Gale: Global Issues in Context, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Ken C. (Canada)
44 words 82 learners

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  1. intifada
    an uprising by Palestinians against the Israeli government
    The six-year conflict became known as the First Intifada, an Arabic word meaning “shaking off” that is often translated into English as “uprising” or “revolt.”
  2. IDF
    the ground and air and naval forces of Israel
    On 27 December 2008, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) launched coordinated air strikes against Hamas targets in Gaza.
  3. Jordan River
    a river in Palestine that empties into the Dead Sea
    Palestine is an area in the Middle East bounded to the west by the Mediterranean, to the north by Lebanon, to the south by the Sinai Desert, and to the east by the Jordan River.
  4. Hamas
    a militant Islamic fundamentalist political movement that opposes peace with Israel and uses terrorism as a weapon; seeks to create an Islamic state in place of Israel; is opposed to the PLO and has become a leading perpetrator of terrorist activity in Israel; pioneered suicide bombing
    Throughout 2008, both Israel and Palestinian Hamas forces violated a standing cease-fire.
  5. Gaza
    a coastal region at the southeastern corner of the Mediterranean bordering Israel and Egypt
    Some people speak of Arab Israelis as Palestinians, but the term is most often used to refer to non-Israeli Arabs in Palestine living in the major territories occupied by Israel since 1967: East Jerusalem, the West Bank of the Jordan River, and the Gaza Strip along the Mediterranean coast south of Israel.
  6. Israel
    an ancient kingdom of the Hebrew tribes at the southeastern end of the Mediterranean Sea; founded by Saul around 1025 BC and destroyed by the Assyrians in 721 BC
    Israel, a democratic republic that identifies itself as a Jewish state, was founded in 1948 and in 2008 had a population of 7.3 million (75.8 percent Jewish, 19.7 percent Arab, and 5.4 percent other).
  7. Palestinian
    of or relating to the area of Palestine and its inhabitants
    Conflict between Arabs and Jews in Palestine arose in the early twentieth century, with Arab resistance to the European Zionist project of establishing a Jewish-majority homeland in Palestine, the site of an intermittent ancient Jewish kingdom until the extension of the Roman Empire to that area in 63 BC.

    The existence of a Palestinian people having a distinct national or ethnic identity has been disputed by some Israelis.
  8. Sinai Desert
    a desert on the Sinai Peninsula in northeastern Egypt
    Palestine is an area in the Middle East bounded to the west by the Mediterranean, to the north by Lebanon, to the south by the Sinai Desert, and to the east by the Jordan River.
  9. International Court of Justice
    a court established to settle disputes between members of the United Nations
    On 9 July 9 2004, the International Court of Justice ruled that “the construction by Israel of a wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and its associated régime are contrary to international law.”
  10. Palestine
    an ancient country in southwestern Asia on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea; a place of pilgrimage for Christianity and Islam and Judaism
    Palestine is an area in the Middle East bounded to the west by the Mediterranean, to the north by Lebanon, to the south by the Sinai Desert, and to the east by the Jordan River.
  11. Zionist movement
    a movement of world Jewry that arose late in the 19th century with the aim of creating a Jewish state in Palestine
    During the 1920s and 1930s, while the Zionist movement was encouraging Jewish migration to Palestine with the goal of creating a Jewish-majority state there, Palestinian Arabs began to demand the establishment of their own state—Palestine.
  12. West Bank
    an area between Israel and Jordan on the west bank of the Jordan river; populated largely by Palestinians
    Some people speak of Arab Israelis as Palestinians, but the term is most often used to refer to non-Israeli Arabs in Palestine living in the major territories occupied by Israel since 1967: East Jerusalem, the West Bank of the Jordan River, and the Gaza Strip along the Mediterranean coast south of Israel.
  13. peace process
    any social process undertaken by governments who want their citizens to believe they are trying to avoid armed hostilities
    The Obama administration has been aggressive in attempts to restart negotiations toward a settlement on the issue of Palestinian statehood and has indicated that it considers discussion on the Goldstone report to be a distraction from the broader peace process.
  14. suicide bombing
    a terrorist bombing carried out by someone who does not hope to survive it
    In 2002, Israel commenced construction of a security barrier around the West Bank with the purpose of preventing suicide bombings and other terrorist attacks.
  15. First World War
    a war between the allies (Russia, France, British Empire, Italy, United States, Japan, Rumania, Serbia, Belgium, Greece, Portugal, Montenegro) and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, Bulgaria) from 1914 to 1918
    It was either southern Syria before the First World War, and then it was a Palestine including Jordan.
  16. Zionist
    a Jewish supporter of Zionism
    Conflict between Arabs and Jews in Palestine arose in the early twentieth century, with Arab resistance to the European Zionist project of establishing a Jewish-majority homeland in Palestine, the site of an intermittent ancient Jewish kingdom until the extension of the Roman Empire to that area in 63 BC.

