Jewish cuisine – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Posted By richards on August 21, 2015
Leo Frank case: A century after Jewish man’s lynching …
Posted By admin on August 21, 2015
MARIETTA, Ga. - Down past the Big Chicken, the 56-foot-high, steel-beaked beacon of extra crispy that may be this town's most prized landmark, the wedge of dirt hard by Interstate 75 is notable only for its lack of notability. Stopping here, Rabbi Steven Lebow leaves the engine running and car door open.
Nearly ever since the South Florida native came to this Atlanta suburb three decades ago, this spot - or, more specifically, the tale of murder and vengeance that has stained its ground and local history for 100 years - has weighed on him.
AP/PBS
But with transportation crews readying to build over the place where Marietta's leading citizens lynched a Jewish factory superintendent named Leo Frank a century ago, Lebow talks only of what's worth preserving.
"There's nothing to see here," Lebow says. "That's why we need to be the memory."
As this community prepares to revisit that tale, though, there are reminders that it remains unsettled as well as unsettling.
In 1913, Frank was convicted of murdering 13-year-old Mary Phagan, who worked in his Atlanta factory. The case, charged with race, religion, sex and class, exploded in a national media frenzy. When Georgia's governor commuted Frank's death sentence, citizens took matters in their own hands.
The case established the Anti-Defamation League as the country's most outspoken opponent of anti-Semitism. It also fueled the rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan.
Until ADL lawyers pressed officials to posthumously pardon Frank in the 1980s, the case was hushed in Atlanta's synagogues, the homes of Old Marietta, and among Phagan's descendants.
Though granted, the pardon was less than conclusive. Now, in a summer that has seen Southerners wrangle with the best-known symbol of the region's embattled past, Lebow and others want to re-open a chapter some would prefer to let be.
But their effort to right history, as they see it, has renewed charges that, in doing so, they are unfairly trying to rewrite it.
In this Friday, July 31, 2015, photo, Rabbi Steven Lebow poses for a portrait looking at the site where Jewish factory superintendent Leo Frank was lynched by the town's citizens a century ago, after the governor commuted his death sentence following Frank's conviction for murdering 13-year-old worker Mary Phagan, in Marietta, Ga.
AP Photo/David Goldman
___
Soon after Dan Cox turned a Civil War-era hotel into the Marietta Museum of History, he knocked on the door of a 96-year-old resident, who regaled him with stories until Cox asked about Leo Frank.
"You could see the iron curtain fall," Cox recalls. "I said, 'Why won't you tell me?' But she said, 'We were told not to talk about it,' and they never did."
Even so, actors and academics, reporters and playwrights have repeatedly delved into the story.
Frank, raised in New York, ran a factory in industrializing Atlanta. In 1913, Phagan, her hair in bows, stopped to collect her pay.
That night, a watchman found her bloodied body in the basement. Police arrested several men before settling on Frank, who proclaimed his innocence. His conviction rested on the testimony of a custodian, Jim Conley, a rare case of a black man's word used against a white defendant.
Frank's lawyers appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that a climate of anti-Semitism had resulted in an unfair trial. The court upheld the verdict, 7-2. In 1915, Gov. John Slaton commuted Frank's sentence to life. A furious crowd hanged the politician in effigy.
Months later, a group of Marietta men took Frank from prison. On Aug. 17, they hanged him outside town. Nobody was ever charged.
"The Frank case was like a lightning strike," says Steve Oney, who wrote "And the Dead Shall Rise," a 2002 book on the case. "Everything in the South stood briefly in relief and then it was dark again."
Substantial evidence points to Frank's innocence, Oney says, but "there are imponderables that are always going to be imponderables."
And so the century-old case stays alive.
The ADL is marking the anniversary with a push for Georgia to pass a hate-crime law. In nearby Kennesaw, the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History is opening a Frank exhibit. A musical about the case, "Parade," is being re-staged in Atlanta. The Georgia Historical Society is bringing Oney to Marietta to talk about the case.
And on August 16, Lebow will lead a memorial service at which he and some current and former Georgia Supreme Court justices plan to call on state lawmakers to declare Frank's exoneration.
"This is a story that won't go away," says Cox, 76. He leads the way through exhibits detailing Cobb County's past - Cherokees banished on the Trail of Tears, Confederates and their Unionist neighbors. The only nod to the Frank case is a single placard and an old historical marker.
"I don't want to minimize the event," Cox says. "But it needs to be put away, like the flag, in its proper place."
___
When Roy Barnes came home after losing re-election as Georgia's governor, a fascination with the Frank case followed him.
