Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on July 10, 2015

Unite the Beards is a new and remarkably nave organization that wants to bring hipsters and Hasidic Jews together. Theyre based here in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where the Hasidic community has made it very clear they hate hipsters way more than everybody else does. Before moving to this area 13 years ago, I lived in Montreal, which is also lousy with Hasidim. I have a place upstate, too, which is probably #3 as far as densest Hasidic populations go.

After a good 25 years of being surrounded by them, I still dont know the first thing about them. This is primarily because theyve decided isolationism is the key to cultural preservation.

Im of two minds about this. On the one hand I think, Fuck you for not wanting to hang out, but on the other hand, you have to admire a culture that can remain virtually untouched for over 300 years. Its like Quebec. You hate them for enforcing their draconian language laws, but you admire them for resisting the Disneyfication of North America. People are baffled by the French Canadian accent, but its how most rural French people spoke hundreds of years ago.

I cant tell you what Hasidic Jews are like or even if I like them, but I can tell you what its like to be around them. Here are 10 things Ive noticed over the past quarter-century.

1. THEY HATE HIPSTERS Orthodox landlords have begun renting to hipsters because it pays, but the Hasidim are pissed. They see this as an invasion and in a sense, theyre right. The Amish do well with Rumspringa because its not on their turf and its only two years. If you had chicks who dress like theyre in a ZZ Top video living in an Amish community, Rumspringa would quickly become a permanent RumSCHWINGa and the Amish would be done.

Hasidim are not known for their driving skills and I think its because they trust God a little too much.

2. NO, THEY REALLY HATE HIPSTERS The Great Bike Lanes War of Williamsburg has been raging since at least 2009. Hot girls on bikes ride through Hasidic communities flaunting their blasphemously saucy legs and ungodly cleavage. The Hasidim retaliated by painting over the bike lanes and the hipsters fought back by painting them on again. The Hasidim got the city involved and the hipsters fought back by having a topless bicycle parade. When Mayor Bloomberg told the Hasidim to get with the program, they pointed out that its almost election time and they hold a huge sway over who gets elected. The bike lanes were gone the next day.

That doesnt mean the beef isnt still on. Just last week a female friend sent me this video of a van full of Hasidim attacking a cyclist for riding through their neighborhood.

We didnt have this kind of conflict in Montreal. Up there the Hasidim just make the most delicious bagels in the universe and leave everybody alone. Maybe women in New York are just sexier?

3. THEY CANT TOUCH WOMEN Im not bananas about menstrual blood, but my experience has been that most women wash their hands after inserting a tampon. If a woman wants to give a Hasidic guy change at his photography store, she has to kind of lob it at his hand. This isnt usually a problem because Hasidim have developed almost freakishly good catching skills.

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Posted By richards on July 10, 2015

Judge orders custody switch, citing concerns that the mother's influence might jeopardize the children's religious upbringing.

A 32-year-old mother from Monsey, N.Y., has lost custody of her children due largely to what a judge described as the mothers inadequate religious observance.

Kelly Myzner

In a ruling dated April 22, 2013, Judge Sherri L. Eisenpress, of Rockland County Family Court, ordered the custody transfer despite the childrens expressed wishes. The judge acknowledged that the mother has been the childrens primary caretaker, that the children were extremely bonded to her, and that she appeared to be far more involved and vigilant about their care than the father. Still, the judge worried that the mothers lax religious observance would tremendously confuse and harm the children.

Complicating the case are allegations of physical and sexual abuse brought by the mother against the father, and the judges speculation that the complaintswere only a ploy to alienate the children from their father. Myzner claims that she had no such intentions, and the court ruling acknowledges that the father regularly used corporal punishment coupled with a bad temper.

On May 14, after an unsuccessful bid for a stay on the order, the children were removed from Myzners custody. Due to pending investigations against the father on abuse complaints, the children were placed in foster care.

I am in complete shock, Myzner said, a day after her children were taken. I cant sleep. I cant stop shaking. I miss my kids more than words can describe. Im just praying that they feel safe and that the truth will come out.

*

Myzners tale of frustration with the Hasidic community began nearly a decade ago, when she first befriended a Satmar family in Brooklyn, at age 23. Raised in Brick, N.J., in one of the towns few Jewish but secular families,the Satmar world was new to herand, at first, strangely appealing.

