1.
Jordan normal form
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Such a matrix has each non-zero off-diagonal entry equal to 1, immediately above the main diagonal, and with identical diagonal entries to the left and below them. This condition is satisfied if K is algebraically closed. The diagonal entries of the form are the eigenvalues. If the operator is given by a square matrix M. Any square matrix has a Jordan normal form if the field of coefficients is extended to one containing all the eigenvalues of the matrix, the Jordan–Chevalley decomposition is particularly simple with respect to a basis for which the operator takes its Jordan normal form. The diagonal form for diagonalizable matrices, for normal matrices, is a special case of the Jordan normal form. The Jordan normal form is named after Camille Jordan, some textbooks have the ones on the subdiagonal, i. e. immediately below the main diagonal instead of on the superdiagonal. The eigenvalues are still on the main diagonal, an n × n matrix A is diagonalizable if and only if the sum of the dimensions of the eigenspaces is n. Or, equivalently, if and only if A has n linearly independent eigenvectors, consider the following matrix, A =. Including multiplicity, the eigenvalues of A are λ =1,2,4,4, the dimension of the eigenspace corresponding to the eigenvalue 4 is 1, so A is not diagonalizable. However, there is an invertible matrix P such that A = PJP−1, the matrix J is almost diagonal. This is the Jordan normal form of A, the section Example below fills in the details of the computation. In general, a complex matrix A is similar to a block diagonal matrix J = where each block Ji is a square matrix of the form J i =. So there exists an invertible matrix P such that P−1AP = J is such that the only non-zero entries of J are on the diagonal, J is called the Jordan normal form of A. Each Ji is called a Jordan block of A, in a given Jordan block, every entry on the superdiagonal is 1. Assuming this result, we can deduce the properties, Counting multiplicity. Given an eigenvalue λi, its geometric multiplicity is the dimension of Ker, the sum of the sizes of all Jordan blocks corresponding to an eigenvalue λi is its algebraic multiplicity. A is diagonalizable if and only if, for every eigenvalue λ of A, the Jordan block corresponding to λ is of the form λ I + N, where N is a nilpotent matrix defined as Nij = δi, j−1
2.
Real estate
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Also, the business of real estate, the profession of buying, selling, or renting land, buildings or housing. It is a term used in jurisdictions whose legal system is derived from English common law, such as India, the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Pakistan, Australia. Residential real estate may contain either a family or multifamily structure. Residences can be classified by, if, and how they are connected to neighbouring residences, different types of housing tenure can be used for the same physical type. For example, connected residents might be owned by an entity and leased out. Major categories in North America and Europe Attached / multi-unit dwellings Apartment or Flat – An individual unit in a multi-unit building, the boundaries of the apartment are generally defined by a perimeter of locked or lockable doors. Often seen in apartment buildings. Multi-family house – Often seen in multi-story detached buildings, where each floor is an apartment or unit. Terraced house – A number of single or multi-unit buildings in a row with shared walls. Condominium – Building or complex, similar to apartments, owned by individuals, common grounds and common areas within the complex are owned and shared jointly. There are townhouse or rowhouse style condominiums as well, semi-detached dwellings Duplex – Two units with one shared wall. Single-family detached house Portable dwellings Mobile homes – Potentially a full-time residence which can be movable on wheels, houseboats – A floating home Tents – Usually very temporary, with roof and walls consisting only of fabric-like material. The size of an apartment or house can be described in square feet or meters, in the United States, this includes the area of living space, excluding the garage and other non-living spaces. It can be described roughly by the number of rooms. A studio apartment has a bedroom with no living room. A one-bedroom apartment has a living or dining room separate from the bedroom, Two bedroom, three bedroom, and larger units are common. Major categories in India and the Asian Subcontinent Co-operative Housing Societies Condominiums Chawls Villas Havelis The size is measured in Gaz, Quila, Marla, Beegha, and acre. See List of house types for a listing of housing types and layouts, real estate trends for shifts in the market
3.
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
4.
Danny Atar
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Daniel Danny Atar is an Israeli politician. Atar was born in Afula to parents who had immigrated from Morocco in 1956, during his IDF national service he served in the Golani Brigade. He fought in the 1982 Lebanon War and he continued to serve in the army reserves, becoming a lieutenant colonel. In 1994 he was elected leader of Gilboa Regional Council and he was placed 16th on the Labor Party list for the 2013 Knesset elections, a spot reserved for the agricultural sector, but did not become a Knesset member as the party won only 15 seats. Although he was next in line to replace Binyamin Ben-Eliezer following his retirement from politics, prior to the 2015 elections he was placed 15th on the Zionist Union list, an alliance of Labor and Hatnuah. He was elected to the Knesset as the alliance won 24 seats, in October 2015, Atar was elected head of the Jewish National Fund. He was replaced in the Knesset by Yael Cohen Paran, the head of the Green Movement, Atar is married with three children and lives in Gan Ner. Danny Atar on the Knesset website
5.
Israeli new shekel
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The new shekel is divided into 100 agora. The new shekel has been in use since 1 January 1986, the currency sign for the new shekel ⟨ ₪ ⟩ is a combination of the first Hebrew letters of the words shekel and ẖadash. Alongside the shekel sign, the abbreviations of NIS, שח. The origin of the shekel is from the ancient biblical currency by the same name. Shekel is any of several ancient units of weight or of currency in ancient Israel, initially, it may have referred to a weight of barley. In ancient Israel, the shekel was known to be about 180 grains, from the formation of the modern State of Israel on 14 May 1948 through 1952 banknotes continued to be issued by the Anglo-Palestine Bank as Palestine pound which was pegged to the British Pound. In 1952, the Anglo-Palestine Bank changed its name to Bank Leumi Le-Yisrael, the Israeli pound was the currency of the State of Israel from June 1952 until 23 February 1980, when it was replaced with the shekel on 24 February 1980. From 1955, after the Bank of Israel was established and took over the duty of issuing banknotes, only the Hebrew name was used, along with the symbol I£. The pegging to the British Pound was abolished on 1 January 1954, and in 1960, during the 1960s, a debate over the non-Hebrew name of the Israeli currency resulted in a law ordering the Minister of Finance to change the name pound into a Hebrew name, Shekel. The law allowed the minister to decide on a date for the change. The law did not come into effect until February 1980, when the Israeli government decided to change the monetary system, the shekel, now known as the old shekel, was the currency of the State of Israel between 24 February 1980 and 31 December 1985. The Israeli pound and its successor, the old shekel, all experienced frequent devaluations against foreign currencies during the 1960s and 70s and this trend culminated in the old shekel experiencing hyperinflation in the early 1980s. After inflation was contained as a result of the 1985 Economic Stabilization Plan, as a result of these factors, inflation has been relatively low and the country now maintains a positive balance of payments, with a current account surplus equivalent to about 3% of its GDP in 2010. Since 1 January 2003, the new shekel has been a freely convertible currency, since 7 May 2006, new shekel derivative trading has also been available on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. This makes the new one of only twenty or so world currencies for which there are widely available currency futures contracts in the foreign exchange market. It is also a currency that can be exchanged by consumers in parts of the world. On 26 May 2008, CLS Bank International announced that it would settle payment instructions in new shekels, since 20 March 2003, the new shekel has gained more than 30% in value against the US dollar. In 1985, coins in denominations of 1,5, and 10 agora and ₪½, in 1990, ₪5 coins were introduced, followed by ₪10 coins in 1995
6.
Earnings before interest and taxes
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In accounting and finance, earnings before interest and taxes, is a measure of a firms profit that includes all expenses except interest and income tax expenses. It is the difference between operating revenues and operating expenses, when a firm does not have non-operating income, then operating income is sometimes used as a synonym for EBIT and operating profit. To calculate EBIT, expenses are subtracted from revenues, net income is later obtained by subtracting interest and taxes from the result
7.
Net income
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In business, net income is an entitys income minus cost of goods sold, expenses and taxes for an accounting period. In the context of the presentation of financial statements, the IFRS Foundation defines net income as synonymous with profit, net income is a distinct accounting concept from profit but the same as net profit. Net income can also be calculated by adding a companys operating income to non-operating income, net income can be distributed among holders of common stock as a dividend or held by the firm as an addition to retained earnings. As profit and earnings are used synonymously for income, net earnings, often, the term income is substituted for net income, yet this is not preferred due to the possible ambiguity. Net income is called the bottom line because it is typically found on the last line of a companys income statement. The items deducted will typically include tax expense, financing expense, likewise, preferred stock dividends will be subtracted too, though they are not an expense. For a merchandising company, subtracted costs may be the cost of goods sold, sales discounts, for a product company advertising, manufacturing, and design and development costs are included
8.
Asset
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In financial accounting, an asset is an economic resource. Anything tangible or intangible that can be owned or controlled to produce value, simply stated, assets represent value of ownership that can be converted into cash. The balance sheet of a firm records the value of the assets owned by that firm. It covers money and other valuables belonging to an individual or to a business, one can classify assets into two major asset classes, tangible assets and intangible assets. Tangible assets contain various subclasses, including current assets and fixed assets, current assets include inventory, while fixed assets include such items as buildings and equipment. Intangible assets are resources and rights that have a value to the firm because they give the firm some kind of advantage in the marketplace. Examples of intangible assets include goodwill, copyrights, trademarks, patents and computer programs, an asset is a resource controlled by the entity as a result of past events and from which future economic benefits are expected to flow to the entity. One of the most widely accepted accounting definitions of asset is the one used by the International Accounting Standards Board, employees are not considered assets like machinery is, even though they can generate future economic benefits. This is because an entity does not have sufficient control over its employees to satisfy the Frameworks definition of an asset, similarly, in economics an asset is any form in which wealth can be held. The accounting equation is the structure of the balance sheet. It relates assets, liabilities, and owners equity, Assets = Liabilities + Capital Liabilities = Assets − Capital Equity = Assets − Liabilities Assets are listed on the balance sheet. On a companys balance sheet certain divisions are required by generally accepted accounting principles, Assets can be divided into e. g. current assets and fixed assets, often with further subdivisions such as cash, receivables and inventory. Assets are formally controlled and managed within larger organizations via the use of asset tracking tools and these monitor the purchasing, upgrading, servicing, licensing, disposal etc. of both physical and non-physical assets. Current assets are cash and other assets expected to be converted to cash or consumed either in a year or in the operating cycle and these assets are continually turned over in the course of a business during normal business activity. There are 5 major items included into current assets, Cash and cash equivalents – it is the most liquid asset, which includes currency, deposit accounts, short-term investments – include securities bought and held for sale in the near future to generate income on short-term price differences. Receivables – usually reported as net of allowance for non-collectable accounts, inventory – trading these assets is a normal business of a company. The inventory value reported on the sheet is usually the historical cost or fair market value. This is known as the lower of cost or market rule, prepaid expenses – these are expenses paid in cash and recorded as assets before they are used or consumed
9.