Barnes, 67 and raised on a Cobb County farm, recalls the hush around Frank's name and how, as a legislator, he borrowed books on the case from the state library to pass time when debate dragged. Among details that surfaced: The lynching party included Cicero Dobbs - grandfather of Barnes' wife, Marie. Other lynchers included a judge, a former mayor turned state prosecutor, a leading lawyer, and the scion of one of Marietta's wealthiest families. They're all long gone, with many descendants who acknowledge what happened.
But Barnes says some people tell him that, while they agree Frank didn't get a fair trial, he was still guilty.
Barnes is certain that's wrong. But the Frank story needs to be studied to remind people of the dangers of mob rule "so that we never let that happen again."
Reminded that he lost the governorship in no small part because he pushed to eliminate the Confederate battle flag from the state banner, Barnes paraphrases the words of Martin Luther King Jr.
"You know, the arc of history does bend toward justice," Barnes says. "And for Leo Frank, justice hasn't been given yet."
In this Friday, July 31, 2015, photo, Rabbi Steven Lebow points to an original newspaper front page on the Leo Frank story from a century ago in his office at Temple Kol Emeth in Marietta, Ga.
AP Photo/David Goldman
___
Just off a gravel road in North Georgia's hills, Mary Phagan Kean opens a room filled with family photos and files detailing the life and death of a 13-year-old girl a century ago.
"She's my history. History is what makes you who you are," she says.
Phagan Kean was 13 herself when a teacher asked if she was related to the girl murdered at the National Pencil Co.
Her father confirmed she was the victim's great niece, sparking years of research that produced a book and confirmed Phagan Kean's certainty of Frank's guilt.
When the ADL sought Frank's exoneration, Phagan Kean's protest saw the pardon limited. When a historic marker was proposed for Phagan's grave, she asked for wording making clear the pardon was based on the state's failure to protect him, "not Frank's innocence."
That marker, now retired to the Marietta museum, was replaced by one Lebow lobbied for, noting only that Frank was pardoned. Phagan Kean bought the empty plot just below Phagan's a few years ago. If Lebow and others keep pushing, she says, she'll erect her own marker, reminding visitors of the verdict.
"They're swaying the truth their way," says Phagan Kean, a retired teacher who acknowledges anti-Semitism played a role, but only in the lynching.
She and Lebow voice frustration over each other's repeated insistence.
Phagan Kean, noting she's long dismissed inquiries from white supremacists seeking to publicize the case, says she acts as her namesake's voice because "there's nobody to protect her but me."
And Lebow, noting that time has taught Jews the danger of forgetting the past, recalls hearing about the case at a Kiwanis meeting years ago and realizing he had, by accident, become Leo Frank's rabbi.
"We've got to be the memory of this guy," he says, "because no one else wants to be."
2015 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Leo Frank case: A century after Jewish man's lynching ...
100-Year Anniversary of the Hanging of Leo Frank | | Observer
Posted By admin on August 21, 2015
One hundred years ago today, on August 17, 1915, Leo Frank was kidnapped from prison in Milledgeville, Georgia by the Knights of Mary Phagan, a revitalized Ku Klux Klan group of prominent men from Cobb County, Georgia, where Frank was transported to nearly 170 miles away, and lynched.
Thousands of African-Americans were lynched throughout the south in the early 20thcentury without any sort of reprimand to those that committed these atrocities, often-authoritative leaders of their own communities. The case of Leo Frank was no different in that regard, yet the circumstances of Franks infamous murder and imprisonment were rife with anti-semitism, class warfare, sensationalism, and hysteria, which engulfed early 20thcentury America.
Born in Texas, raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., Leo Frank received his bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University, subsequently managing his uncles pencil factory in Atlanta, Georgia, quickly assimilating into the souths largest Jewish community.
On April 27, 1913, a night watchman discovered the lifeless body of 13-year-old Mary Phagan in the basement of Franks pencil factory. Phagan was one of the many child laborers from rural areas whoworked in the industries of Atlanta for low wages under deplorable conditions while elite business leaders reaped enormous profits. Conditions in Atlanta at the time were perfect for the injustices that were to occur regarding Leo Frank. Resentment overthe exploitation of children workers was at a boiling point; the police force of Atlanta was under pressure from criticism abouta high unsolved murder rate; the prosecutor, Hugh M. Dorsey, was eager to make a name for himself; and local newspapers capitalized to rally support against the wealthy northerner Jew who ruthlessly tainted the innocence and honor of a southern belle.
