HST 385 Zionism and Israel Final Study Guide

The Law of Return

1950, every Jew had a right to settle in Israel and gain automatic-citizenship. Anyone of partial Jewish descent, even non-Jewish spouses and children, anyone who converted to Judaism abroad, all had the right to citizenship. It was an attempt to bring in mass waves of Jewish people to ensure a Jewish majority in Israel, giving them rights to their 'national homeland'.

Operation Peace in the Galilee

1982 Lebanon War, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) invaded southern Lebanon, after repeated attacks and counter-attacks between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) operating in southern Lebanon and the IDF that had caused civilian casualties on both sides of the border. The military operation was launched after gunmen from Abu Nidal's organization attempted to assassinate Shlomo Argov, Israel's ambassador to the United Kingdom. Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin blamed Abu Nidal's enemy, the PLO, for the incident, and treated the incident as a just war cause for the invasion. After attacking the PLO - as well as Syrian, leftist, and Muslim Lebanese forces - the Israeli military, in cooperation with the Maronite allies and the self-proclaimed Free Lebanon State, occupied southern Lebanon, eventually surrounding the PLO and elements of the Syrian Army. Surrounded in West Beirut and subjected to heavy bombardment, the PLO forces and their allies negotiated passage from Lebanon with the aid of United States Special Envoy Philip Habib and the protection of international peacekeepers. The PLO, under the chairmanship of Yasser Arafat, had relocated its headquarters to Tripoli in June 1982. By expelling the PLO, removing Syrian influence over Lebanon, and installing a pro-Israeli Christian government led by President Bachir Gemayel, Israel hoped to sign a treaty which Menachem Begin promised would give Israel "forty years of peace." Following the assassination of Gemayel in September 1982, Israel's position in Beirut became untenable and the signing of a peace treaty became increasingly unlikely. Outrage following Israel's role in the Phalangist-perpetrated Sabra and Shatila massacre, of mostly Palestinians and Lebanese Shiites, and Israeli popular disillusionment with the war would lead to a gradual withdrawal from Beirut to the areas claimed by the self-proclaimed Free Lebanon State in southern Lebanon (later to become the South Lebanon security belt), which was initiated following the 17 May Agreement and Syria's change of attitude towards the PLO. After Israeli forces withdrew from most of Lebanon, the War of the Camps broke out between Lebanese factions, the remains of the PLO and Syria, in which Syria fought its former Palestinian allies. At the same time, Shi'a militant groups began consolidating and waging a low-intensity guerrilla war over the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon, leading to 15 years of low-scale armed conflict. The Lebanese Civil War would continue until 1990, at which point Syria had established complete dominance over Lebanon

MAPAI

A Centre-left political part in irrael, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger into the modern-day Israeli labor Party in 1968. During its time in office a wide range of progressive reforms were carried out ; such as the establishment of a welfare state providing minimum income, security, and free access to housing subsidies and health and social services.

The Irgun

A belligerent Jewish militia that broke off from the Haganah. During the 1936-39 Arab revolt, they carried out 60 attacks against the Palestinian people and the British army. Often referred to as a terrorist organization.

Sabonim

A term for "soap", given to Holocaust survivors by Israeli leaders. During World War II it was believed that soap was being mass-produced from the bodies of the victims of Nazi concentration camps located in German-occupied Poland. David Ben Gurion even called Holocaust survivors "human dust". Survivors were looked down upon because it was a reminder of the sickly diaspora, and the complacent Jew. It was also a painful reminder that the Yishuv was powerless to save Jews in the Holocaust.

AIPAC

American Israel Public Affairs Committee. is a lobbying group that advocates pro-Israel policies to the Congress and Executive Branch of the United States.

Operation Magic Carpet

An operation between June 1949 and September 1950 that brought 49,000 Yemenite Jews to the new state of Israel. During its course, the overwhelming majority of Yemenite Jews - some 47,000 Yemeni were airlifted to Israel. British and American transport planes did this secret operation and it was not made public until several months after it was over.

Judea and Samaria

Ancient definitions: The ancient dual "Jewish" kingdoms within ancient Palestine. Samaria was the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and Jerusalem was the capital fo the Southern Kingdom of Judea. These two kingdoms were divided over temple worship and each had their own kings. These two kingdoms were the result of the split in the Jewish monarchy following the death of Solomon and the inheritance of two kingdoms by his sons. In modern times, this distinction serves the Israeli government as administrative divisions that encompass Israeli-occupied West Bank excluding East Jerusalem.

The Law of Administration Ordinance

Arabs were seen as a security threat by the new State of Israel, so in 1948 they created this ordinance which established "security zones" in Palestine, where 1,500 Arabs had to resettle away from sensitive areas. Created "defense areas" where most Arab citizens were subject to military rule and military courts, and also had curfews with limited mobility. This caused more physiological damage than physical, as a reminder that Arabs were now outsiders.