I thought I found truth, beauty, and a community in Hasidism, she says. She had often felt different from her neighbors growing up, and she hadnt quite understood why. As a child, Myzner says, we had swastikas painted on our driveway. There were children who were not allowed to play with me because I was Jewish. The Satmars, with their dedication to faith and tradition, offered a compelling perspective from which to view her own experiences.

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Posted By simmons on July 9, 2015

Power, Ignorance, and Anti-Semitism: Henry Ford and His War on Jews by Jonathan R. Logsdon

This paper traces the anti-Semitic activities of automobile manufacturer Henry Ford. Ford first voiced his anti-Semitic leanings in 1915, around the time of his "Peace Ship" episode. Eventually, his belief that the "International Jew" was the source of the world's problems led him to conduct a campaign against them in the pages of his newspaper; The Dearborn Independent. The articles in Ford's newspaper blamed the Jews for everything from the Bolshevik Revolution and the First World War to bootlegged liquor and cheap movies. They also accused the Jews of conspiring to enslave Christianity and destroy the "Anglo-Saxon" way of life. The articles were later gathered into book form and published under the title: The International Jew: The World's Foremost Problem. This book was translated into 16 languages, and was to have a profound influence upon the growing Nazi movement in Germany. Eventually, Ford publicly apologized for the articles in light of a legal suit. However; he continued to express his anti-Semitic beliefs in his private circles. In the 1930's, he hired many fascist sympathizers, accepted an award from Hitler; and engaged in business ventures in Nazi Germany. In the 1940's, the Ford Motor Company was transformed into a more tolerant organization through the efforts of Ford's son and grandson. However; Ford himself never abandoned his deep-rooted anti-Semitism. His anti-Semitic literature can still be found in great abundance, more than fifty years after his death. While Ford is considered to be a great man by many Americans, he spawned an ugly legacy of hatred and bigotry that still has ramifications today.

Anti-Semitism has been described as being a disease of the soul. It is a prejudice that has gained particular notoriety in the 20th Century-- the century of Treblinka and Auschwitz. However; this phenomenon of hate has not just been confined to the continent of Europe. In 1920, a small newspaper in Dearborn, Michigan began publishing a series of articles entitled: "The International Jew: The World's Foremost Problem." The newspaper was owned by the famous automobile manufacturer; Henry Ford. Through a combination of influence, power; and ignorance, he was able to unleash the largest and most damaging campaign against Jews ever waged in the United States.

By 1915, the Great War had been going on for well over a year. Henry Ford's attitude towards the conflict was well known to the public. He had told the Detroit Free Press that he would give all of his money to stop it and that the building of armaments by the U.S. was "wasteful and war breeding."1 At the time, the 52 year old Ford was one of the richest and most popular men in America. More than half of the automobiles in the nation came from the Ford Motor Company. Many Americans saw him as a champion of the working class; the previous year; he had made national headlines by raising the minimum wage for his workers to $5 a day. It came as no surprise when a steady stream of pacifists soon began courting Ford, hoping to utilize his finances and his prestige. One such hopeful was a Jewish Hungarian named Rosika Schwimmer; who called upon Ford in November of 1915. Mine. Schwimmer proposed to Ford her plan to stop the war by sending a delegation of pacifists to Europe on a chartered "Peace Ship." Ford was enchanted with the idea, and organized a group to book passage on a Scandinavian-American vessel, the Oscar II. Before he set sail, Ford granted an interview in which he proudly boasted, "We're going to stop the war... We're going to get the boys out of the trenches by Christmas."2 At the same time, however; Ford admitted that that he did not exactly know where the ship was going. Nor did Ford reveal any specific plans of the operation. The ship eventually docked in Oslo, Norway on December 18, 1915. No one greeted the ship in the freezing temperatures of --12 E Ford gave his first, and only, press conference of the "campaign" four days later. It was a confusing speech in which Ford mainly talked about a new tractor he had on the market. He expressed his belief that it would be wiser for the munitions factories of Europe to produce tractors instead of weapons. One newsman sarcastically noted that Ford "must be a very great man indeed who permits himself to utter such foolishness."3 Ford then booked passage on the first steamer returning to New York and returned the next morning, weakened by a nasty cold. The ill-conceived Peace Ship venture, which accomplished nothing, soon ended in disaster and embarrassment.