Eshtaol Forest
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Eshtaol Forest is a forest in Israel, located north of Beit Shemesh and near Taoz and Neve Shalom. The Forest of the Martyrs lies to the east, the forest is a popular recreation area and is one of the largest forests in Israel. The forest was planted in by the Jewish National Fund, which continues to expand it, list of forests in Israel Jerusalem Forest Yatir Forest Jewish National Fund Jewish National Fund website
10.
Hebrew language
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Hebrew is a language native to Israel, spoken by over 9 million people worldwide, of whom over 5 million are in Israel. Historically, it is regarded as the language of the Israelites and their ancestors, the earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date from the 10th century BCE. Hebrew belongs to the West Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family, Hebrew is the only living Canaanite language left, and the only truly successful example of a revived dead language. Hebrew had ceased to be a spoken language somewhere between 200 and 400 CE, declining since the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt. Aramaic and to a lesser extent Greek were already in use as international languages, especially among elites and it survived into the medieval period as the language of Jewish liturgy, rabbinic literature, intra-Jewish commerce, and poetry. Then, in the 19th century, it was revived as a spoken and literary language, and, according to Ethnologue, had become, as of 1998, the language of 5 million people worldwide. After Israel, the United States has the second largest Hebrew-speaking population, with 220,000 fluent speakers, Modern Hebrew is one of the two official languages of the State of Israel, while premodern Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world today. Ancient Hebrew is also the tongue of the Samaritans, while modern Hebrew or Arabic is their vernacular. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as Leshon Hakodesh, the modern word Hebrew is derived from the word Ivri, one of several names for the Israelite people. It is traditionally understood to be a based on the name of Abrahams ancestor, Eber. This name is based upon the root ʕ-b-r meaning to cross over. Interpretations of the term ʕibrim link it to this verb, cross over, in the Bible, the Hebrew language is called Yәhudit because Judah was the surviving kingdom at the time of the quotation. In Isaiah 19,18 it is called the Language of Canaan, Hebrew belongs to the Canaanite group of languages. In turn, the Canaanite languages are a branch of the Northwest Semitic family of languages, according to Avraham ben-Yosef, Hebrew flourished as a spoken language in the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah during about 1200 to 586 BCE. Scholars debate the degree to which Hebrew was a vernacular in ancient times following the Babylonian exile. In July 2008 Israeli archaeologist Yossi Garfinkel discovered a ceramic shard at Khirbet Qeiyafa which he claimed may be the earliest Hebrew writing yet discovered, dating around 3000 years ago. The Gezer calendar also dates back to the 10th century BCE at the beginning of the Monarchic Period, classified as Archaic Biblical Hebrew, the calendar presents a list of seasons and related agricultural activities. The Gezer calendar is written in an old Semitic script, akin to the Phoenician one that through the Greeks, the Gezer calendar is written without any vowels, and it does not use consonants to imply vowels even in the places where later Hebrew spelling requires it
11.
Ottoman Empire
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After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe, and with the conquest of the Balkans the Ottoman Beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror, at the beginning of the 17th century the empire contained 32 provinces and numerous vassal states. Some of these were later absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries. With Constantinople as its capital and control of lands around the Mediterranean basin, while the empire was once thought to have entered a period of decline following the death of Suleiman the Magnificent, this view is no longer supported by the majority of academic historians. The empire continued to maintain a flexible and strong economy, society, however, during a long period of peace from 1740 to 1768, the Ottoman military system fell behind that of their European rivals, the Habsburg and Russian Empires. While the Empire was able to hold its own during the conflict, it was struggling with internal dissent. Starting before World War I, but growing increasingly common and violent during it, major atrocities were committed by the Ottoman government against the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks. The word Ottoman is an anglicisation of the name of Osman I. Osmans name in turn was the Turkish form of the Arabic name ʿUthmān, in Ottoman Turkish, the empire was referred to as Devlet-i ʿAlīye-yi ʿOsmānīye, or alternatively ʿOsmānlı Devleti. In Modern Turkish, it is known as Osmanlı İmparatorluğu or Osmanlı Devleti, the Turkish word for Ottoman originally referred to the tribal followers of Osman in the fourteenth century, and subsequently came to be used to refer to the empires military-administrative elite. In contrast, the term Turk was used to refer to the Anatolian peasant and tribal population, the term Rūmī was also used to refer to Turkish-speakers by the other Muslim peoples of the empire and beyond. In Western Europe, the two names Ottoman Empire and Turkey were often used interchangeably, with Turkey being increasingly favored both in formal and informal situations and this dichotomy was officially ended in 1920–23, when the newly established Ankara-based Turkish government chose Turkey as the sole official name. Most scholarly historians avoid the terms Turkey, Turks, and Turkish when referring to the Ottomans, as the power of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum declined in the 13th century, Anatolia was divided into a patchwork of independent Turkish principalities known as the Anatolian Beyliks. One of these beyliks, in the region of Bithynia on the frontier of the Byzantine Empire, was led by the Turkish tribal leader Osman, osmans early followers consisted both of Turkish tribal groups and Byzantine renegades, many but not all converts to Islam. Osman extended the control of his principality by conquering Byzantine towns along the Sakarya River and it is not well understood how the early Ottomans came to dominate their neighbours, due to the scarcity of the sources which survive from this period. One school of thought which was popular during the twentieth century argued that the Ottomans achieved success by rallying religious warriors to fight for them in the name of Islam, in the century after the death of Osman I, Ottoman rule began to extend over Anatolia and the Balkans. Osmans son, Orhan, captured the northwestern Anatolian city of Bursa in 1326 and this conquest meant the loss of Byzantine control over northwestern Anatolia. The important city of Thessaloniki was captured from the Venetians in 1387, the Ottoman victory at Kosovo in 1389 effectively marked the end of Serbian power in the region, paving the way for Ottoman expansion into Europe
12.
Palestine (region)
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Palestine is a geographic region in Western Asia between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. It is sometimes considered to include adjoining territories, the name was used by Ancient Greek writers, and was later used for the Roman province Syria Palaestina, the Byzantine Palaestina Prima, and the Islamic provincial district of Jund Filastin. The region comprises most of the claimed for the biblical regions known as the Land of Israel. Historically, it has known as the southern portion of wider regional designations such as Canaan, Syria, ash-Sham. The boundaries of the region have changed throughout history, today, the region comprises the State of Israel and the Palestinian territories in which the State of Palestine was declared. Modern archaeology has identified 12 ancient inscriptions from Egyptian and Assyrian records recording likely cognates of Hebrew Pelesheth, the term Peleset is found in five inscriptions referring to a neighboring people or land starting from c.1150 BCE during the Twentieth dynasty of Egypt. Neither the Egyptian nor the Assyrian sources provided clear regional boundaries for the term, approximately a century later, Aristotle used a similar definition for the region in Meteorology, in which he included the Dead Sea. The term is accepted to be a translation of the Biblical name Peleshet. The term is used in the Septuagint, who used a transliteration Land of Phylistieim different from the contemporary Greek place name Palaistínē. Following the Muslim conquest, place names that were in use by the Byzantine administration generally continued to be used in Arabic, Modern archaeologists and historians of the region refer to their field of study as Levantine archaeology. The region was among the earliest in the world to see human habitation, agricultural communities, during the Bronze Age, independent Canaanite city-states were established, and were influenced by the surrounding civilizations of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, Minoan Crete, and Syria. Between 1550–1400 BCE, the Canaanite cities became vassals to the Egyptian New Kingdom who held power until the 1178 BCE Battle of Djahy during the wider Bronze Age collapse. The region became part of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from c.740 BCE, in 539 BCE, the Babylonian empire was replaced by the Achaemenid Empire. In the 330s BCE, Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great conquered the region and it ultimately fell to the Seleucid Empire between 219–200 BCE. In 116 BCE, a Seleucid civil war resulted in the independence of certain regions including the Hasmonean principality in the Judaean Mountains, from 110 BCE, the Hasmoneans extended their authority over much of Palestine, creating a Judaean–Samaritan–Idumaean–Ituraean–Galilean alliance. The Judaean control over the region resulted in it also becoming known as Judaea. Between 73–63 BCE, the Roman Republic extended its influence into the region in the Third Mithridatic War, conquering Judea in 63 BCE, and splitting the former Hasmonean Kingdom into five districts. The three-year Ministry of Jesus, culminating in his crucifixion, is estimated to have occurred from 28–30 CE, in 70 CE, Titus sacked Jerusalem, resulting in the dispersal of the citys Jews and Christians to Yavne and Pella
13.
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
14.
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
15.