Chaim Nachman Bialik

Author of "City of Slaughter" in 1903 when he was commissioned by the Jewish Historical Society of Odessa to travel to Kishinev where a three day pogrom was happening and 47 Jews had been murdered. The Poem reflects the absence of justice and the indifference of nature but also attacks the Jews that had not defended themselves in the face of violence. He reestablished the publishing house he had started in Odessa, served on the board of the Hebrew University and as the honorary president of the Hebrew Writers' Union. He is known as the poet of Israel

Ehud Barak

Barak beat Benjamin Netanyahu by a wide margin. is an Israeli politician who served as the tenth Prime Minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until January 2011.

BDS

Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (also known as the BDS movement) is a global campaign promoting various forms of boycott against Israel until it meets what the campaign describes as "[Israel's] obligations under international law", defined as withdrawal from the occupied territories, removal of the separation barrier in the West Bank, full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, and promotion of the right of return of Palestinian refugees.

Yasser Arafat

Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004 and President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) from 1994 to 2004. Ideologically an Arab nationalist, he was a founding member of the Fatah political party, which he led from 1959 until 2004. Arafat was born to Palestinian parents in Cairo, Egypt, where he spent most of his youth and studied at the University of King Fuad I. While a student, he embraced Arab nationalist and anti-Zionist ideas. Opposed to the 1948 creation of the State of Israel, he fought alongside the Muslim Brotherhood during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Returning to Cairo, he served as president of the General Union of Palestinian Students from 1952 to 1956. In the latter part of the 1950s he co-founded Fatah, a paramilitary organization seeking the disestablishment of Israel and its replacement with a Palestinian state. Fatah operated within several Arab countries, from where it launched attacks on Israeli targets. From 1983 to 1993, Arafat based himself in Tunisia, and began to shift his approach from open conflict with the Israelis to negotiation. In 1988, he acknowledged Israel's right to exist and sought a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In 1994 he returned to Palestine, settling in Gaza City and promoting self-governance for the Palestinian territories. He engaged in a series of negotiations with the Israeli government to end the conflict between it and the PLO. These included the Madrid Conference of 1991, the 1993 Oslo Accords and the 2000 Camp David Summit. In 1994 Arafat received the Nobel Peace Prize, together with Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, for the negotiations at Oslo. In the latter part of the 1960s Arafat's profile grew; in 1967 he joined the PLO and in 1969 was elected chair of the Palestinian National Council (PNC). Fatah's growing presence in Jordan resulted in military clashes with King Hussein's Jordanian government and in the early 1970s it relocated to Lebanon. There, Fatah assisted the Lebanese National Movement during the Lebanese Civil War and continued its attacks on Israel, resulting in it becoming a major target of Israel's 1978 and 1982 invasions. At the time, Fatah's support among the Palestinians declined with the growth of Hamas and other militant rivals. In late 2004, after effectively being confined within his Ramallah compound for over two years by the Israeli army, Arafat fell into a coma and died. While the cause of Arafat's death has remained the subject of speculation, investigations by Russian and French teams determined no foul play was involved.

Kibbutz

Communal Settlement in Israel based on agriculture. Began as utopian communities with a combination of socialism and Zionism.

The Gaza Strip

Currently held and administered by the Palestinian Authority in theory, but in reality is governed by Hamas since 2007. This strip of land borders Egypt and the borders are maintained by the Israeli military. This strip of land was seized by the Israeli's during the 1948 war.

Operation Kadesh

Egypt had a naval blockade of Israel, "Sinai Campaign" Israel invades Sinai in October 1956, militarily a huge success for Israel. Israel briefly occupied Sinai and Gaza, a big blow to the Egyptian military. Caused international outrage at Israel, Britain, and France (they had a secret alliance), and reinforced Nasser's connection between Israel and Western Imperialism.

Gamal Abdel Nasser

Egyptian President from 1956-70. Pan-Arab nationalism and was anti-colonialist. He believed Israel to be an agent of Western imperialism. He forms an alliance with the USSR, leading to many coup d'etats throughout the Arab world.

The Suez Canal

Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal in July 1956, which led to the Suez Crisis later in October. Britain, France, and Israel secretly colluded to topple Nasser by invading and occupying the Suez Canal zone.

The JNF

Founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Palestine for Jewish settlement. The JNF is a non profit organization and by 2007 owned 13% of the total land in Israel. Since it began it claims that it has planted over 240 million tress built 180 dams and reservoirs, and developed 250,000 acres of land and established 1000 parks in Irsael.

Operation Ezra and Nehemia

From 1951 to 1952, Operation Ezra and Nehemiah airlifted 120,000-130,000 Iraqi Jews to Israel via Iran and Cyprus. The massive emigration of Iraqi Jews was among the most climactic events of the Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries. The operation is named after Ezra and Nehemiah, who led the Jewish people from exile in Babylonia to return to Israel in the 5th century BC. It was financed by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.

