The Entebbe Hostage Rescue and thoughts about Israel

Today we will recap our look at the State of Israel up to this point then focus on the 1976 Entebbe Hostage rescue.

We will watch parts of the documentary, Operation Thunderbolt. 

Following that, we will watch a brief overview of the Israeli-Palsteinian conflict by Dennis Prager. 

After some conversation, we will watch two versions of a song.
The first is from 1979 by Uzi Hitman.
The second is an updated version of it from 2005 by Hadag Nachash. 

If we have some time, we may also check out this story. 

Week 5 - Question

This week we watched a video about the 1948 War for Independence and its aftermath.

Next, as you can see in the post below, we started our look at the 1967 Six-Day War with this famous photograph.  We then talked about the reasons for Israel's pre-emptive attacks and watched a video about the war itself.

At the end of the post there is a link to some current questions being raised about the war - what was the cost of the victory?  What current issues are connected back to it?

In your response to this and the previous post, share some of your thoughts about what we saw today.  What does this war mean to Israelis?  To Palestinians?  To you and your thinking about this ongoing conflict?

1967: The Six-Day War

This iconic photograph by David Rubinger from the Six-Day War will be the basis for our look at the conflict, the events leading up to it, and its aftermath.  Who are these soldiers?  Where are they?  What are they thinking about?  Why has this photograph become "the property of the entire nation"?

Here is a timeline we'll use today.

What were the successes?  The Failures?  The Controversies?

Here are links to documentaries we'll watch today:  Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

Here is a brief overview of the war from the Israeli Minister of Fogeign Affairs website

Here are commentaries about the Long Term Causes and the Arab Threats Against Israel.

And lastly, this brief overview of some questions being asked upon the 40th anniversary of the war.

Origins of the Israeli-Arab Conflict

Here are some links to documentaries found on YouTube:

The Promised Land? Part 1

The Promised Land? Part 2

Homework Response 11-14-10

May 14, 1948 - Two Perspectives

Today in class we started by looking back at the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel, noting how it shows a progression of history leading up to the establishment of a Jewish homeland.  We also discussed the different meanings of the phrase "Rock of Israel" in the conclusion, indicating both the physical land and God.

Next, we looked at a documentary about the day of the Declaration and its immediate aftermath, from people dancing in the streets to the start of war.

Why war?

At the beginning of class today, we went around and named things that come to mind when we think of "home": food, safety, sleep, music, comfort, and family were among the top responses.  To explore the idea of "home" further, we looked at pictures of Palestine before 1948 and were surprised at what we saw - cities teeming with people, all of whom thought of the land as their "home."

To join in the celebration, we all learned and danced the "Mayim" - a song of joy and celebration.

We concluded by working in pairs to read a document showing both the Israeli and Palestinian narratives of 1948.

You can find a copy of it here - we read chapter 2.

For next time, please respond to this message with a short version of the perspective you read - what does that population have to say about this event?

Declaration of Israel's Independence - Multiple Perspectives - Resources

Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel (official)

Arab League Declaration in response to Israeli Declaration

Wikipedia entry on Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel

US recognition of the State of Israel - Truman archives

Wikipedia entry on Arab-Israeli War

Documentary film on Arab-Israeli War

Two narratives

Mayim for Israeli Dance

Discussion topic for 11-7-2010

Today we read and discussed the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel.  Here are links to two version of it:
Version #1
Version #2

We talked about which section of the Declaration was most important at the time.

For next week, please answer this question:

Which section of the Declaration is most important to Israel today?  Which section is most problematic?  Why?

Questions and Observations from Founding of Israel video

Jewish-American support for the State of Israel - military support / joining the Haganah

How did Palestineans react to the new state?

Not a lot of Jews going to Israel after the nation was founded - mostly funding

Both Arabs and Jews expecting a war

Now the Jews have a country to live in and run

Israel needed US financial support

How to balance happiness for country but concerns over war?

People glued to radio to hear the United Nations vote

What did people in the US think?

