Israel

Answer 1

Primarily, the Jews historically lived in the area known as Palestine around 2000 years ago. The majority were then exiled by the Romans. The people who remained in the territory in the interim period began to consider themselves Arabs by the mid-1200s. When the British occupied the area and called it Palestine, these Arabs began to call themselves Palestinians. During this period, however, many Jews sought to return to their ancestral homeland and declare it as their own historic country. This provoked conflict between the people returning to their homeland and those who had lived there for centuries.

Please see the Related Questions for more information.

Answer 2

the story is very long and complicated and quite frankly, the feud is pointless. in a biblical sense, some Muslim (and therefore many Arabs) believe that the Jews (/israelis) don't deserve the land of israel because in the Torah, the Jews turned in don't in fear of the Canaanites (the people that lived in that land while the Jews were enslaved in Egypt) and therefore demonstrated a lack of trust in god/El/Allah. as a result the Jews were sent into exile in the desert for 40 years. (personally i believe that the Jews have repented enough over the years and deserve their right to israel, but hey that's me) another reason of more recent history is a little somethng that took place during and after world war II. it was called the British mandate and it was when Great Britain was ruling over "palestine." the British promised the Muslims the state of Palestine to be a Muslim country, and in exchange the Arabs would send support to the allied powers and then, of course the war ended and a decade or so later the british went against there promise and gave Palestine to be a sovern Jewish State, which was renamed Israel (much like Jacob from the Torah, hmm...). might i add it was very neccisary for the Jews to have a homeland which is another conversation entirely...

in short, the answer to your question, as demonstrated by these facts is... HATE. yep, that's it, thousands of years of hatred. both sides are right and have just cause and yet both sides are wrong and completely out of bounds, and unfortunately, the hate is there and there really is no going back now... sorry i could give you a more uplifting answer...

They eat something which is called a tzabar which is like a cactus but has fruity taste.

People of Jewish religion (whether or not resident in Israel) eat just about anything that is not forbidden by their dietary laws. They are forbidden to eat any sea food that does not have fins and scales, or anything that comes from a pig. It is also forbidden to eat meat at the same meal as any dairy product. It is mandatory that any meat animal be slaughtered by bleeding to death.

Some of the items which are frequently consumed by Jews are salt beef sandwiches (without butter!), bagels (with or without lox), matzos, falafel, halva, gefilte fish and chopped liver. There are many others, depending to some extent on where their ancestors were during the Diaspora.

Israel became an independent nation on May 14, 1948.

In the following English translation of the Israeli Declaration of Independence,

the founders of that nation explain their motives and intentions:

Declaration of Independence

Friday 14th May 1948 - Erev Shabbat 5th Iyar 5708

Eretz Israel [Hebrew: The Land of Israel] was the birthplace of the Jewish people.

Here, their spiritual, religious and national identity was formed. Here, they achieved

independence and created a culture of national and universal significance. Here they

wrote and gave the Bible to the world.

Exiled from their land, the Jewish people remained faithful to it in all the countries of

their dispersion, never ceasing to pray and hope for their return and for the restoration

in it of their national freedom.

Impelled by this historic association, Jews strove in every successive generation to

re-establish themselves in their ancient homeland. In recent decades they returned

in masses. Pioneers, ma'pilim [Hebrew: immigrants coming to Eretz-Israel in defiance

of restrictive legislation] and defenders, they made deserts bloom, revived the Hebrew

language, built villages and towns, and created a thriving community controlling its own

economy and culture. Loving peace but knowing how to defend itself, they brought the

blessing of progress to all inhabitants of the country.

In the year 5657 (1897), at the summons of the spiritual father of the Jewish State,

Theodore Herzl, the First Zionist Congress convened and proclaimed the right of the

Jewish people to national rebirth in its own country.

This right was recognized in the Balfour Declaration of the 2nd November, 1917, and

re-affirmed in the Mandate of the League of Nations which, in particular, gave explicit

international recognition to the historic connection between the Jewish people and

Eretz-Israel and to the right of the Jewish people to rebuild its National Home.

The Nazi holocaust, which engulfed millions of Jews in Europe, was another clear

demonstration of the urgency of the re-establishment n Eretz-Israel of the Jewish

State, which would open the gates of the homeland wide to every Jew and confer

upon the Jewish people the status of a fully privileged member of the comity of

nations.

The survivors of the European catastrophe, as well as Jews continued to migrate to

Eretz-Israel, undaunted by difficulties, restrictions and dangers, and never ceased to

assert their right to a life of dignity, freedom and honest toil in their national homeland.

In the Second World War the Jewish community of this country made a full contribution

in the struggle of the freedom- and peace- loving nations against the forces of Nazi

evil and by the blood of its soldiers and its war effort, gained the right to be reckoned

among the peoples who founded the United Nations.

On November 29, 1947, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a

Resolution calling for the establishment of an independent Jewish State in Eretz-

Israel, and called upon the inhabitants of the country to take such steps as may be

necessary on their part to put the plan into effect.

This recognition by the United Nations of the right of the Jewish people to establish

their independent State is irrevocable. This right is the natural right of the Jewish

people to be masters of their own fate, like all other nations, in their own sovereign

State.

ACCORDINGLY, WE, MEMBERS OF THE PEOPLE'S COUNCIL, REPRESENTATIVES OF

THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF ERETZ-ISRAEL AND OF THE ZIONIST MOVEMENT, ARE

HERE ASSEMBLED ON THE DAY OF THE TERMINATION OF THE BRITISH MANDATE

OVER ERETZ-ISRAEL AND, BY VIRTUE OF OUR NATURAL AND HISTORIC RIGHT AND

ON THE STRENGTH OF THE RESOLUTION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

HEREBY DECLARE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A JEWISH STATE IN ERETZ-ISRAEL, TO BE

KNOWN AS THE STATE OF ISRAEL.

