T HE C REATION OF M ODERN I SRAEL ? SS7H2 B. Explain the historical reasons for the establishment of the modern State of Israel in 1948; include the Jewish religious connections to the land, the Holocaust, anti-Semitism, and Zionism in Europe.

H ISTORY OF THE J EWISH P EOPLE : A R ELIGIOUS C ONNECTION TO THE L AND The Jewish people created a kingdom in the area of present day Israel about the year 1000 BC. Jews believe Israel was given to them by God. Around 70 AD the Jewish people were conquered by the Romans and forced to leave their homeland. They had to leave all of their sacred religious places behind.

H ISTORY C ONTINUED : The Jewish people fled to parts of Europe and Southwest Asia. The “scattering” of the Jewish people is called the Diaspora.

A NTI -S EMITISM Anti-Semitism: Hatred of Jewish people based on ethnic or religious differences. As a separate group, with their own religion and customs, it was easy to pick on the Jews.. By the late 1800’s, Jewish people all over Europe and Russia were being treated as unwelcome outsiders.

Z IONISM Zionism: a political movement which supported the re-establishment of a Jewish nation in their ancestral homeland of Israel. Many Zionists (European Jews) began to move back to Israel in the 1800’s (A land controlled by the Ottomans and called Palestine)

Z IONISM C ONTINUED In 1917, after WWI, the British gained control of Palestine from the Ottoman Empire. Palestine was populated mostly by Arabs (Palestinians)who also wanted to form their own country now that they were free from the Ottomans. Both groups, asked the British to help them create an independent country.

T WO P EOPLE O NE L AND Between the time of WWI and WWII, tensions grew between Palestinians and Jewish Zionists. The British controlled Palestine and allowed more Jewish settlers into the region but did not officially declare a Jewish nation.

H OLOCAUST

T HE N EW I SRAEL In 1947 the United Nations voted to split Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. The British left Palestine in July As soon as the British left Palestine, The Zionists declared a new nation called Israel.

T HE F IGHT FOR I SRAEL In 1948 the Arab nations of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq launched an attack on the new Jewish nation. Although greatly outnumbered, the Israeli military defeated 5 Arab countries. 750,000 Arab Palestinians fled and became refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, and neighboring Arab countries.

C ONTINUING C ONFLICT Over the past 60 years Palestinian Arabs have unsuccessfully tried to regain land lost to Israel. Attempts at a peaceful resolution have also been mostly unsuccessful. Israel controls Jerusalem, a holy site to all Muslims and Christians.

C ONTINUING C ONFLICT : Some Muslim extremist groups have resorted to terrorism against Israel and countries that support Israel such as the United States.