The nearly unanimous consensus of contemporary researchers is that Frank was wrongfully convicted.Leo Frank was a classic scaoegoat.The case came at a time when traditional agrarian Georgia was being threatened by the forces modernity represented by Atlanta. thechanges inflicted on the south by industrialization helped incite the atmosphere of hysteria,Thomas Doherty, Professor of American Studies at Brandeis University, told the Observer in a phone interview. Even compared to standards of the day, the forensic evidence was completely botched, leaving Franks guilty verdict relying solely on the testimony of John Conley. Conley, an African-American janitor at the factory, represents a racial paradox that makes the case of Leo Frank even more of an anomaly. Conley was the first known African-American to testify against a white man in the southern United States. Franks defense lawyers pandered to racist sentiments in refuting Conleys testimony to no avail, as popular demand called for the persecution of Leo Frank to pay for the sins of the elite northerners, sentiments crystallized in the 1915 filmBirth of a Nation, and by the ripples of Southern resentment from defeat in the civil war. After a highly publicized and controversial case, Leo Frank was convicted of murder and sentenced to death by hanging on August 25, 1913.
Southerners rejoiced at the decision, exhilarated by the defeat of an icon of oppression. The conviction sparked outrage amongst northerners and prominent Jews across the country. New York Times Publisher Adolph Ochs used the case as a driving force in his crusade to fight anti-Semitism. An advocacy group for Frank became the Anti-Defamation League that continues combating anti-Semitism and for civil rights today. After failed appeals in the Georgia and U.S. Supreme Courts, Frank entered a plea to the Georgia State Prison Commission that his sentence be commuted to life in prison. Georgia Governor John Slaton granted the plea, much to the dismay of the public. Slaton had to call in the National Guard to protect his own home.
Georgia Congressman and future Senator advocated for Franks Lynching, writing in The JeffersonianandWatsons Magazine, This country has nothing to fear from its rural communities. Lynch law is a good sign; it shows that a sense of justice lives among the people. Watsons calls were heeded by the Knights of Mary Phagan, a resurrection of the Ku Klux Klan in reaction to the banner of northern oppression epitomized by the Leo Frank case. The organization consisted of community leaders from victim Mary Phagans native rural town, Marietta, Georgia. They cut off the phone lines of Franks prison, overpowered the complacent prison guards, dragged Frank back to Marietta, Georgia and hung him to death, glorifying their victory with postcards and souvenirs of the event to dole out to spectators and fans of Leo Franks demise.
In 1986, the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles pardoned Frank on grounds of the states failures to protect him, without making a judgment on his guilt or innocence. The decision, in part, was affected by the confession of Alonzo Mann on his death bed, an office worker at the pencil factory, who came forward with testimony that he had seen Jim Conley carrying the body of Mary Phagan by himself. The revelation received national news attention and reaffirmed belief that Frank had been innocent.
The case of Leo Frank was much more than just a seemingly wrong conviction of a factory manager. It was a public relations and ideological battle between northernand southern states, between rural and urban values, between competing disempowered groups. Beyond all this, it is a story that starkly reveals how impassioned hysteria, impervious to logic or reasoning, canlead to normal, law-abiding citizens committing atrocious acts of violence.
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100-Year Anniversary of the Hanging of Leo Frank | | Observer
Dead Sea Guide | Dead sea Israel
Posted By admin on August 21, 2015
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One of Nature's best kept secrets, 400 meters below Sea Level, Dead Sea Israel is the lowest place on Earth. It is nestled among the rough Mountains terrene of the Judean Desert; it is an oasis of beauty, relaxation, calmness and excitement.
The Dead Sea is nature's ultimate spa combined with the excitement of a modern vacation destination. Dead Sea Israel offers a vacation you will never forget. If you're travelling alone, with a loved one or bringing the whole family, you are sure to find the perfect attraction for everyone. Visit ancient archeological sites, experience the extreme desert with walking tracks and Jeep tours, enjoy a sunset with breathtaking landscape, take a day off in one of many luxury spas and of course swim, float and enjoy the Dead Sea itself.
ThisGuide brings you all the information you need to in order to plan a trip of a lifetime. With an interactive map to guide you to all the history, attractions, adventure and experiences the Dead Sea has to offer. With our guide you will experience this region to the fullest!
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Dead Sea Guide | Dead sea Israel
The Dead Sea | Virtual Israel Experience
Posted By admin on August 21, 2015
The Dead Sea (Yam Hamelakh -- "The Salt Sea") is the lowest place on earth, roughly 1,300 feet (400 meters) below sea level.
It is 34 miles (55 km.) long and varies between 11 miles (18 km.) and 2 miles (3 km.) in width.
The Sea is 1,400 feet (430 m.) deep.
This unique sea is fed by the Jordan River. There is no outflow; and the exceptionally high rate of evaporation (high temperatures, low humidity) produces large quantities of raw chemicals. These are extracted and exported throughout the world for use in medicine, agriculture and industry.
The Dead Sea is actually shrinking. The southern end is now fed by a canal maintained by the Dead Sea Works, a company that converts the Sea's raw materials, particularly phosphates, into commercial products.
Visitors can float effortlessly on the waters of the Dead Sea due to its concentration of minerals, which is the highest in the world. The air is extremely dry, and temperatures are high throughout the year (max. 86 [30 C]) during winter, and 104 [40 C]) during summer) making the Dead Sea a destination for visitors 365 days a year.