Hamas

Islamic Resistance Movement) is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamist fundamentalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. It has been the de facto governing authority of the Gaza Strip since its takeover of that area in 2007.

Menachem Begin

Isreali politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. Before the creation of the state of Israel he was the leader of the Irgun. He signed the peace treaty with Egypt in 1979. He authorized the bombing of the Osirak nclear plant in Iraq and the invasion of Lebanon in 1982 to fight PLO strongholds there which started the 1982 Lebanon War.

The Haganah

Jewish paramilitary organization in the British Mandate of Palestine which because the core of the Israel Defense Forces. It was established in response to the Arab riots.

Mizrahi Jews

Jews who had originally lived in Arab/Muslim lands. They come from very old, traditional communities and are not committed Zionists. They were forced out of Arab lands because of the Arab-Israeli conflicts, where over 800,000 were forced out. If They had anything to do with Zionism, they were about Religious Zionists and were not in favor of a Jewish state. They insisted that the state stay out of religion and education.

The Canaanite Movement

Led by poet Yonatan Ratosha, a cultural and ideological movement founded in 1939 that reached its peak in the 1940s among the Jews of Palestine. It has had significant effect on the course of Israeli art, literature and spiritual and political thought. Its adherents were called Canaanites, their original name was the Council for the Coalition of Hebrew Youth. Canaanism never had more than around two dozen registered members, but because most of these were influential intellectuals and artists, the movement had an influence far beyond its size. Its members believed that much of the Middle East was originally a Hebrew-speaking civilization, and they wanted to revive a Hebrew nation that was disconnected from the Jewish past, which would embrace the Arab population as well.

Deir Yassin

Massacre that took place on April 9, 1948 when 120 fighters from the Zionist paramilitary groups, Irgun and Lehi, attacked Deir Yassin, a Palestinian Arab village of 600 people near Jerusalem. The assault occurred as Jewish militia sought to relieve the blockade of Jerusalem during the civil war that preceded the end of British rule in Palestine. Because the village guards were surprised by "the Jews" enter the village at night they opened fired. The village fell after fierce house-to-house fighting. At least 107 Palestinians were killed, including women and children. This massacre was condemned by the leadership of the Haganah.

World Zionist Organization (WZO)

Non-government organization that promoted the idea of Zionism by Theodor Herzl at the First World Zionist Congress in 1897. The goals of the Zionist movement were stated in a resolution that came of that Congress and came to be known as the Basel program; Promotion of the settlement of Jewish people in Palestine, the federation of all Jews into local or general groups according to the laws of the various countries, the strengthening of the Jewish feeling and consciousness, preparatory steps for the attainment of those governmental grants which are necessary to the achievement of the Zionist purpose.

Lehi

Often known as the Stern Gang. This was a Zionist paramilitary organization founded by Avraham Stern in Mandatory Palestine. Its goal was to evict the British authorities from Palestine by resort to force, allowing unrestricted immigration of Jews and the formation of a Jewish state. The group admitted to using terrorist attacks. They split from the Irgun in order to continue to attack the British.

Avraham Kook

Orthodox rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine. He was the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Palestine.

The Catastrophe (Naqbah)

Palestinians fled or were forced by Zionist militias to flee Palestine to make room for the creation of the state of Israel and ensure a Jewish majority. 750,000 Palestinians ended up as refugees registered with the United Nations and others fended for themselves. They were never allowed to return to their lands or homes which were confiscated by the nascent state and many of their villages were subsequently destroyed.

David Ben Gurion

Primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first Prime Minister of Israel. He delivered Israel's declaration of independence in 1948. He was the founder of the Histradrut and was the Histradut's representative in the World Zionist Organization and Jewish Agency which he was ultimately elected chairman of both organizations in 1935.

Resolution 181

Resolution passed by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in 1947 that called for the partition of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states, with the city of Jerusalem as a corpus separatum (separate entity) to be governed by a special international regime.

Vladimir Ze'ev Jabotinsky

Russian Jewish Revisionist Zionist leader, author, poet, orator, soldier and founder of the Jewish Self Defense Organization in Odessa. Along with joseph Trumpeldor, he co-founded the Jewish Legion during World War I. He later established Jewish organizations within Palestine including the Irgun.

The Protocol of Sèvres

Secret alliance of Britain, France, and Israel. They had a secret agreement/discussions held in October 1956 at Sèvres, France. The protocol concerns their joint political and military collusion to topple the Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser, by invading and occupying the Suez Canal zone in response to President Nasser's nationalization of the Suez Canal on 26 July. The planning for and the agreements contained in the protocol began the Suez Crisis on 29 October 1956.

