1.
Palestine grid
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The Palestine grid was the geographic coordinate system used in Mandatory Palestine. The system was chosen by the Survey Department of the Government of Palestine in 1922, the projection used was the Cassini-Soldner projection. The central meridian was chosen as that passing through a marker on the hill of Mar Elias Monastery south of Jerusalem, the false origin of the grid was placed 100 km to the south and west of the Ali el-Muntar hill that overlooks Gaza city. The unit length for the grid was the kilometre, the British units were not even considered, at the time the grid was established, there was no intention of mapping the lower reaches of the Negev Desert, but this did not remain true. The fact that those regions would have negative north-south coordinate then became a source of confusion. For some military purposes,1000 was added to the coordinates of all locations. During World War II, a Military Palestine Grid was used that was similar to the Palestine Grid, the difference between the two projections was only a few meters. It was replaced by the Israeli Transverse Mercator grid in 1994, the Palestine grid is still commonly used to specify locations in the historical and archaeological literature. The basic way of specifying a location on the Palestine grid is to write the east-west coordinate followed by the north-south coordinate using 3 digits each, for example, the Dome of the Rock is at 172132. This specifies the location within one kilometer, if more precision is required, extra digits can be added to each coordinate, for example,17241317 gives the Dome of the Rock to within 100 meters. Many authors separate the two coordinates with punctuation for readability purposes, for example 172-132 or 172/132
2.
Armistice
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An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, since it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace and it is derived from the Latin arma, meaning arms and -stitium, meaning a stopping. The United Nations Security Council often imposes, or tries to impose, armistices are always negotiated between the parties themselves and are thus generally seen as more binding than non-mandatory UN cease-fire resolutions in modern international law. An armistice is a modus vivendi and is not the same as a peace treaty, the 1953 Korean War Armistice Agreement is a major example of an armistice which has not been followed by a peace treaty. Armistice is also different from a truce or ceasefire, which refer to a cessation of hostilities for an agreed limited time or within a limited area. A truce may be needed in order to negotiate an armistice, under international law an armistice is a legal agreement which ends fighting between the belligerent parties of a war or conflict. The Hague II Treaty, says If duration is not fixed, the parties can resume fighting as they choose and this is in comparison to a fixed duration armistice, where the parties can renew fighting only at the end of the particular fixed duration. Most countries changed the name of the holiday after World War II, to veterans of that. Most member states of the Commonwealth of Nations adopted the name Remembrance Day, archived from the original on 2 February 2007. The Expanded Cease-Fires Data Set Code Book
3.
Israel
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Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Middle East, on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. The country contains geographically diverse features within its small area. Israels economy and technology center is Tel Aviv, while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, in 1947, the United Nations adopted a Partition Plan for Mandatory Palestine recommending the creation of independent Arab and Jewish states and an internationalized Jerusalem. The plan was accepted by the Jewish Agency for Palestine, next year, the Jewish Agency declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel. Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states, in the course of which it has occupied territories including the West Bank, Golan Heights and it extended its laws to the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, but not the West Bank. Israels occupation of the Palestinian territories is the worlds longest military occupation in modern times, efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have not resulted in peace. However, peace treaties between Israel and both Egypt and Jordan have successfully been signed, the population of Israel, as defined by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, was estimated in 2017 to be 8,671,100 people. It is the worlds only Jewish-majority state, with 74. 8% being designated as Jewish, the countrys second largest group of citizens are Arabs, at 20. 8%. The great majority of Israeli Arabs are Sunni Muslims, including significant numbers of semi-settled Negev Bedouins, other minorities include Arameans, Armenians, Assyrians, Black Hebrew Israelites, Circassians, Maronites and Samaritans. Israel also hosts a significant population of foreign workers and asylum seekers from Africa and Asia, including illegal migrants from Sudan, Eritrea. In its Basic Laws, Israel defines itself as a Jewish, Israel is a representative democracy with a parliamentary system, proportional representation and universal suffrage. The prime minister is head of government and the Knesset is the legislature, Israel is a developed country and an OECD member, with the 35th-largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product as of 2016. The country benefits from a skilled workforce and is among the most educated countries in the world with one of the highest percentage of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree. The country has the highest standard of living in the Middle East and the third highest in Asia, 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. The names Land of Israel and Children of Israel have historically used to refer to the biblical Kingdom of Israel. The name Israel in these phrases refers to the patriarch Jacob who, jacobs twelve sons became the ancestors of the Israelites, also known as the Twelve Tribes of Israel or Children of Israel. The earliest known artifact to mention the word Israel as a collective is the Merneptah Stele of ancient Egypt. The area is known as the Holy Land, being holy for all Abrahamic religions including Judaism, Christianity, Islam
4.
Egypt
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Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba to the east, the Red Sea to the east and south, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Across the Gulf of Aqaba lies Jordan, and across from the Sinai Peninsula lies Saudi Arabia, although Jordan and it is the worlds only contiguous Afrasian nation. Egypt has among the longest histories of any country, emerging as one of the worlds first nation states in the tenth millennium BC. Considered a cradle of civilisation, Ancient Egypt experienced some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanisation, organised religion and central government. One of the earliest centres of Christianity, Egypt was Islamised in the century and remains a predominantly Muslim country. With over 92 million inhabitants, Egypt is the most populous country in North Africa and the Arab world, the third-most populous in Africa, and the fifteenth-most populous in the world. The great majority of its people live near the banks of the Nile River, an area of about 40,000 square kilometres, the large regions of the Sahara desert, which constitute most of Egypts territory, are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypts residents live in areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria. Modern Egypt is considered to be a regional and middle power, with significant cultural, political, and military influence in North Africa, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Egypts economy is one of the largest and most diversified in the Middle East, Egypt is a member of the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, Arab League, African Union, and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Miṣr is the Classical Quranic Arabic and modern name of Egypt. The name is of Semitic origin, directly cognate with other Semitic words for Egypt such as the Hebrew מִצְרַיִם, the oldest attestation of this name for Egypt is the Akkadian
5.
Lebanon
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Lebanon, officially known as the Lebanese Republic, is a sovereign state in Western Asia. It is bordered by Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, Lebanons location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterland facilitated its rich history and shaped a cultural identity of religious and ethnic diversity. At just 10,452 km2, it is the smallest recognized country on the entire mainland Asian continent, the earliest evidence of civilization in Lebanon dates back more than seven thousand years, predating recorded history. Lebanon was the home of the Canaanites/Phoenicians and their kingdoms, a culture that flourished for over a thousand years. In 64 BC, the region came under the rule of the Roman Empire, in the Mount Lebanon range a monastic tradition known as the Maronite Church was established. As the Arab Muslims conquered the region, the Maronites held onto their religion, however, a new religious group, the Druze, established themselves in Mount Lebanon as well, generating a religious divide that has lasted for centuries. During the Crusades, the Maronites re-established contact with the Roman Catholic Church, the ties they established with the Latins have influenced the region into the modern era. The region eventually was ruled by the Ottoman Empire from 1516 to 1918, following the collapse of the empire after World War I, the five provinces that constitute modern Lebanon came under the French Mandate of Lebanon. The French expanded the borders of the Mount Lebanon Governorate, which was populated by Maronites and Druze. Lebanon gained independence in 1943, establishing confessionalism, a unique, foreign troops withdrew completely from Lebanon on 31 December 1946. Lebanon has been a member of the Organisation internationale de la francophonie since 1973, despite its small size, the country has developed a well-known culture and has been highly influential in the Arab world. Before the Lebanese Civil War, the experienced a period of relative calm and renowned prosperity, driven by tourism, agriculture, commerce. At the end of the war, there were efforts to revive the economy. In spite of troubles, Lebanon has the highest Human Development Index and GDP per capita in the Arab world. The name of Mount Lebanon originates from the Phoenician root lbn meaning white, occurrences of the name have been found in different Middle Bronze Age texts from the library of Ebla, and three of the twelve tablets of the Epic of Gilgamesh. The name is recorded in Ancient Egyptian as Rmnn, where R stood for Canaanite L, the name occurs nearly 70 times in the Hebrew Bible, as לְבָנוֹן. The borders of contemporary Lebanon are a product of the Treaty of Sèvres of 1920 and its territory was the core of the Bronze Age Phoenician city-states. After the 7th-century Muslim conquest of the Levant, it was part of the Rashidun, Umyayad, Abbasid Seljuk, with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, Greater Lebanon fell under French mandate in 1920, and gained independence under president Bechara El Khoury in 1943
6.
Jordan
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Jordan, officially The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is an Arab kingdom in Western Asia, on the East Bank of the Jordan River. Jordan is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the east and south, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north, Israel, Palestine and the Dead Sea to the west, Jordan is strategically located at the crossroads of Asia, Africa and Europe. The capital, Amman, is Jordans most populous city as well as the countrys economic, what is now Jordan has been inhabited by humans since the Paleolithic period. Three stable kingdoms emerged there at the end of the Bronze Age, Ammon, Moab, later rulers include the Nabataean Kingdom, the Roman Empire, and the Ottoman Empire. After the Great Arab Revolt against the Ottomans in 1916 during World War I, the Emirate of Transjordan was established in 1921 by the then Emir Abdullah I and became a British protectorate. In 1946, Jordan became an independent state known as The Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan. Jordan captured the West Bank, which it later lost in 1967, during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Jordan is a founding member of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and is one of two Arab states to have signed a peace treaty with Israel. The country is a monarchy, but the king holds wide executive and legislative powers. Jordan is a relatively-small, semi-arid, almost-landlocked country with a population numbering at 9.5 million, Sunni Islam, practiced by around 92% of the population, is the dominant religion in Jordan. It coexists with an indigenous Christian minority, Jordan is considered to be among the safest of Arab countries in the Middle East, and has avoided long-term terrorism and instability. The kingdom is also a refuge to thousands of Iraqi Christians fleeing the Islamic State, while Jordan continues to accept refugees, the recent large influx from Syria placed substantial strain on national resources and infrastructure. Jordan is classified as a country of high human development with a middle income economy. The Jordanian economy, one of the smallest economies in the region, is attractive to foreign investors based upon a skilled workforce, the country is a major tourist destination, and also attracts medical tourism due to its well developed health sector. Nonetheless, a lack of resources, large flow of refugees. Jordan is named after the Jordan River, where Jesus is said to have been baptized, the origin of the rivers name is debated, but the most common explanation is that it derives from the word yarad, found in Hebrew, Aramaic, and other Semitic languages. Others regard the name as having an Indo-Aryan origin, combining the words yor and don, another theory is that it is from the Arabic root word wrd, as in people coming to a major source of water. The name Jordan appears in an ancient Egyptian papyrus called Papyrus Anastasi I, the lands of modern-day Jordan were historically called Transjordan, meaning beyond the Jordan River. The name was Arabized into Al-Urdunn during the Muslim conquest of the Levant, during crusader rule, it was called Oultrejordain
7.