Floating is a novelty that makes visiting the Dead Sea a kick, but most visitors come for the therapeutic value of the mud and salt water. People with skin disorders such as psoriasis and ailments such as arthritis have found relief from treatments using the Sea's natural resources. Oh, and if you have an open cut or sore, be forewarned, the salt water stings.
Archaeological ruins are scattered in the area. Many historical fugitives, such as David, Jesus, Jewish zealots and Christian monks, found peace and refuge around the Dead Sea. The area is best known, however, for being the site of the biblical towns of Sodom and Gomorrah. South of the Sea, on the way to Eilat, is a rock salt formation that tourists are told is Lot's wife. According to the Torah, Lot's wife ignored G-d's admonition not to look back at the cities he was destroying as they left and was turned into a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26).
Incidentally, all the fun near the Dead Sea is not confined to the mud and water!
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The Dead Sea | Virtual Israel Experience
Dead sea | Define Dead sea at Dictionary.com
Posted By admin on August 21, 2015
Contemporary Examples
While some may see a cynical feintfloat in the Dead Sea and watch the Jewish vote pour in!
Dead Sea turtles and oil-covered fish are among the first casualties washed ashore from the Deepwater Horizon oil-rig explosion.
The Kidron Valley wends its way from the eastern side of the Old City, through the Judean Desert, to the Dead Sea.
Their writings, the Dead Sea Scrolls, were discovered after the war: a rich trove of sacred literature.
Rand Paul's recent Israel visit included a dip in the Dead Sea.
Historical Examples
Mr. Forbes, poor Hands's assistant, is away on the shores of the Dead Sea, but we have sent for him by the camel garrison post.
A frog winked his eye at me, and then jumped into the Dead Sea.
Ten months later, he again visited the Dead Sea, and added largely to his observations.
The course of the torrents was therefore from the south, towards the Dead Sea.
At last the river flows through a wide, sandy plain into the Dead Sea.
British Dictionary definitions for Dead Sea Expand
a lake between Israel, Jordan, and the West Bank, now 420 m (1378 ft) below sea level; originally 390 m (1285 ft): the lowest lake in the world, with no outlet and very high salinity; outline, esp at the southern end, reduced considerably in recent years. Area: originally about 950 sq km (365 sq miles); by 2003 about 625 sq km (240 sq miles)
Word Origin and History for Dead Sea Expand
mid-13c., from dead (adj.) + sea; its water is 26 percent salt (as opposed to 3 or 4 percent in most oceans) and supports practically no life. In the Bible it was the "Salt Sea" (Hebrew yam hammelah), also "Sea of the Plain" and "East Sea." In Arabic it is al-bahr al-mayyit "Dead Sea." The ancient Greeks knew it as he Thalassa asphaltites "the Asphaltite Sea." Latin Mare Mortum, Greek he nekra thalassa (both "The Dead Sea") referred to the sea at the northern boundaries of Europe, the Arctic Ocean.
Dead Sea in Culture Expand
Salt lake on the border between Israel and Jordan.
Dead Sea in the Bible Expand
the name given by Greek writers of the second century to that inland sea called in Scripture the "salt sea" (Gen. 14:3; Num. 34:12), the "sea of the plain" (Deut. 3:17), the "east sea" (Ezek. 47:18; Joel 2:20), and simply "the sea" (Ezek. 47:8). The Arabs call it Bahr Lut, i.e., the Sea of Lot. It lies about 16 miles in a straight line to the east of Jerusalem. Its surface is 1,292 feet below the surface of the Mediterranean Sea. It covers an area of about 300 square miles. Its depth varies from 1,310 to 11 feet. From various phenomena that have been observed, its bottom appears to be still subsiding. It is about 53 miles long, and of an average breadth of 10 miles. It has no outlet, the great heat of that region causing such rapid evaporation that its average depth, notwithstanding the rivers that run into it (see JORDAN T0002112), is maintained with little variation. The Jordan alone discharges into it no less than six million tons of water every twenty-four hours. The waters of the Dead Sea contain 24.6 per cent. of mineral salts, about seven times as much as in ordinary sea-water; thus they are unusually buoyant. Chloride of magnesium is most abundant; next to that chloride of sodium (common salt). But terraces of alluvial deposits in the deep valley of the Jordan show that formerly one great lake extended from the Waters of Merom to the foot of the watershed in the Arabah. The waters were then about 1,400 feet above the present level of the Dead Sea, or slightly above that of the Mediterranean, and at that time were much less salt. Nothing living can exist in this sea. "The fish carried down by the Jordan at once die, nor can even mussels or corals live in it; but it is a fable that no bird can fly over it, or that there are no living creatures on its banks. Dr. Tristram found on the shores three kinds of kingfishers, gulls, ducks, and grebes, which he says live on the fish which enter the sea in shoals, and presently die. He collected one hundred and eighteen species of birds, some new to science, on the shores, or swimming or flying over the waters. The cane-brakes which fringe it at some parts are the homes of about forty species of mammalia, several of them animals unknown in England; and innumerable tropical or semi-tropical plants perfume the atmosphere wherever fresh water can reach. The climate is perfect and most delicious, and indeed there is perhaps no place in the world where a sanatorium could be established with so much prospect of benefit as at Ain Jidi (Engedi).", Geikie's Hours, etc.