The Treaty of Luxemburg

Signed in September 1952 between David Ben Gurion and Konrad Adenaueur (German chancellor). Germany agrees to pay $820 million in goods as compensation for the Holocaust.

The Six Day War

Sinai Campaign solved nothing, Arab leaders called for the destruction of Israel, Israel demanded recognition of their right to exist, 6 day war June 5th-10th in 1967. Israel attacks Egypt, Syria & Jordan invade Israel, Israeli troops encircle the Sinai, then Israel conquers East Jerusalem.

The Golan Heights

Since the 1967 Six-day War, the western two-thirds of the Golan Heights has been occupied and administered by Israel, whereas the eastern third had remained under control of the Syrian Arab Republic. Construction of Israeli settlements began in the remainder of the territory held by Israel, which was under military administration until Israel passed the Golan Heights Law extending Israeli law and administration throughout the territory in 1981. This move was condemned by the United Nations Security Council which stated that "the Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights is null and void and without international legal effect." Israel maintains it has a right to retain the Golan. However, the international community rejects Israeli claims to title to the territory and regards it as sovereign Syrian territory.

Adolf Eichmann

Tasked with finding a "solution" to the Jewish problem, set up concentration camps. Fled after World War II, settled in Argentina and changed his identity. He was then kidnapped by Israeli agents, drugged, and secretly flown to Israel where he was tried in 1960. Eichmann said he was "just following orders", but was convicted, sentenced to death, and hung in May 1962. Had a big impact on Israeli youth by forming the belief that Israel was a bulwark against anti-Semitism; used the Holocaust to exhibit Jewish power; the Holocaust as a part of Israel's "myth of origin".

The Oslo Accords

The Oslo Accords are a set of agreements between the Government of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993; and the Oslo II Accord, signed in Taba, Egypt, in 1995

The West Bank

Was conquered by Jordan during the 1948 war with the new state of Israel. In 1947, it was subsequently designated as part of a proposed Arab state by the United Nations (UN) partition plan for Palestine. The resolution recommended partition of the British Mandate into a Jewish State, an Arab State, and an internationally administered enclave of Jerusalem. After the 1967 Six-Day War, the West Bank has been under Israeli occupation. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.

Chaim Weizmann

Zionist leader and Israeli statesman who served as the President of the Zionist Organization and later as the first President of Israel in 1949 until his death in 1952.

Phalangists

a Christian Democratic political party in Lebanon. Despite being officially secular, it is supported mainly by Maronite Catholics. The party played a major role in the Lebanese Civil War (1975-90). In decline in the late 1980s and 1990s, the party slowly re-emerged in the early 2000s. It is now part of the March 14 Alliance. Currently the Kataeb is in stark disagreement with Hezbollah over many of its domestic and regional policies. The Party believes that Hezbollah is trying to impose its culture and will on the Lebanese society by means of its illegitimate arms, thus undermining Lebanon's sovereignty and pluralistic nature. And by being ideologically and strategically beholden to Iran and Syria, Hezbollah is unilaterally subverting the wishes of a considerable number of Lebanese who wish to live in a secure, stable, open and peaceful country into an imposed reality based on the culture of Jihad and martyrdom and confrontation with the international community. The Party is also concerned about another factor of instability over its territories, which is the presence of Palestinian refugees with what accompanies it from regional and domestic ramifications. Notwithstanding that the Kataeb has recently attempted to improve the inhumane living conditions of refugees through Parliament, it remains concerned about latent or gradual attempts to force their permanent settlement in Lebanon. Because such an event will alter Lebanon's fragile demographic (and political) balance, the Kataeb at present will remain watchful and opposed to any such development just as it was in the past and as its history attests The Kataeb Party also believes in a free and active Christian presence in Lebanon and sees an organic relation between the idea of freedom and the Christians. They believe that freedom in Lebanon owes its existence in the first instance to a free and open Christian community that bestowed on Lebanon its liberal character from which other communities benefited. Lebanon minus its active and free Christians will automatically transform into another neighboring Arab country. This is the group that was involved in the Sabra and Shatila massacres wearing Israeli uniforms.

The First Intifada

a Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. The uprising lasted from December 1987 until the Madrid Conference in 1991, though some date its conclusion to 1993, with the signing of the Oslo Accords. -Madrid Conference of 1991 and eventually Oslo I Accord -Establishment of the Palestinian Authority -The PLO recognizes Israel