Syria
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Syrias capital and largest city is Damascus. Religious groups include Sunnis, Christians, Alawites, Druze, Mandeans, Shiites, Salafis, Sunni Arabs make up the largest religious group in Syria. Its capital Damascus and largest city Aleppo are among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, in the Islamic era, Damascus was the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate and a provincial capital of the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt. The post-independence period was tumultuous, and a number of military coups. In 1958, Syria entered a union with Egypt called the United Arab Republic. Syria was under Emergency Law from 1963 to 2011, effectively suspending most constitutional protections for citizens, Bashar al-Assad has been president since 2000 and was preceded by his father Hafez al-Assad, who was in office from 1970 to 2000. Mainstream modern academic opinion strongly favours the argument that the Greek word is related to the cognate Ἀσσυρία, Assyria, in the past, others believed that it was derived from Siryon, the name that the Sidonians gave to Mount Hermon. However, the discovery of the inscription in 2000 seems to support the theory that the term Syria derives from Assyria. The area designated by the word has changed over time, since approximately 10,000 BC, Syria was one of centers of Neolithic culture where agriculture and cattle breeding appeared for the first time in the world. The following Neolithic period is represented by houses of Mureybet culture. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used vessels made of stone, gyps, finds of obsidian tools from Anatolia are evidences of early trade relations. Cities of Hamoukar and Emar played an important role during the late Neolithic, archaeologists have demonstrated that civilization in Syria was one of the most ancient on earth, perhaps preceded by only those of Mesopotamia. The earliest recorded indigenous civilisation in the region was the Kingdom of Ebla near present-day Idlib, gifts from Pharaohs, found during excavations, confirm Eblas contact with Egypt. One of the earliest written texts from Syria is an agreement between Vizier Ibrium of Ebla and an ambiguous kingdom called Abarsal c.2300 BC. The Northwest Semitic language of the Amorites is the earliest attested of the Canaanite languages, Mari reemerged during this period, and saw renewed prosperity until conquered by Hammurabi of Babylon. Ugarit also arose during this time, circa 1800 BC, close to modern Latakia, Ugaritic was a Semitic language loosely related to the Canaanite languages, and developed the Ugaritic alphabet. The Ugarites kingdom survived until its destruction at the hands of the marauding Indo-European Sea Peoples in the 12th century BC, Yamhad was described in the tablets of Mari as the mightiest state in the near east and as having more vassals than Hammurabi of Babylon. Yamhad imposed its authority over Alalakh, Qatna, the Hurrians states, the army of Yamhad campaigned as far away as Dēr on the border of Elam
8.
Green Line (Israel)
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It served as the de facto borders of the State of Israel from 1949 until the Six-Day War in 1967. The name comes from the ink used to draw the line on the map while the armistice talks were going on. After the Six-Day War, the territories captured by Israel beyond the Green Line came to be designated as East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights and these territories are often referred to as Israeli-occupied territories. The Green Line was intended as a line rather than a permanent border. The 1949 Armistice Agreements were clear that they were not creating permanent borders, similar provisions are contained in the Armistice Agreements with Jordan and Syria. The Green Line refers to the lines, rather than permanent borders. All movement across the lines was banned and monitored by the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization. Most commonly, the term was applied to the boundary between Jordan-controlled Jerusalem and the West Bank and Israel, the Palestinian and Arab leaders had repeatedly rejected any permanent partition of Mandatory Palestine. Although Israel has always argued that the Green Line has no legal significance. The territories beyond the Green Line were administered by the Israeli military or later also by the Palestinian Authority, citizenship by residence, for example, was determined with reference to the Green Line, as well as a persons refugee status. The extension of the municipality boundary of Jerusalem in 1980 was an exception to this position and this claim has not been recognised by any country or by the United Nations Security Council. A notional Green Line continues to divide Jerusalem at the boundary of East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights are another exception, having been informally incorporated by Israel with the 1981 Golan Heights Law. The UN Security Council declared this to be null and without any legal effect. Israeli settlements in these areas are subject to the laws of Israel rather than those of the Palestinian Authority. The sections of the Green Line that delineate the boundaries between Israel, the West Bank and Gaza run through heavily populated regions, consequently, the Green Line underwent various slight adjustments, and special arrangements were made for limited movement in certain areas. Jerusalem was divided in half, into East and West Jerusalem, the village of Bartaa, partially due to errors on the map, was left with one third of its area on the Israeli side and two thirds outside of it. Kibbutz Ramat Rachel was left almost entirely outside the Israeli side of the Green Line, the green line was redrawn in blue ink on the southern map to give the impression that a movement in the green line had been made. During the war in 1947-48, Jews residing east of the Line, all but a few of the Gush Etzion defenders were massacred
9.
United Nations
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The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization to promote international co-operation. A replacement for the ineffective League of Nations, the organization was established on 24 October 1945 after World War II in order to prevent another such conflict, at its founding, the UN had 51 member states, there are now 193. The headquarters of the UN is in Manhattan, New York City, further main offices are situated in Geneva, Nairobi, and Vienna. The organization is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states, the UNs mission to preserve world peace was complicated in its early decades by the Cold War between the US and Soviet Union and their respective allies. The organization participated in actions in Korea and the Congo. After the end of the Cold War, the UN took on major military, the UN has six principal organs, the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Secretariat, the International Court of Justice, and the UN Trusteeship Council. UN System agencies include the World Bank Group, the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme, UNESCO, the UNs most prominent officer is the Secretary-General, an office held by Portuguese António Guterres since 2017. Non-governmental organizations may be granted consultative status with ECOSOC and other agencies to participate in the UNs work, the organization won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001, and a number of its officers and agencies have also been awarded the prize. Other evaluations of the UNs effectiveness have been mixed, some commentators believe the organization to be an important force for peace and human development, while others have called the organization ineffective, corrupt, or biased. Following the catastrophic loss of life in the First World War, the earliest concrete plan for a new world organization began under the aegis of the US State Department in 1939. It incorporated Soviet suggestions, but left no role for France, four Policemen was coined to refer to four major Allied countries, United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and China, which emerged in the Declaration by United Nations. Roosevelt first coined the term United Nations to describe the Allied countries, the term United Nations was first officially used when 26 governments signed this Declaration. One major change from the Atlantic Charter was the addition of a provision for religious freedom, by 1 March 1945,21 additional states had signed. Each Government pledges itself to cooperate with the Governments signatory hereto, the foregoing declaration may be adhered to by other nations which are, or which may be, rendering material assistance and contributions in the struggle for victory over Hitlerism. During the war, the United Nations became the term for the Allies. To join, countries had to sign the Declaration and declare war on the Axis, at the later meetings, Lord Halifax deputized for Mr. Eden, Wellington Koo for T. V. Soong, and Mr Gromyko for Mr. Molotov. The first meetings of the General Assembly, with 51 nations represented, the General Assembly selected New York City as the site for the headquarters of the UN, and the facility was completed in 1952. Its site—like UN headquarters buildings in Geneva, Vienna, and Nairobi—is designated as international territory, the Norwegian Foreign Minister, Trygve Lie, was elected as the first UN Secretary-General
10.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
11.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
12.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
13.
Six-Day War
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The Six-Day War, also known as the June War,1967 Arab–Israeli War, or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10,1967 by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. Relations between Israel and its neighbours had never fully normalised following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, in the period leading up to June 1967, tensions became dangerously heightened. In reaction to the mobilisation of Egyptian forces along the Israeli border in the Sinai Peninsula, the Egyptians were caught by surprise, and nearly the entire Egyptian air force was destroyed with few Israeli losses, giving the Israelis air superiority. Simultaneously, the Israelis launched an offensive into the Gaza Strip and the Sinai. After some initial resistance, Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser ordered the evacuation of the Sinai, Israeli forces rushed westward in pursuit of the Egyptians, inflicted heavy losses, and conquered the Sinai. Nasser induced Syria and Jordan to begin attacks on Israel by using the initially confused situation to claim that Egypt had defeated the Israeli air strike. Israeli counterattacks resulted in the seizure of East Jerusalem as well as the West Bank from the Jordanians, on June 11, a ceasefire was signed. Arab casualties were far heavier than those of Israel, fewer than a thousand Israelis had been killed compared to over 20,000 from the Arab forces. Israels military success was attributed to the element of surprise, an innovative and well-executed battle plan, Israel seized control of the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. Israeli morale and international prestige was greatly increased by the outcome of the war, across the Arab world, Jewish minority communities were expelled, with refugees going to Israel or Europe. After the 1956 Suez Crisis, Egypt agreed to the stationing of a United Nations Emergency Force in the Sinai to ensure all parties would comply with the 1949 Armistice Agreements, in the following years there were numerous minor border clashes between Israel and its Arab neighbors, particularly Syria. In early November 1966, Syria signed a defense agreement with Egypt. Jordanian units that engaged the Israelis were quickly beaten back, King Hussein of Jordan criticized Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser for failing to come to Jordans aid, and hiding behind UNEF skirts. In May 1967, Nasser received false reports from the Soviet Union that Israel was massing on the Syrian border, the right of innocent, maritime passage must be preserved for all nations. On May 30, Jordan and Egypt signed a defense pact, the following day, at Jordans invitation, the Iraqi army began deploying troops and armoured units in Jordan. They were later reinforced by an Egyptian contingent, on June 1, Israel formed a National Unity Government by widening its cabinet, and on June 4 the decision was made to go to war. The next morning, Israel launched Operation Focus, a surprise air strike that was the opening of the Six-Day War. Before the war, Israeli pilots and ground crews had trained extensively in rapid refitting of aircraft returning from sorties and this has contributed to the Arab belief that the IAF was helped by foreign air forces
14.
Ralph Bunche
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Ralph Johnson Bunche was an American political scientist, academic, and diplomat who received the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize for his late 1940s mediation in Israel. He was the first African American to be so honored in the history of the prize and he was involved in the formation and administration of the United Nations. In 1963, he was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President John F. Kennedy, for more than two decades, Bunche served as chair of the Department of Political Science at Howard University, where he also taught generations of students. Bunche was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1903 or 1904 and his father Fred Bunche was a barber and his mother, Olive Agnes, was an amateur musician, from a large and talented family. Her siblings included Charlie and Ethel Johnson and his maternal grandfather, Thomas Nelson Johnson, was mixed-race African American, the son of Eleanor Madden and her husband. Eleanor was the daughter of an African-American slave mother and Irish planter father. Thomas Nelson Johnson graduated from Shurtleff College in Alton, Illinois in 1875, in September 1875 he married Lucy Taylor, one of his students. Genealogist Paul Heinegg thinks that Fred Bunche were probably descended from the South Carolina branch of the family and he said that the censuses of 1900 and 1910 for Detroit list several members of the Bunch family who were born in South Carolina, but Fred Bunch was not among them. He believes that Bunche was descended from Bunch ancestors established as people of color in Virginia before the American Revolution. There were men of the Bunch surname in South Carolina by the end of the 18th century, the Bunch/Bunche surname was extremely rare. Several generations of the Bunch men, free men of color, married white women colonists from the British Isles, when Ralph was a child, his family moved to Toledo, Ohio, where his father looked for work. They returned to Detroit in 1909 after his sister Grace was born, with the help of their maternal aunt and their father did not live with the family again after Ohio and had not been a good provider. But he followed them when they moved to New Mexico, because of the declining health of his mother and uncle, Ralph moved with his maternal grandmother, Lucy Taylor Johnson, to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1915. His mother died in 1917, his uncle committed suicide three months later, in 1918, Lucy Taylor Johnson moved with the two Bunche grandchildren to the South Central neighborhood of Los Angeles, which was then mostly white. Fred Bunche later remarried, and Ralph never saw him again, Bunche was a brilliant student, a debater, and the valedictorian of his graduating class at Jefferson High School. He attended the University of California, Los Angeles, and graduated cum laude. Using the money his community raised for his studies and a scholarship at Harvard University. To help with living expenses at Harvard, Bunche sought a job at a local bookstore, the owner offered him a part-time job, and Bunche ran the store to his employers satisfaction
15.