Palestinian territories
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Palestinian territories and occupied Palestinian territories are descriptions often used to describe the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which are occupied or otherwise under the control of Israel. Israeli governments have maintained that the area involved is within territorial dispute, the extent of the territories, while subject to future negotiations, have frequently been defined by the Green Line. In December 2012, UN Secretariat communications replaced this by the term State of Palestine, the ISO adopted the name change in 2013. But, as of August 2015, the UN Security Council continues to treat Palestine as a non-sovereign entity, Israel occupied the territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the Six-Day War of 1967 and has since maintained control. Previously, these territories had been occupied by Jordan and Egypt, respectively, in 1980, Israel officially absorbed East Jerusalem and has proclaimed the whole of Jerusalem to be its capital. The inclusion, though never formally amounting to legal annexation, was condemned internationally and declared null, the Palestinian National Authority never exercised sovereignty over the area, although it housed its offices in Orient House and several other buildings as an assertion of its sovereign interests. Israel shut them down in response to the Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing, Israeli sovereignty, however, has not been recognized by any country, since the unilateral annexation of territory occupied during war contravenes the Fourth Geneva Convention. The cost of the occupation for Israel over four decades is estimated to amount to $50 billion, the World Bank estimates the annual cost in 2013 to the Palestinian economy of Israeli occupation at $3.4 billion. In 1988, with the Palestine Liberation Organization intention to declare a Palestinian State, Jordan renounced all claims to the West Bank. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988,135 UN Member Nations have recognized the State of Palestine and it has not been recognized by Israel and some Western nations, including the United States. In 1993, following the Oslo Accords, parts of the territories politically came under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian National Authority, Israel still exercises full military control and, civil control over 61% of the West Bank. The Oslo Accords established access to the sea for Gaza within 20 nautical miles from the shore, the Berlin Commitment of 2002 reduced this to 12 miles. In October 2006 Israel imposed a 6-mile limit, and at the conclusion of the Gaza War restricted access to a 3-nautical-mile limit, as a result, more than 3,000 Palestinian fishermen are denied access to 85% of the maritime areas agreed to in 1995. The majority of the Dead Sea area is off-limits to Palestinian use, Israel disengaged from the Gaza Strip in 2005, however the international community considers the West Bank and the Gaza Strip still to be occupied by Israel. The Hamas takeover of Gaza in 2007 divided the Palestinian territories politically, abbass Fatah largely ruled the West Bank and was recognized internationally as the official Palestinian Authority. In 2014, the two groups agreed to hold elections and form a compromise unity government. The 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict intervened, however, the unity government survived, there are disagreements over what the Palestinian territories should be called. Other terms used to describe these areas include the disputed territories
16.
Mount Gilboa
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Mount Gilboa, sometimes called the Mountains of Gelboe, is a mountain range overlooking the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel. The meaning of the name Gilboa is boiling springs, bubbling fountains, agitated pools, water bursting from the rock, in the Bible, King Saul, Israels first King, led a charge against the Philistines at Mount Gilboa. The battle ends with the king falling on his own sword and Sauls sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, a minor battle between the army of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and Sultan Saladin took place at the foot of Mount Gilboa in 1183. The 1260 Battle of Ain Jalut was fought at the foot of Mount Gilboa, the success of the Muslim Mamluks against the Mongols marked the end of the westward push of the Asian empire and ensured the survival of Muslim Egypt. The Green Line between Israel and the West Bank runs south and west of the ridge, the ranges highest peak rises 1629 feet above sea level. In 1976 and 1977, it was counted to have about 170 plant species, including Pinus halepensis, every year from late February until late March the purple Haynes Iris, known in Hebrew as the Gilboa Iris, blooms on the mountain. Two nature reserves have been declared on the ridge, the Gilboa Iris nature reserve in 1970, covering 7,280 dunams, and it also has a very diverse in animal species range, with 14 reptile,7 rodent,31 bird and 13 isopod species. Gilboa Regional Council Maale Gilboa - a religious kibbutz on Mount Gilboa Malkishua - a drug rehabilitation centre on Mount Gilboa Meirav - a religious kibbutz on Mount Gilboa
17.
Zionist Congress
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The World Zionist Congress established by Theodor Herzl, is the supreme organ of the World Zionist Organization and its legislative authority. It elects the officers and decides on the policies of the WZO, the first World Zionist Congress was held in Basel, Switzerland in 1897. Any Jew over age 18 who belongs to a Zionist association is eligible to vote, 38% of the delegates are allocated to Israel, 29% to the United States of America, and 33% to the remainder of the countries of the Diaspora. In addition there are about 100 delegates which are appointed by International Organizations affiliated with WZO, after the First Zionist Congress in 1897, the Zionist Congress met every year until 1901, then every second year from 1903 to 1913 and 1921 to 1939. Until 1946, the Congress was held two years in various European cities, save for interruptions during the two World Wars. Their goal was to build an infrastructure to further the cause of Jewish settlement in Palestine, since the Second World War, meetings have been held approximately every four years. Also, since the creation of the State of Israel, the Congress has met every four or five years in Jerusalem, at the 34th World Zionist Congress in 2002, the Green Zionist Alliance became the first environmental organization to ever hold a seat at the World Zionist Congress. The 36th Congress was held in June 2010 in Jerusalem and Avraham Duvdevani from the modern-Orthodox “Mizrahi” camp was elected as Chair, natan Sharansky was elected as head of the Jewish Agency for Israel which was separated again from the position of WZO Chair. The upcoming 38th World Zionist Congress will take place in 2020, the World Zionist Congress includes representatives of Zionist World Unions, Womens Zionist Organizations with Special Status and International Jewish Organizations. Zionist participants in the World Zionist Congress are free to form Brit Olamit or Zionist World Unions, however, as aliyah has brought Jews to Israel from other countries, Israeli representation in the legislature has increased at the expense of non-Israeli Jewish diaspora representation. A Brit Olamit must have representation in at least five countries to send a delegation to the Congress, hadassah – received special status by virtue of a decision of the Zionist General Council, in 1994. These bodies have limited voting rights - they do not vote on matters of candidature, observers with no speaking or voting rights can be invited by the Zionist Executive or the Congress Presidium. The Zionist Congress is conducted by the Congress Presidium, election of the new Executive, according to the proposal of the Congress Standing Committee. Reports of the committees and voting on the resolutions presented by them. The report of the Standing Committee and voting on its proposals for members of the Zionist General Council, the Comptroller, the United States will send 145 delegates to the 2015 Congress with 11 slates competing in elections held during January 13 through April 30,2015. Total number of seats won are shown in parenthesis after the list name and description, First Zionist Congress - Basle, Switzerland Theodor Herzl acted as chairperson. The Congress was attended by some 200 participants who formulated the Zionist platform, known as the Basel programme, and established the Zionist Organization. Herzl wrote in his diary, Were I to sum up the Basle Congress in a word - which I shall guard against pronouncing publicly - it would be this, At Basle I founded the Jewish State
18.
Basel
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Basel is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine. Basel is Switzerlands third-most-populous city with about 175,000 inhabitants, located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany. In 2014, the Basel agglomeration was the third largest in Switzerland with a population of 537,100 in 74 municipalities in Switzerland, the official language of Basel is German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect. Basel has been the seat of a Prince-Bishopric since the 11th century, the city has been a commercial hub and important cultural centre since the Renaissance, and has emerged as a centre for the chemical and pharmaceutical industry in the 20th century. It hosts the oldest university of the Swiss Confederation, There are settlement traces on the Rhine knee from the early La Tène period. The unfortified settlement was abandoned in the 1st century BC in favour of an Oppidum on the site of Basel Minster, probably in reaction to the Roman invasion of Gaul. In Roman Gaul, Augusta Raurica was established some 20 km from Basel as the administrative centre. The city of Basel eventually grew around the castle, the name of Basel is derived from the Roman-era toponym Basilia, first recorded in the 3rd century. It is presumably derived from the personal name Basilius, the Old French form Basle was adopted into English, and developed into the modern French Bâle. The Icelandic name Buslaraborg goes back to the 12th century Leiðarvísir og borgarskipan, Basel was incorporated into Germania Superior in AD83. Roman control over the area deteriorated in 3rd century, and Basel became an outpost of the Provincia Maxima Sequanorum formed by Diocletian, the Alamanni attempted to cross the Rhine several times in the 4th century, but were repelled. In a great invasion of AD406, the Alemanni appear to have crossed the Rhine river a final time, conquering and then settling what is today Alsace, from this time, Basel has been an Alemannic settlement. The Duchy of Alemannia fell under Frankish rule in the 6th century, and by the 7th century, based on the evidence of a third solidus with the inscription Basilia fit, Basel seems to have minted its own coins in the 7th century. Under bishop Haito, the first cathedral was built on the site of the Roman castle, at the partition of the Carolingian Empire, Basel was first given to West Francia, but passed to East Francia with the treaty of Meerssen of 870. The city was plundered and destroyed by a Magyar invasion of 917, the rebuilt city became part of Upper Burgundy, and as such was incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire in 1032. Since the donation by Rudolph III of Burgundy of the Moutier-Grandval Abbey and all its possessions to Bishop Adalbero II in 999 till the Reformation, in 1019, the construction of the cathedral of Basel began under German Emperor Heinrich II. In 1225–1226, the Bridge over the Rhine was constructed by Bishop Heinrich von Thun, the bridge was largely funded by Basels Jewish community which had settled there a century earlier. For many centuries to come Basel possessed the only permanent bridge over the river between Lake Constance and the sea, the Bishop also allowed the furriers to found a guild in 1226
19.