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Dead sea | Define Dead sea at Dictionary.com
Dead Sea See The Holy Land
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Israel/Jordan/West Bank
Bathers by the shore of the Dead Sea ( Tom Callinan / Seetheholyland.net)
The Dead Sea, which shimmers like a blue mirror under all-day sunshine, is one of the most unusual bodies of water in the world.
It is set in the lowest dry land on earth, so it has no outlet. It is so loaded with minerals that no fish can live in it. It is so dense that bathers can lie back on its surface and read a newspaper.
The Dead Sea is located about 25km east of Jerusalem, along the border between Israel and Jordan. About half of it is actually in Jordanian territory.
The ancient Hebrews called this body of water the Sea of Salt. Other ancient names include the Sea of Solitude, the Sea of Arabah and the Asphalt Sea. The Crusaders called it the Sea of Satan.
The Dead Seas therapeutic qualities attracted Herod the Great. Its minerals and sticky black mud provided balms for Egyptian mummies and cosmetics for Cleopatra.
Now its health resorts treat psoriasis and arthritis, its skin-care products are marketed worldwide, and its industrial evaporation pans harvest potash and other minerals.
Pillar of salt, on Jordanian side of Dead Sea, known as Lots Wife ( Visitjordan.com)
The region has many biblical connections. Here, though their locations are unknown, the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by God with sulphur and fire and Lots wife was turned into a pillar of salt for looking back at the destruction (Genesis 19:24-26). Among the salt encrustations around the sea is an unusual column at the southern end called Lots Wife (though it is 20 metres high).
On the eastern side, the highest peak visible is Mount Nebo, where Moses glimpsed the Promised Land. Further south stands the fortress of Machaerus, where Herod Antipas imprisoned and then executed John the Baptist.
On the western side, from north to south, are Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found; Ein Gedi, where David hid from King Saul in a cave (and cut off a corner of the kings cloak when he entered the cave to relieve himself); and Herod the Greats fortress of Masada.
Afloat in the Dead Sea (David Niblack)
The Dead Sea is 67km long, 18km across at its widest point, and 420 metres below sea level.
Because it has no exit, water is lost only through evaporation, which leaves behind the minerals. The Dead Sea is nearly 10 times as salty as the open seas. The high concentration of minerals (predominantly magnesium chloride) provides the buoyancy that keeps bathers suspended as well as a bitter taste.
A low promontory of land called el-Lisan (the tongue) projects across the sea from the east, dividing the southern third from the northern section.
At one time the Dead Sea covered four times as much land as it did in 2006, when its surface was falling by up to a metre a year.
Much of the water that once flowed into the Dead Sea is being diverted for drinking water and agriculture purposes, so there is not enough to offset the high evaporation rate.
Rescue proposals to prevent the sea drying up have included canals to bring water from the Mediterranean Sea or the Red Sea.
If the Dead Sea becomes rejuvenated with fresh water, this could fulfil a prophecy in Ezekiel 47:8-10, that it will become fresh . . . and there will be very many fish.
In December 2013, representatives of Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority agreed on a long-term desalination project in which brine would be piped about 180 kilometres from Aqaba, Jordan, to replenish the Dead Sea.
Related sites:
Qumran
Masada
In Scripture:
God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah: Genesis 19:24-26
Prophesy that the Dead Sea will become fresh: Ezekiel 47:8-10
References
External links
Israel – YouTube
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http://www.twitter.com/Israel Welcome to a land that is bound to inspire you. Come meet its people of endless spirit and experience its wonderful sounds, tastes and sights. Oh, and that ever-shining sun. See the latest in innovation and technology. Together these ingredients combine to produce the fun, unique and creative experience called Israel.
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Israel - YouTube
Israel | Facts, History, & Map | Britannica.com
Posted By admin on August 21, 2015
Israel,officially State of Israel, Hebrew Medinat Yisrael, Arabic Isrl, country in the Middle East, located at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. It is bounded to the north by Lebanon, to the northeast by Syria, to the east and southeast by Jordan, to the southwest by Egypt, and to the west by the Mediterranean Sea. Jerusalem is the seat of government and the proclaimed capital, although the latter status has not received wide international recognition.