Hezbollah

a Shi'a Islamist political party and militant group based in Lebanon. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese parliament. Since the death of Abbas al-Musawi in 1992, the group has been headed by Hassan Nasrallah, its Secretary-General. The group is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, Israel, Canada, the Arab League, the Gulf Cooperation Council, along with its military wing by the United Kingdom, Australia and the European Union. After the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 in support of the Free Lebanon State, Israel occupied a strip of south Lebanon, which was controlled by the South Lebanon Army (SLA), a Lebanese Christian militia supported by Israel. Hezbollah was founded in the early 1980s as part of an Iranian effort to aggregate a variety of militant Lebanese Shi'a groups into a unified organization. Hezbollah acts as a proxy for Iran in the ongoing Iran-Israel proxy conflict. Hezbollah was conceived by Muslim clerics and funded by Iran primarily to harass the Israeli occupation. Its leaders were followers of Ayatollah Khomeini, and its forces were trained and organized by a contingent of 1,500 Revolutionary Guards that arrived from Iran with permission from the Syrian government, which was in occupation of Lebanon at the time. Hezbollah's 1985 manifesto listed its objectives as the expulsion of "the Americans, the French and their allies definitely from Lebanon, putting an end to any colonialist entity on our land", submission of the Phalangists to "just power" and bringing them to justice "for the crimes they have perpetrated against Muslims and Christians", and permitting "all the sons of our people" to choose the form of government they want, while calling on them to "pick the option of Islamic government." Hezbollah waged a guerilla campaign in South Lebanon and as a result, Israel withdrew from Lebanon on 24 May 2000, and the SLA collapsed and surrendered. Hezbollah organized volunteers who fought on the Bosnian side during the Bosnian War. Hezbollah's military strength has grown so significantly that its paramilitary wing is considered more powerful than the Lebanese Army. Hezbollah has been described as a "state within a state", and has grown into an organization with seats in the Lebanese government, a radio and a satellite TV station, social services and large-scale military deployment of fighters beyond Lebanon's borders. Hezbollah is part of the March 8 Alliance within Lebanon, in opposition to the March 14 Alliance. Hezbollah maintains strong support among Lebanon's Shi'a population, while Sunnis have disagreed with the group's agenda. Hezbollah also finds support from within some Christian areas of Lebanon that are Hezbollah strongholds. Hezbollah receives military training, weapons, and financial support from Iran, and political support from Syria. Hezbollah and Israel fought each other in the 2006 Lebanon War. After the 2006-08 Lebanese protests and clashes, a national unity government was formed in 2008, with Hezbollah and its opposition allies obtaining eleven of thirty cabinets seats, enough to give them veto power. In August 2008, Lebanon's new Cabinet unanimously approved a draft policy statement which recognized Hezbollah's existence as an armed organization and guarantees its right to "liberate or recover occupied lands" (such as the Shebaa Farms). Since 2012, Hezbollah has helped the Syrian government during the Syrian civil war in its fight against the Syrian opposition, which Hezbollah has described as a Zionist plot and a "Wahhabi-Zionist conspiracy" to destroy its alliance with Assad against Israel. It has deployed its militia in both Syria and Iraq to fight or train local forces to fight against ISIS. Once seen as a resistance movement throughout much of the Arab world, this image upon which the group's legitimacy rested has been severely damaged due to the sectarian nature of the Syrian Civil War in which it has become embroiled.

Likud

a centre-right to right-wing political party in Israel. A secular party, it was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon in an alliance with several right-wing parties. Likud's landslide victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had lost power. In addition, it was the first time in Israel that a right-wing party won the plurality of the votes.[22] However, after ruling the country for most of the 1980s, the party lost the Knesset election in 1992. Nevertheless, Likud's candidate Benjamin Netanyahu did win the vote for Prime Minister in 1996 and was given the task of forming a government after the 1996 elections. Netanyahu's government fell apart after a vote of no confidence, which led to elections being called in 1999 and Likud losing power to the One Israel coalition led by Ehud Barak. In 2001, Likud's Ariel Sharon, who replaced Netanyahu following the 1999 election, defeated Barak in an election called by the Prime Minister following his resignation. After the party recorded a convincing win in the 2003 elections, Likud saw a major split in 2005 when Sharon left to form the Kadima party. This resulted in Likud slumping to fourth place in the 2006 elections and losing 28 seats in the Knesset. Following the 2009 elections, Likud was able to gain 15 seats, and, with Netanyahu back in control of the party, formed a coalition with fellow right-wing parties Yisrael Beiteinu and Shas to take control of the government from Kadima, which earned a plurality, but not a majority. Netanyahu has been Prime Minister since and Likud has been the leading vote-getter in each election.