Theodor Herzl
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Herzl formed the World Zionist Organization and promoted Jewish migration to Palestine in an effort to form a Jewish state. Though he died long before its establishment, he is considered a father of the State of Israel. While Herzl is often identified as the first major Zionist activist, scholars such as Yehuda Bibas, Zvi Hirsch Kalischer. He was born in Pest, Kingdom of Hungary, to a secular Jewish family and his fathers family were originally from Zimony. He was the child of Jeanette and Jakob Herzl, who were German-speaking. Jakob Herzl, Herzls father, was a successful businessman. Herzl had one sister, Pauline, an older than he was. Theodor lived with his family in a next to the Dohány Street Synagogue located in Belváros. This passion later developed into a career in journalism and a less-celebrated pursuit of playwrighting. In 1878, after the death of his sister, Pauline, the moved to Vienna, Austria-Hungary. At the University of Vienna, Herzl studied law, as a young law student, Herzl became a member of the German nationalist Burschenschaft Albia, which had the motto Ehre, Freiheit, Vaterland. He later resigned in protest at the organisations antisemitism and he later became literary editor of Neue Freie Presse, and wrote several comedies and dramas for the Viennese stage. His early work did not focus on Jewish life and it was of the feuilleton order, descriptive rather than political. Herzl was witness to mass rallies in Paris following the Dreyfus trial, there has been some controversy surrounding the impact that this event had on Herzl and his conversion to Zionism. Herzl himself stated that the Dreyfus case turned him into a Zionist and this had been the widely held belief for some time. That he may have exaggerated the influence it had on him in order to further support for his goals. Jacques Kornberg claims that the Dreyfus influence was a myth that Herzl did not feel necessary to deflate and it was at this time that Herzl wrote his play The New Ghetto, which shows the ambivalence and lack of real security and equality of emancipated, well-to-do Jews in Vienna. According to Henry Wickham Steed, Herzl was initially devoted to the propagation of Jewish-German Liberal assimilationist doctrine
20.
Hermann Schapira
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Zvi Hermann Schapira, or Hermann Hirsch Schapira, was a Russian mathematician and Zionist. He was the first to suggest the idea of founding a Jewish National Fund to buy land in Palestine, born in Erswilken, near Tauragė, a small town in Lithuania, Schapira was educated for the rabbinate. He was appointed to a position at the age of twenty-four. He went first to Odessa and later to Berlin, where he studied for three years in the Gewerbeakademie. Returning to Odessa, he became a merchant, but in 1878 he again took up his scientific studies, in 1880, with Lazarus Fuchs as thesis advisor, he earned his doctorate with the dissertation Lineare homogene Cofunktionen. In 1883 he established himself as privat-docent in mathematics at the University of Heidelberg and his contributions to mathematics were published in various mathematical journals. He was also an ardent Zionist, adhering from the start to the Basel program. In 1884 Schapira was to suggest the idea of founding a Jewish National Fund in order to land in Palestine. He voiced his idea again in the First Zionist Congress of 1897, nonetheless, he is still considered founder of the JNF, which became an important player within the Zionist movement and had a great effect on the development and forestation of modern Israel. At that same Zionist congress in 1897, Shapira brought up the idea to found a Hebrew University in Jerusalem, during a Zionist lecture tour he contracted pneumonia in Cologne, and died in the city on 8 May 1898. Kohut, Berühmte Israelitische Männer und Frauen, vi, may 13,1898, Aḥiasaf,1898, pp. 296–301, Ha-Meliẓ,1898, No. 95,1899, Nos.62,68,76,77 This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Singer, Isidore. New York, Funk & Wagnalls Company, works by or about Hermann Schapira at Internet Archive Hermann Schapira at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
21.
Tel Aviv
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Tel Aviv-Yafo is a major city in Israel, located on the countrys Mediterranean coastline. It is the center and the technology hub of Israel, with a population of 432,892. Tel Aviv is the largest city in the Gush Dan region of Israel, Tel Aviv is also a focal point in the high-tech concentration known as the Silicon Wadi. Tel Aviv is governed by the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality, headed by Ron Huldai, Tel Aviv is a global city, and is the thirty eighth most important financial center in the world. Tel Aviv is known to have the third-largest economy of any city in the Middle East after Abu Dhabi and Kuwait City, the city receives over a million international visitors annually. Known as The City that Never Sleeps and a party capital, it has a lively nightlife, the city was founded in 1909 by Jewish immigrants on the outskirts of the ancient port city of Jaffa. It is named after the Hebrew translation of Theodor Herzls 1902 novel, Altneuland, the modern citys first neighbourhoods had already been established in 1886, the first being Neve Tzedek. Immigration by mostly Jewish refugees meant that the growth of Tel Aviv soon outpaced Jaffas, Tel Aviv and Jaffa were merged into a single municipality in 1950, two years after the establishment of the State of Israel. Tel Avivs White City, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003, Tel Aviv is the Hebrew title of Theodor Herzls Altneuland, translated from German by Nahum Sokolow. The name was chosen in 1910 from several suggestions, including Herzliya and it was found fitting as it embraced the idea of a renaissance in the ancient Jewish homeland. Aviv is Hebrew for spring, symbolizing renewal, and tel is a man-made mound accumulating layers of civilization built one over the other and symbolizing the ancient. Although founded in 1909 as a settlement on the sand dunes North of Jaffa. The marketing pamphlets advocating for its establishment in 1906, wrote, In this city we will build the streets so they have roads and sidewalks and electric lights. Every house will have water wells that will flow through pipes as in every modern European city. Since 1886, Jewish settlers had founded new neighborhoods outside Jaffa on the current territory of Tel Aviv, the first was Neve Tzedek, built on lands owned by Aharon Chelouche and inhabited primarily by Mizrahi Jews. Other neighborhoods were Neve Shalom, Yafa Nof, Achva, Ohel Moshe, Kerem HaTeimanim, once Tel Aviv received city status in the 1920s, those neighborhoods joined the newly formed municipality, now becoming separated from Jaffa. The Second Aliyah led to further expansion, in 1906, a group of Jews, among them residents of Jaffa, followed the initiative of Akiva Aryeh Weiss and banded together to form the Ahuzat Bayit society. The societys goal was to form a Hebrew urban centre in an environment, planned according to the rules of aesthetics
22.
Postage stamps and postal history of Palestine
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The postage stamps and postal history of Palestine emerges from its geographic location as a crossroads amidst the empires of the ancient Near East, the Levant and the Middle East. Since 1948, postal services have been provided by Egypt, Jordan, Israel, when discussing the pre-1948 postal history, most philatelists refer to this geographic area as Palestine or the Holy Land, though some also use Eretz Israel. This article surveys the history leading up to the areas two current postal administrations, that of the State of Israel and the Palestinian National Authority. Prior to modern history, imperial administrations set up mechanisms for the delivery of packages. The earliest use of a system in the region is thought to date back to the Bronze Age. His empire, was bound together by roads, along which there was a postal service. During Persian rule, a network of roads maintained by the Persian government formed part of an efficient imperial postal system. The postal systems establishment and the improvements to the network are credited to the monarch Darius I. The Persian courier system forms part of the backdrop to events described in the Hebrew Bibles Book of Esther, the Umayyad empire who introduced the first purely Arab coinage in Palestine also developed a system of postal service. Khans distributed along the main north-south and east-west roads that served as resting places for pilgrims and travellers facilitated the operation of the postal service, known as the barid. A postal system known as the Barīd was also operated under the rule of the Abbasid caliphate, under Fatimid rule, a pigeon post was maintained that was later perfected by the Mamluks. The pedigrees of carrier pigeons were kept in a special registrar, the message, written in Arabic, read as follows, Greetings from the king of Acre to the duke of Caesarea. A generation of dogs, a foolish, headstrong, disorderly race, has gone through my land, if you value your way of life, you and others of the faith should bring harm to them, since you can easily do what you wish. Transmit this message to other cities and strongholds, carrier pigeons were regularly used in this period. For example, Edward Gibbon notes that during the siege of Acre by the Crusaders, during the rule of the Mamluks, mounted mail service was operated in Deir el-Balah, Lydda, Lajjun and other towns on the Cairo to Damascus route. The postal system established by the Mamluks, under the leadership of Baybars, was known as the Barīd, the nephew of the chief secretary to Sultan Baybars attributed the Barids adoption and development by the Mamluks to the recommendations of his uncle, al-Sahib Sharaf al-Din Abu Muhammed Al-Wahab. After the Mamluks dislodged the Crusaders, annexed the Ayyubid principalities, at this point, imperial communications throughout Palestine were so efficient that Baybars would boast that he could play polo in Cairo and Damascus in the same week. An even more rapid carrier pigeon post was maintained between the two cities and its use in forming a defensive league against the Crusaders was noted by Raymond of Agiles, who thought it rather unsporting
23.
Hadera
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Hadera is a city located in the Haifa District of Israel, in the northern Sharon region, approximately 45 kilometers from the major cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. The city is located along 7 km of the Israeli Mediterranean Coastal Plain, the city has a population of about 91,634, which includes a high proportion of immigrants arriving since 1990, notably from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union. In 2015 it had a population of 88,783, Hadera was established in 1891 as a farming colony by members of the Zionist group, Hovevei Zion, from Lithuania and Latvia. By 1948, it was a center with a population of 11,800. In 1952, Hadera was declared a city, with jurisdiction over an area of 53,000 dunams. Hadera was founded in 1891, in the early days modern Zionism by Jewish immigrants from Lithuania and Latvia on land purchased by Yehoshua Hankin, the land was purchased from a Christian effendi, Selim Khuri. This was the largest purchase of land in Eretz Israel by a Zionist group, although the land was of low quality, the only inhabitants prior to the purchase were a few families raising water buffaloes and selling reeds. The town may derive its name from the Arabic word khadra, the first settlers lived in a house known as the Khan near Haderas main synagogue. Initially, Hadera was a lonely outpost of 10 families and 4 guards, in its early years, however, the town had issues with land ownership having drained the swamps with the aid of Egyptian workers sent to them by Baron Edmond de Rothschild. Old tombstones in the local cemetery reveal that out of a population of 540,210 died of malaria, relations between the residents of Hadera and neighboring Bedouins were poor and HaShomer organization was assigned to guarding the fields. By the early century, the town had become a regional economic center. Land disputes in the area were resolved by the 1930s, by which time, free schooling was introduced in the city in 1937 in all schools apart from the Histadrut school. Haderas population began to grow dramatically after Israeli independence in 1948 as immigrants flocked to the country, among the immigrants to the city were Russian and other European immigrants and also 40 Yemenite families. In 1953, Israels first paper mill opened in the town, sponsored by investors from within Israel as well as from the United States, Brazil, and Australia, the mill was designed to meet all of Israels paper needs. It was also at this time that the Givat Olga neighborhood was constructed on the coast, in 1964, Hadera was declared a city. The city grew dramatically during the 1990s as it absorbed large numbers of Russian and Ethiopian immigrants, in addition, four civilians were killed when a terrorist opened fire on pedestrians at a bus stop on October 28,2001. However, since the construction of the nearby West Bank barrier, on August 4,2006, three rockets fired by Hezbollah hit Hadera. Hadera is 50 miles south of the Lebanese border and marked the farthest point inside Israel hit by Hezbollah, Hadera has traditionally been known as a backwater
24.