One of those who came to Ford's defense in the aftermath was Philadelphia rabbi, Joseph Krawkopf, who declared that it was better "a thousand times Lto] be branded a fool in the service of humanity than be hailed a hero for having shed rivers of blood."4 Ironically, Ford had made a strange statement to Mine. Schwimmer before their Peace Ship departure-- a statement that she found "cheap and vulgar." "I know who caused the war-- the German-Jewish bankers. I have the evidence here," Ford declared, slapping his pocket. "Facts. I can't give them out yet because I haven't got them all. But I'll have them soon."5

Ford found himself in the press spotlight again in 1919, when a $1 million libel suit he had filed against the Chicago Tribune went to court. A June 23, 1916 editorial, entitled "Ford is an Anarchist," had characterized Ford as an "ignorant idealist," an "anarchist enemy of the nation," and as being "so incapable of thought that he cannot see the ignominy of his own performance."6 In Ford's defense, the article was based on a false report that Ford would not guarantee the jobs of workers who were called away for military operations. However; this did not prevent Ford from enduring one of the most embarrassing episodes of his career. When Ford took the stand, Tribune lawyer Elliott Stevenson took issue with his influence on the public. "You call yourself an educator;" he noted to Ford. "Now I shall inquire whether you were a well informed man, competent to educate people."7 Stevenson then launched into a series of questions which Ford's lawyer; Alfred Lucking, had been dreading: "Have there ever been any revolutions in this country?" "There was, I understand." "When?" 'In 1812." "Did you ever hear of Benedict Arnold?" "I have heard the name." "Who was he?" "I have forgotten just who he is. He is a writer; I think."8

Eventually, Ford was forced to admit to Stevenson that he was "ignorant about most things."9 After enduring the cross-examination for a grueling six days, Ford left the witness stand, vowing, "Never again." The jury eventually ruled in favor of Ford, but awarded him, as damages, the insulting sum of $.06. The press had a field day over the trial's outcome. One paper described Ford as "a man with a vision distorted and limited by his lack of information," while The Nation commented that "the unveiling of Mr. Ford has much of the pitiful about it, if not the tragic."10 Most brutal of all had been Stevenson's closing remarks to the jury, in which he declared that he had never been so shocked as he was in this case "when Henry Ford disclosed the pitiable condition of his mind."11

Ford, however; was not in court to hear Stevenson's comments. He had departed on a camping trip with his good friends Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone, and naturalist John Burroughs, their third such outing together. During this particular trip, Burroughs noted in his diary that: "Mr. Ford attributes all evil to the Jews or Jewish capitalists-- the Jews caused the war; the Jews caused the outbreak of thieving and robbing all over the country, the Jews caused the inefficiency of the navy which Edison talked about last night.12

By now, it was not just close acquaintances to whom Ford was expressing such anti-Semitic beliefs. An executive at the Ford Company was up late one night and decided to tide himself over with a candy bar. Ford walked up to the man, started some small talk, and took a bite of the man's snack. A look of dissatisfaction came over his face. "This stuff isn't as good as it used to be, is it?" The executive replied that he had not noticed any change. "The Jews have taken hold of it," Ford replied. "They're cheapening it to make more money out of it." Since it happened to be the fourth anniversary of the ill-fated Peace Ship expedition, the subject came up in their ensuing conversation. "What did you get out of that trip, Mr. Ford?" the executive enquired. "I know who makes the wars," Ford responded. "The international Jewish bankers arrange them so they can make money out of them." He then cryptically added, "I know it's true because a Jew on the Peace Ship told me.. .That man knew what he was talking about-- gave me the whole story. We're going to tell the whole story one of these days and show them up!"13

By this time, Ford had been in possession of The Dearborn Independent for several months. A typical small country newspaper of the time, it was Ford's intention to use it as his public mouthpiece. He had "practical" ideas that he wanted to give to the public "without having them garbled, distorted, or misrepresented. " 14 In order to promote its absolute purity against outside influences, Ford refused to accept advertising among its pages. He hired as Editor-in-Chief E.G. Pipp, who had served for 12 years as manager and editor of the Detroit News. Pipp shared Ford's outspoken liberalism and was quite pleased with the chance to work with him.

