] against Israeli targets around the world,^[80] including a massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics. Israel responded with Operation Wrath of God, in which those responsible for the Munich massacre were tracked down and assassinated.^[81] From 1969 to 1970, Israel fought the War of Attrition against Egypt.^[82]

Prime Minister Golda Meir, who resigned following the Yom Kippur War

On October 6, 1973, Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, the Egyptian and Syrian armies launched a surprise attack against Israel. The war ended on October 26 with Israel successfully repelling Egyptian and Syrian forces but suffering great losses.^[83] An internal inquiry exonerated the government of responsibility for the war, but public anger forced Prime Minister Golda Meir to resign.

The 1977 Knesset elections marked a major turning point in Israeli political history as Menachem Begin's Likud party took control from the Labor Party.^[84] Later that year, Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat made a trip to Israel and spoke before the Knesset in what was the first recognition of Israel by an Arab head of state.^[85] In the two years that followed, Sadat and Menachem Begin signed the Camp David Accords and the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty.^[86] Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula and agreed to enter negotiations over an autonomy for Palestinians across the Green Line, a plan which was never implemented. Begin's government encouraged Israelis to settle in the West Bank, leading to friction with the Palestinians in those areas.

On June 7, 1981, Israel heavily bombed Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor in Operation Opera, disabling it. Israeli intelligence had suspected Iraq was intending to use it for weapons development. In 1982, Israel intervened in the Lebanese Civil War to destroy the bases from which the Palestine Liberation Organization launched attacks and missiles at northern Israel. That move developed into the First Lebanon War.^[87] Israel withdrew from most of Lebanon in 1986, but maintained a borderland buffer zone until 2000. The First Intifada, a Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule,^[88] broke out in 1987 with waves of violence occurring in the occupied territories. Over the following six years, more than a thousand people were killed in the ensuing violence, much of which was internal Palestinian violence.^[89] During the 1991 Gulf War, the PLO and many Palestinians supported Saddam Hussein and Iraqi missile attacks against Israel.^[90][91]

Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat shake hands, presided over by Bill Clinton, at the signing of the Oslo Accords, September 13, 1993

In 1992, Yitzhak Rabin became Prime Minister following an election in which his party promoted compromise with Israel's neighbors.^[92][93] The following year, Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas, on behalf of Israel and the PLO, signed the Oslo Accords, which gave the Palestinian National Authority the right to self-govern parts of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.^[94] A declared intent was recognition of Israel's right to exist and an end to terrorism.^[95] In 1994, the Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace was signed, making Jordan the second Arab country to normalize relations with Israel.^[96]

Arab public support for the Accords was damaged by the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre, continuation of settlements,^[97] and checkpoints, and the deterioration of economic conditions. Israeli public support for the Accords waned as Israel was struck by Palestinian suicide attacks. While leaving a peace rally in November 1995, Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a far-right-wing Jew who opposed the Accords. The country was shocked.

At the end of the 1990s, Israel, under the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu, withdrew from Hebron,^[98] and signed the Wye River Memorandum, giving greater control to the Palestinian National Authority.^[99]

Ehud Barak, elected Prime Minister in 1999, began the new millennium by withdrawing forces from Southern Lebanon and conducting negotiations with Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and U.S. President Bill Clinton at the July 2000 Camp David Summit. During the summit, Barak offered a plan for the establishment of a Palestinian state, but Yasser Arafat rejected it.^[100] After the collapse of the talks, the Second Intifada began.

Ariel Sharon became the new prime minister in a 2001 special election. During his tenure, Sharon carried out his plan to unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza Strip and also spearheaded the construction of the Israeli West Bank barrier.^[101] In January 2006, after Ariel Sharon suffered a severe stroke which left him in a coma, the powers of office were transferred to Ehud Olmert.

In July 2006, a Hezbollah artillery assault on Israel's northern border communities and a cross border abduction of two Israeli soldiers sparked the Second Lebanon War.^[102][103] The clashes were brought to an end a month later by a ceasefire (United Nations Resolution 1701) brokered by the United Nations Security Council.