The Second Intifada

a period of intensified Israeli-Palestinian violence, and which the Palestinian describe as an uprising against Israel. The violence started in September 2000, after Ariel Sharon made a visit to the Temple Mount, seen by Palestinians as highly provocative; and Palestinian demonstrators, throwing stones at police, were dispersed by the Israeli army, using tear gas and rubber bullets. -Construction of the Israeli West Bank barrier -Decrease of violence in the West Bank -Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip

Fatah

a political party and guerrilla organization, and, along with Hamas, is a dominant political force in Palestinian politics. It was founded in 1957 by Yasser Arafat and others in Kuwait as the Harakat at-Tahreer Filasteen ("Movement for the Liberation of Palestine"; "fatah" is the acronym in reverse) and launched its first military attack on Israel in 1965. Fatah is primarily a secular, nationalist movement that focuses on liberating Palestine and establishing a Palestinian state. However, it lacks a coherent vision for post-independence governance and society, instead harboring diverse ideological currents. Fatah is the most powerful constituent organization within the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and, notwithstanding the January 2006 election of a Hamas majority in the Palestinian Legislative Council, remains a major force in the Palestinian Authority. It holds 45 out of the 132 seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council, and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) continues to serve as President of the Palestinian Authority. Following the elections, factional violence between Fatah and Hamas in 2007 left Hamas in control of governance in the Gaza Strip, with a Fatah-led PA functioning only in the West Bank. In April 2014, the two parties signed a reconciliation agreement and in June 2014 a new technocratic government was formed, reuniting the West Bank and Gaza Strip under the PA.

Operation Entebbe

a successful counter-terrorist hostage-rescue mission carried out by commandos of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at Entebbe Airport in Uganda on 4 July 1976. A week earlier, on 27 June, an Air France plane with 248 passengers had been hijacked by two members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - External Operations (PFLP-EO) under orders of Wadie Haddad (who had earlier broken away from the PFLP of George Habash), and two members of the German Revolutionary Cells. The hijackers had the stated objective to free 40 Palestinian and affiliated militants imprisoned in Israel and 13 prisoners in four other countries in exchange for the hostages. The flight, which had originated in Tel Aviv with the destination of Paris, was diverted after a stopover in Athens via Benghazi to Entebbe, the main airport of Uganda. The Ugandan government supported the hijackers, and dictator Idi Amin personally welcomed them. Amin had been informed of the hijacking from the beginning. After moving all hostages from the aircraft to a disused airport building, the hijackers separated all Israelis and several non-Israeli Jews from the larger group and forced them into a separate room. Over the following two days, 148 non-Israeli hostages were released and flown out to Paris. Ninety-four, mainly Israeli, passengers along with the 12-member Air France crew, remained as hostages and were threatened with death. The IDF acted on information provided by the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. The hijackers threatened to kill the hostages if their prisoner release demands were not met. This threat led to the planning of the rescue operation. These plans included preparation for armed resistance from Ugandan troops. The operation took place at night. Israeli transport planes carried 100 commandos over 4,000 kilometres (2,500 mi) to Uganda for the rescue operation. The operation, which took a week of planning, lasted 90 minutes. Of the 106 remaining hostages, 102 were rescued and three were killed. The other hostage was in a hospital and was later killed. Five Israeli commandos were wounded and one, unit commander Lt. Col. Yonatan Netanyahu, was killed. Netanyahu was the older brother of Benjamin Netanyahu, the current Prime Minister of Israel. All the hijackers and forty-five Ugandan soldiers were killed, and eleven Soviet-built MiG-17s and MiG-21s of Uganda's air force were destroyed. Kenyan sources supported Israel, and in the aftermath of the operation, Idi Amin issued orders to retaliate and slaughter several hundred Kenyans then present in Uganda. There were 245 Kenyans in Uganda killed and 3,000 fled.

Operation Opera

also known as Operation Babylon, was a surprise Israeli air strike carried out on 7 June 1981, which destroyed an Iraqi nuclear reactor under construction 17 kilometers (10.5 miles) southeast of Baghdad.

The Yom Kippur War

also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, was a war fought from October 6 to 25, 1973, by a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria against Israel. The war took place mostly in Sinai and the Golan—occupied by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War—with some fighting in African Egypt and northern Israel. Egypt's initial war objective was to use its military to seize a foothold on the east bank of the Suez Canal and use this to negotiate the return of the rest of Sinai. The war had far-reaching implications. The Arab world had experienced humiliation in the lopsided rout of the Egyptian-Syrian-Jordanian alliance in the Six-Day War but felt psychologically vindicated by early successes in this conflict. The war led Israel to recognize that, despite impressive operational and tactical achievements on the battlefield, there was no guarantee that they would always dominate the Arab states militarily, as they had consistently through the earlier 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the Suez Crisis, and the Six-Day War. These changes paved the way for the subsequent peace process. The 1978 Camp David Accords that followed led to the return of the Sinai to Egypt and normalized relations—the first peaceful recognition of Israel by an Arab country. Egypt continued its drift away from the Soviet Union and eventually left the Soviet sphere of influence entirely.

