Israel and palestine Whats the big deal ISRAEL

Israel and palestine What’s the big deal?

ISRAEL FACTS 1 Full name: State of Israel 2 Population: 7. 2 million (UN, 2009) 3 Seat of government: Jerusalem, though most foreign embassies are in Tel Aviv 4 Area: Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics cites 22, 072 sq km (8, 522 sq miles), including Jerusalem and Golan 5 Major languages: Hebrew, Arabic • Major religions: Judaism, Islam 1 Life expectancy: 79 years (men), 83 years (women) (UN) 2 Monetary unit: 1 new Israeli shekel (NIS) = 100 new agorot 3 Main exports: Computer software, military equipment, chemicals, agricultural products 4 GNI per capita (Israel only): US $24, 700 (World Bank, 2008)

Palestine facts Population: 4. 3 million (UN, 2009) 1 Intended seat of government: East Jerusalem 2 Area: Palestinian Ministry of Information cites 5, 970 sq km (2, 305 sq miles) for West Bank territories and 365 sq km (141 sq miles) for Gaza 3 Major language: Arabic 4 Major religion: Islam 5 Life expectancy: 72 years (men), 75 years (women) (UN) • Monetary unit: 1 Jordan dinar = 1, 000 fils, 1 new Israeli shekel (NIS) = 100 new agorot 1 Main exports: Citrus 2 GNI per capita: US $1, 230 (estimated, World Bank, 2007)

Background- What happened? Judah was the home to most Jews about 2, 000 years ago. Their land was conquered by the Babylonians and later the Romans The Romans changed the name of Judah to Palestine as punishment to the Jews, so many of them left and went to other countries

The Return Beginning in the 1800 s European Jews began to return to Palestine, fleeing persecution. They were called Zionists, because they were returning to Mt. Zion in Jerusalem

World War II After World War II many more Jews came home fleeing from further persecution of Jews by the Germans Once home again, they helped Israel become an independent nation in 1948.

Israel Today Although the entire population is not Jewish, Israel is a Jewish state It is a democracy, where Jews have special privileges Many have returned to speaking Hebrew The Law of Return allows any Jew in the world to come to Israel and immediately become a citizen

Issues After WWII Jews came home and took over the land Palestinians owned and lived on. How would you feel if that happened to you? The name was changed to from Palestine to Israel and Palestinians have continued to loose land power. Most surrounding Middle Eastern countries are Islamic and they support Palestine, not Israel (the only non-Islamic country in the region)

Issues Continued The Dome of the Rock has an important rock built into it located at it’s heart. It has important religious significance to both Muslims and Jews (also Christians) It is said to be the place where Mohammed ascended to heaven from. (Jesus in Christianity) For Jews, it is as significant as the Kabba in Mecca is for Muslims. Jews pray facing the Dome of The Rock.

The Dome of The Rock And its heart stone

The take over Jews returning to their home land.

Even more issues BOMBS and TERRORIST ATTACKS: In 1967, Israel launched the Six-Day War, with a preemptive invasion of the Sinai Peninsula, Palestine, and the Syrian Golan Heights. UN Resolution 242 called for Israeli withdrawal from the newly occupied territories, but Israel refused, citing the need to maintain a security zone to protect itself from Arab invasion. In 1977, under the Camp David Agreement, Israel finally withdrew from the Sinai, but continues to occupy other territories.

Agreements An agreement was made by Israel to stop their further expansion into Palestinian territory, this agreement is known as the Oslo Agreement and was made in 1993. However, in many places Israeli’s continue to tear down olive orchards and construct new settlement lands for Israeli people. Ultimately, Israel says they will relocate their people from these lands to other places as part of a long-term peace talk. Palestinians don’t believe these comments and think they’ll eventually all be pushed off their own territory!

Palestine’s side The land was theirs and has been theirs for many years, why should they have to move out for the Jewish people to come back? Many Arabs doubt Israel will ever allow an independent Palestinian state, or withdraw from occupied territories, or force relocation of hardline Jewish settlers. They view the situation as a war of debilitation waged by an enemy with far superior firepower and US support. Israel has imposed extreme restrictions on Palestinians, denying citizenship, employment, education, freedom of movement, and assembly, or fair judicial process. The Palestinians want an independent state, defined by the borders prior to the 1967 war and IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) withdrawal from this area. This would presumably include a transfer of ownership to the settlements erected in the occupied territories.

Israel’s side Their reason for being allowed to come back to “Judah” and take over the Palestinian land was because it was once Jewish land that they were kicked off of. They want to ensure their survival and national security. Some believe “ethnic cleansing” of the Palestinians would be best. The doubt the Arabs will ever accept their presence in the area and allow them to live in peace They want full diplomatic recognition by the Arab states and assurances that they will respect Israeli sovereignty and security.

What can be done? Why can’t they share the land? Why can’t the land be cut in half like the city of Jerusalem was? What do you think should be done? How would you fix the problems?

The future. . . You find out. . .