Rhodes
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Rhodes is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of land area and also the island groups historical capital. Administratively the island forms a municipality within the Rhodes regional unit. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Rhodes, the city of Rhodes had 50,636 inhabitants in 2011. It is located northeast of Crete, southeast of Athens and just off the Anatolian coast of Turkey, Rhodes nickname is The island of the Knights, named after the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem, who once conquered the land. Historically, Rhodes was famous worldwide for the Colossus of Rhodes, the Medieval Old Town of the City of Rhodes has been declared a World Heritage Site. Today, it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe, the island has been known as Ρόδος in Greek throughout its history. In addition, the island has been called Rodi in Italian, Rodos in Turkish, and Rodi or Rodes in Ladino. The island of Rhodes is shaped like a spearhead,79.7 km long and 38 km wide, with an area of approximately 1,400 square kilometres. The city of Rhodes is located at the tip of the island, as well as the site of the ancient. The main air gateway is located 14 km to the southwest of the city in Paradisi, the road network radiates from the city along the east and west coasts. There are mineral-rich spring water used to give medicinal baths and the spa resorts offer various health treatments, Rhodes is situated 363 km east-south-east from the Greek mainland, and 18 km from the southern shore of Turkey. The interior of the island is mountainous, sparsely inhabited and covered with forests of pine, while the shores are rocky, the island has arable strips of land where citrus fruit, wine grapes, vegetables, olives and other crops are grown. The Rhodian population of deer was found to be genetically distinct in 2005. In Petaloudes Valley, large numbers of tiger moths gather during the summer months, mount Attavyros, at 1,216 metres, is the islands highest point of elevation. Earthquakes include the 226 BC earthquake that destroyed the Colossus of Rhodes, one on 3 May 1481 which destroyed much of the city of Rhodes, and one on 26 June 1926. On 15 July 2008, Rhodes was struck by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake causing minor damage to a few old buildings, Rhodes has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate. The island was inhabited in the Neolithic period, although remains of this culture. In the 16th century BC, the Minoans came to Rhodes, later Greek mythology recalled a Rhodian race called the Telchines and associated the island of Rhodes with Danaus, it was sometimes nicknamed Telchinis
16.
Al-Faluja
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Al-Faluja was a Palestinian Arab village in the British Mandate for Palestine, located 30 kilometers northeast of Gaza City. The 1949 Armistice Agreements allowed for a transfer of those areas outside Gaza to Israeli control. Following the agreements, the Arab residents were harassed and abandoned the villages, the Israeli town of Kiryat Gat, as well as the moshav Revaha, border the site of the former town. The town was founded on a site that had known as Zurayq al-Khandaq. Its name was changed to al-Faluja in commemoration of a Sufi master, Shahab al-Din al-Faluji and he died in al-Faluja and his tomb was visited by the Syrian Sufi teacher and traveller Mustafa al-Bakri al-Siddiqi, who travelled through the region in the first half of the eighteenth century. In 1596, during the Ottoman era, it was under the administration of the nahiya of Gaza and it paid taxes on wheat, barley, sesame, fruits, vineyards, beehives, goats, and water buffalo. Victor Guérin visited in 1863, while an Ottoman village list from about 1870 found that Faluja had a population of 670, in 230 houses, though the population count included men, only. In 1883, the Palestine Exploration Funds Survey of Western Palestine described al-Faluja as surrounded on three sides by a wadi and it had two wells and a pool to the east, a small garden patch to the west, and the village houses were built from adobe bricks. The population increased in the 1931 census to 3,161 inhabitants,2 Christians and all the rest Muslim, the nucleus of the village was centered around the shrine of Shaykh al-Faluji. Its residential area began to expand in the 1930s and eventually crossed over to the side of the wadi. Bridges were constructed across the wadi to facilitate movement between the two sides, especially during the winter when the often flooded and caused damage. The center of al-Faluja shifted to the north where modern houses, stores, coffee houses, the village had also two schools, one for boys and the other for girls. In 1945 Al-Faluja had a population of 4,670, all Muslims, with a total of 38,038 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey. Of this,87 dunams were used for plantations and irrigable land,36,590 for cereals, Al-Faluja was in the territory allotted to the Arab state under the 1947 UN Partition Plan. During the war, the men of the village blockaded the local Jewish communities and attacked convoys being sent to bring food, water. On 24 February 1948, the village was attacked by Jewish forces, a battle between Jewish forces and villagers in al-Faluja on 14 March 1948 left thirty-seven Arabs and seven Jews dead, as well as scores of Arabs and four Jews wounded. Israeli sources at the time told the New York Times that a supply convoy, a Haganah demolition squad returned later in the day and blew up ten houses in the village, including the town hall. Egyptian forces crossed into the former mandate on 15 May 1948 and this column retreated to and encamped at al-Faluja and Iraq al-Manshiyya, the so-called Faluja pocket
17.
Ashkelon
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Ashkelon is a coastal city in the Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast,50 kilometres south of Tel Aviv, and 13 kilometres north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The ancient seaport of Ashkelon dates back to the Neolithic Age, the Arab village of al-Majdal or al-Majdal Asqalan, was established a few kilometres inland from the ancient site by the late 15th century, under Ottoman rule. In 1918, it part of the British Occupied Enemy Territory Administration. Al-Majdal on the eve of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War had 10,000 Arab inhabitants and in October 1948, al-Majdal was the forward position of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force based in Gaza. The town was initially named Migdal Gaza, Migdal Gad and Migdal Ashkelon by the new Jewish inhabitants, most of the remaining Arabs were evicted by 1950. In 1953, the neighborhood of Afridar was incorporated and the name Ashkelon was readopted to the town. By 1961, Ashkelon was ranked 18th among Israeli urban centers with a population of 24,000, in 2015 the population of Ashkelon was 130,660. The name Ashkelon is probably western Semitic, and might be connected to the root š-q-l perhaps attesting to its importance as a center for mercantile activities, scallion and shallot are derived from Ascalonia, the Latin name for Ashkelon. Ashkelon was the oldest and largest seaport in Canaan, one of the five cities of the Philistines, north of Gaza, the Neolithic site of Ashkelon is located on the Mediterranean coast,1.5 km north of Tel Ashkelon. It is dated by Radiocarbon dating to ca.7900 bp and it was discovered and excavated in 1954 by French archaeologist Jean Perrot. In 1997–1998, a large scale salvage project was conducted at the site by Yosef Garfinkel on behalf of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a final excavation report was published in 2008. In the site over a hundred fireplaces and hearths were found and numerous pits, various phases of occupation were found, one atop the other, with sterile layers of sea sand between them. This indicates that the site was occupied on a seasonal basis, the main finds were enormous quantities of animal bones and 20,000 flint artifacts. Usually at Neolithic sites flints far outnumber animal bones, the bones belong to domesticated and non-domesticated animals. When all aspects of this site are taken into account, it appears to have used by pastoral nomads for meat processing. The nearby sea could supply necessary for the conservation of meat. The city was built on a sandstone outcropping and has a good underground water supply. It was relatively large as an ancient city with as many as 15,000 people living inside the walls, Ashkelon was a thriving Middle Bronze Age city of more than 150 acres
18.
Hebron
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Hebron is a Palestinian city located in the southern West Bank,30 km south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level, the city is divided into two sectors, H1, controlled by the Palestinian Authority and H2, roughly 20% of the city, administered by Israel. All security arrangements and travel permits for local residents are coordinated between the Palestinian Authority and Israel via military administration of the West Bank, the settlers are governed by their own municipal body, the Committee of the Jewish Community of Hebron. In Judaism it is considered the second-holiest city after Jerusalem, while Islam regards it as one of the four holy cities. Hebron is a hub of West Bank trade, responsible for roughly a third of the areas gross domestic product. It is locally known for its grapes, figs, limestone, pottery workshops and glassblowing factories. The old city of Hebron is characterized by narrow, winding streets, flat-roofed stone houses, the city is home to Hebron University and the Palestine Polytechnic University. Hebron is attached to cities of ad-Dhahiriya, Dura, Yatta, Hebron Governorate is the largest Palestinian governorate with its population of 600,364. The name Hebron traces back to two Semitic roots, which coalesce in the form ḥbr, having reflexes in Hebrew and Amorite and denoting a range of meanings from colleague, in the proper name Hebron, the original sense may have been alliance. The Arabic term derives from the Quranic epithet for Abraham, Khalil al-Rahman Beloved of the Merciful or Friend of God, Arabic Al-Khalil thus precisely translates the ancient Hebrew toponym Ḥebron, understood as ḥaber. Archaeological excavations reveal traces of strong fortifications dated to the Early Bronze Age, the city flourished in the 17th–18th centuries BCE before being destroyed by fire, and was resettled in the late Middle Bronze Age. This older Hebron was originally a Canaanite royal city, abrahamic legend associates the city with the Hittites. In Biblical lore they are represented as descendants of the Nephilim, in settling here, Abraham is described as making his first covenant, an alliance with two local Amorite clans who became his ba’alei brit or masters of the covenant. The Hebron of the Bible was centered on what is now known as Tel Rumeida, Later, the biblical narrative has King David reign from Hebron for some seven years. It is there that the elders of Israel come to him to make a covenant before Elohim and it was in Hebron again that Absalom has himself declared king and then raises a revolt against his father David. It became one of the centers of the Tribe of Judah and was classified as one of the six traditional Cities of Refuge. It remained administratively and politically dependent on Jerusalem for this period, Jews also appear to have lived there after the return from the Babylonian exile. During the Maccabean revolt, Hebron was burnt and plundered by Judah Maccabee who fought against the Edomites in 167 BCE, the city appears to have long resisted Hasmonean dominance, however, and indeed as late as the First Jewish–Roman War was still considered Idumean
19.
Hassan al-Banna
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Al-Bannas writings marked a watershed in Islamic intellectual history by presenting a modern ideology based on Islam. Al-Banna considered Islam to be a system of life, with the Quran as the only acceptable constitution. He called for Islamization of the state, the economy, al-Bannas ideology involved criticism of Western materialism, British imperialism, and the traditionalism of Egyptian ulema. He appealed to Egyptian and pan-Arab patriotism but rejected Arab nationalism, the Muslim Brotherhood advocated gradualist moral reform and had no plans for violent takeover of power. Jihad of the spirit was a key notion in their program, under al-Bannas leadership, the organization embarked on a wide-ranging campaign of social engagement with a particular emphasis on public health improvements. He allowed formation of a military wing which took part in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Al-Banna argued that the state should enforce Islamic public morality through censorship and application of corporal punishments. Nonetheless, his thought was open to Western ideas and some of his writings quote European authors instead of Islamic sources, al-Banna was assassinated by Egyptian secret police in 1949. His son-in-law Said Ramadan emerged as a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1950s. Hassan al-Banna was born on 14 October 1906 in Mahmudiyya, a rural Nile Delta town located northwest of Cairo in Beheira Governorate. His father, Sheikh Ahmad Abd al-Rahman al-Banna al-Saati, was a Hanbali imam, muezzin, and mosque teacher, Sheikh Ahmad was also known for his work as a Hanbali scholar, particularly his classifications of the traditions of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal al-Shaybani. These classifications became known as musnad al-fath al-rabbani, through this work, Sheikh Ahmad forged connections with Islamic scholars that proved useful when his son moved to Cairo in 1932. In addition to his exposure to Hanbali Puritanism, Hassan al-Banna was inspired by Rashid Ridas magazine. He was also influenced by Sufism as a youth in Mahmudiyya. He attended weekly Hadra and was a member of the al-Hassafiyya Sufi order, although al-Banna was only thirteen years old during the Egyptian Revolution of 1919, it was the event that first exposed him to Egyptian nationalist politics. In his personal accounts, al-Banna connected himself with the activism of the time. In spite of his age, al-Banna participated in demonstrations in Damanhur, self-published political pamphlets. However, during the 1920s economic crisis, the family had trouble sustaining the upkeep of their property, in Mahmudiyya, al-Banna studied in the village mosque with Sheikh Zahran
20.
