The West Bank refers to the territory of what was once Judea and Samaria, west of the Jordan River.  When proposed plans for Jewish and Arab states were drawn up in 1947, a green pencil was used to draw the border of the territory, thus the “Green Line” demarcates the border between the West Bank […]

Gaza is a territory that is today controlled 100% by Hamas, a recognized Islamist terror organization.  Though there has been Jewish history in Gaza from Biblical times, in modern history, it was largely settled by Arab communities.  In 1949, when the dust settled after the War of Independence, Gaza was occupied by Egyptian military forces. […]

In 1937, the Peel Commission suggested a partition of what was then British Mandatory Palestine into two states: one for the Jews, and one for the Arabs. It was accepted by the Jews, but not by the Arabs who refused to accept the existence of even a small Jewish state.  In 1947, partition into two […]

The word “Palestine” has referred to several different entities, at different times. The word likely derives from the “Philistine” people who lived in the territory of what is today Israel, during Biblical times, though the Philistines have no connection to modern-day Palestinians. In about 135CE, the Romans began to refer to the region of what […]

The Holocaust refers to the systemic destruction of the Jewish community of Europe which took place during World War II. From about the year 1941 to 1945, over six-million Jews across Europe were murdered, either by mass-shootings, gassings, or being herded into concentration, labour, or death camps, by the Nazi regime. During the Holocaust, about […]

Zionism is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people, who sought to restore their freedom and independence in their ancestral homeland in the Land of Israel.  The Jewish people trace its ancestry back to the Land of Israel. And though they were dispossessed through successive imperial conquests, always maintained a connection to its historic […]

On May 14, 1948, Israel declared its independence. The armies of Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq invaded the young state to destroy it. Israel, however, prevailed, and has thrived ever since.  On that day, Israel took its cue from Resolution 181 of the UN General Assembly, which approved the partition of Palestine into as […]

Countless times over the history of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Palestinians have been offered an opportunity for a sovereign state of their own, but have refused each time.  In 1937, the Peel Commission suggested a partition of what was then Palestine into Jewish and Arab states. The Jewish community accepted the proposal, and it was rejected […]