    The existence of a Palestinian people having a distinct national or ethnic identity has been disputed by some Israelis.
  17. racial segregation
    segregation by race
    While most Israelis refer to the project as a “security fence,” Palestinians refer to the barrier as “jidar al-fasl al-'unsuri,” or the “racial segregation wall.”
  18. Israeli
    a native or inhabitant of Israel
    Some people speak of Arab Israelis as Palestinians, but the term is most often used to refer to non-Israeli Arabs in Palestine living in the major territories occupied by Israel since 1967: East Jerusalem, the West Bank of the Jordan River, and the Gaza Strip along the Mediterranean coast south of Israel.
  19. cease-fire
    a state of peace agreed to between opponents
    Throughout 2008, both Israel and Palestinian Hamas forces violated a standing cease-fire.
  20. Security Council
    a permanent council of the United Nations
    For example, in 1979, non-binding United Nations Security Council Resolution 452 (4 votes in favor, United States abstaining) called upon “the Government and people of Israel to cease, on an urgent basis, the establishment, construction and planning of settlements in the Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem.”
  21. Geneva Convention
    an agreement first drawn up in Geneva in 1864 and later revised concerning the treatment of captured and wounded military personnel and civilians in wartime
    The illegality of the settlements arises from the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 49, which forbids the settlement and annexation of territory acquired in military conflict: “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.”
  22. Gaza Strip
    a coastal region at the southeastern corner of the Mediterranean bordering Israel and Egypt
    Some people speak of Arab Israelis as Palestinians, but the term is most often used to refer to non-Israeli Arabs in Palestine living in the major territories occupied by Israel since 1967: East Jerusalem, the West Bank of the Jordan River, and the Gaza Strip along the Mediterranean coast south of Israel.
  23. Jewish
    of or relating to Jews or their culture or religion
    Israel, a democratic republic that identifies itself as a Jewish state, was founded in 1948 and in 2008 had a population of 7.3 million (75.8 percent Jewish, 19.7 percent Arab, and 5.4 percent other).
  24. mandate
    a formal statement of a command to do something
    This arrangement, known as the British Mandate or Palestine Mandate because it was mandated by the League of Nations (the predecessor of the United Nations), disintegrated after World War II (1939–45).
  25. Jordan
    an Arab kingdom in southwestern Asia on the Red Sea
    Palestine is an area in the Middle East bounded to the west by the Mediterranean, to the north by Lebanon, to the south by the Sinai Desert, and to the east by the Jordan River.
  26. Golda Meir
    Israeli statesman (born in Russia) (1898-1978)
    For example, in 1969 Golda Meir (1898–1978), the prime minister of Israel from 1969 to 1974, stated that “there were no such thing [sic] as Palestinians” at the time of Israel's founding (London Sunday Times, 15 June 1969).
  27. Jerusalem
    capital and largest city of the modern state of Israel
    Some people speak of Arab Israelis as Palestinians, but the term is most often used to refer to non-Israeli Arabs in Palestine living in the major territories occupied by Israel since 1967: East Jerusalem, the West Bank of the Jordan River, and the Gaza Strip along the Mediterranean coast south of Israel.
  28. Middle East
    the area around the eastern Mediterranean
    Palestine is an area in the Middle East bounded to the west by the Mediterranean, to the north by Lebanon, to the south by the Sinai Desert, and to the east by the Jordan River.
  29. war crime
    a crime committed in wartime; violation of rules of war
    The investigation, led by prominent South African judge Richard Goldstone, asserted that Israel had "committed actions amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity."
  30. disengagement
    the act of releasing from an attachment or connection
    The signing of the Oslo Peace Accords in 1993, the establishment of a Palestinian authority, and a plan for Israeli disengagement in heavily disputed territories ended the Intifada.
  31. occupied
    held or filled or in use
    It is occupied at present by two peoples or national groups, Israelis and Arabs.
  32. humanitarian
    marked by devotion to popular welfare
    The United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs objected that all terms of the Agreement on Movement and Access signed by Israel and the Palestinian Authority on 15 November 2005 had been violated by Israel (The Agreement on Movement and Access One Year On, November 2006).
  33. European Union
    an international organization of European countries formed after World War II to reduce trade barriers and increase cooperation among its members
    Votes in favor of the measure included all twenty-five members of the European Union.
  34. Arab
    a member of a Semitic people from the Middle East
    Israel, a democratic republic that identifies itself as a Jewish state, was founded in 1948 and in 2008 had a population of 7.3 million (75.8 percent Jewish, 19.7 percent Arab, and 5.4 percent other).
  35. disputed
    subject to disagreement and debate
    Conflict between Arabs and Jews in Palestine arose in the early twentieth century, with Arab resistance to the European Zionist project of establishing a Jewish-majority homeland in Palestine, the site of an intermittent ancient Jewish kingdom until the extension of the Roman Empire to that area in 63 BC.