Muslim Brotherhood
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The Society of the Muslim Brothers, shortened to the Muslim Brotherhood, is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. The Brotherhoods stated goal is to instill the Quran and the Sunnah as the reference point for. Ordering the life of the Muslim family, individual, community, as a Pan-Islamic, religious, and social movement, it preached Islam, taught the illiterate, and set up hospitals and business enterprises. The Arab Spring brought it legalization and substantial power at first. The Brotherhood itself claims it is a peaceful, democratic organization, according to a spokesman, the Muslim Brotherhood believe in reform, democracy, freedom of assembly, press, etc. We believe that the reform is the true and natural gateway for all other kinds of reform. We have announced our acceptance of democracy that acknowledges political pluralism, the rotation of power. Its founder, Hassan Al-Banna, was influenced by Islamic modernist reformers Muhammad Abduh and Rashid Rida, with the group structure and it downplayed doctrinal differences between schools emphasizing the political importance of worldwide unity of the Muslim Nation. Al-Banna believed the Quran and Sunnah constitute a perfect way of life, Islamic governments must be based on this system and eventually unified in a Caliphate. The Brotherhood preaches that Islam will bring justice, the eradication of poverty, corruption and sinful behavior. On the issue of women and gender the Muslim Brotherhood interprets Islam conservatively, there have been breakaway groups from the movement, including the Al-Gamaa al-Islamiyya and Al Takfir Wal Hijra. Prominent figures of the Brotherhood include Sayyid Qutb, an influential and anti-Semitic thinker of Islamic supremacism. Osama bin Laden criticized the Brotherhood, and accused it of betraying jihad, the Brotherhoods most frequently used slogan is Islam is the Solution. Another well known slogan is God is our objective, dying in the way of God is our highest hope. On the Brotherhoods green logo is emblazoned وَأَعِدُّواْ - taken from sūrat l-anfāl, according to academic Khalil Yusuf its motto was traditionally Believers are but Brothers. The Muslim Brotherhood position on political participation varied according to the situation of each branch. For many years its stance was collaborationist in Kuwait and Jordan, for pacific opposition in Egypt, armed opposition in Libya, (A book on the document was published under the name, La conquête de lOccident, Le projet secret des Islamistes by Sylvain Besson. These parties are staffed by Brotherhood members but they are independent from the Muslim Brotherhood to some degree
21.
Mandatory Palestine
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Mandatory Palestine was a geopolitical entity under British administration, carved out of Ottoman Southern Syria after World War I. British civil administration in Palestine operated from 1920 until 1948, further confusing the issue was the Balfour Declaration of 1917, promising British support for a Jewish national home in Palestine. At the wars end the British and French set up a joint Occupied Enemy Territory Administration in what had been Ottoman Syria, the British achieved legitimacy for their continued control by obtaining a mandate from the League of Nations in June 1922. The civil Mandate administration was formalized with the League of Nations consent in 1923 under the British Mandate for Palestine, the land west of the Jordan River, known as Palestine, was under direct British administration until 1948. The land east of the Jordan, a region known as Transjordan, under the rule of the Hashemite family from the Hijaz. The divergent tendencies regarding the nature and purpose of the mandate are visible already in the discussions concerning the name for this new entity. As a set-off to this, certain of the Arab politicians suggested that the country should be called Southern Syria in order to emphasise its close relation with another Arab State. During the British Mandate period the area experienced the ascent of two major nationalist movements, one among the Jews and the other among the Arabs, following its occupation by British troops in 1917–1918, Palestine was governed by the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration. In July 1920, the administration was replaced by a civilian administration headed by a High Commissioner. The first High Commissioner, Herbert Samuel, a Zionist recent cabinet minister, arrived in Palestine on 20 June 1920, following the arrival of the British, Muslim-Christian Associations were established in all the major towns. In 1919 they joined to hold the first Palestine Arab Congress in Jerusalem and its main platforms were a call for representative government and opposition to the Balfour Declaration. The Zionist Commission was formed in March 1918 and was active in promoting Zionist objectives in Palestine, on 19 April 1920, elections were held for the Assembly of Representatives of the Palestinian Jewish community. The Zionist Commission received official recognition in 1922 as representative of the Palestinian Jewish community, Rutenberg soon established an electric company whose shareholders were Zionist organizations, investors, and philanthropists. Palestinian-Arabs saw it as proof that the British intended to favor Zionism, when Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Kamil al-Husayni died in March 1921, High Commissioner Samuel appointed his half-brother Mohammad Amin al-Husseini to the position. Amin al-Husseini, a member of the clan of Jerusalem, was an Arab nationalist. As Grand Mufti, as well as the influential positions that he held during this period. In 1922, al-Husseini was elected President of the Supreme Muslim Council which had created by Samuel in December 1921. The Council controlled the Waqf funds, worth annually tens of thousands of pounds, in addition, he controlled the Islamic courts in Palestine
22.
Mediterranean Sea
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The sea is sometimes considered a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it is usually identified as a separate body of water. The name Mediterranean is derived from the Latin mediterraneus, meaning inland or in the middle of land and it covers an approximate area of 2.5 million km2, but its connection to the Atlantic is only 14 km wide. The Strait of Gibraltar is a strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Gibraltar. In oceanography, it is called the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea or the European Mediterranean Sea to distinguish it from mediterranean seas elsewhere. The Mediterranean Sea has a depth of 1,500 m. The sea is bordered on the north by Europe, the east by Asia and it is located between latitudes 30° and 46° N and longitudes 6° W and 36° E. Its west-east length, from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Gulf of Iskenderun, the seas average north-south length, from Croatia’s southern shore to Libya, is approximately 800 km. The Mediterranean Sea, including the Sea of Marmara, has an area of approximately 2,510,000 square km. The sea was an important route for merchants and travelers of ancient times that allowed for trade, the history of the Mediterranean region is crucial to understanding the origins and development of many modern societies. In addition, the Gaza Strip and the British Overseas Territories of Gibraltar and Akrotiri, the term Mediterranean derives from the Latin word mediterraneus, meaning amid the earth or between land, as it is between the continents of Africa, Asia and Europe. The Ancient Greek name Mesogeios, is similarly from μέσο, between + γη, land, earth) and it can be compared with the Ancient Greek name Mesopotamia, meaning between rivers. The Mediterranean Sea has historically had several names, for example, the Carthaginians called it the Syrian Sea and latter Romans commonly called it Mare Nostrum, and occasionally Mare Internum. Another name was the Sea of the Philistines, from the people inhabiting a large portion of its shores near the Israelites, the sea is also called the Great Sea in the General Prologue by Geoffrey Chaucer. In Ottoman Turkish, it has also been called Bahr-i Sefid, in Modern Hebrew, it has been called HaYam HaTikhon, the Middle Sea, reflecting the Seas name in ancient Greek, Latin, and modern languages in both Europe and the Middle East. Similarly, in Modern Arabic, it is known as al-Baḥr al-Mutawassiṭ, in Turkish, it is known as Akdeniz, the White Sea since among Turks the white colour represents the west. Several ancient civilisations were located around the Mediterranean shores, and were influenced by their proximity to the sea. It provided routes for trade, colonisation, and war, as well as food for numerous communities throughout the ages, due to the shared climate, geology, and access to the sea, cultures centered on the Mediterranean tended to have some extent of intertwined culture and history. Two of the most notable Mediterranean civilisations in classical antiquity were the Greek city states, later, when Augustus founded the Roman Empire, the Romans referred to the Mediterranean as Mare Nostrum
23.
Gaza Strip
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Gaza, together with the West Bank, comprise the Palestinian territories claimed by the Palestinians as the State of Palestine. The territories of Gaza and the West Bank are separated from each other by Israeli territory, both fall under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, but Gaza has since June 2007 been governed by Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic organization which came to power in free elections in 2006. It has been placed under an Israeli and U. S. -led international economic, the territory is 41 kilometers long, and from 6 to 12 kilometers wide, with a total area of 365 square kilometers. With around 1.85 million Palestinians on some 362 square kilometers, an extensive Israeli buffer zone within the Strip renders much land off-limits to Gazas Palestinians. Gaza has a population growth rate of 2. 91%, the 13th highest in the world. The population is expected to increase to 2.1 million in 2020, by that time, Gaza may be rendered unliveable, if present trends continue. Due to the Israeli and Egyptian border closures and the Israeli sea and air blockade, Sunni Muslims make up the predominant part of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip. Israel maintains direct control over Gaza and indirect control over life within Gaza, it controls Gazas air and maritime space. It reserves the right to enter Gaza at will with its military, Gaza is dependent on Israel for its water, electricity, telecommunications, and other utilities. When Hamas won the Palestinian legislative election,2006, Fatah refused to join the proposed coalition, when this collapsed under joint Israeli and United States pressure, the Palestinian Authority instituted a non-Hamas government in the West Bank while Hamas formed a government on its own in Gaza. Further economic sanctions were imposed by Israel and the European Quartet against Hamas, a brief civil war between the two groups had broken out in Gaza when, apparently under a U. S. -backed plan, Fatah contested Hamas’s administration. Hamas emerged the victor and expelled Fatah-allied officials and members of the PAs security apparatus from the Strip, since 2007, the Gaza Strip has been de facto governed by Hamas, which claims to represent the Palestinian National Authority and the Palestinian people. Israel maintains direct control over Gaza and indirect control over life within Gaza, it controls Gazas air and maritime space. It reserves the right to enter Gaza at will with its military, Gaza is dependent on Israel for its water, electricity, telecommunications, and other utilities. The Gaza Strip acquired its current northern and eastern boundaries at the cessation of fighting in the 1948 war, article V of the Agreement declared that the demarcation line was not to be an international border. At first the Gaza Strip was officially administered by the All-Palestine Government, All-Palestine in the Gaza Strip was managed under the military authority of Egypt, functioning as a puppet state, until it officially merged into the United Arab Republic and dissolved in 1959. From the time of the dissolution of the All-Palestine Government until 1967, Israel captured the Gaza Strip from Egypt in the Six-Day War in 1967. In 2005, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip under their unilateral disengagement plan, in July 2007, after winning the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, Hamas became the elected government
24.