WE HEREBY DECLARE that, with effect from the moment of the termination of the

Mandate being tonight, the eve of Sabbath, the 6th Iyar, 5708 (15th May, 1948),

and until the setting up of the duly elected bodies of the State in accordance with

a Constitution, to be drawn up by the Elected Constituent Assembly not later than

the first day of October, 1948, the People's Council shall act as a Provisional Council

of State, and its executive organ, the People's Administration, shall constitute the

Provisional Government of the Jewish State, to be called "Israel".

THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open to the immigration of Jews and for the Ingathering

of the Exiles from all countries of their dispersion; will promote the development of the

country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; will be based on the precepts of liberty,

justice and peace as invisaged by the prophets of Israel; will uphold the full social

and political equality of all its citizens, without distinction of race, creed or sex; will

guarantee full freedom of conscience, worship, education and culture; will safeguard

the sanctity and inviolability of the shrines and Holy Places of all religions; and will

dedicate itself to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

THE STATE OF ISRAEL is prepared to cooperate with the agencies and representatives

of the United Nations in the implementation of the Resolution of the General Assembly

of November 29, 1947, and will take steps to bring about the economic union over

the whole of Eretz-Israel.

WE APPEAL to the United Nations to assist the Jewish people in the building-up of

its State and to admit Israel into the family of nations.

WE APPEAL - in the very midst of the onslaught launched against us now for months -

to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to return to the ways of peace and play

their part in the upbuilding of the State, on the basis of full and equal citizenship and

due representation in all its bodies and institutions - provisional or permanent.

WE EXTEND our hand of peace and unity to all the neighbouring states and their

peoples, and invite them to establish bonds of cooperation and mutual help with

the sovereign Jewish people settled in its own land. The State of Israel is prepared

to do its share in a common effort for the advancement of the entire Middle East.

WE APPEAL to the Jewish people throughout the Diaspora to rally round the Jews

of Eretz-Israel in the task of immigration and development and to stand by them in

the great struggle for the fulfillment of the age-old dream - the redemption of Israel.

PLACING OUR TRUST IN THE ROCK OF ISRAEL, WE AFFIX OUR SIGNATURES TO THIS

PROCLAMATION AT THIS SESSION OF THE PROVISIONAL COUNCIL OF STATE, ON

THE SOIL OF THE HOMELAND, IN THE CITY OF TEL-AVIV, ON THIS SABBATH EVE, THE

5TH DAY OF IYAR, 5708 (14TH MAY,1948).

David Ben-Gurion, and 37 more signatures.
X

The question can be read in two distinct ways based on context.

1) What is the impact in 1948 of the Jews in Mandatory Palestine declaring Israel as their state? -- This led to immediate attack by their Arab neighbors and resulted in the Jewish-Arab Engagement and the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-9.

In 1948, when the British announced the end of the Mandate, the Jewish Settlement used the opportunity and the legal avenue opened by U.N. Resolution 181 to declare a State (Israel). The day after, seven Arab armies from neighboring countries joined with the Arab Militias already operating in Mandatory Palestine to combat the new State. As the fighting progressed, Israel was able to repel the invaders and claim about 78% of the British Mandate of Palestine as the area of their new State. The War of Independence is considered by most to be an Israeli victory.

Throughout the fighting (from 1947-1949), numerous Palestinians were forced from their homes inside what would become Israeli territory. Other Palestinians left in fear that they too could be attacked and forced to leave. This climate of fear and and desire to leave was increased by those Arab leaders who actively encouraged such activities claiming that it would get civilians out of the way while the fighting occurred. After the War and the elimination of Israel, the Palestinians would return without worry. This did not happen, since Israel was victorious. Palestinians call this event (the overall war and removal from their homes) the Nakba or Great Catastrophe. Israel has refused the Right of Return for Palestinians, claiming that if they were allowed to return in large numbers, Israel would no longer have a Jewish majority, putting the entire purpose of a Jewish State in jeopardy.

2) Why is it so important to many Israelis and Jews outside of Israel that the Palestinian Authority call Israel a Jewish State? -- This is the recognition of Israel's mission for the Jewish people. Israel is a nation-state in the 19th century understanding of that term. This is in much the same way that Germany, Italy, Armenia, and many other countries are nation-states. Nobody questions Germany's right to maintain an ethnic-German majority in Germany or to base German laws on German cultural values. It is self-understood that if Germany wished to close its border to immigration, they could do so and maintain an ethnically German State. (They technically cannot close the border to EU migrations because of EU Law, but most immigrants to Germany are from countries outside of the EU.)

However, there is a strong push to allow resettlement of Palestinian refugees and their descendants into Israel, which would violate the Jewish national culture of the State of Israel. The entire purpose of the State of Israel is to create a State for Jews in both the sense that it is a place where they can live and a place permeated by Jewish values. The recognition by the Palestinian Authority that Israel is a Jewish State would be an implicit acquiescence to what Israel requires as the basis of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations: Palestine should be the State of the Palestinian Arabs. Palestine should be responsible for resettling the refugees of its people, not Israel. Because of this very implication, the Palestinian Authority has resisted calling Israel the Jewish State.

The Ark of the Covenant in which the two Stone Tablets with the Ten Commandments were held. It was a heavy wooden box covered with gold, with a gold lid. Exodus ch.25.

See:

Where is the ark of the Covenant?