Sea of Galilee
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The Sea of Galilee, also Kinneret, Lake of Gennesaret, or Lake Tiberias, is a large freshwater lake in Israel. It is approximately 53 km in circumference, about 21 km long and its area is 166.7 km2 at its fullest, and its maximum depth is approximately 43 m. At levels between 215 metres and 209 metres below sea level, it is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth, the lake is fed partly by underground springs although its main source is the Jordan River which flows through it from north to south. The Sea of Galilee is situated in northeast Israel, between the Golan Heights and the Galilee region, in the Jordan Rift Valley, the caused by the separation of the African and Arabian Plates. Consequently, the area is subject to earthquakes, and in the past and this is evident by the abundant basalt and other igneous rocks that define the geology of the Galilee. The lake has been called by different names throughout its history, with changing fate of the towns, the lakes name also changed. This name was found in the scripts of Ugarit, in the Aqhat Epic. Kinneret was listed among the cities in Joshua 19,35. A persistent, though likely erroneous popular etymology of the name presumes that the name Kinneret may originate from the Hebrew word kinnor, the scholarly consensus though is that the origin of the name lies with the important Bronze and Iron Age city of Kinneret, excavated at Tell el-Oreimeh. However, there is no evidence that the city of Kinneret itself was not named after the body of water rather than vice versa, or for the origin of the towns name. Sea of Ginosar The Babylonian Talmud, as well as Flavius Josephus mention the sea by the name Sea of Ginosar after the fertile plain of Ginosar that lies on its western side. Ginosar is yet another name derived from Kinneret, Sea of Tiberias is also the name mentioned in Roman texts and in the Jerusalem Talmud, and was adopted into Arabic as Buhairet Tabariyya, Lake Tiberias. This is the name employed by the medieval Persian and Arab scholars Al-Baladhuri, Al-Tabari, in 1989 remains of a hunter-gatherer site were found under the water at the southern end. Remains of mud huts were found which are the oldest known buildings in the world, the Sea of Galilee lies on the ancient Via Maris, which linked Egypt with the northern empires. The Greeks, Hasmoneans, and Romans founded flourishing towns and settlements on the lake including Hippos. The first-century historian Flavius Josephus was so impressed by the area that he wrote, Josephus also reported a thriving fishing industry at this time, with 230 boats regularly working in the lake. Archaeologists discovered one such boat, nicknamed the Jesus Boat, in 1986, much of the ministry of Jesus occurred on the shores of Lake Galilee. In those days, there was a ribbon development of settlements and villages around the lake and plenty of trade
25.
Ben Shemen
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Ben Shemen is a moshav in central Israel. Located around four kilometres east of Lod, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hevel Modiin Regional Council, in 2015 it had a population of 855. The villages name is taken from Isaiah 5,1, Let me sing of my well-beloved and my well-beloved had a vineyard in a very fruitful hill. and also reflects the JNFs planting of olive trees in this area. The moshav was founded in 1905, and was one of the first villages established on Jewish National Fund land, according to a census conducted in 1922 by the British Mandate authorities, Ben Shemen had a population of 90 Jews. Which had increased in the 1931 census to 353 residents, in 30 houses, in 1923 it was split in two, with a group of trial farms eventually becoming a separate moshav, Kerem Ben Shemen. The Ben Shemen Youth Village was established adjacent to the moshav in 1927 and is today an agricultural boarding school. During World War II, Ben Shemen was the site of a British search for weapons, similar searches were a common British response to Jewish opposition to the White Paper of 1939. In 1947 Ben Shemen had a population of 75, the village experienced extensive damage during the early days of the 1948 Arab–Israeli war and had to be reconstructed. Immigrants from Romania joined the moshavin 1952, some houses were built by Bezalel Academy of Art and Design founder Boris Schatz. Benjamin Elazari Volcani Aharon Yadlin Ben Shemen, Cross-Israel Highway, Reproduction of an oil press Israel Antiquities Authority
26.
Israeli Declaration of Independence
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It declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel, which would come into effect on termination of the British Mandate at midnight that day. The event is celebrated annually in Israel with a national holiday Yom Haatzmaut on 5 Iyar of every year according to the Hebrew calendar, the possibility of a Jewish homeland in Palestine had been a goal of Zionist organizations since the late 19th century. After World War I, the United Kingdom was given a mandate for Palestine, in the face of increasing violence after World War II, the British handed the issue over to the recently established United Nations. The result was Resolution 181, a plan to partition Palestine into Independent Arab and Jewish States, the Jewish state was to receive around 56% of the land area of Mandate Palestine, encompassing 82% of the Jewish population, though it would be separated from Jerusalem. The plan was accepted by most of the Jewish population, the result was 33 to 13 in favour of the resolution, with 10 abstentions. Resolution 181, PART I, Future constitution and government of Palestine, TERMINATION OF MANDATE, PARTITION AND INDEPENDENCE, Clause 3 provides, Independent Arab and Jewish States and the Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem. Shall come into existence in Palestine two months after the evacuation of the forces of the mandatory Power has been completed. The first draft of the declaration was made by Zvi Berenson, a revised second draft was made by three lawyers, A. Beham, A. Hintzheimer and Z. E. Baker, and was framed by a committee including David Remez, Pinchas Rosen, Haim-Moshe Shapira, Moshe Sharett, a second committee meeting, which included David Ben-Gurion, Yehuda Leib Maimon, Sharett and Zisling produced the final text. On 12 May 1948, the Minhelet HaAm was convened to vote on declaring independence, three of the thirteen members were missing, with Yehuda Leib Maimon and Yitzhak Gruenbaum being blocked in besieged Jerusalem, while Yitzhak-Meir Levin was in the United States. The meeting started at 1,45 in the afternoon and ended after midnight, the decision was between accepting the American proposal for a truce, or declaring independence. The latter option was put to a vote, with six of the ten members present supporting it, For, David Ben-Gurion, Moshe Sharett, Peretz Bernstein, Haim-Moshe Shapira, Mordechai Bentov, against, Eliezer Kaplan, David Remez, Pinchas Rosen, Bechor-Shalom Sheetrit. Chaim Weizmann, chairman of the World Zionist Organization and soon to be the first President of Israel, endorsed the decision, after reportedly asking What are they waiting for, the idiots. The draft text was submitted for approval to a meeting of Moetzet HaAm at the JNF building in Tel Aviv on 14 May. The meeting started at 13,50 and ended at 15,00, an hour before the declaration was due to be made, during the process, there were two major debates, centering on the issues of borders and religion. On the border issue, the draft had declared that the borders would be that decided by the UN partition plan. While this was supported by Rosen and Bechor-Shalom Sheetrit, it was opposed by Ben-Gurion and Zisling, with Ben-Gurion stating, We accepted the UN Resolution and they are preparing to make war on us. If we defeat them and capture western Galilee or territory on both sides of the road to Jerusalem, these areas become part of the state
27.
Israeli land and property laws
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Besides tangible property, economic rights are also usually treated as property, in addition to being covered by the law of obligations. Israel came into existence on 14 May 1948 with its Declaration of Independence, the Provisional State Councils first legislative act was the Law and Administration Ordinance of 1948, a reception statute. The act adopted all existing laws with such modifications as may result from establishment of the State or its authorities, in respect of land law matters, Ottoman laws, as had been modified by British land law during the Mandate period, continued to apply. Most of these laws have been repealed by the last quarter of the 20th century, over time, a modern set of codificative statutes have been enacted. These are mostly a codification of common law norms, albeit with a continental influence. Chief among these are the Land Law,1969 and the Movable Property Law,1971 and they are joined by a multitude of other legislative acts pertaining to property law, in addition to a highly detailed body of case law by the Supreme Court and lower courts. The legal transfer of land is only effectuated when a deed is executed and registered in the Land Registry Bureau, under the Torrens title system, the Land Registry serves as an absolute guarantee of the title, allowing for a relatively easy and safe negotiation of land transactions. As of 2016, about 4% of the land area is still registered under a pre-Torrens. Private property rights enjoy a strong protection from encroachment, both by other private parties and by the government. Even when eminent domain is utilized, the government almost universally has to compensate for the value of the land. This is not to tone down other government encroachments on economic rights in Israel, including high taxes and a very high regulatory burden. While private ownership of land is common, most of the land in Israel is in the ownership of either the State of Israel, according to Basic Law, Israel Lands, enacted in 1960, the land owned by these three bodies is administered by the Israel Land Authority. The land so owned is often leased to private persons, typically in a lease for a period of 99 years. The most common type of housing in Israel is condominiums, the Land Law,1969 details the legal structure of this type of property, including the rights of tenants among themselves and towards third parties. The Land Law,1969 enacts a closed list approach, listing five types of claims that may exist towards land, ownership, rental, mortgage, beneficial use. However, in practice, other types of claims exist and are treated as equitable, in addition, a warning note or caveat is regularly placed in the Land Registry after a transaction is agreed upon and before its registration is completed. Of the 9.2 million dunams of land that was arable,7.8 million dunams was owned by Arabs,1.2 million by Jews and 0.2 million was public land. By 1949, some 700,000 Palestinians had fled or been expelled from their lands and villages
28.