Faluja Pocket
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Al-Faluja was a Palestinian Arab village in the British Mandate for Palestine, located 30 kilometers northeast of Gaza City. The 1949 Armistice Agreements allowed for a transfer of those areas outside Gaza to Israeli control. Following the agreements, the Arab residents were harassed and abandoned the villages, the Israeli town of Kiryat Gat, as well as the moshav Revaha, border the site of the former town. The town was founded on a site that had known as Zurayq al-Khandaq. Its name was changed to al-Faluja in commemoration of a Sufi master, Shahab al-Din al-Faluji and he died in al-Faluja and his tomb was visited by the Syrian Sufi teacher and traveller Mustafa al-Bakri al-Siddiqi, who travelled through the region in the first half of the eighteenth century. In 1596, during the Ottoman era, it was under the administration of the nahiya of Gaza and it paid taxes on wheat, barley, sesame, fruits, vineyards, beehives, goats, and water buffalo. Victor Guérin visited in 1863, while an Ottoman village list from about 1870 found that Faluja had a population of 670, in 230 houses, though the population count included men, only. In 1883, the Palestine Exploration Funds Survey of Western Palestine described al-Faluja as surrounded on three sides by a wadi and it had two wells and a pool to the east, a small garden patch to the west, and the village houses were built from adobe bricks. The population increased in the 1931 census to 3,161 inhabitants,2 Christians and all the rest Muslim, the nucleus of the village was centered around the shrine of Shaykh al-Faluji. Its residential area began to expand in the 1930s and eventually crossed over to the side of the wadi. Bridges were constructed across the wadi to facilitate movement between the two sides, especially during the winter when the often flooded and caused damage. The center of al-Faluja shifted to the north where modern houses, stores, coffee houses, the village had also two schools, one for boys and the other for girls. In 1945 Al-Faluja had a population of 4,670, all Muslims, with a total of 38,038 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey. Of this,87 dunams were used for plantations and irrigable land,36,590 for cereals, Al-Faluja was in the territory allotted to the Arab state under the 1947 UN Partition Plan. During the war, the men of the village blockaded the local Jewish communities and attacked convoys being sent to bring food, water. On 24 February 1948, the village was attacked by Jewish forces, a battle between Jewish forces and villagers in al-Faluja on 14 March 1948 left thirty-seven Arabs and seven Jews dead, as well as scores of Arabs and four Jews wounded. Israeli sources at the time told the New York Times that a supply convoy, a Haganah demolition squad returned later in the day and blew up ten houses in the village, including the town hall. Egyptian forces crossed into the former mandate on 15 May 1948 and this column retreated to and encamped at al-Faluja and Iraq al-Manshiyya, the so-called Faluja pocket
25.
Auja al-Hafir
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Auja al-Hafir (Arabic, عوجة الحفير, also Auja, was an ancient road junction close to water wells in the western Negev and eastern Sinai. It was the grazing land of the Azazme tribe. The border crossing between Egypt and Ottoman/British Palestine, about 60 km south of Gaza, was situated there, today it is the site of Nitzana and the Ktziot military base in the Southern District of Israel. Other sources name the locality el-Audja, Uja al-Hafeer, El Auja el Hafir, a‘waj means bent in Arabic, and Al-Auja is a common name for meandering streams. Hafir means a water reservoir built to catch runoff water at the base of a slope, pottery remains found in the area date back to the 2nd century BC. and are associated with the traces of massive foundations of an unknown building probably of Nabatean construction. The area appears to have remained under the Nabatean sphere of influence, outwith the Hasmonaean and Herodian Kingdoms, a large rectangular hill-top fort probably dates from the 4th century AD. A church and associated buildings have been dated as having been built before AD464, Auja al-Hafir was struck by the great plague which swept the Eastern Mediterranean around AD541. During the 1930s a large number of papyri, dating from the 6th and 7th century, were found, one of which is from the local Arab governor granting Christian inhabitants freedom of worship on payment of the appropriate tax. After 700 AD the town appears to have lost its settled population, the Ottoman Empire built a police station in 1902. Before World War I it was the site of a military base, from 1905 to 1915 there were built a railroad and a large administrative centre together with administrators apartment building. In the middle of January,1915, a Turkish Army force of 20,000 entered Sinai by way of El Auja on an expedition against the Suez Canal. At this time most of the stone was taken from the ancient buildings for building work in Gaza. According to the 1931 census Auja al-hafir had a population of 29 inhabitants, the local population were not involved in the disturbances of 1929 and 1936 but there was some disorder in the summer of 1938. At the start of the 1936 disturbances the British Mandate authorities used Auja as a camp for arrested Palestinian Arab leaders including Awny Abdul Hadi. It was also used to hold Jewish Communists who were being deported, the prisoners were later transferred to the army base at Sarafand. The central route across the desert to the Suez Canal crossed from El Auja to Ismailia, during the British Mandate of Palestine it was part of the District of Beersheba. During the British Mandate the location was a prison camp, according to the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, the area was designated as part of the Arab state. In 1948 the Egyptian Army used the area as a military base. S, on 28 September 1953 the Israeli army established a fortified settlement, Ktziot, overlooking the al-Auja junction
26.
Blue Line (Lebanon)
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The Blue Line is a border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel published by the United Nations on 7 June 2000 for the purposes of determining whether Israel had fully withdrawn from Lebanon. At the same time, an extension, expressly not to be called the Blue Line corresponds to the nominal Lebanese–Syrian border between Lebanon and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, in response, Israeli forces invaded southern Lebanon from which the PLO operated regularly during the 1970s. This operation is known in Israel as Operation Litani, on 19 March 1978 the Council adopted Resolution 425, in which it called upon Israel to cease immediately its military action and withdraw its forces from all Lebanese territory. It also established the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, the first UNIFIL troops arrived in the area on 23 March 1978. The Blue Line is based on the deployment of the IDF prior to 14 March 1978 and it should not be confused with the Green Line, established in 1949, which is the armistice line of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The 1949 agreement stated that the border would follow the 1923 line, in 1923,38 boundary markers were placed along the 49 mile border and a detailed text description was published. The 2000 Blue Line differs in about a dozen short stretches from the 1949 line. The UN thus conducted its own based on the line discussed in United Nations Security Council Resolution 425. On 25 May 2000 the government of Israel notified the Secretary-General that Israel had redeployed its forces in compliance with Security Council resolutions 425. From 24 May to 7 June 2000, the Special Envoy travelled to Israel, Lebanon, the United Nations cartographer and his team, assisted by UNIFIL, worked on the ground to identify a line to be adopted for the practical purposes of confirming the Israeli withdrawal. On 7 June the completed map showing the line was formally transmitted by the Force Commander of UNIFIL to his Lebanese. On 8 June UNIFIL teams led by Lebanese Brig, general Amin Htait commenced the work of verifying the Israeli withdrawal behind the line. The withdrawal line has been termed the Blue Line in all official UN communications since, on 7 October 2000 three Israeli soldiers—Adi Avitan 22, Staff Sgt. Benyamin Avraham 21, and Staff Sgt, omar Sawaid 27—were abducted by Hezbollah forces. Of the seven Israeli soldiers in the two jeeps, two were wounded, five were killed, and two soldiers were taken to Lebanon, Israel responded with massive airstrikes and artillery fire on targets in Lebanon and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon. Lebanese troops have responded by firing at the Israeli jets with obsolete anti-aircraft weapons, Lebanese officials have filed over 1600 air space violations by Israel since the 2000 withdrawal. On 3 August 2010 Lebanese Armed Forces soldiers opened fire on Israeli army soldiers performing tree-cutting maintenance work on the Israeli side of the Blue Line as confirmed by UNIFIL, one Israeli was killed by Lebanese army fire and three Lebanese died when the Israel Defense Forces responded. UNIFIL determined that the Israeli troops were on Israeli territory, on 1 August 2011, UNIFIL confirmed a border incident in which no one was hurt
27.
Yehoshafat Harkabi
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Yehoshafat Harkabi was chief of Israeli military intelligence from 1955 until 1959 and afterwards a professor of International Relations and Middle East Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Harkabi had a command of Arabic, a deep knowledge of Arab civilization and history. He developed from an uncompromising hardliner to supporter of a Palestinian state who recognized the PLO as a negotiations partner, following his military career, Harkabi served as a visiting professor at Princeton University and guest scholar at the Brookings Institution. He was Maurice Hexter professor and director of the Leonard Davis Institute of International Relations, in 1993, Harkabi was awarded the Israel Prize, for political science. The Palestinian National Covenant, An Israeli Commentary, the Bar Kokhba Syndrome, Risk and Realism in International Relations. In The Israel-Arab Reader, A Documentary History of the Middle East Conflict, the Arab-Israeli Conflict on the Threshold of Negotiations. Center of International Studies, Princeton University, ISBN 99924-0-953-3 List of Israel Prize recipients On Making Peace Despite the Risks - Zeev Schiff Heads of Aman, Mossad, & Shin Bet
28.
Yigael Yadin
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Yigael Yadin was an Israeli archeologist, politician, and the second Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces. Yadin was born in 1917 to noted archeologist Eleazar Sukenik and educationalist and he joined the Haganah at age 15, and served there in a variety of different capacities. In 1946, however, he left the Haganah following an argument with its commander Yitzhak Sadeh over the inclusion of a gun as part of standard squad equipment. He was a university student when, in 1948, shortly before the State of Israel declared its independence and he was Head of Operations during Israels War of Independence, and was responsible for many of the key decisions made during the course of that war. In June 1948 he threatened to resign during the Generals Revolt during which he accused Ben-Gurion of attempting to transform the army as a whole into an army of one political party. Yadin was appointed Chief of Staff of the IDF on 9 November 1949, following the resignation of Yaakov Dori, by age thirty-five, he had completed his military career. Upon leaving the military, he devoted himself to research and began his lifes work in archeology, in 1956 he received the Israel Prize in Jewish studies, for his doctoral thesis on the translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls. As an archeologist, he excavated some of the most important sites in the region, including the Qumran Caves, Masada, Hazor and he considered the Solomonic Gate at Tel Gezer to be the highpoint of his career. He was sometimes forced to deal with the theft of important artifacts, occasionally by prominent political, even as an archeologist, Yadin never completely abandoned public life. Furthermore, Dash was a response to the sense of frustration and despair in the aftermath of the 1973 war. Many people regarded Yadin, a warrior and a scholar, as the prototype of the ideal Israeli, untainted by corruption. In the 1977 elections, which transformed the Israeli political landscape, as a result of the election, Likud party leader Menachem Begin was initially able to form a coalition without Dash, significantly lowering the bargaining power of Dash. Dash joined the coalition after a few months and he retired from politics in 1981. Yadin was married to Carmela, who worked with him throughout his career in translating and editing his books and he died in 1984 and was buried in the military cemetery in Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. The Israeli actor Yossi Yadin was his brother, Jerusalem, International Publishing Company J-m Ltd,1959. The Art of Warfare in Biblical Lands, Masada, Herods Fortress and the Zealots’ Last Stand. Silberman A Prophet from Amongst You, The Life of Yigael Yadin, Soldier, Scholar, Yigael Yadin on the Knesset website Photographs and film footage of Yadin and his archaeological excavations Interviews with the late Professor Yigael Yadin related to his archeological discoveries
29.
