Israel Essays (451 words) - Zionism, Eastern Mediterranean, Israel

Israel Introduction p.1 I. Geography of Israel p.2 II. Population of Israel p.3 III. History of Israel p.4 IV. Government of Israel p.5,6 V. Religions of Israel p.7 Bibliography p.8 Introduction In the past few decades, atleast since 1948, no other country has been in the news more often or has gotten more international attention than Israel. First, Israel got attention because it was to be a refuge for the poor unfortunate Jewish people who survived the Holocaust. They would, once and for all, have a Jewish homeland, where the key to citizenship was simply being Jewish. The majority of the world had sympathy for the Jewish people, at that time. Along with this sympathy the world had expectations that the Jewish people would be better, morally, than the other nations of the world. As a result, Israel is often put under a figurative microscope and each and every thing she does is analyzed. For many years people only said the nicest things about Israel, but that has changed, recently. Many people think that one of the reasons for this change is because of the power the Arabs have as a result of their oil and money. Since 1948 Israel has had to deal with regular wars waged by its Arab neighbors, with one of the highest taxation systems in the world and with double digit inflation every year. There is a division among its religious and non-religious people, and a division among its citizens of European vs. North African origin. Israel has, in the past, had to deal with not enough immigration and most recently too much immigration. When Israel was first established there was much work to be done and too few people to do it. Now there is rising unemployment in Israel, partly because of the mass of new immigrants from the Soviet Union and from Ethiopia. There was a time when people moved to Israel and never thought about leaving; that has changed. You will learn more, in the following pages, about this dynamic and wonderful country of ours, "Eretz Yisrael", the Land of Israel, homeland of the Jews. Bibliography 1. Feinstein, Steve. Israel. Minneapolis: Lerner Publication Company, 1988. 2. Taitz, Emily and Henry, Sandra. Israel, A Sacred Land. Minnesota: Dillon Press, Inc., 1987. 3. About Israel. Do You Know That...? Jerusalem: Israel Information Center, 1980. 4. Aspects of Israel. Jerusalem: Israel Information Center, 1982. 5. Israel Today. Jerusalem: Israel Digest, 1983. 6. Watson, Russel and Annin, Peter. "City of Peace, Hornet's Nest", Newsweek, (1988) p.51. 7. Ain, Stewart. "Tears and Joy". The Jewish Week. (May 4, 1990) p.2. 8. Lief, Louise, Makovsky, David and Walsh, Kenneth. "Your Jewishness Is Not Enough". U.S. News & World Report (1990) p.32,33. 9. "Israel", Encyclopedia Brittanica, 1963 edition. 10. "Israel", Encyclopedia Judaica, 1974 edition.