Israel is a small country with a relatively diverse topography, consisting of a lengthy coastal plain, highlands in the north and central regions, and the Negev desert in the south. Running the length of the country from north to south along its eastern border is the northern terminus of the Great Rift Valley.
The State of Israel is the only Jewish nation in the modern period, and the region that now falls within its borders has a lengthy and rich history that dates from prebiblical times. The area was a part of the Roman Empire and, later, the Byzantine Empire before falling under the control of the fledgling Islamic caliphate in the 7th century ce. Although the object of dispute during the Crusades, the region, then generally known as Palestine, remained under the sway of successive Islamic dynasties until the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I, when it was placed under British mandate from the League of Nations.
Even before the mandate, the desire for a Jewish homeland prompted a small number of Jews to immigrate to Palestine, a migration that grew dramatically during the second quarter of the 20th century with the increased persecution of Jews worldwide and subsequent Holocaust perpetrated by Nazi Germany. This vast influx of Jewish immigrants into the region, however, caused tension with the native Palestinian Arabs, and violence flared between the two groups leading up to the United Nations plan to partition Palestine into Jewish and Palestinian sectors and Israels ensuing declaration of statehood on May 14, 1948.
Israel fought a series of wars against neighbouring Arab states during the next 35 years, which have resulted in ongoing disputes over territory and the status of refugees. Despite continuing tensions, however, Israel concluded peace treaties with several neighbouring Arab states during the final quarter of the 20th century.
Israel: geographical featuresEncyclopdia Britannica, Inc.Despite its small size, about 290 miles (470 km) north-to-south and 85 miles (135 km) east-to-west at its widest point, Israel has four geographic regionsthe Mediterranean coastal plain, the hill regions of northern and central Israel, the Great Rift Valley, and the Negevand a wide range of unique physical features and microclimates.
The coastal plain is a narrow strip about 115 miles (185 km) long that widens to about 25 miles (40 km) in the south. A sandy shoreline with many beaches borders the Mediterranean coast. Inland to the east, fertile farmland is giving way to growing agricultural settlements and the cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa and their suburbs.
In the north of the country, the mountains of Galilee constitute the highest part of Israel, reaching an elevation of 3,963 feet (1,208 metres) at Mount Meron (Arabic: Jebel Jarmaq). These mountains terminate to the east in an escarpment overlooking the Great Rift Valley. The mountains of Galilee are separated from the hills of the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the south by the fertile Plain of Esdraelon (Hebrew: Emeq Yizreel), which, running approximately northwest to southeast, connects the coastal plain with the Great Rift Valley. The Mount Carmel range, which culminates in a peak 1,791 feet (546 metres) high, forms a spur reaching northwest from the highlands of the West Bank, cutting almost to the coast of Haifa.
Dead SeaPeter Carmichael/ASPECTThe Great Rift Valley, a long fissure in the Earths crust, begins beyond the northern frontier of Israel and forms a series of valleys running generally south, the length of the country, to the Gulf of Aqaba. The Jordan River, which marks part of the frontier between Israel and Jordan, flows southward through the rift from Dan on Israels northern frontier, where it is 500 feet (152 metres) above sea level, first into the ula Valley (Hebrew: Emeq ula), then into the freshwater Lake Tiberias, also known as the Sea of Galilee (Hebrew: Yam Kinneret), which lies 686 feet (209 metres) below sea level. The Jordan continues south along the eastern edge of the West Banknow through the Jordan Valley (Hebrew: Emeq HaYarden)and finally into the highly saline Dead Sea, which, at 1,312 feet (400 metres) below sea level, is the lowest point of a natural landscape feature on the Earths surface. South of the Dead Sea, the Jordan continues through the rift, where it now forms the Arava Valley (Hebrew: savannah), an arid plain that extends to the Red Sea port of Elat.
The sparsely populated Negev comprises the southern half of Israel. Arrow-shaped, this flat, sandy desert region narrows toward the south, where it becomes increasingly arid and breaks into sandstone hills cut by wadis, canyons, and cliffs before finally coming to a point where the Arava reaches Elat.
The principal drainage system comprises Lake Tiberias and the Jordan River. Other rivers in Israel are the Yarqon, which empties into the Mediterranean near Tel Aviv; the Qishon, which runs through the western part of the Plain of Esdraelon to drain into the Mediterranean at Haifa; and a small section of the Yarmk, a tributary of the Jordan that flows west along the Syria-Jordan border. Most of the countrys remaining streams are ephemeral and flow seasonally as wadis. The rivers are supplemented by a spring-fed underground water table that is tapped by wells. Israel has a chronic water shortage, and its hydraulic resources are fully utilized: about three-fourths for irrigation and the remainder for industrial and household water use.