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Posted By simmons on July 9, 2015

The Deep Roots of Anti-Semitism in European Society*1

The resurgence of European anti-Semitism after the Holocaust suggests that it has deep roots in society. It has been fostered in a great variety of ways by so many, for such a long time, in all European countries that one might consider this form of hate and discrimination as inherent to European culture and a part of European "values." New European anti-Semitism often originates from a young age, which indicates that it is an anti-Semitism of the future rather than of the past.

The European Union's attitude toward anti-Semitism is double-handed. Through its discriminatory declarations and votes in international bodies the EU acts as an arsonist, fanning the flames of anti-Semitism in its anti-Israeli disguise. Simultaneously it also serves as fireman, trying to quench the flames of classic religious and ethnic anti-Semitism. France is paradigmatic of this approach. Although European anti-Semitism cannot be eradicated, certain steps can be taken to mitigate it. This requires a major change in discriminatory EU policies toward Israel. In the meantime there are increasing indications that the European battle against anti-Semitism may be used, to the contrary, to facilitate attacks on Israel.

A substantial number of Europeans hold anti-Semitic opinions. The widespread resurgence of European anti-Semitism after the Holocaust suggests it is inherent in European culture and values. This does not imply that all or most Europeans are anti-Semites. In a similar manner, a significant number of Europeans like ballet, while many others find it boring, decadent, or disgusting. Yet dancing is part of European culture and has been practiced as a performing art for a long time. It originated in Europe, developed over many years, and is widely taught as well as frequently discussed by the cultural elite and shown in the major media.

European anti-Semitism can be said to have similar characteristics. That many Europeans condemn, dislike, or are indifferent to anti-Semitism does not contradict its role in European culture, as statements of European politicians, the mainstream media, and leading intellectuals prove. Also, various types of anti-Semitic sentiments are expressed in polls. The statistics would probably reveal that the number of European anti-Semites far exceeds those who like ballet.

A phenomenon that develops intensely in an entire continent over a period of many centuries becomes deeply embedded in the societal mindset and behavior. The anti-Semitic wave of the past few years seems to prove that it is impossible to eradicate such a deep-seated irrational attitude.

In the words of UK Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks:

Let me state the point as simply as I can: anti-Semitism is alive, active and virulent in the year 2002, after more than half a century of Holocaust education, interfaith dialogue, United Nations' declarations, dozens of museums and memorials, hundreds of films, thousands of courses, and tens of thousands of books dedicated to exposing its evils; after the Stockholm Conference, after the creation of a National Holocaust Memorial Day, after 2,000 religious leaders came together in the United Nations in August 2000 to commit themselves to fight hatred and engender mutual respect. . . .What more could have been done? What more could and can we do to fight anti-Semitism?2

Two years later, Sacks's ideas had evolved. He asserted that when civilizations clash, Jews die. In his view, in certain European circles, revenge is being taken against the Jews because "nobody will ever forgive the Jews for the Holocaust." Sacks drew attention to the manipulation of words, like genocide and ethnic cleansing, by Israel's adversaries. He added that what should have been learned from the Holocaust is: "one, that bad things are preceded by demonization - and right now Israelis are being demonized - and, two, the early warning sign in culture is when words lose their meaning."3

The often-heard argument that postwar European anti-Semitism parallels developments in the Middle East conflict is untrue. It appears in waves, which may, but do not necessarily, correspond to developments in the Israeli-Arab conflict, with each wave being higher than the previous one.4 In the Arab world, anti-Jewish incitement continued in parallel with the Oslo process.

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Posted By simmons on July 9, 2015

Holocaust,Hebrew Shoah, Yiddish and Hebrew urban (Destruction), Smoke Pucker Gallerythe systematic state-sponsored killing of six million Jewish men, women, and children and millions of others by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II. The Germans called this the final solution to the Jewish question. The word Holocaust is derived from the Greek holokauston, a translation of the Hebrew word olah, meaning a burnt sacrifice offered whole to God. This word was chosen because in the ultimate manifestation of the Nazi killing programthe extermination campsthe bodies of the victims were consumed whole in crematoria and open fires.