Yitzhak Rabin
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Yitzhak Rabin was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77 and 1992 until his assassination in 1995, Rabin was born in Jerusalem to Ukrainian-Jewish immigrants and was raised in a Labor Zionist household. He learned agriculture in school and excelled as a student and he led a 27-year career as a soldier. As a teenager he joined the Palmach, the force of the Yishuv. He eventually rose through its ranks to become its chief of operations during Israels War of Independence and he joined the newly formed Israel Defense Forces in late 1948 and continued to rise as a promising officer. He helped shape the training doctrine of the IDF in the early 1950s and he was appointed Chief of the General Staff in 1964 and oversaw Israels victory in the 1967 Six-Day War. Rabin served as Israels ambassador to the United States from 1968 to 1973 and he was appointed Prime Minister of Israel in 1974, after the resignation of Golda Meir. In his first term, Rabin signed the Sinai Interim Agreement and he resigned in 1977 in the wake of a financial scandal. Rabin was Israels minister of defense for much of the 1980s, in 1992, Rabin was re-elected as prime minister on a platform embracing the Israeli–Palestinian peace process. He signed several agreements with the Palestinian leadership as part of the Oslo Accords. In 1994, Rabin won the Nobel Peace Prize together with long-time political rival Shimon Peres, Rabin also signed a peace treaty with Jordan in 1994. In November 1995, he was assassinated by an extremist named Yigal Amir, Rabin was the first native-born prime minister of Israel, the only prime minister to be assassinated and the second to die in office after Levi Eshkol. Rabin has become a symbol of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, Nehemiah Rubitzov was born in the shtetl Sydorovychi near Ivankiv in the southern Pale of Settlement. His father Menachem died when he was a boy, and Nehemiah worked to support his family from an early age, at the age of 18, he emigrated to the United States, where he joined the Poale Zion party and changed his surname to Rabin. In 1917, Nehemiah went to Mandatory Palestine with a group of volunteers from the Jewish Legion, yitzhaks mother, Rosa Cohen, was born in 1890 in Mogilev in Belarus. Her father, a rabbi, opposed the Zionist movement and sent Rosa to a Christian high school for girls in Gomel, early on, Rosa took an interest in political and social causes. In 1919, she traveled to the region on the steamship Ruslan, after working on a kibbutz on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, she moved to Jerusalem. Rabins parents met in Jerusalem during the 1920 Nebi Musa riots and they moved to Tel Avivs Chlenov Street near Jaffa in 1923
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East Jerusalem
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East Jerusalem or Eastern Jerusalem is the sector of Jerusalem that was not part of Israeli-held West Jerusalem at the end of the 1948–1949 Arab–Israeli War. Despite its name, East Jerusalem includes neighborhoods to the north, east and south of the Old City and this arrangement was formalized in the Rhodes Agreement in March 1949. A week after David Ben-Gurion presented his partys assertion that Jewish Jerusalem is an organic, inseparable part of the State of Israel in December 1949 and these decisions were confirmed respectively in the Knesset in January 1950 and the Jordanian Parliament in April 1950. On being captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War, East Jerusalem, with expanded borders, in the Palestine Liberation Organization s Palestinian Declaration of Independence of 1988, Jerusalem is stated to be the capital of the State of Palestine. East Jerusalem has been occupied by Israel since 1967 and was annexed by Israel in 1980. On 27–28 June 1967, East Jerusalem was integrated into Jerusalem by extension of its borders and was placed under the law. In a unanimous General Assembly resolution, the UN declared the measures trying to change the status of the city invalid, following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Jerusalem was divided into two parts. The western portion, populated primarily by Jews, came under Israeli rule, while the eastern portion, populated mainly by Muslim and Christian Palestinians, following the 1967 Six-Day War, the eastern part of Jerusalem came under Israeli rule, along with the entire West Bank. Shortly after the Israeli takeover, East Jerusalem was annexed to West Jerusalem, in November 1967, United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 was passed, calling for Israel to withdraw from territories occupied in the recent conflict in exchange for peace treaties. This declaration was determined to be null and void by United Nations Security Council Resolution 478, East Jerusalem is a term heavy with political implications. Israelis call the Arab populated part of the city East Jerusalem because of its location in the part of the single larger Jerusalem city unit. The term East Jerusalem is ambiguous and may be used to refer to either of the following, Jerusalem was to be an international city under the 1947 UN Partition Plan. It was not included as a part of either the proposed Jewish or Arab states, during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the western part of Jerusalem was captured by Israel, while East Jerusalem was captured by Jordan. The war came to an end with the signing of the 1949 Armistice Agreements, upon its capture, the Jordanians immediately expelled all the Jewish residents of the Jewish Quarter. The ancient Jewish cemetery on Mount of Olives was desecrated, Jordan also destroyed the Jewish villages of Atarot and Neve Yaakov just north of Jerusalem. East Jerusalem absorbed some of the refugees from West Jerusalems Arab neighborhoods that came under Israeli rule, thousands of Arab refugees who were displaced from their homes in Israeli-held West Jerusalem were settled in the previously Jewish areas of East Jerusalem. In 1950 East Jerusalem, along with the rest of the West Bank, was annexed by Jordan. During the period of Jordanian rule, East Jerusalem lost much of its importance, as it was no longer a capital and it even saw a population decrease, with merchants and administrators moving to Amman
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Iraq
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The capital, and largest city, is Baghdad. The main ethnic groups are Arabs and Kurds, others include Assyrians, Turkmen, Shabakis, Yazidis, Armenians, Mandeans, Circassians, around 95% of the countrys 36 million citizens are Muslims, with Christianity, Yarsan, Yezidism, and Mandeanism also present. The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish, two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run south through Iraq and into the Shatt al-Arab near the Persian Gulf. These rivers provide Iraq with significant amounts of fertile land, the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, historically known as Mesopotamia, is often referred to as the cradle of civilisation. It was here that mankind first began to read, write, create laws, the area has been home to successive civilisations since the 6th millennium BC. Iraq was the centre of the Akkadian, Sumerian, Assyrian and it was also part of the Median, Achaemenid, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sassanid, Roman, Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, Ayyubid, Mongol, Safavid, Afsharid, and Ottoman empires. Iraqs modern borders were mostly demarcated in 1920 by the League of Nations when the Ottoman Empire was divided by the Treaty of Sèvres, Iraq was placed under the authority of the United Kingdom as the British Mandate of Mesopotamia. A monarchy was established in 1921 and the Kingdom of Iraq gained independence from Britain in 1932, in 1958, the monarchy was overthrown and the Iraqi Republic created. Iraq was controlled by the Arab Socialist Baath Party from 1968 until 2003, after an invasion by the United States and its allies in 2003, Saddam Husseins Baath Party was removed from power and multi-party parliamentary elections were held in 2005. The American presence in Iraq ended in 2011, but the Iraqi insurgency continued and intensified as fighters from the Syrian Civil War spilled into the country, the Arabic name العراق al-ʿIrāq has been in use since before the 6th century. There are several suggested origins for the name, one dates to the Sumerian city of Uruk and is thus ultimately of Sumerian origin, as Uruk was the Akkadian name for the Sumerian city of Urug, containing the Sumerian word for city, UR. An Arabic folk etymology for the name is rooted, well-watered. During the medieval period, there was a region called ʿIrāq ʿArabī for Lower Mesopotamia and ʿIrāq ʿajamī, for the region now situated in Central and Western Iran. The term historically included the south of the Hamrin Mountains. The term Sawad was also used in early Islamic times for the region of the plain of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. In English, it is either /ɪˈrɑːk/ or /ɪˈræk/, the American Heritage Dictionary, the pronunciation /aɪˈræk/ is frequently heard in U. S. media. Since approximately 10,000 BC, Iraq was one of centres of a Caucasoid Neolithic culture where agriculture, the following Neolithic period is represented by rectangular houses. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used vessels made of stone, gypsum, finds of obsidian tools from Anatolia are evidences of early trade relations
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Triangle (Israel)
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The Triangle is further divided into the Northern Triangle and the Southern Triangle. Umm al-Fahm and Tayibe are the social, cultural and economic centers for Arab residents of the region, the Triangle is a stronghold of the Islamic Movement in Israel and Raed Salah, the current leader of the movements northern faction is a former mayor of Umm al-Fahm. To achieve this, a swap was negotiated, ceding the Israeli territory in the southern hills of Hebron. The term was expanded to include the entire area around Wadi Ara. Several Israeli politicians have suggested the Triangle should be transferred to a future Palestinian state in exchange for Israel retaining control over settlements in the West Bank. In a July 2000 survey conducted by Kul al-Arab among 1,000 residents of Umm al-Fahm,83 percent of respondents opposed the idea of transferring their city to Palestinian jurisdiction. The idea is a plank of the Lieberman Plan put forward by Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman but is largely opposed by Israeli Arabs
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City Line (Jerusalem)
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City Line is the name given to a segment of the Green Line that divided the city of Jerusalem from 1948 to 1967. The Old City bordered the City line on the east side, on both sides of the City line fortifications and obstacles were deployed, and different buildings in the city along the line were used as military posts. The two officers drew a map at the scale of 1,20,000 which oulined the boundaries of the ceasefire in Jerusalem. Dayan drew in a green wax pencil line the positions under Israeli control, the area between the two lines, along with the thickness of pencils that drew the two lines on the map, determined a No mans land along the lines. And thus these inaccurate lines that were drawn loosely became an international border. The rough map lines had cut across neighborhoods, streets and houses, along the lines, both sides have held positions and fortifications, some in residential and urban public institutions. In the no mans lands landmines were deployed, the entire Old City, the neighborhoods north of it, and the Mount of Olives, all were in the Jordanian territories. The West of the city, as well as the Mount Scopus enclave in the north-east of the city, was within the Israeli territories. The British Government House area was a demilitarized zone controlled by the United Nations, between the two parts of the city was the Mandelbaum Gate. The crossing was managed by Jordanian and Israeli customs, and served primarily diplomats and UN personnel, the crossing also oversaw a bi-weekly convoy to the Israeli enclave on Mount Scopus. West Jerusalem neighborhoods along the line where living there was considered dangerous, become Slum neighborhoods populated by indigents and were characterized by poverty and these included the Shmuel HaNavi neighborhood, Mea Shearim, Musrara, Mamilla, and Yemin Moshe. The city line divided Jerusalem for 19 years, until the Six Day War in June 1967, at noon on June 5, the Jordanians occupied the British Government House from the UN, which marked the beginning of the ground fighting in Jerusalem. The very same day the Israeli Jerusalem Brigade captured the British house, at noon on June 6, the Jerusalem Brigade broke the fences dividing the Abu Tor neighborhood, and the neighborhood conquest completed the encirclement of the Old City. The Old city fell to the IDF in June 7,1967, immediately upon the end of the war fences and concrete walls dividing streets and neighborhoods were torn down, the fortifications were dismantled and the mines were removed. The City line no longer exists as a border, but in many ways it continues to exist to this very day and divides the city along ethnic. Nowadays, it is referred as the Seam line, where the crossing of it is still felt, even in the absence walls. The Green line around the Israeli Jerusalem from the south, east, the southern side of the line began in the Arab village of Beit Safafa. The line crossed through the village, while dividing it in two, separating clans, and leaving families on both sides of the border, to the north of the British Government house, the line crossed thorgh Abu Tor neighborhood and divided it into two
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Jerusalem