The State of Israel had to be approved by a vote

Why did the Soviet Union support the founding of the State of Israel?

How did they already have a national flag?  National anthem?

Dancing and celebrating - the Hora!

Why did the Arab countries declare war?

What were people's reactions to Israel?

IS the US taking too much credit for the success of Israel?

Declaration of Israel's Independence

Founding of Israel Video

Declaration documentary - English subtitles

Zippy's letters

Text of Declaration

United States of America - Declaration of Independence

David Ben Gurion's Independence Speech

USA recognizes State of Israel

Hatikva - Bergen-Belsen

Hatikva - Background

Declaration - document

Zippy letters - questions

Sinai Campaign by David and Eli

On August 31, 1955, the President of Egypt announced that Egypt would be going to war with Israel.

"Egypt has decided to dispatch her heroes, the disciples of pharaoh and the
sons of Islam and they will cleanse the Land of Israel....There will be no peace
on Israel's border because we demand vengeance, and vengeance is Israel's
death."

Egypt did this by blocking almost all trade routs from Africa and Asia to Israel, and by causing a ruckus in the bordering cities. Israel, who had allied with France and England, retaliated by taking back control of the trade routs, and by seizing the entire Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula. The United States' view was that Israel should retreat out of Egyptian territory.

Sources:

http://www.palestinefacts.org/pf_1948to1967_sinai_backgd.php

http://www.adl.org/israel/record/sinai.asp

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/56iaf.html

The Six Day War

The Six Day War was an attempt of all of the countries surrounding Israel to eliminate Israel as a state. Many fights and factors led up to the war including when Egypt created a blockade cutting off Israel's supply route to Asia and affected Israels trade. Israel would not fight until another country fought against them first. The air force was a main military force used during this war. The war lasted from June 5th to June 10th, throughout these days their were a few main fights. The war began with a launch from Jordan on June 5th. By the end of the war Israel had not been eliminated, it had expanded. Israel had gained Sinai, Golan Heights, Gaza Strip, and the West Bank. During the war, many people were killed in the fight to save Israel.

We learned about The Six Day War. We learned about the affects it had on Israel and how we gained more land at the end of the war. We did not know that Israel had gained many famous cities from this war. We would still like to learn about more of the struggles during the war.

--Becca and Mallory

PPP- Partition PLan for Palastein

This was a plan proposal by the United Nations, which was adopted by the General Assembly of the UN in November of 1947. The resolution suggested that the British Mandate for Palestine be abolished and the territorial split of Palestine into two states: Arab, and a Jewish one. This plan also included details about protection of religious and minorty rights of the two states of Palestine.

The Yom Kippur War, also known as the October War, occured in 1973. Egypt's president at the time, Anwar Sadat, brought up the possibility of an agreement that involved Israel giving up land. Israel never accepted the agreement, and Sadat started threatening war for over a year. On Yom Kippur in 1973 (October 6th), Egyptian and Syrian armies attacked Israel and they knew because everyone was praying on the most important holiday of the year, the forces would be down. Up to 14 countries were against Israel in this war, and Israel was extremely outnumbered. The United States tried to send help, but the help failed. On October 22nd, only 16 days later, the U.N. ordered everyone to stop fighting immediately. Although Israel didn't lose the war, the Israelis still considered the war a failure. A total of 2688 Israeli soldiers were killed, and 7250 soldiers were wounded.

This is yet another war that Israel has survived when all the odds were against them, and it really amazes me how Israel keeps surviving. I had never heard of this war before today, and it's kind of like the Six Day war because it happened in such a short amount of time.