    The existence of a Palestinian people having a distinct national or ethnic identity has been disputed by some Israelis.
  36. Fatah
    a Palestinian political and military organization founded by Yasser Arafat in 1958 to work toward the creation of a Palestinian state; during the 1960s and 1970s trained terrorist and insurgent groups
    Major issues still unresolved are Israel's refusal to halt settlements in the West Bank and the lack of unity between Hamas and Fatah, the major Palestinian parties.
  37. Meir
    Israeli statesman (born in Russia) (1898-1978)
    For example, in 1969 Golda Meir (1898–1978), the prime minister of Israel from 1969 to 1974, stated that “there were no such thing [sic] as Palestinians” at the time of Israel's founding (London Sunday Times, 15 June 1969).
  38. blockaded
    preventing entry or exit or a course of action
    Israel has also imposed sanctions against Gaza and blockaded Gaza's borders and coastline to all traffic and supplies.
  39. ethnic
    distinctive of the ways of living of a group of people
    Conflict between Arabs and Jews in Palestine arose in the early twentieth century, with Arab resistance to the European Zionist project of establishing a Jewish-majority homeland in Palestine, the site of an intermittent ancient Jewish kingdom until the extension of the Roman Empire to that area in 63 BC.

    The existence of a Palestinian people having a distinct national or ethnic identity has been disputed by some Israelis.
  40. blockade
    a war measure isolating an area of importance to the enemy
    Israel has also imposed sanctions against Gaza and blockaded Gaza's borders and coastline to all traffic and supplies.
  41. international law
    the body of laws governing relations between nations
    On 9 July 9 2004, the International Court of Justice ruled that “the construction by Israel of a wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and its associated régime are contrary to international law.”
  42. Sunni
    a member of one of the two main branches of orthodox Islam
    Over 700,000 Arab Palestinians (mostly Sunni Muslims) fled the region that had been designated as the new state of Israel.
  43. General Assembly
    the supreme deliberative assembly of the United Nations
    Later that month, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution (150 in favor, 6 against, 10 abstaining) declaring that the barrier is illegal and should be removed.
  44. League of Nations
    an international organization formed in 1920 to promote cooperation and peace among nations; although suggested by Woodrow Wilson, the United States never joined and it remained powerless; it was dissolved in 1946 after the United Nations was formed
    This arrangement, known as the British Mandate or Palestine Mandate because it was mandated by the League of Nations (the predecessor of the United Nations), disintegrated after World War II (1939–45).
Created on Wed Dec 30 23:01:21 EST 2009

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