Germany: exclusion of the JewsContunico ZDF Enterprises GmbH, MainzEven before the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, they had made no secret of their anti-Semitism. As early as 1919, Adolf Hitler had written, Rational anti-Semitism, however, must lead to systematic legal opposition.Its final objective must unswervingly be the removal of the Jews altogether. In Mein Kampf (My Struggle; 192527), Hitler further developed the idea of the Jews as an evil race struggling for world domination. Nazi anti-Semitism was rooted in religious anti-Semitism and enhanced by political anti-Semitism. To this the Nazis added a further dimension: racial anti-Semitism. Nazi racial ideology characterized the Jews as Untermenschen (German: subhumans). The Nazis portrayed Jews as a race and not a religious group. Religious anti-Semitism could be resolved by conversion, political anti-Semitism by expulsion. Ultimately, the logic of Nazi racial anti-Semitism led to annihilation.

When Hitler came to power legally on January 30, 1933, as the head of a coalition government, his first objective was to consolidate power and to eliminate political opposition. The assault against the Jews began on April 1 with a boycott of Jewish businesses. A week later the Nazis dismissed Jews from the civil service, and by the end of the month, the participation of Jews in German schools was restricted by a quota. On May 10, thousands of Nazi students, together with many professors, stormed university libraries and bookstores in 30 cities throughout Germany to remove tens of thousands of books written by non-Aryans and those opposed to Nazi ideology. The books were tossed into bonfires in an effort to cleanse German culture of un-Germanic writings. A century earlier, Heinrich Heinea German poet of Jewish originhad said, Where one burns books, one will, in the end, burn people. In Nazi Germany, the time between the burning of Jewish books and the burning of Jews was eight years.

As discrimination against Jews increased, German law required a legal definition of a Jew and an Aryan. Promulgated at the annual Nazi Party rally in Nrnberg on September 15, 1935, the Nrnberg Lawsthe Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour and the Law of the Reich Citizenbecame the centerpiece of anti-Jewish legislation and a precedent for defining and categorizing Jews in all German-controlled lands. Marriage and sexual relations between Jews and citizens of German or kindred blood were prohibited. Only racial Germans were entitled to civil and political rights. Jews were reduced to subjects of the state. The Nrnberg Laws formally divided Germans and Jews, yet neither the word German nor the word Jew was defined. That task was left to the bureaucracy. Two basic categories were established in November: Jewsthose with at least three Jewish grandparentsand Mischlinge (mongrels, or mixed breeds)people with one or two Jewish grandparents. Thus, the definition of a Jew was primarily based not on the identity an individual affirmed or the religion he practiced but on his ancestry. Categorization was the first stage of destruction.

Responding with alarm to Hitlers rise, the Jewish community sought to defend their rights as Germans. For those Jews who felt themselves fully German and who had patriotically fought in World War I, the Nazification of German society was especially painful. Zionist activity intensified. Wear it with pride, journalist Robert Wildest wrote in 1933 of the Jewish identity the Nazis had so stigmatized. Martin Buber led an effort at Jewish adult education, preparing the community for the long journey ahead. Rabbi Leo Baeck circulated a prayer for Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) in 1935 that instructed Jews how to behave: We bow down before God; we stand erect before man. Yet while few, if any, could foresee its eventual outcome, the Jewish condition was increasingly perilous and expected to get worse.

By the late 1930s there was a desperate search for countries of refuge. Those who could get visas and qualify under stringent quotas emigrated to the United States. Many went to Palestine, where the small Jewish community was willing to receive refugees. Still others sought refuge in neighbouring European countries. Most countries, however, were unwilling to receive large numbers of refugees.

Responding to domestic pressures to act on behalf of Jewish refugees, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt convened, but did not attend, the vian Conference on resettlement, in vian-les-Bains, France, in July 1938. In his invitation to government leaders, Roosevelt specified that they would not have to change laws or spend government funds; only philanthropic funds would be used for resettlement. The result was that little was attempted, and less accomplished.