On November 27, 2007, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agreed to negotiate on all issues and strive for an agreement by the end of 2008. On September 6, 2007, the Israeli Air Force launched Operation Orchard in Syria, bombing what it suspected to be a nuclear site.^[104] In April 2008, Syrian President Bashar Al Assad told a Qatari newspaper that Syria and Israel had been discussing a peace treaty for a year, with Turkey as a go-between. This was confirmed by Israel in May 2008.^[105]

In December 2008, a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel collapsed.^[106] Israel responded by launching Operation Cast Lead with a series of airstrikes.^[107] On 3 January 2009, Israeli Troops entered Gaza marking the start of a ground offensive.^[108] On Saturday, January 17, Israel announced a unilateral ceasefire, conditional on elimination of further rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza, and began withdrawing over the next several days.^[109] Hamas later announced its own ceasefire, with its own conditions of complete withdrawal and opening of border crossings. Despite neither the Qassam launchings nor Israeli retaliatory strikes having completely stopped, the fragile ceasefire remained in order.^[110]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} The Jerusalem Law states that "Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel" and the city serves as the seat of the government, home to the President's residence, government offices, supreme court, and parliament. The United Nations and all member nations, in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 478 (Aug. 20, 1980; 14–0, U.S. abstaining) which declares the Jerusalem Law "null and void" and calls on member states to withdraw their diplomatic missions from Jerusalem, refuse to accept the Jerusalem Law (see Kellerman 1993, p. 140) and maintain their embassies in other cities such as Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, and Herzliya (see the [1] CIA Factbook and Map of Israel). The Palestinian Authority sees East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state and the city's final status awaits future negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (see "Negotiating Jerusalem", University of Maryland). See Positions on Jerusalem for more information.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l} "Israel". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. 2007-06-19. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/IS.html. Retrieved 2007-07-20.
3. ^ http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1115060.html
4. ^ ^{a b c d} "Israel". International Monetary Fund. http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2009/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2006&ey=2009&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=436&s=NGDPD%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC%2CLP&grp=0&a=&pr.x=55&pr.y=0. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
5. ^ HDI of Israel. The United Nations. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
6. ^ Skolnik 2007, pp. 132–232
7. ^ "Israel". Country Report. Freedom House. 2007. http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=363&year=2007&country=7199. Retrieved 2007-07-15.
8. ^ ^{a b} "Main Indicators". Central Bureau of Statistics. 2008-05-07. http://www1.cbs.gov.il/reader/mainind/indengnew.html. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
9. ^ "Time Series-DataBank". Central Bureau of Statistics. http://www.cbs.gov.il/ts/. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
10. ^ "Judaism". Britannica Online Encyclopedia. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/307197/Judaism/35241/Israel-the-Jewish-people. Retrieved 2008-12-30.
11. ^ See, for example, Genesis 12 and 13. Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary. Jewish Publication Society, 2001.
12. ^ "Dictionary.com - 'jew.'" Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. MICRA, Inc. 16 Feb. 2009.
13. ^ article 2 of http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/palmanda.asp
14. ^ "United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181". The Avalon Project. Yale University. 1947-11-29. http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/un/res181.htm. Retrieved 2007-08-21.
15. ^ "Arab-Israeli wars". Britannica Online Encyclopedia. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/31439/Arab-Israeli-wars. Retrieved 2008-07-29.
16. ^ Rummel 1997, p. 257. "A current list of liberal democracies includes: Andorra, Argentina, ... , Cyprus, ... , Israel, ..."