Israeli pound
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Until 1952, the name used on the notes of the Anglo-Palestine Bank was Palestine pound, in Hebrew לירה אי. In Arabic, the name was given as junayh filisţīnī, in 1952, the Anglo-Palestine Bank changed its name to Bank Leumi Le-Yisrael and the currency name became, lira yisraelit in Hebrew, junayh isrāīlī in Arabic, and Israel pound in English. From 1955, after the Bank of Israel was established and took over the duty of issuing banknotes, only the Hebrew name was used, banknotes in circulation were issued by the Palestine Currency Board, which was subject to the British Secretary of State for the Colonies. Israel inherited the Palestine pound but, shortly after the establishment of the state, the new coins were the first to bear the new states name, while the banknotes said The Anglo-Palestine Bank Limited. While the first coins minted by Israel still bore the name mil, a second series of banknotes was issued after the Anglo-Palestine Bank moved its headquarters to Tel Aviv and changed its name to Bank Leumi. The pegging to the UK Pound was abolished on January 1,1954, and in 1960, the sub-division of the pound was changed from 1000 prutot to 100 agorot. During the 1960s, a debate over the name of the Israeli currency resulted in a law ordering the Minister of Finance to change the name pound into a Hebrew name. The law allowed the minister to decide on a date for the change. The law did not come into effect until February 1980, when the Israeli government decided to change the monetary system, israels first coins were aluminium 25 mil pieces, dated 1948 and 1949, which were issued in 1949 before the adoption of the pruta. Later in 1949, coins were issued in denominations of 1,5,10,25,50,100 and 250 prutah, the coins were conceived, in part, by Israeli graphic designer Otte Wallish. In 1960, coins were issued denominated in agora, there were 1,5,10 and 25 agorot pieces. In 1963, 1/2 and 1 pound coins were introduced, followed by 5 lirot coins in 1978, in 1948, the government issued fractional notes for 50 and 100 mils. The Anglo-Palestine Bank issued banknotes for 500 mils,1,5,10 and 50 lirot between 1948 and 1951, in 1952, the government issued a second series of fractional notes for 50 and 100 prutah with 250 prutah notes added in 1953. Also in 1952, the Bank Leumi Le-Israel took over paper money production, the Bank of Israel began note production in 1955, also issuing notes for 500 pruta,1,5,10 and 50 lirot. In 1968,100 lirot notes were introduced, followed by 500 lirot notes in 1975, in the third banknote issuing, released between 1973 and 1975, a feature was added for use in identifying denomination by visually impaired and blind people. Bank of Israel Economy of Israel Paul Kor Bank of Israel catalogue of Israeli currency since 1948 Israeli Lirah coins with pictures
29.
Israel Land Administration
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The Israel Land Administration is an Israeli government authority responsible for managing land in Israel which is in the public domain. It manages 93% of the land in the country, as a result of reforms soon it will be transformed into Israel Land Authority. Israel Land Administration was created in 1960 as a result of the Knesset legislature to oversee the distribution and protection of all lands in Israel. According to the Basic law, Israel lands, ILA manages the land in Israel that is either property of the state, today it is responsible for some 4,820,500 acres that constitute 93% of Israels lands. The remaining 7% of land is privately owned or under the protection of religious authorities. Israel Lands Law details several exceptions to the basic law, Israel Land Administration Law describes the details of establishing and operating the Israel Land Administration. Covenant between the State of Israel and the World Zionist Organization The Israel Land Council sets policy for the ILA and it is chaired by Israels Vice Prime Minister, the Minister of Industry, Trade, Labor and Communications. The Council has 22 members,12 represent government ministries and 10 represent the Jewish National Fund, the Director General of the ILA is appointed by the government. Under Israeli law, the Israel Land Administration cannot lease land to foreign nationals, in practice foreigners may be allowed to lease if they show that they are eligible to immigrate to Israel in accordance with the Law of Return. The Courts decision precludes any restrictions on the leasing or sale of land based on nationality, religion, as a part of reforms started in 2009 the Israel Land Administration will be dismantled and Israel Land Authority will be created instead. A long-time land tenancy should turn into private land ownership, the reforms are meant to offer a greater supply of residential units that would cause housing prices to decline. On January 21,2013 prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed former Communications, kahlons candidacy was chosen since he enjoyed public support since he managed to reduce dramatically cellphone bills by setting major reforms at the communications market. It is expected that his appointment will contribute to lowering the cost of housing for Israelis as he is a person capable to do it and this Netanyahus decision has been highly criticized by other politicians since it was taken only two days before the elections. She filed a petition to the High Court of Justice, Israeli land and property laws Jewish National Fund Israel Land Authority Official website
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Negev
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The Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The regions largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba, in the north, at its southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the resort city of Eilat. It contains several development towns, including Dimona, Arad and Mitzpe Ramon, as well as a number of small Bedouin cities, including Rahat and Tel as-Sabi and Lakyah. There are also several kibbutzim, including Revivim and Sde Boker, the origin of the word negev is from the Hebrew root denoting dry. In the Bible, the word Negev is also used for the direction south, during the British Mandate it was called Beersheba sub-district. The Negev covers more than half of Israel, over some 13,000 km² or at least 55% of the land area. It forms a triangle shape whose western side is contiguous with the desert of the Sinai Peninsula. The Negev has a number of interesting cultural and geological features, among the latter are three enormous, craterlike makhteshim, which are unique to the region, Makhtesh Ramon, Makhtesh Gadol, and Makhtesh Katan. The Negev is a rocky desert and it is a melange of brown, rocky, dusty mountains interrupted by wadis and deep craters. It can be split into five different ecological regions, northern, western and central Negev, the high plateau, the northern Negev, or Mediterranean zone, receives 300 mm of rain annually and has fairly fertile soils. The western Negev receives 250 mm of rain per year, with light, sand dunes can reach heights of up to 30 metres here. The high plateau area of Ramat HaNegev stands between 370 metres and 520 metres above sea level with temperatures in summer and winter. The area gets 100 mm of rain per year, with inferior, the Arabah Valley along the Jordanian border stretches 180 km from Eilat in the south to the tip of the Dead Sea in the north. The Arabah Valley is very arid with barely 50 mm of rain annually and it has inferior soils in which little can grow without irrigation and special soil additives. Vegetation in the Negev is sparse, but certain trees and plants there, among them Acacia, Pistacia, Retama, Urginea maritima. A small population of Arabian leopards, an animal in the Arabian peninsula. The Negev Tortoise is a endangered species that currently lives only in the sands of the western. The Negev shrew is a species of mammal of the family Soricidae found only in Israel, hyphaene thebaica or doum palm can be found in the Southern Negev
31.
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
32.
Pope John Paul II
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Pope Saint John Paul II, born Karol Józef Wojtyła, was Pope from 1978 to 2005. He is called by some Catholics Saint John Paul the Great and he was elected by the second Papal conclave of 1978, which was called after Pope John Paul I, who had been elected in August after the death of Pope Paul VI, died after thirty-three days. Cardinal Wojtyła was elected on the day of the conclave. John Paul II is recognised as helping to end Communist rule in his native Poland, John Paul II significantly improved the Catholic Churchs relations with Judaism, Islam, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Anglican Communion. He upheld the Churchs teachings on such matters as artificial contraception and the ordination of women and he was one of the most travelled world leaders in history, visiting 129 countries during his pontificate. By the time of his death, he had named most of the College of Cardinals, consecrated or co-consecrated a large number of the worlds bishops, a key goal of his papacy was to transform and reposition the Catholic Church. His wish was to place his Church at the heart of a new alliance that would bring together Jews, Muslims. He was the second longest-serving pope in history after Pope Pius IX. Born in Poland, John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope since the Dutch Pope Adrian VI, John Paul IIs cause for canonisation commenced in 2005 one month after his death with the traditional five-year waiting period waived. A second miracle attributed to John Paul IIs intercession was approved on 2 July 2013, John Paul II was canonised on 27 April 2014, together with Pope John XXIII. On 11 September 2014, Pope Francis added John Paul IIs optional memorial feast day to the worldwide General Roman Calendar of saints, in response to worldwide requests. It is traditional to celebrate saints feast days on the anniversary of their deaths, Karol Józef Wojtyła was born in the Polish town of Wadowice. He was the youngest of three born to Karol Wojtyła, an ethnic Pole, and Emilia Kaczorowska, whose mothers maiden surname was Scholz. Emilia, who was a schoolteacher, died in childbirth in 1929 when Wojtyła was eight years old and his elder sister Olga had died before his birth, but he was close to his brother Edmund, nicknamed Mundek, who was 13 years his senior. Edmunds work as a physician led to his death from scarlet fever. As a boy, Wojtyła was athletic, often playing football as goalkeeper, during his childhood, Wojtyła had contact with Wadowices large Jewish community. School football games were organised between teams of Jews and Catholics, and Wojtyła often played on the Jewish side. I remember that at least a third of my classmates at school in Wadowice were Jews
33.