Website Source One
Website Source Two
Website Source Three

Maps
Picture One
Picture Two
Picture Three
Picture Four

The Independence War of Israel (1948-1949)

The Independence War started on May 15, 1948. This war can be known as the Independence War or the War of Liberation. This war was the first of many wars fought between Israelis and Arab neighbors. The war started upon the death of the British Mandate of Palistine, this is also known as the taking over of Palestine and creating the country of Israel. The five Arab states that attacked Israel were Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria. Israel overcame the odds like the six day war, and came out victorious. The war finally ended January 7, 1949. Later the armasist agreements ended on July 20, 1949.

post

Zak Lieberman

Taylor Smetana

Balfour Declaration/British Mandate

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/balfour.html

http://www.palestinefacts.org/pf_mandate_overview.php




The balfour decleration was printed in 1917 and told how jews should have their own state, and aquire the land. In the 1920s however this was not the case. The jews had 45,ooo miles and then the British a large fraction of the land and restricted israeli jews from owning land in the areas Britain occupied. In 1939 the British haulted immigration to israel. 1939-'45 the Holocaust occurs, and Brittan has haulted immigration. It wasn't until 1948 until Israel belonged to the Jews once again. All these events, besides the holocaust, were a result of the British mandate

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3A2jQtzUbJo

Links to images:
1. http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/oren/Balfour%20declaration%20copy.jpg

2. http://truthspeaker.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/image0222-1.jpg

3. http://www.passia.org/palestine_facts/MAPS/newpdf/Pal-under-BritishMandate192.gif

ThE rIsE oF zIoNiSm by Esther Fishbein and Jamie Sak

The Zionist movement was founded in the late 19th century by secular Jews. The term "Zionism" was coined in 1891 by the Austrian publicist Nathan Birnbaum. The Zionist Movement was a direct form of resistance to the foreign rule placed upon them in their country of residence. Zionists sought to unify all Jews under one government in one land. In a less common usage sense its non political and political support of the state of Israel by non Jewish people. The idea of Zionism is based on the long connection between Jewish people and its land. After four years of fighting the Romans burned down the Jewish temple to the ground. The only remnent of the temple was the western wall. Zionism represents itself as a political movement.

Israel WebQuest

Directions for today:

1. Respond to blog invitation – make sure you are able to post to the blog
2. Get into assigned group with netbooks.
3. Read about your topic – research all you can. Don’t just Google or Wikipedia it! While that may be a good starting point at times, I have provided you with a powerful set of links right on the blog. Put them to great use!
4. Create a post (yes, this will go right onto the class blog). You must include:
1. A Title
2. A paragraph-long summary written by you. Sure you can just cut and paste something, but the goal here is to write it in a way your classmates and the readers of this blog will understand. Plus, presenting the work of another person as your own is called plagiarizing.
3. Links. You will create links to three different sources of information. These will probably be some of the ones you use for step 3 above – keep track of which ones work best.
4. Photographs and / or video. You will include at least five of these within the body of your post.  This should also include at least one map.
5. A personal response, written by you and your group. Here is where your voice will come in – let us know what you think about this event. What did you learn about for the first time? What surprised you? What do you want to know more about? What questions do you have? What was the process of learning about this like for you today? What connections can you make between this event and current events?
5. With your group you will read through the other six entries created for this activity. After reading each one, you will post a brief comment.

Topics:
• Rise of Zionism / First Zionist Congress
• Balfour Declaration / British Mandate for Palestine
• United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 (Partition Plan) / Declaration of Independence
• War of Independence (1948)
• Sinai Campaign (1956)
• Six Day War (1967)
• Yom Kippur War (1973)

First thoughts about Israel

Greetings!
For your first blog post, I'd like to hear from everyone what some of your first thoughts are about Israel. What comes to mind? Any response here will do - it can either be in the form of a short list or a few sentences.

Thanks for a great first week - see you next Sunday!

Our questions about the Israel articles we read

Who is Meretz MK Oren?
What is Meretz?
What is an MK?
Are we sacrificing equality for safety?
Who are the organizations who were marching?
What is Yisrael Beiteinu?
Who is Netenyahu?
What is a Prime Minister?
What is the loyalty oath?
Who is Avigdor Lieberman?
What does the PLO stand for?
What is Fatah?
What is Netenyahu’s proposal?
Who is Yasser Abed Rabbo?
What are the negotiations about housing? Why is this a concern?
Where is East Jerusalem? Why is it important here?
What are settlements?