The coastal plain is covered mainly by alluvial soils. Parts of the arid northern Negev, where soil development would not be expected, have windblown loess soils because of proximity to the coastal plain. The soils of Galilee change from calcareous rock in the coastal plain, to Cenomanian and Turonian limestone (deposited from about 99 to 89 million years ago) in Upper Galilee, and to Eocene formations (those dating from about 55 to 35 million years ago) in the lower part of the region. Rock salt and gypsum are abundant in the Great Rift Valley. The southern Negev is mainly sandstone rock with veins of granite.
Israel has a wide variety of climatic conditions, caused mainly by the countrys diverse topography. There are two distinct seasons: a cool, rainy winter (OctoberApril) and a dry, hot summer (MaySeptember). Along the coast, sea breezes have a moderating influence in summer, and the Mediterranean beaches are popular. Precipitation is light in the south, amounting to about 1 inch (25 mm) per year in the Arava Valley south of the Dead Sea, while in the north it is relatively heavy, up to 44 inches (1,120 mm) a year in the Upper Galilee region. In the large cities, along the coastal plain, annual rainfall averages about 20 inches (508 mm) per year. Precipitation occurs on about 60 days during the year, spread over the rainy season. Severe summer water shortages ensue in years when the rains come late or rainfall totals are less than normal.
Average annual temperatures vary throughout Israel based on elevation and location, with the coastal areas adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea having milder temperaturesranging from about 84 F (29 C) in August to about 61 F (16 C) in Januaryand higher rates of humidity than areas inland, especially during the winter. Likewise, higher elevations, such as Upper Galilee, have cool nights, even in summer, and occasional snows in the winter. However, the coastal city of Elat, in the south, despite its proximity to the Red Sea, is closer to the climate of the Jordan and Arava valleys and the Negev, which are hotter and drier than the northern coast; there, daytime temperatures reach about 70 F (21 C) in January and may rise as high as 114 F (46 C) in August, when the average high is 104 F (40 C).
Natural vegetation is highly varied, and more than 2,800 plant species have been identified. The original evergreen forests, the legendary cedars of Lebanon, have largely disappeared after many centuries of timber cutting for shipbuilding and to clear land for cultivation and goat herding; they have been replaced by second-growth oak and smaller evergreen conifers. The hills are mostly covered by maquis, and wildflowers bloom profusely in the rainy season. Only wild desert scrub grows in the Negev and on the sand dunes of the coastal plain. North of Beersheba, most of the country is under cultivation or is used for hill grazing. Where irrigation is available, citrus groves, orchards of subtropical fruit, and food crops flourish. Millions of trees have been planted through a government reforestation program.
Animal life is also diverse. Mammals include wildcats, wild boars, gazelles, ibex, jackals, hyenas, hares, coneys, badgers, and tiger weasels. Notable among the reptiles are geckos and lizards of the genus Agama and vipers such as the carpet, or saw-scaled, viper (Echis carinatus). More than 400 species of birds have been identified in the region, including the partridge, tropical cuckoo, bustard, sand grouse, and desert lark. There are many kinds of fish and insects, and locusts from the desert sometimes invade settled areas. Several regions have been set aside as nature reserves, notably parts of the Arava in the south and Mount Carmel, Mount Meron, and the remains of the ula Lake and marshes in the north. The Mediterranean coast and the Jordan and Arava valleys are important routes for migratory birds.
Jewish immigration in the 20th century greatly altered the settlement pattern of the country. The first modern-day Jewish settlers established themselves on the coastal plain in the 1880s. Later they also moved into the valleys of the interior and into parts of the hill districts, as well as into the Negev. Small cities such as Haifa and Jerusalem grew in size, and the port of Jaffa (Yafo) sprouted a suburb, Tel Aviv, which grew into one of the largest cities in Israel. Jewish immigrants also settled those areas of the coastal plain, the Judaean foothills, and the Jordan and Arava valleys evacuated by Palestinians during the war of 1948, thereby becoming the majority in many areas previously inhabited by Arabs. Although the majority of the Bedouin of the Negev left the region when Israel incorporated the territory, the desert has continued to be largely the domain of the Arab nomads who remained or returned following the end of fighting.
The non-Jewish population is concentrated mainly in Jerusalem (about one-fifth of the residents of the city), and in the north, where Arabs constitute a substantial part of the population of Galilee.
Jerusalem, perched high among the Judaean hills, is one of the great cities of the world, with a long history, unique architecture, and rich archeological heritage. It is the capital of Israel, and its walled Old City is divided into four quartersMuslim, Jewish, Christian, and Armeniansymbolizing its spiritual significance to the regions major religious and ethnic groups.