17. ^ "Global Survey 2006: Middle East Progress Amid Global Gains in Freedom". Freedom House. 2005-12-19. http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=70&release=317. Retrieved 2007-07-01.
18. ^ "Total GDP 2006" (PDF). The World Bank. 2007-07-01. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/DATASTATISTICS/Resources/GDP.pdf. Retrieved 2008-03-03.
19. ^ "Human Development Report 2007/2008". United Nations Development Programme. http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_20072008_EN_Complete.pdf. Retrieved 2009-06-25.
20. ^ "Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2007". Reporters Without Borders. http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=24025. Retrieved 2008-02-29.
21. ^ See the 10 highest HDIs in Asia & Oceanea.
22. ^ ^{a b} "Global Competitiveness Report 2006-2007". World Economic Forum. 2007-02-14. http://www.weforum.org/en/initiatives/gcp/Global%20Competitiveness%20Report/index.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-15.
23. ^ Levine, Robert A.. "See Israel as a Jewish Nation-State, More or Less Democratic". The International Herald Tribune. ISSN 0294-8052. http://www.iht.com/articles/2000/11/07/edlevine.t.php. Retrieved 2008-07-29.
24. ^ From the King James Version of the Bible: "And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed." (Genesis, 32:28). See also Hosea 12:5.
25. ^ Barton & Bowden 2004, p. 126. "The Merneptah Stele... is arguably the oldest evidence outside the Bible for the existence of Israel as early as the 13th century BCE."
26. ^ "Popular Opinion". The Palestine Post. 1947-12-07. p. 1.
27. ^ "On the Move". TIME Magazine. 1948-05-31. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,798687-2,00.html. Retrieved 2007-08-06.
28. ^ From the King James Version of the Bible: "And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers." (Deuteronomy, 30:5)
29. ^ From the King James Version of the Bible: "But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there." (Nehemiah, 1:9)
30. ^ "Walking the Bible Timeline". Walking the Bible. Public Broadcast Television. http://www.pbs.org/walkingthebible/timeline.html. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
31. ^ Friedland & Hecht 2000, p. 8. "For a thousand years Jerusalem was the seat of Jewish sovereignty, the household site of kings, the location of its legislative councils and courts."
32. ^ "Ancient Palestine". Encarta. Microsoft. 2007. http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_701844154_2/Palestine_Ancient.html. Retrieved 2007-09-30.
33. ^ "Palestine: History". The Online Encyclopedia of the Roman Provinces. The University of South Dakota. 2007-02-22. http://www.usd.edu/~clehmann/erp/Palestine/palestin.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
34. ^ Morçöl 2006, p. 304
35. ^ "Palestine: The Rise of Islam". Encyclopedia Britannica. 2007. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-45061/Palestine. Retrieved 2007-09-19.
36. ^ "Palestine: 'Abbasid rule". Encyclopedia Britannica. 2007. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-45062/Palestine. Retrieved 2007-09-19.
37. ^ "Palestine: The Crusades". Encyclopedia Britannica. 2007. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-45064/Palestine. Retrieved 2007-09-19.
38. ^ Rosenzweig, p. 1. "Zionism, the urge of the Jewish people to return to Palestine, is almost as ancient as the Jewish diaspora itself. Some Talmudic statements... Almost a millennium later, the poet and philosopher Yehuda Halevi... In the 19th century..."
39. ^ From the King James Version of the Bible: "For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." (Isaiah, 2:3)
40. ^ Gilbert 2005, p. 2. "Jews sought a new homeland here after their expulsions from Spain (1492)..."
41. ^ Ausubel 1964, pp. 142–4
42. ^ ^{a b c d} "Immigration". Jewish Virtual Library. The American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Immigration/immigtoc.html. Retrieved 2007-07-12. The source provides information on the First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Aliyot in their respective articles. The White Paper leading to Aliyah Bet is discussed [2].
43. ^ Kornberg 1993 "How did Theodor Herzl, an assimilated German nationalist in the 1880s, suddenly in the 1890s become the founder of Zionism?"
44. ^ Herzl 1946, p. 11
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Please decide for yourself as to who you think deserves to be in Palestine and who does not. How do you think the violence could end?