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Posted By simmons on July 9, 2015

Irie, mon! Ganja is now decriminalized in Jamaica after the Caribbean islands Parliament voted to lessen the penalty for those caught with two ounces or less of marijuana. The Jamaica government will also establish a cannabis licensing authority for medicinal marijuana on the island, where its music and even Rastafarian religion has been influenced by []

Opposition members in Jamaicas Senate warn that a bill to decriminalize the use of marijuana for medicinal or religious purposes could lead to discrimination. Sen. Tom Tavares-Finson said he is against Section 7 of the bill because it gives power to the Minister of Justice to authorize persons, groups or organizations, he recognizes as Rastafarian, []

Courtesy of abcnews.com:Jamaican police have often been viewed with suspicion and fear, routinely accused of indiscriminately using their weapons and intentionally killing suspects as the island struggled with soaring violent crime. Now, with overall violence ebbing, the Caribbean country is on track to have the fewest deaths at the hands of law enforcement in years, []

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Posted By simmons on July 9, 2015

The 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict began on 8 July. By the time the bombardment ceased 50 days later, around 2,200 Palestinians had been killed, the majority of them civilians, including an estimated 500 children. On the Israeli side, 66 soldiers and six civilians lost their lives in Hamas attacks.

One year after the military operation, many people living in the ruins of Gaza fear another conflict, but are unable to leave the coastal enclave. Around 1.8 million people remain trapped in the tiny strip due to an eight-year blockade imposed by both Israel and Egypt.

To mark the anniversary of the conflict, IBTimes UK presents this exclusive photo essay illustrating life in Gaza.

Mimi, Nunu and Lulu Nimer 14, 15 and 16 years old respectively had hoped to leave the Gaza Strip when the family won the US green card lottery.

Their father, Ayman, was optimistic about the possibility of leaving. "There were no safe places in Gaza. We don't have bomb shelters or anything to protect our families," he said. "We live in a big prison, surrounded by the navy at sea, to the south by Egypt, and to the north by Israeli artillery, infantry and tanks. In the sky: drones. We are monitored 24 hours a day with radar and cameras. They have the right to attack at any moment any target they deem suspicious."

More about the Gaza Strip

Ayman was allowed out of the Strip for 24 hours for a preliminary visa interview at the US consulate in Jerusalem. On a second interview, the family's visa was denied because his wife Heba does not have a college degree. Ironically, Heba is an entrepreneur whose jewellery can be seen from all over the world on her brand's Facebook page, but her pieces can't be exported to allow her to expand the business. There is no international postal service in and out of Gaza.

The girls are broken-hearted but their youth will not let them believe that that is it. "It cannot be it. It just can't," they sigh in disbelief.

The frustration felt by the Nimer girls is echoed in much of Gaza's youth. Twenty-three year old rapper Ibrahim, aka MC Gaza, is eloquent on the subject. He said: "I think even our dreams are under occupation. The youth in Gaza is dead. They get diplomas in the universities but then they don't have work, can't travel, can't do anything. We feel both pride and pessimism. Pessimism because of the situation in which we are trapped and pride because we have the capacity to do art, even in this situation."

Ibrahim sees it as his mission to stir debate and motivate his peers. Hamas has forbidden concerts since 2007 when it took power. The remaining cultural and entertainment facilities that it hasn't shut down were either damaged or destroyed in the wars.

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Posted By simmons on July 9, 2015

West Bank Area Total 5,640km2 (2,180sqmi) Population Total 2,345,107 Demonym Palestinians, Arabs, Samaritans, Israeli Settlers

The West Bank (Arabic: a-affah l-arbiyyah; Hebrew: , HaGadah HaMa'aravit or Cisjordan[2][3] is a landlocked territory near the Mediterranean coast of Western Asia, forming the bulk of the Palestinian territories. The West Bank shares boundaries (demarcated by the Jordanian-Israeli armistice of 1949) to the west, north, and south with the state of Israel, and to the east, across the Jordan River, with Jordan. The West Bank also contains a significant coastline along the western bank of the Dead Sea.[4]

The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has a land area of 5,640km2 and 220km2 water, the northwest quarter of the Dead Sea.[4] It has an estimated population of 2,676,740 (July 2013).[5] More than 80%, about 2,100,000,[4] are Palestinian Arabs, and approximately 500,000 are Jewish Israelis living in the West Bank,[4] including about 192,000 in East Jerusalem,[6] in Israeli settlements. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.[7][8][9][10] The International Court of Justice advisory ruling (2004) concluded that events that came after the 1967 occupation of the West Bank by Israel, including the Jerusalem Law, Israel's peace treaty with Jordan and the Oslo Accords, did not change the status of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) as occupied territory with Israel as the occupying power.[11][12]

The name West Bank is a translation of the Arabic term ad-Daffah I-Garbiyyah, given to the territory west of the Jordan River that fell, in 1948, under occupation and administration by Jordan, which claimed subsequently to have annexed it in 1950. This annexation was recognized only by Britain, Iraq and Pakistan.[13] The term was chosen to differentiate the west bank of the River Jordan from the "East Bank" of this river.