Gush Emunim

an Israeli Orthodox Jewish, messianic, right-wing activist movement committed to establishing Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the Golan Heights. While not formally established as an organization until 1974 in the wake of the Yom Kippur War, Gush Emunim sprang out of the conquests of the Six-Day War in 1967, encouraging Jewish settlement of the land based on the belief that, according to the Torah, God gave it to the Jewish people. While Gush Emunim no longer exists officially, vestiges of its influence remain in Israeli society. Egypt continued its drift away from the Soviet Union and eventually left the Soviet sphere of influence entirely.

Ariel Sharon

an Israeli general and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. Sharon was a commander in the Israeli Army from its creation in 1948. As a soldier and then an officer, he participated prominently in the 1948 Palestine war, becoming a platoon commander in the Alexandroni Brigade and taking part in many battles, including Operation Bin Nun Alef. He was an instrumental figure in the creation of Unit 101 and the reprisal operations, as well as in the 1956 Suez Crisis, the Six-Day War of 1967, the War of Attrition, and the Yom-Kippur War of 1973. Yitzhak Rabin has called Sharon "the greatest field commander in our history." Upon retirement from the military, Sharon entered politics, joining the Likud party, and served in a number of ministerial posts in Likud-led governments in 1977-92 and 1996-99. As Minister of Defense, he directed the 1982 Lebanon War. An official enquiry found that he bore "personal responsibility" for the Sabra and Shatila massacre and recommended that he be removed as Defense Minister. His role in the massacre led to him being known as the "Butcher of Beirut" among Arabs. From the 1970s through to the 1990s, Sharon championed construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He became the leader of the Likud in 2000, and served as Israel's prime minister from 2001 to 2006. However, as Prime Minister, in 2004-05 Sharon orchestrated Israel's unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip. Facing stiff opposition to this policy within the Likud, in November 2005 he left Likud to form a new party, Kadima. He had been expected to win the next election and was widely interpreted as planning on "clearing Israel out of most of the West Bank", in a series of unilateral withdrawals. After suffering a stroke on January 4, 2006, Sharon remained in a permanent vegetative state until his death in January 2014.

The Munich Massacre

an attack during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, in which the Palestinian terrorist group Black September took eleven Israeli Olympic team members hostage and killed them along with a West German police officer.

PLO

an organization founded in 1964 with the purpose of the "liberation of Palestine" through armed struggle, with much of its violence aimed at Israeli civilians. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed observer status at the United Nations since 1974.The PLO was considered by the United States and Israel to be a terrorist organization until the Madrid Conference in 1991. In 1993, the PLO recognized Israel's right to exist in peace, accepted UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, and rejected "violence and terrorism". In response, Israel officially recognized the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people. However, the PLO has employed violence in the years since 1993, particularly during the 2000-2005 Second Intifada. On 29 October 2018, the Palestinian Central Council suspended the recognition of Israel and halted security and economic coordination in all its forms with it.

Beta Israel

are Jews whose community developed and lived for centuries in the area of the Kingdom of Aksum and the Ethiopian Empire that is currently divided between the Amhara and Tigray Regions of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Most of these peoples have emigrated to Israel since the late 20th century.

The Jewish Defense League

is a Jewish far-right religious-political organization in the United States, whose stated goal is to "protect Jews from antisemitism by whatever means necessary". It was classified as "a right wing terrorist group" by the FBI in 2001 and is considered a radical organization by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The Security Fence

is a separation barrier in the West Bank or along the Green Line. Israel considers it a security barrier against terrorism, while Palestinians call it a racial segregation or apartheid wall.

Anatoly (Natan) Sharansky

is an Israeli politician, human rights activist and author who, as a refusenik in the Soviet Union during the 1970s and 1980s, spent nine years in Soviet prisons. He has served as Chairman of the Executive of the Jewish Agency since June 2009.

Mahmoud Abbas

is the President of the State of Palestine and Palestinian National Authority. He has been the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) since 11 November 2004, and Palestinian president since 15 January 2005

The Palestinian Authority

is the interim self-government body established in 1994 following the Gaza-Jericho Agreement to govern the Gaza Strip and Areas A and B of the West Bank, as a consequence of the 1993 Oslo Accords.

Resolution 242

resolution of the United Nations (UN) Security Council passed in an effort to secure a just and lasting peace in the wake of the Six-Day (June) War of 1967, fought primarily between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. The Israelis supported the resolution because it called on the Arab states to accept Israel's right "to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." Each of the Arab states eventually accepted it (Egypt and Jordan accepted the resolution from the outset) because of its clause calling for Israel to withdraw from the territories conquered in 1967. The Palestine Liberation Organization rejected it until 1988 because it lacked explicit references to Palestinians. Though never fully implemented, it was the basis of diplomatic efforts to end Arab-Israeli conflicts until the Camp David Accords and remains an important touchstone in any negotiated resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Sabra and Shatila