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Jerusalem is a city located on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is considered a city in the three major Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed at least twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, the part of Jerusalem called the City of David was settled in the 4th millennium BCE. In 1538, walls were built around Jerusalem under Suleiman the Magnificent, today those walls define the Old City, which has been traditionally divided into four quarters—known since the early 19th century as the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters. The Old City became a World Heritage Site in 1981, and is on the List of World Heritage in Danger, Modern Jerusalem has grown far beyond the Old Citys boundaries. These foundational events, straddling the dawn of the 1st millennium BCE, the sobriquet of holy city was probably attached to Jerusalem in post-exilic times. The holiness of Jerusalem in Christianity, conserved in the Septuagint which Christians adopted as their own authority, was reinforced by the New Testament account of Jesuss crucifixion there, in Sunni Islam, Jerusalem is the third-holiest city, after Mecca and Medina. As a result, despite having an area of only 0, outside the Old City stands the Garden Tomb. Today, the status of Jerusalem remains one of the issues in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, West Jerusalem was among the captured and later annexed by Israel while East Jerusalem, including the Old City, was captured. Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War and subsequently annexed it into Jerusalem, one of Israels Basic Laws, the 1980 Jerusalem Law, refers to Jerusalem as the countrys undivided capital. All branches of the Israeli government are located in Jerusalem, including the Knesset, the residences of the Prime Minister and President, the international community does not recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital, and the city hosts no foreign embassies. Jerusalem is also home to some non-governmental Israeli institutions of importance, such as the Hebrew University. In 2011, Jerusalem had a population of 801,000, of which Jews comprised 497,000, Muslims 281,000, a city called Rušalim in the Execration texts of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt is widely, but not universally, identified as Jerusalem. Jerusalem is called Urušalim in the Amarna letters of Abdi-Heba, the name Jerusalem is variously etymologized to mean foundation of the god Shalem, the god Shalem was thus the original tutelary deity of the Bronze Age city. The form Yerushalem or Yerushalayim first appears in the Bible, in the Book of Joshua, according to a Midrash, the name is a combination of Yhwh Yireh and the town Shalem. The earliest extra-biblical Hebrew writing of the word Jerusalem is dated to the sixth or seventh century BCE and was discovered in Khirbet Beit Lei near Beit Guvrin in 1961. The inscription states, I am Yahweh thy God, I will accept the cities of Judah and I will redeem Jerusalem, or as other scholars suggest, the mountains of Judah belong to him, to the God of Jerusalem
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Mount Scopus
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Mount Scopus is a mountain in northeast Jerusalem. In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Mount Scopus became a UN-protected Israeli exclave within Jordanian-administered territory until the Six-Day War in 1967, today, Mount Scopus lies within the municipal boundaries of the city of Jerusalem. The ridge of mountains east of ancient as well as modern Jerusalem offers the best views of the city, since the main part of the ridge bears the name Mount of Olives, the name lookout was reserved for this peak to the northeast of the ancient city. Its name in many languages means lookout, Scopus is a Latinisation of the Greek word for watcher, skopos, the same as in telescope. Overlooking Jerusalem, Mount Scopus has been important as a base from which to attack the city since antiquity. The 12th Roman Legion camped there in AD66, the Crusaders used it as a base in 1099. The exact location of the known in the ancient sources as Mount Scopus is not known. It is described as being in the part of the ridge that prominently includes the Mount of Olives. The site chosen for the university did correspond approximately to the description of the ancient Mount Scopus, the name became widely used and few Jerusalemites would nowadays know about this rebranding story of an old name. The ancient Mount Scopus cannot be far though from the modern one, in 1948, as the British began letting go of their security responsibilities, the Jewish enclave on Mount Scopus became increasingly cut off from the main sections of Jewish Jerusalem. Access to hospital and university campus was through a road, a mile. Arab sniper fire on vehicles moving along the route became a regular occurrence. Seventy-eight Jewish doctors, nurses, students, patients, faculty members and Haganah fighters, after the ceasefire agreement of November 30,1948, which established the division of East and West Jerusalem, Israel controlled the western part of the city while Jordan controlled the east. Several demilitarized no mans land zones were established along the border, fortnightly convoys carrying supplies to the university and hospital located in the Israeli part of the demilitarized zone on Mount Scopus were periodically held up by Jordanian troops. In January 1958, Francis Urrutia, a representative of the UN Secretary-General, tried to persuade Jordan to abide by Article VIII, in May 1958, Jordanian soldiers fired on Israeli patrols, killing a UN officer and four Israeli policemen. Ralph Bunche, assistant to UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld visited Jerusalem and Amman to find a solution, followed by Hammarskjöld himself, again unsuccessfully. Two Jewish-owned plots in al-Issawiya, known as Gan Shlomit or Salomons Garden, were purchased by Mrs. V. F. Salomons in 1934 and sold to the Gan Shlomit Company, Ltd. in 1937. This land was surrounded by a fence, but clashes erupted when Arabs living on the side of the fence sought to cultivate land, pick olives
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Hebrew University of Jerusalem
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The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is Israels second oldest university established in 1918,30 years before the State of Israel. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot, the worlds largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J. Safra Givat Ram campus. The university has 5 affiliated teaching hospitals including the Hadassah Medical Center,7 faculties, more than 100 research centers, a third of all the doctoral candidates in Israel are studying in the Hebrew University. The first Board of Governors included Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Martin Buber, four of Israels prime ministers are alumni of the Hebrew University. In the last decade, eight researchers and alumni of the University received the Nobel Prize, one was awarded the Fields Medal, one of the visions of the Zionist movement was the establishment of a Jewish university in the Land of Israel. Founding a university was proposed as far back as 1884 in the Kattowitz conference of the Hovevei Zion society, the cornerstone for the university was laid on July 24,1918. The Universitys first Chancellor was Judah Magnes, by 1947, the University had become a large research and teaching institution. Plans for a school were approved in May 1949, and in November 1949. In 1952, it was announced that the institute founded by the University in 1940 would become a full-fledged faculty. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, attacks were carried out against convoys moving between the Israeli-controlled section of Jerusalem and the University. The leader of the Arab forces in Jerusalem, Abdul Kader Husseini, after the Hadassah medical convoy massacre, in which 79 Jews, including doctors and nurses, were slaughtered, the Mount Scopus campus was cut off from Jerusalem. British soldier Jack Churchill coordinated the evacuation of 700 Jewish doctors, when the Jordan government denied Israeli access to Mount Scopus, a new campus was built at Givat Ram in western Jerusalem and completed in 1958. In the interim, classes were held in 40 different buildings around the city, the Terra Santa building in Rehavia, rented from the Franciscan Custodians of the Latin Holy Places, was also used for this purpose. A few years later, together with the Hadassah Medical Organization, by the beginning of 1967, the students numbered 12,500, spread among the two campuses in Jerusalem and the agricultural faculty in Rehovot. After the unification of Jerusalem, following the Six-Day War of June 1967, the University was able to return to Mount Scopus, in 1981 the construction work was completed, and Mount Scopus again became the main campus of the University. On July 31,2002, a member of a terrorist cell detonated a bomb during lunch hour at the Universitys Frank Sinatra cafeteria when it was crowded with staff and students. Nine people — five Israelis, three Americans, and one dual French-American citizen — were murdered and more than 70 wounded, World leaders, including Kofi Annan, President Bush, and the President of the European Union issued statements of condemnation. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, Rothberg International School, the Rothberg International School features secular studies and Jewish/Israeli studies
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Latrun
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Latrun is located at a strategic hilltop in the Latrun salient in the Ayalon Valley. It overlooks the road between Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem,25 kilometers west of Jerusalem and 14 kilometers southeast of Ramla and it was the site of fierce fighting during the 1948 war. During the 1948–1967 period, it was occupied by Jordan at the edge of a no mans land between the lines known as the Latrun salient. In the 1967 war, it was captured by Israel along with the salient and the West Bank. Neve Shalom is a joint Jewish-Arab community on a hilltop south of Latrun, Canada Park is nearby to the east. The name Latrun is ultimately derived from the ruins of a medieval castle, there are two theories regarding the origin of the name. One is that it is a corruption of the French, Le toron des chevaliers, the other is that it is from the Latin, Domus boni Latronis, a name given by 14th century Christian pilgrims after the penitent thief who was crucified by the Romans alongside Jesus. In the Hebrew Bible, the Ayalon Valley was the site of a battle in which the Israelites, led by Joshua, according to the Book of Maccabees, Judah Maccabee learned that the Greeks were planning to march on his position, and successfully ambushed the invaders. The Jewish victory in what was called the Battle of Emmaus led to greater Jewish autonomy under Hasmonean rule over the next century. Little remains of the castle, which was held by the Templars by 1187, the main tower was later surrounded with a rectangular enclosure with vaulted chambers. This in turn was enclosed by a court, of which one tower survives. In 1883, the Palestine Exploration Funds Survey of Western Palestine described Latrun as a few adobe huts among the ruins of a medieval fortress, the monastery is dedicated to Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows. In 1909 it was given the status of a Priory and that of an Abbey in 1937, the monks established a vineyard using knowledge gained in France and advice from an expert in the employ of Baron Edmond James de Rothschild from the Carmel-Mizrahi Winery. Today they produce a variety of wines that are sold in the Abbey shop. The community was expelled by the Ottoman Turks between 1914–1918 and the buildings pillaged, walid Khalidi in his book All That Remains describes al-Latrun as a small village established in the late 19th century by villagers from nearby Emmaus. In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Latrun had a population of 59, in addition, Dair Latrun had a population of 37 Christian males. In the 1931 census they were counted together, and Latrun had a population 120,76 Muslims and 44 Christians, the Latrun monastery was rebuilt in 1926. The crypt was completed in 1933 and the church in 1954, the monastery was designed by the communitys first abbot, Dom Paul Couvreur, and is an example of Cistercian architecture
38.
Jordan River
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The Jordan River is a 251-kilometre -long river in the Middle East that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and on to the Dead Sea. Israel and the West Bank border the river to the west, while the Golan Heights, both Jordan and the West Bank take their names from the river. The Jordan River has a course and a lower one. In this sense, the Jordan Valley may be separated into upper, central, over its upper course, the river drops rapidly in a 75-kilometre run to the once large and swampy Lake Hula, which is slightly above sea level. Exiting the now much diminished lake, it goes through an even steeper drop over the 25 kilometres down to the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan deposits much of the silt it is carrying within the lake, which it leaves again near its southern tip. At that point the river is situated about 210 metres below sea level, two major tributaries enter from the east during this last section, the Yarmouk River and Zarqa River. Its section north of the Sea of Galilee is within the boundaries of Israel, south of the lake, it forms the border between the Kingdom of Jordan, and Israel. The streams coming together to create the River Jordan in its basin are, west to east, Iyyon. Hasbani, a stream flows from Mount Lebanon. Dan, a stream whose source is also at the base of Mount Hermon, Banias, a stream arising from a spring at Banias at the foot of Mount Hermon. The full text of W. F. Lynchs 1849 book Narrative of the United States Expedition to the River Jordan, in 1964, Israel began operating a pumping station that diverts water from the Sea of Galilee to the National Water Carrier. Also in 1964, Jordan constructed a channel that diverted water from the Yarmouk River, another tributary of the Jordan River to the East Ghor Canal. Syria has also built reservoirs that catch the Yarmouks waters, environmentalists blame Israel, Jordan and Syria for extensive damage to the Jordan River ecosystem. In modern times, the waters are 70% to 90% used for human purposes, because of this and the high evaporation rate of the Dead Sea, as well as industrial extraction of salts through evaporation ponds, the sea is shrinking. All the shallow waters of the end of the sea have been drained in modern times and are now salt flats. A small section of the northernmost portion of the Lower Jordan, 3-kilometre below the Sea of Galilee, has been kept pristine for baptism and local tourism. Most polluted is the 100-kilometre downstream stretch—a meandering stream from above the confluence with the Yarmouk to the Dead Sea, environmentalists say the practice of letting sewage and brackish water flow into the river has almost destroyed its ecosystem. Rescuing the Jordan could take decades, according to environmentalists, the same environmentalist organization had said in a report that the Jordan River could dry up by 2011 unless the decay is stopped
39.