The neo-Latin name Cisjordan or Cis-Jordan (literally "on this side of the River Jordan") is the usual name for the territory in the Romance languages and Hungarian. The name West Bank, however, has become the standard usage for this geopolitical entity in English and some of the other Germanic languages since its creation following the Jordanian army's conquest.

In English, the name Cisjordan is occasionally used to designate the entire region between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean, particularly in the historical context of the British Mandate and earlier times.[citation needed] The analogous Transjordan (literally "on the other side of the River Jordan") has historically been used to designate the region now roughly comprising the state of Jordan, which lies to the east of the Jordan River.

From 1517 through 1917, the area now known as the West Bank was under Ottoman rule as part of the provinces of Syria.

At the 1920 San Remo conference, the victorious Allied powers (France, UK, USA, etc.) allocated the area to the British Mandate of Palestine (192047). The San Remo Resolution adopted on 25 April 1920 incorporated the Balfour Declaration of 1917. It and Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations were the basic documents upon which the British Mandate for Palestine was constructed.

In 1947, it was subsequently designated as part of a proposed Arab state by the United Nations (UN) partition plan for Palestine. The resolution recommended partition of the British Mandate into a Jewish State, an Arab State, and an internationally administered enclave of Jerusalem,[14] a more broad region of the modern-day West Bank was assigned to the Arab State. The resolution designated the territory described as "the hill country of Samaria and Judea" (including what is now also known as the "West Bank") as part of the proposed Arab state, but following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War this area was captured by Transjordan (renamed Jordan two years after independence in 1946).

1949 Armistice Agreements defined the interim boundary between Israel and Jordan.[15] In 1950, Transjordan annexed the area west of the Jordan River, naming it "West Bank" or "Cisjordan", as "East Bank" or "Transjordan" designated the area east of the river. Jordan ruled over the West Bank from 1948 until 1967. Jordan's annexation was never formally recognized by the international community, with the exception of the United Kingdom.[16][17]

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Posted By simmons on July 9, 2015

Historical Examples

And at every chamber was a door in the forefronts of the gates: there they washed the holocaust.

Dugommier would listen to no such proposition for a holocaust.

We calculated that a third of our own would be wiped out in the holocaust, which would have relieved us of many problems.

Mirla, we know, is out of the question; it is a holocaust of fire.

It was a holocaust of lust, of passion, and of blood such as even the Spanish West Indies had never seen before.

British Dictionary definitions for holocaust Expand

great destruction or loss of life or the source of such destruction, esp fire

(usually capital) Also called the Churban, the Shoah. the mass murder of Jews and members of many other ethnic, social, and political groups in continental Europe between 1940 and 1945 by the Nazi regime

Derived Forms

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Posted By admin on July 9, 2015

For the sake of world order and justice, responsibility and accountability cannot be meaningless concepts on whichever side. How else will the vicious cycle end?

The 47-member UN Human Rights Council in Geneva just voted to assail Israel because of the Hamas-triggered war in the summer of 2014. That's right, assail Israel, not Hamas.

David Harris

AJC Executive Director, Edward and Sandra Meyer Office of the Executive Director; Senior Associate, St. Antony's College, Oxford (2009-11)

In August 2014, Professor Steven Salaita lost a tenured position at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign because his tweets criticizing the ongoing Israeli assault on the Palestinian population of Gaza were deemed uncivil.

It was the month of January 2005. That Saturday night, a 17-year-old girl, by the name of Ayala Abukasis, was walking home with her younger brother, T...

Shahar Azani

Executive Director of StandWithUs Northeast U.S, a Global Israel Education Organization. Former diplomat. Loves Israel. In love with Life.

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Hamas: Pictures, Videos, Breaking News - The Huffington Post

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