Nazareth
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Nazareth is the capital and the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as the Arab capital of Israel, in 2015 its population was 75,726. The inhabitants are predominantly Arab citizens of Israel, of whom 69% are Muslim and 30. 9% Christian, Nazareth Illit is built alongside old Nazareth, and had a Jewish population of 40,312 in 2014. The Jewish sector was declared a city in June 1974. In the New Testament, the town is described as the home of Jesus. One view suggests this toponym might be an example of a name used by resettling groups on their return from exile. The negative references to Nazareth in the Gospel of John suggest that ancient Jews did not connect the name to prophecy. Another theory holds that the Greek form Nazara, used in Matthew and Luke, may derive from an earlier Aramaic form of the name, or from another Semitic language form. If there were a tsade in the original Semitic form, as in the later Hebrew forms and this has led some scholars to question whether Nazareth and its cognates in the New Testament actually refer to the settlement known traditionally as Nazareth in Lower Galilee. In the Quran, Christians are referred to as naṣārā, meaning followers of an-Nāṣirī, in Lukes Gospel, Nazareth is first described as a town of Galilee and home of Mary. Following the birth and early epiphanial events of chapter 2 of Lukes Gospel, Mary, Joseph and Jesus returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. In English translations of the New Testament, the phrase Jesus of Nazareth appears seventeen times whereas the Greek has the form Jesus the Nazarēnos or Jesus the Nazōraios. One plausible view is that Nazōraean is a normal Greek adaptation of a reconstructed, Nazaréth is named twelve times in surviving Greek manuscript versions of the New Testament,10 times as Nazaréth or Nazarét, and twice as Nazará. The former two may retain the feminine endings common in Galilean toponyms, the minor variants, Nazarat and Nazarath are also attested. Nazara might be the earliest form of the name in Greek and it is found in Matthew 4,13 and Luke 4,16. However, the Textus Receptus clearly translates all passages as Nazara leaving little room for debate there, the form Nazara is also found in the earliest non-scriptural reference to the town, a citation by Sextus Julius Africanus dated about 221 CE. The Church Father Origen knows the forms Nazará and Nazarét, later, Eusebius in his Onomasticon also refers to the settlement as Nazara. The nașirutha of the scriptures of the Mandeans refers to craft, not to Nazareth
34.
Jerusalem Forest
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The Jerusalem Forest is a pine forest located in the Judean Mountains west of Jerusalem. It is surrounded by the Jerusalem neighborhoods Beit HaKerem, Yefe Nof, Ein Kerem, Har Nof, Givat Shaul, the forest was planted during the 1950s by the Jewish National Fund, financed by private donors. In the early years of the state, Jewish National Fund planted thousands of trees along the edge of Jerusalem. At its peak, the forest extended over about 4 square kilometres, over the years, it has shrunk due to urban expansion and today, it covers about 1.2 square kilometres. The Yad Vashem museum is located in the forest near Mount Herzl, in the middle of the forest, between Yad Vashem and Ein Kerem, there is a recreation center, the Chaim Tzippori Guest House, which has a hotel and youth hostel. On this same campus is the office of The Adam Institute for Democracy and Peace, the forest acts as a refuge for wildlife, and there are packs of jackals that inhabit the forest. At the end of the 1990s, environmental organizations and residents organized to fight for the future of the forest, list of forests in Israel Eshtaol Forest Wildlife of Israel Yatir Forest Akiva Eldar. Jerusalem Forest, the green lung, is in danger. Forum of Organizations for Jerusalem Forest, archived from the original on 23 July 2012
35.
Afforestation
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Afforestation is the establishment of a forest or stand of trees in an area where there was no previous tree cover. Reforestation is the reestablishment of forest cover, either naturally or artificially, forestation is the establishment of forest growth on areas that either had forest or lacked it. Reforestation and afforestation are categories of forestation, special tools, e. g. tree planting bar, are used to make planting of trees easier and faster. Gap dynamics is the pattern of plant growth that occurs following the creation of a forest gap, gap dynamics are a typical characteristic of temperate and tropical forests, and have a wide variety of causes and effects on forest life. In some places, forests need help to themselves because of environmental factors. For example, in zones, once forest cover is destroyed. Other factors include overgrazing by livestock, especially such as goats, cows. Together these may lead to desertification and the loss of topsoil, without soil, in some tropical areas, forest cover removal may result in a duricrust or duripan that effectively seal off the soil to water penetration and root growth. In many areas, reforestation is impossible because people are using the land, in other areas, mechanical breaking up of duripans or duricrusts is necessary, careful and continued watering may be essential, and special protection, such as fencing, may be needed. There is extensive and ongoing Amazon deforestation. )China has deforested most of its wooded areas. China reached the point where timber yields declined far below historic levels, although it has set official goals for reforestation, these goals are set over an 80-year time horizon and have not been significantly met by 2008. China is trying to correct these problems by projects as the Green Wall of China, a law promulgated in 1981 requires that every school student over the age of 11 plants at least one tree per year. As a result, China has the highest afforestation rate of any country or region in the world, however, the forest area per capita is still far lower than the international average. There has also been criticism regarding the effectiveness of planting so many trees especially in regions where they never grew prior. Studies reveal that the table of those areas is becoming deeper indicating significant water loss. India has witnessed an increase in the percentage of the land area under forest cover from 1950 to 2006. In 1950 around 40.48 million hectares was covered by forest, in 1980 it increased to 67.47 million hectares and in 2006 it was found to be 69 million hectares. 23% of India is covered by forest, the forests of India are grouped into 5 major categories and 16 types based on biophysical criteria
36.
Hula Valley
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The Hula Valley is an agricultural region in northern Israel with abundant fresh water. It is a stopover for birds migrating along the Syrian-African Rift Valley between Africa, Europe, and Asia. The marshland around Lake Hula, a ground for mosquitoes carrying malaria, was drained in the 1950s. A small section of the valley was later reflooded in an attempt to revive a nearly extinct ecosystem, an estimated 500 million migrating birds now pass through the Hula Valley every year. Lake Hula was historically referred to by different names, the 14th century BCE Egyptians called the lake Samchuna, while the Hebrew Bible records it as Merom. In the 1st century CE, the Jewish-Roman historian Flavius Josephus termed it Semechonitis, John Lightfoot writing it as Samochonitis, currently the lake is called Buheirat el Huleh in Arabic and Agam ha-Hula in Hebrew, stemming from the Aramaic Hulata or Ulata. The Waters of Merom has sometimes used in scientific literature. On both sides of the valley are steep slopes, the Golan Heights to the east and the Upper Galilees Naftali mountains to the west rise to 400 to 900 meters above sea level. Annual rainfall varies greatly between different parts of the valley and ranges from about 400 millimeters in the south of the valley, the wind regime is dominated by regional patterns in the winter with occasional strong north-easterly wind storms known in Arabic as Sharkiyah. Prior to its drainage in the early 1950s, Lake Hula was 5.3 kilometers long and 4.4 kilometers wide and it was about one and a half meters deep in summer and three meters deep in winter. The lake attracted human settlement from prehistoric times. Paleolithic archaeological remains were found near the Bnot Yaakov bridge at the end of the valley. The first permanent settlement, Enan, dates from 9, 000-10,000 years ago and was discovered in the valley, the Hula Valley was a main junction on the important trade route connecting the large commercial centre of Damascus with the eastern Mediterranean coast and Egypt. During the Bronze Age, the cities of Hazor and Laish were built at key locations on this route approximately 4,000 years ago. At some point the area came under Israelite control until it was captured by the Assyrian armies of Tiglath-Pileser III, the Bible records lake Merom as the site of a victory of Joshua over the Canaanites. Throughout the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and early Arab periods rural settlement in the Hula Valley was uninterrupted, during the Seleucid Empire, the town Seleucia Samulias was founded on the lake shore. Traditional crops were rice, cotton and sugar cane, sorghum, water buffalo were introduced in the eighth century supplying milk and serving as beasts of burden. In the 19th century, the valley, mainly marshy ground, John MacGregor, a Victorian adventurer, was captured with his boat, the Rob Roy, by dark-skinned Bedouin living in the Hula marshes
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Olive
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Olea europeana sylvestris is a subspecies that corresponds to a smaller tree bearing noticeably smaller fruits. The olives fruit, also called the olive, is of agricultural importance in the Mediterranean region as the source of olive oil. The tree and its fruit give their name to the plant family, which includes species such as lilacs, jasmine, Forsythia. The word derives from Latin ŏlīva a borrowing from the Greek ἐλαία, the oldest attested forms of the Greek words are the Mycenaean
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Pine
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A pine is any conifer in the genus Pinus, /ˈpiːnuːs/, of the family Pinaceae. Pinus is the genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The Plant List compiled by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts 126 species names of pines as current, together with 35 unresolved species, the modern English name pine derives from Latin pinus, which some have traced to the Indo-European base *pīt- ‘resin’. Before the 19th century, pines were often referred to as firs, the genus is divided into three subgenera, which can be distinguished by cone, seed, and leaf characters, Pinus subg. Pinus, the yellow, or hard pine group, generally harder wood. Ducampopinus, the foxtail or pinyon group Pinus subg, strobus, the white, or soft pine group, generally with softer wood and five needles per fascicle Most regions of the Northern Hemisphere host some native species of pines. One species crosses the equator in Sumatra to 2°S, in North America, various species occur in regions at latitudes from as far north as 66°N to as far south as 12°N. Various species have been introduced to temperate and subtropical regions of both hemispheres, where they are grown as timber or cultivated as ornamental plants in parks, a number of such introduced species have become invasive and threaten native ecosystems. Pine trees are evergreen, coniferous trees growing 3–80 m tall. The smallest are Siberian dwarf pine and Potosi pinyon, and the tallest is a 81.79 m tall ponderosa pine located in southern Oregons Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, the bark of most pines is thick and scaly, but some species have thin, flaky bark. The branches are produced in regular pseudo whorls, actually a very tight spiral, the spiral growth of branches, needles, and cone scales are arranged in Fibonacci number ratios. The new spring shoots are sometimes called candles, they are covered in brown or whitish bud scales and point upward at first, then turn green. These candles offer foresters a means to evaluate fertility of the soil, pines are long-lived, and typically reach ages of 100–1,000 years, some even more. The longest-lived is the Great Basin bristlecone pine, Pinus longaeva, one individual of this species, dubbed Methuselah, is one of the worlds oldest living organisms at around 4,600 years old. This tree can be found in the White Mountains of California, an older tree, now cut down, was dated at 4,900 years old. It was discovered in a grove beneath Wheeler Peak and it is now known as Prometheus after the Greek immortal, pines have four types of leaf, Seed leaves on seedlings, born in a whorl of 4–24. Juvenile leaves, which follow immediately on seedlings and young plants, 2–6 cm long, single, green or often blue-green and these are produced for six months to five years, rarely longer. Scale leaves, similar to bud scales, small, brown and non-photosynthetic, needles, the adult leaves, are green and bundled in clusters called fascicles
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Cypress
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Cypress is the name applied to many plants in the cypress family Cupressaceae, which is a conifer of northern temperate regions. Most cypress species are trees, while a few are shrubs, the word cypress is derived from Old French cipres, which was imported from Latin cypressus the latinisation of the Greek κυπάρισσος. Species that are known as cypresses include, The Cupressaceae family also contains 13–16 other genera that do not bear cypress in their common names. Species of cypress with very low potential for causing allergies include, Austrocedrus females and Widdringtonia females
40.