Demilitarized zone
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A demilitarized zone, DMZ or DZ is an area in which treaties or agreements between nations, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities or personnel. A DMZ often lies along an established frontier or boundary between two or more powers or alliances. A DMZ may sometimes form a de facto border, such as the 38th parallel between North and South Korea. Other examples of demilitarized zones are a 120-mile area between Iraq and Kuwait, Antarctica and outer space, many demilitarized zones are considered neutral territory because neither side is allowed to control it, even for non-combat administration. Some zones remain demilitarized after an agreement has awarded control to a state which had ceded its right to maintain military forces in the disputed territory. Several demilitarized zones have also unintentionally become wildlife preserves because their land is unsafe for construction or less exposed to human disturbances, examples include the Korean Demilitarized Zone, the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone, and the Green Line in Cyprus. Aegean Islands – The Greek islands of Chios, Icaria, Mytilene, the Treaty forbids all naval fortifications and bases and stipulates that military forces on the islands be limited to the normal contingent called up for military service. The Treaty does however provide for the use of personnel or equipment for scientific research or for any other peaceful purpose. Ceuta border fence and Melilla border fence – A de facto demilitarized zone exists between the Spanish territories of Ceuta and Melilla and Morocco, perimeter fences around both cities have been constructed by Spanish and Moroccan authorities, creating a demilitarized zone between the Spanish and Moroccan fences. Ground Safety Zone – A5 km -wide demilitarized area between Serbia and Kosovo was created under the Kumanovo Agreement following the Kosovo War, Korean Demilitarized Zone – The Korean Armistice Agreement created a 4 km -wide demilitarized zone between North Korea and South Korea following the Korean War. It is currently the most heavily guarded area in the world, kuwait–Iraq barrier – The United Nations Security Council approved the creation of a demilitarized zone between Iraq and Kuwait in Resolution 689. Although the demilitarized zone is no longer mandated by the Council, preah Vihear Temple – The International Court of Justice had ordered the creation of a provisional demilitarized zone around the Temple whose ownership is claimed by both Cambodia and Thailand. Sinai Peninsula – The Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty sets a limit to the amount of forces Egypt can place in the Sinai Peninsula, parts of the peninsula are demilitarized to various degrees, especially within 20–40 kilometres of Israel. Israel also agreed to limit its forces within 3 kilometres of the Egyptian border, the areas are monitored by the Multinational Force and Observers. Because of the Sinai insurgency all sides agreed and encouraged Egypt to send large amounts of forces into the area, including tanks and helicopters. Svalbard – The Svalbard Treaty of 1920, which recognized Norwegian sovereignty over the territory, Sudan – A10 km demilitarized zone along the Sudan – South Sudan border. It was authorized by Resolution 186 and is patrolled by the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, the zone is monitored by the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force. A neutral territory was established between the British territory of Gibraltar and Spain after the end of the 1727 siege
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Jordanian annexation of the West Bank
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Jordanian annexation of the West Bank refers to the occupation and consequent annexation of the West Bank by Jordan in the aftermath of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. At the end of hostilities, Jordan was in control of the West Bank. Following the December 1948 Jericho Conference, and the 1949 renaming of the country from Transjordan to Jordan and it was recognized by the United Kingdom, Iraq and Pakistan. Jordan transferred its citizenship to the residents of the West Bank, prior to hostilities in 1948, all of the country known as Palestine had been under the British-controlled Mandate Government of Palestine, since 1917. Prior to that time, the country had been under Ottoman Turk occupation since 1517, toward the expiration of the British Mandate, Arabs aspired for independence and self-determination, as did the Jews of the country. On 14 May 1948, David Ben-Gurion, on behalf of the Jewish leadership, declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, on 22 September 1948, the All-Palestine Government was established in Gaza captured by Egypt. On 30 September, the First Palestine Congress, which saw Palestine as part of Syria, the December 1948 Jericho Conference, a meeting of prominent Palestinian leaders and King Abdullah, voted in favor of annexation into what was then Transjordan. By the end of the war, Jordanian forces had control over the West Bank, on 3 April 1949, Israel and Jordan signed an armistice agreement. The main points included, Jordanian forces remained in most positions held in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Jordan withdrew its forces from its front posts overlooking the Sharon plain, in return, Israel agreed to allow Jordanian forces to take over positions in the West Bank previously held by Iraqi forces. The committee was never formed, and access to the Holy Places was denied to Israelis throughout the Jordanian occupation, the remainder of the area designated as part of an Arab state under the UN Partition Plan was partly occupied by Egypt, partly occupied and annexed by Israel. The intended international enclave of Jerusalem was divided between Israel and Jordan, the Jordanians immediately expelled all the Jewish residents of East Jerusalem. All but one of the 35 synagogues in the Old City were destroyed over the course of the next 19 years, either razed or used as stables, many other historic and religiously significant buildings were replaced by modern structures. The United States, together with the United Kingdom favored the annexation by Transjordan, Jordan formally annexed the West Bank on 24 April 1950, giving all residents automatic Jordanian citizenship. West Bank residents had received the right to claim Jordanian citizenship in December 1949. Jordans annexation was regarded as illegal and void by the Arab League. A motion to expel Jordan from the League was prevented by the votes of Yemen. On 12 June 1950, the Arab League declared the annexation was a temporary, practical measure, on 27 July 1953, King Hussein of Jordan announced that East Jerusalem was the alternative capital of the Hashemite Kingdom and would form an integral and inseparable part of Jordan
41.
Occupation of the Gaza Strip by Egypt
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The occupation of the Gaza Strip by Egypt occurred between 1948 and October 1956 and again from March 1957 to June 1967. From September 1948, until its dissolution by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1959, although largely symbolic, the government was recognized by most members of the Arab League. Following its dissolution, Egypt did not annex the Gaza Strip, after World War I, the League of Nations granted Great Britain authority over certain former Ottoman territories, including the Gaza Strip. What became known as the British Mandate for Palestine was formally confirmed by the Council of the League of Nations on 24 July 1922, after World War II, the British Mandate of Palestine came to an end. The surrounding Arab nations were emerging from colonial rule. Egypt, while independent, signed the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936 that included provisions by which Britain would maintain a garrison of troops on the Suez Canal. From 1945, Egypt attempted to renegotiate the terms of this treaty, on 29 November 1947, the United Nations General Assembly approved a plan to resolve the Arab-Jewish conflict by partitioning Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab. In the immediate aftermath of the adoption of this plan, civil war broke out in the Mandate territory, after capturing the West Bank during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Abdullah I took the title King of Jordan. The name of the state was changed to The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on 1 December 1948, on 7 January 1949, a truce was achieved. Israeli forces proceeded to withdraw from Sinai and Gaza, on 24 February 1949, the Israel–Egypt Armistice Agreement was signed in Rhodes. The All-Palestine Government was an entity established by the Arab League on 22 September 1948, during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, after the War, the Gaza Strip was the only former-Mandate territory under the jurisdiction of the All-Palestine Government. However, the members of the Government were consequently removed to Cairo, according to Avi Shlaim, he contrast between the pretensions of the All-Palestine Government and its capability quickly reduced it to the level of farce. It claimed jurisdiction over the whole of Palestine, yet it had no administration, no service, no money. Even in the enclave around the town of Gaza its writ ran only by the grace of the Egyptian authorities. France and the United Kingdom supported Israel in its determination that the canal should remain open to all nations as per the Convention, on October 29,1956, Israel, France and the United Kingdom invaded the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula initiating the 1956 Suez War. Under international pressure, the Anglo-French Task Force withdrew before the end of 1956, in 1959, as he sought to incorporate the Arab nations as a single state, Nassers pan-Arab policies prompted him to abolish the All-Palestine Government. In 1959, the Gaza Strip under the All-Palestine Government was officially merged into the short lived United Arab Republic, all references to an independent Gaza were abolished and Egyptian administration was officially imposed. In this move, Nasser de facto canceled any official Palestinian self-rule, in 1962 the Egyptian government established a Palestinian Legislative Council elected by the population
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Knesset
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The Knesset is the unicameral national legislature of Israel. As the legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister, approves the cabinet, in addition, the Knesset elects the State Comptroller. The Prime Minister may also dissolve the Knesset, however, until an election is completed, the Knesset maintains authority in its current composition. The Knesset is located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem, as the legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the president, approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government through its committees. It also has the power to waive the immunity of its members, remove the President and the State Comptroller from office, the Knesset is presided over by a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker. The Knesset is divided into committees, which amend bills on the appropriate subjects, Committee chairpersons are chosen by their members, on recommendation of the House Committee, and their factional composition represents that of the Knesset itself. Committees may elect sub-committees and delegate powers to them, or establish joint committees for issues concerning more than one committee, to further their deliberations, they invite government ministers, senior officials, and experts in the matter being discussed. There are four types of committees in the Knesset, permanent committees amend proposed legislation dealing with their area of expertise, and may initiate legislation. However, such legislation may only deal with Basic Laws and laws dealing with the Knesset, elections to the Knesset, Knesset members, or the State Comptroller. Special committees function in a manner to permanent committees, but are appointed to deal with particular manners at hand. Parliamentary inquiry committees are appointed by the plenum to deal with issues viewed as having national importance. The Ethics Committee is responsible for jurisdiction over Knesset members who violate the rules of ethics of the Knesset, within the framework of responsibility, the Ethics Committee may place various sanctions on a member, but is not allowed to restrict a members right to vote. The Knesset numbers 120 members, a subject which has often been a cause for proposed reforms and this proposed law has also been favoured by other politicians, including Benjamin Netanyahu. The 120 members of the Knesset are popularly elected from a single electoral district to concurrent four-year terms. All Israeli citizens 18 years or older may vote in legislative elections, Knesset seats are allocated among the various parties using the DHondt method of party list proportional representation. A party or electoral alliance must pass the threshold of 3. 25% of the overall vote to be allocated a Knesset seat. Parties select their candidates using a closed list, thus, voters select the party of their choice, not any specific candidate. The electoral threshold was set at 1% from 1949 to 1992, then 1. 5% from 1992 to 2003
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Moshe Sharett
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Moshe Sharett was the second Prime Minister of Israel, serving for a little under two years between David Ben-Gurions two terms. He continued as Foreign Minister in the Mapai government, Sharett steered the government through a turbulent period, was an experienced diplomat, with a liberal policy, a conciliatory approach, and a modernising attitude to the West. The renewed war with the Arabs split the socialist Left commencing another period of instability, born in Kherson in the Russian Empire, Sharett emigrated to Ottoman Palestine as a child in 1906. In 1910 his family moved to Jaffa, then one of the founding families of Tel Aviv. He graduated from the first class of the Herzliya Hebrew High School and he then went off to Constantinople to study law at Istanbul University, the same university at which Yitzhak Ben-Zvi and David Ben-Gurion studied. However, his time there was cut due to the outbreak of World War I. He served a commission as First Lieutenant in the Ottoman Army, after the war, he worked as an Arab affairs and land purchase agent for the Assembly of Representatives of the Yishuv. He also became a member of Ahdut HaAvoda, and later of Mapai, in 1922 he went to the London School of Economics, and while there he actively edited the Workers of Zion. One of the people he met while in London was Chaim Weizmann and he then worked on the Davar newspaper from 1925 until 1931. In 1931, after returning to Mandatory Palestine, he became the secretary of the Jewish Agencys political department, after the assassination of Haim Arlosoroff in 1933 he became its head. During the war via his wife Zipporah, Sharett became embroiled in the question of emigration of refugee Jews stranded in Europe, some Polish refugees, children with and without parents were deported to Tehran with the Soviets agreement. The Tehran Children became a cause celebre in the Yishuv, Sharett flew to Tehran to negotiate their return to Palestine. The success of negotiations and others was a hallmark of Sharetts more cerebral approach to practical problems. He met with Tel Aviv bound Hungarian Jewish refugee representative Joel Brand, Yishuv leadership mistrusted Brand, and the British thought him a criminal. Sharetts response was to hand the self-appointed liberator over to the British authorities, like Weizmann, whom he admired, Sharett was a principled Zionist, an implacable opponent of fascism, but a practical realist prepared to co-operate fully with the Mandate. Sharett, as Ben-Gurions ally, denounced Irguns assassination squads on December 13,1947, atrocities escalated, mainly upon Jews, but with reciprocal revenge killings, by the end of the war 6000 Palestinian Jews, 1% of the population, had died. Sharett held the foreign policy post under the Agency until the formation of Israel in 1948, the main culprits on the Jewish side were Palmach, whose brigade, with help from the Haganah patrolled the Negev, saving it for Israel. Sharett was one of the signatories of Israels Declaration of Independence, during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, he was Foreign Minister for the Provisional Government of Israel