the slaughter of between 762 and 3,500 civilians, almost all Palestinians, by a Lebanese Christian militia in the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut, Lebanon from approximately 6:00 pm 16 September to 8:00 am 18 September 1982. The massacre was presented as retaliation for the assassination of the newly elected Lebanese president Bachir Gemayel, the leader of the Lebanese Kataeb Party. The Phalangist militia was led by intelligence chief Elie Hobeika. Many of the victims were tortured before they were killed. Women were raped and some victims were skinned alive. Others had limbs chopped off with axes. The Israeli Army surrounded Sabra and Shatila and stationed troops at the exits of the area to prevent camp residents from leaving and, at the Phalangists' request, fired illuminating flares at night The Phalanges, allies to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), were ordered by the IDF to clear out Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) fighters from Sabra and Shatila, as part of the IDF maneuvering into West Beirut. The IDF received reports of some of the Phalanges atrocities in Sabra and Shatila but failed to stop them. The massacre was presented as retaliation for the assassination of newly elected Lebanese president Bachir Gemayel, the leader of the Lebanese Kataeb Party. It was wrongly assumed by the Phalangists that Palestinian militants had carried out the assassination. In 1983, the Israeli Kahan Commission, appointed to investigate the incident, found that Israeli military personnel, aware that a massacre was in progress, had failed to take serious steps to stop it. The commission deemed Israel indirectly responsible, and Ariel Sharon, then Defense Minister, bore personal responsibility "for ignoring the danger of bloodshed and revenge", forcing him to resign.

Anwar Sadat

the third President of Egypt, serving from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 October 1981. Sadat was a senior member of the Free Officers who overthrew King Farouk in the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, and a close confidant of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, under whom he served as Vice President twice and whom he succeeded as President in 1970. In his eleven years as president, he changed Egypt's trajectory, departing from many of the political and economic tenets of Nasserism, re-instituting a multi-party system, and launching the Infitah economic policy. As President, he led Egypt in the Yom Kippur War of 1973 to regain Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, which Israel had occupied since the Six-Day War of 1967, making him a hero in Egypt and, for a time, the wider Arab World. Afterwards, he engaged in negotiations with Israel, culminating in the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty; this won him and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin the Nobel Peace Prize, making Sadat the first Muslim Nobel laureate. Although reaction to the treaty—which resulted in the return of Sinai to Egypt—was generally favorable among Egyptians, it was rejected by the country's Muslim Brotherhood and the left, which felt Sadat had abandoned efforts to ensure a Palestinian state. With the exception of Sudan, the Arab world and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) strongly opposed Sadat's efforts to make a separate peace with Israel without prior consultations with the Arab states. His refusal to reconcile with them over the Palestinian issue resulted in Egypt being suspended from the Arab League from 1979 to 1989. The peace treaty was also one of the primary factors that led to his assassination; on 6 October 1981, militants led by Khalid Islambouli opened fire on Sadat with automatic rifles during the 6 October parade in Cairo, killing him.

"Jerusalem the Gold"

the unofficial anthem of Israel and probably the most famous Jerusalem song. You'll hear it on the radio, at concerts, on street corners and around campfires. Written in 1967 by Naomi Shemer. The melody was inspired by a Basque lullaby, but the lyrics describe the Jewish people's longing for the holy city of Jerusalem.

Brother Daniel

was a Polish-born Jew who survived the Nazi invasion of his homeland, in the course of which he converted to Christianity, becoming a Catholic monk. He moved to Israel, where he sought citizenship under the Israeli Law of Return, but was refused entrance by the Israeli government. This case helped define 'who is a Jew'. At this time, the religion must be practiced. An amendment was made to the Law of Return in 1970 expanding heritage rights (a child or a grandchild of a Jew could return).

Rabbi Meir Kahane

was an American-Israeli ordained Orthodox rabbi, writer, and ultra-nationalist politician who served one term in Israel's Knesset. His work influenced most modern Jewish militant and far-right political groups. He supported violence against those he regarded as enemies of the Jewish people, called for immediate Jewish mass migration to Israel to avoid a potential "Holocaust" in the United States, supported the restriction of Israel's democracy to its Jewish citizens, hoped that Israel would eventually adopt Jewish religious law, and endorsed the annexation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip

Baruch Goldstein

was an American-Israeli physician, religious extremist, and mass murderer who perpetrated the 1994 Cave of the Patriarchs massacre in Hebron, killing 29 Palestinian Muslim worshippers and wounding another 125. He was beaten to death by survivors of the massacre.

Yitzhak Rabin

was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974-77 and 1992 until his assassination in 1995. He was appointed Chief of the General Staff in 1964 and oversaw Israel's victory in the 1967 Six-Day War.

Refuseniks

was an unofficial term for individuals, typically, but not exclusively, Soviet Jews, who were denied permission to emigrate by the authorities of the Soviet Union and other countries of the Eastern bloc. The term refusenik is derived from the "refusal" handed down to a prospective emigrant from the Soviet authorities.