Rawabi
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Rawabi is the first planned city built for and by Palestinians. In the West Bank, and is hailed as a flagship Palestinian enterprise, Rawabi is located near Birzeit and Ramallah. The master plan drawn up for the city, envisages 6,000 housing units. The delay was attributed to the Joint Water Committee, with Israelis blaming Palestinians for the delay, the apartments stood empty, with Rawabi remaining uninhabited, because the city was waterless, and stood for some years like a ghost town. On March 1,2015, its developer, Bashar al-Masri, in Israel Rawabi is called The Palestinian Modiin. Buyers started moving into apartments in August 2015, Rawabi is 9 kilometres northwest of Ramallah,3.5 kilometres north of Birzeit,20 kilometres to the north of Jerusalem,40 km to the east of Tel Aviv, and 25 kilometres south of Nablus. Amman, the capital of Jordan, is 70 kilometres to the east, in addition, the Israeli settlement of Ateret is nearby. Masri envisages the later as becoming a suburb of Rawabi in the future, the construction site stretches over two ridges,700 meters above sea level. On a clear day, it is possible to see the Mediterranean Sea,40 kilometres to the west, Rawabis municipal boundaries will encompass 6,300,000 square meters of land. Residential and commercial development is based on an estimate of 40,000. One problem was that the West Bank lacked a traditional mortgage system, to that end, the development was linked to a $500m affordable mortgage scheme. The Washington Post reports that Rawabi is specifically designed for upwardly mobile families of a sort that in the United States might gravitate to places such as Reston, VA. The developments are also relying on another American import, the home mortgage, Rawabi is the largest private sector project in Palestinian history. It was initiated at the Palestine Investment Conference, which place in Bethlehem in 2008. The total cost of the development, mostly funded by the Qatari company LDR and Masri, as of June 2015, the total investment in Rawabi is US$1.2 billion. Masri sees the development as an part of a nation-building project. He himself recalls that when he was a boy in Nablus, to complete the project, it was calculated that 8,000 and 10,000 new jobs would be created in the Palestinian construction sector. The Palestinian Authority is responsible for providing infrastructure, while Bayti is tasked with the design
41.
Nahal Alexander
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Nahal Alexander is a river in Israel that flows from the western side of the Samaria mountain belt in the West Bank to the Mediterranean Sea, north of Netanya. The length of the river is about 45 km, several small streams flow into Nahal Alexander, Nablus, Teenim, Ometz, Bahan, and Avihail. Most of the river is located in the Hefer Valley, Nahal Alexander is the habitat of soft-shell turtles that can reach a size of 1.20 meters and weigh up to 50 kilograms. In addition to giant turtles, there are coots and other waterfowl, nutrias, indigenous fish include catfish, tilapia, river eels and mullet. On the southern bank there are shifting sand dunes and on the northern bank, hurvat Samra, an ancient ruin on a hill overlooking Nahal Alexander, may have been a customs station for goods transported down the river to the port near the estuary. Beit Yanai beach is located where the flows into the Mediterranean. North of the beach are remnants of a built in 1938. It was used for clandestine Jewish immigration to Palestine when British authorities turned away ships of European Jews fleeing the Nazis, in the winter of 1991, Nahal Alexander overflowed and most of its soft-shelled turtle population drifted into the Mediterranean. When the remaining eggs that failed to hatch, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority launched a project to collect the eggs, incubate them, in 2003, Nahal Alexander was part of a cleanup project that won first prize in the Riverprize environmental rehabilitation competition in Australia
42.
Dune
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In physical geography, a dune is a hill of loose sand built by wind or the flow of water. Dunes occur in different shapes and sizes, formed by interaction with the flow of air or water, most kinds of dunes are longer on the windward side where the sand is pushed up the dune and have a shorter slip face in the lee of the wind. The valley or trough between dunes is called a slack, a dune field is an area covered by extensive sand dunes. Dunes occur, for example, in deserts and along some coasts. Some coastal areas have one or more sets of dunes running parallel to the shoreline directly inland from the beach, in most cases, the dunes are important in protecting the land against potential ravages by storm waves from the sea. Although the most widely distributed dunes are those associated with coastal regions, Dunes can form under the action of water flow, and on sand or gravel beds of rivers, estuaries and the sea-bed. The modern word dune came into English from French c,1790, which in turn came from Middle Dutch dūne. Crescent-shaped mounds are generally wider than they are long, the slipfaces are on the concave sides of the dunes. These dunes form under winds that blow consistently from one direction, some types of crescentic dunes move more quickly over desert surfaces than any other type of dune. A group of dunes moved more than 100 metres per year between 1954 and 1959 in Chinas Ningxia Province, and similar speeds have been recorded in the Western Desert of Egypt. The largest crescentic dunes on Earth, with mean crest-to-crest widths of more than three kilometres, are in Chinas Taklamakan Desert. They may be composed of clay, silt, sand, or gypsum, eroded from the floor or shore, transported up the concave side of the dune. Examples in Australia are up to 6.5 km long,1 km wide and they also occur in southern and West Africa, and in parts of the western United States, especially Texas. Straight or slightly sinuous sand ridges typically much longer than they are wide are known as linear dunes and they may be more than 160 kilometres long. Some linear dunes merge to form Y-shaped compound dunes, many form in bidirectional wind regimes. The long axes of these dunes extend in the resultant direction of sand movement, linear loess hills known as pahas are superficially similar. These hills appear to have formed during the last ice age under permafrost conditions dominated by sparse tundra vegetation. Radially symmetrical, star dunes are pyramidal sand mounds with slipfaces on three or more arms that radiate from the center of the mound
43.
Liman irrigation system
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A Liman in Israel is the name for an artificial earthen construction used to collect floodwater by damming a desert wadi. The runoff water is slowed down by the dam, thus flooding a small area and this way, a small groves of trees can be sustained in the desert. The JNF-KKL has been funding the construction of limans in the Negev Desert, limans were built in order to fight desertification without depleting groundwater resources, which are becoming increasingly rare in arid ecosystems. Remaining soil humidity can be found in dry river beds after rains occur, the result is massive soil erosion and the destruction of infrastructure. Also, the infiltration is insufficient because of the waters velocity, the aim of building limans is to stop flash floods and to increase water infiltration, thus sustaining the growth of drought-hardy tree species and vegetation underneath them. Limans are structures with small dams which catch runoff from a wadi to hold about 400-600mm of water, limans can be built wherever tributary wadis widen or come onto a large plain with potential arable land. A check-dam is built to retain runoff waters, a spillway regulates the level of the water to prevent the destruction of the check-dam. The embankment height should be 3-4 times the water depth. Also, grazers should be excluded from the site to prevent soil compaction which would in turn decrease water infiltration, because of its fast growth, Eucalyptus occidentalis was mostly used in the past. However, some studies have had better results with Eucalyptus sargentii. Overall, any species are suitable, such as tamarind, acacia, prosopis, pistachio, eucalyptus, date palms. This was not the case Carbon sequestration, Because of the biomass increase, scientists were hoping for a methane uptake, but it could not be measured in limans. Instead, they found a shallow zone of methane production, because desert crusts prevent rainwater from infiltrating the ground, they generate surface run-off that can lead to flash floods and to top-soil erosion. Limans prevent both the loss of runoff and of topsoil, as well as plant nutrients. On top of that, they provide a place to deposit these resources. So far, no research has been conducted on biodiversity within limans
44.
Rainwater
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Rain is liquid water in the form of droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then precipitated—that is, become heavy enough to fall under gravity. Rain is a component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides suitable conditions for many types of ecosystems, as well as water for power plants. The major cause of production is moisture moving along three-dimensional zones of temperature and moisture contrasts known as weather fronts. If enough moisture and upward motion is present, precipitation falls from convective clouds such as cumulonimbus which can organize into narrow rainbands. On the leeward side of mountains, desert climates can exist due to the dry air caused by downslope flow which causes heating and drying of the air mass, the movement of the monsoon trough, or intertropical convergence zone, brings rainy seasons to savannah climes. The urban heat island effect leads to increased rainfall, both in amounts and intensity, downwind of cities, global warming is also causing changes in the precipitation pattern globally, including wetter conditions across eastern North America and drier conditions in the tropics. The globally averaged annual precipitation over land is 715 mm, climate classification systems such as the Köppen climate classification system use average annual rainfall to help differentiate between differing climate regimes. Rainfall is measured using rain gauges, rainfall amounts can be estimated by weather radar. Rain is also known or suspected on other planets, where it may be composed of methane, neon, sulfuric acid, or even iron rather than water. Air contains water vapor, and the amount of water in a mass of dry air. The amount of moisture in air is commonly reported as relative humidity. How much water vapor a parcel of air can contain before it becomes saturated, warmer air can contain more water vapor than cooler air before becoming saturated. Therefore, one way to saturate a parcel of air is to cool it, the dew point is the temperature to which a parcel must be cooled in order to become saturated. There are four mechanisms for cooling the air to its dew point, adiabatic cooling, conductive cooling, radiational cooling. Adiabatic cooling occurs when air rises and expands, the air can rise due to convection, large-scale atmospheric motions, or a physical barrier such as a mountain. Conductive cooling occurs when the air comes into contact with a surface, usually by being blown from one surface to another. Radiational cooling occurs due to the emission of infrared radiation, either by the air or by the surface underneath, evaporative cooling occurs when moisture is added to the air through evaporation, which forces the air temperature to cool to its wet-bulb temperature, or until it reaches saturation
