Israel

According to the Bible, the Hebrew ancestors of the Jews fled from Egypt and conquered the land of the Canaanites, which incorporated the northern part of Palestine. Biblical chronology places this event around 1400 BCE, although a somewhat more recent Jewish tradition places it around a hundred years later.

Scholars say there was no Exodus from Egypt as described in the Bible, and that the Hebrews were really from the Canaanite rural lower classes. They say that some time around 1250 BCE, groups of Canaanites left the region of the rich coastal cities to settle peacefully in the hitherto sparsely populated hinterland.

Although most of the Jewish population left Palestine after the defeats suffered in the Roman-Jewish wars, there have always been at least a few thousand Jews in the region. Throughout history since the earliest times of Judaism, there has never been a time when Palestine has belonged exclusively to either Jews or non-Jews. Jewish immigration, both legal and illegal began after the Crimean War and continued through the first half of the twentieth century, until the Jewish declaration of independence for Israel.

Western Asia: 1st millennium AD

At the start of the Christian era western Asia is part of the Roman empire which confronts, to the east, a Persian empire of varying size and complexion. The region will remain an uneasy border between these two blocks until the 4th century, when the adoption of Christianity begins to transform the western antagonist from the Roman into the Byzantine empire.

The balance nevertheless remains much the same until it is violently and rapidly upset by the emergence of Islam in the 7th century. For the last centuries of the period western Asia, with the exception of Anatolia, is Muslim.

East Asia: 1st millennium AD

India and China, the two ancient civilizations of east Asia, are large enough to follow their own course at this stage without much influence from outside. It is instead their influence which spreads outwards, profoundly affecting the development of Sri Lanka, Korea and Japan - all of which develop their own local and lasting characteristics during this period.

North of the mountain ranges the nomads exert pressure southwards from time to time. For the most part they are easily contained. Early in the next millennium their turn will come, first with minor groups gaining territory in northern China and then with the violent eruption of the Mongols.

Answer 1

While it's true Israel is often bullied around by the media for abuse and mistreatment,

you have to ask, how true is this?

Israel's generosity and care for the struggles of others is evidenced by the many

examples of aid and assistance, despite being such a tiny nation, with much internal

strife and conflict itself. Even when enemy bombs target Israeli people and they require

evacuation and assistance themselves, Israel continues to aid countries and people

from all over the world- demonstrating its selflessness and commitment to restore and

help others.

Jan 2005 tsunami:

- Israel is one of the first nations to offer assistance to the sea-ravaged region:

- hundreds of thousands of dollars of aid to countries affected -sent medical relief team,

medicine and tons of much needed food, water, blankets, tents generators, equipment, etc.

- Indonesia (a country with no diplomatic ties with Israel) received 75 tons of Israeli aid,

providing meals for 4,000 people a day as well as medical gear.

Jan. - Feb. 2001 Earthquake in El Salvador:

- Israel sends medical relief team - medical supplies and equipment - provides 22 tons

of clothing and blankets

Jan. 2001 Earthquake in India:

- Israel sends team of medical personnel and medical equipment

- Israeli medics treat victims, deliver babies and assist in search-and-rescue efforts

April 2000 Ethiopia:

- Israel provides 30 tons of emergency medical aid (food, water medicine, blankets, supplies)

to starving Ethiopians

Aug. 1999 Earthquake in Turkey:

- Israel sends search-and-rescue team, dogs, equipment to assist victims

- Israel sets up hospital to treat adults and children; with intensive care unit,

operating room, delivery room and laboratories

April 1999 Kosovo crisis:

- Israel sends medics and medical aid to Kosovo refugees

- Israel establishes medical field hospital to aid Albanian refugees fleeing their homes

Nov. 1998 Hurricane Mitch disaster:

- Israel provides aid (medical aid teams, equipment and supplies) to Central American

countries following the natural disaster, including Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador and

Guatemala, and the list goes on.

Without a doubt, Israel is one of the strongest and most committed humanitarian nations.

Answer 2

The Israeli government has certainly been accused of cruelty during wartime and it is

possible that this is the case, but it is doubtful that Israel is more cruel during wartime

than any other nation. The United States killed numerous civilians in Iraq. Lebanon has

repeatedly attacked Palestinian refugee camps. Saudi Arabia has criminalized and sentenced

to death numerous peaceful individuals, etc.

Please see the Discussion Section, if you prefer to see a discussion about Israeli

Actions against other Arab States, but note that the list excises the particulars of

each circumstance and the violations made against Israel in the same time period.

Answer 3

Colonel Richard Kemp is the former Commander of British forces in Afghanistan.

While serving with NATO, he commanded United Nations troops in Northern Ireland,

Bosnia, and Macedonia. He fought in the Gulf War, and worked in Iraq for the UK

government's Joint Intelligence Committee.

Speaking before the Emergency Session of the UN Human Rights Council on

October 16, 2009, Colonel Kemp said:

"Based on my knowledge and experience, I can say this: During Operation Cast Lead,

the Israel Defense Forces did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone

than any other army in the history of warfare."

Zionism (as a political movement) was founded by Theodor Herzl in 1897. It built upon a prior organization of several national organizations going under the collective name of Hovevei Tziyon, most of which were founded in the 1880s.

The term "Zionism" appears to have been coined by the publisher Nathan Birnbaum in 1891 to describe these Jewish-nationalism organizations, though it has been retroactively applied to any movement that promoted a Jewish homeland.

Zionism was one of many nationalistic movements that the latter half of the 19th century spawned. European intellectualism and political thought starting about 1850 began to coalesce several major threats of philosophical ideals from the Age of Revolution (which covered the time from the American Revolution through the French Revolution and Counter-Revolutionary periods, i.e. about 1770 to 1840). Combined with the spread of the Industrial Revolution throughout Europe, this later portion of the 19th Century was a great flowering of socio-political thought covering the proper relationships of the rights of man, the concept of nationhood, and the proper workings of government. Nationalism was one of the more potent ideas that solidified around this time, and it became widely popular.

In political science parlance, a "nation" is a group of people with a common culture which creates a bond of unity. A "state" is a political boundary describing an area under a single government's control. A central tenet of the nationalism theories of the 19th century was that the proper size of a "state" was the entire natural area where a specific "nation" resided. That is, all countries should be "nation-states", where the political boundaries separated different cultural groups.

Naturally, at the time (and even today), there are a large number of ethnic and cultural groups which are NOT the only one in a given political state. The nationalism movements were political movements started by many such ethnic/cultural groups, to agitate for a change in the political state boundaries (often, including creating several states from one or more existing ones).

Zionism as a political movement was born in this period of Nationalistic ferver, along with many other "dispossessed" ethnic nationalism movements. However, given the extremely long period of Jewish ethnic identity (over 4,000 years), and the relatively unique dispersed nature of the Jewish "nation" (peoples), it would be a mistake to claim that Zionism was created solely as a reaction to the nationalistic ideologies of that time; rather, there have been organizations advocating a Jewish state for hundreds of years. However, they never enjoyed large-scale support in the Jewish community; thus, it is proper to consider the start of the Zionist movement to be Herzl's organization in 1897.

2 Samuel 24:1 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go number Israel and Judah. 1 Chronicles 21:1

Satan

1 Chronicles 21:1 And Satan stood up against Israel and provoked David to number Israel