The rural population, defined as residents of settlements with less than 2,000 people, amounts to less than one-tenth of the nations total inhabitants. About one-tenth of the Jewish population is rural, of whom more than half are immigrants who arrived after 1948. The Jewish rural settlements are organized into kibbutzim (2 percent of the total population), which are collective groups voluntarily practicing joint production and consumption; moshavim (3 percent), which are cooperatives of small holders who practice joint sales and purchases, make common use of machinery, minimize hired labour, and lease national land; and agricultural communities or individually owned farms engaged in private production. The kibbutzim and moshavim pioneered settlement in underdeveloped areas, performed security functions in border areas, and contributed substantially to the nations ability to absorb new immigrants in the early years of the state.
Only a tiny fraction of the Arab population lives in rural areas. Those who do are divided between the Bedouin and residents of small agricultural villages. Many such communities are now defined as urban by the Israeli government because their populations exceed 2,000, despite the fact that some residents still engage in agriculture. Before 1948 Jewish and Arab agricultural settlements existed side by side but were largely independent of each other. Since then, however, thousands of Arabs from the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied territory of the West Bank have found employment in Israel in the citrus groves or in industry or as construction labourers. This ready labour pool, together with increased agricultural mechanization, has led to a drop in the number of Jewish agricultural workers. In Arab villages, fewer than half of the adult labourers, both men and women, are engaged in working the land.
There has been a growing tendency among farmers to practice intensive cultivation, to diversify crops, and to shift from small holdings to large farms. Most of the remaining Arab farmers work their own land, although some either lease land or work for Arab or Jewish landlords. Many Bedouin also have abandoned herding for work in towns and cities, establishing residence in permanent settlements that continue to maintain traditional tribal identity.
The great majority of the population, both Jewish and Arab, reside in urban areas. As the industrial and service sectors of the economy have grown, the two large conurbations of Tel AvivYafo and Haifa, along the coastal plain, have come to house more than half of the countrys population. The government has made great efforts to prevent the population from becoming overconcentrated in these areas, overseeing in both the north and south the development of new towns occupied largely by the countrys most recent immigrants. These towns serve as centres of regional settlement and fulfill specialized economic functions, such as the manufacture of textiles, clothing, machinery, electronic equipment, and computer software. One such place, Beersheba, in the northern Negev, grew from a planned new town founded on a small older settlement in the 1950s into a city, the result of waves of Jewish immigrants from North Africa and the former Soviet Union.
The major urban centres inhabited by Arabs include cities and towns with both Arab and Jewish populationssuch as Jerusalem, Haifa, Akko, Lod, Ramla, and Yafoand towns with predominantly Arab populations, including Nazareth in Galilee, where a mainly Jewish suburb is nearly equal in population to the Arab city. Many of the former differences in ways of life between Arabs and Jews are diminishing in towns with mixed populations, even though each group usually lives in different quarters.
Jews constitute about four-fifths of the total population of Israel. Almost all the rest are Palestinian Arabs, of whom most (roughly three-fourths) are Muslim; the remaining Arabs are Christians and Druze, who each make up only a small fraction of the total population. Arabs are the overwhelming majority in the Gaza Strip and the occupied territory of the West Bank. (For information on Palestinians residing outside Israel, see Palestine.)
The Jewish population is diverse. Jews from eastern and western Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, Central Asia, North America, and Latin America have been immigrating to this area since the late 19th century. Differing in ethnic origin and culture, they brought with them languages and customs from a variety of countries. The Jewish community today includes survivors of the Holocaust, offspring of those survivors, and migrs escaping anti-Semitism. The revival of Hebrew as a common language and a strong Israeli national consciousness have facilitated the assimilation of newcomers to Israel but not completely eradicated native ethnicities. For example, religious Jews immigrating to Israel generally continue to pray in synagogues established by their respective communities.
Religious Jewry in Israel constitutes a significant and articulate section of the population. As such, it is often at odds with a strong secular sector that seeks to prevent religious bodies and authorities from dominating national life. The two main religious-ethnic groupings are those Jews from central and eastern Europe and their descendants who follow the Ashkenazic traditions and those Jews from the Mediterranean region and North Africa who follow the Sephardic. There are two chief rabbis in Israel, one Ashkenazi and one Sephardi. Tension is frequent between the two groups, largely because of their cultural differences and the social and political dominance of the Ashkenazim in Israeli society. Until recently, it was generally true that the Sephardim tended to be poorer, less educated, and less represented in higher political office than the Ashkenazim.
The Karaites are a Jewish sect that emerged in the early Middle Ages. Several thousand members live in Ramla, and more recently in Beersheba and Ashdod. Like other religious minorities, they have their own religious courts and communal organizations. Considered part of Jewish society, they have maintained their separate identity by resisting intermarriage and preserving their religious rites based on the Torah as the sole source of religious law.
Samaritans trace their roots to those Jews not dispersed when the Assyrians conquered Israel in the 8th century bce. About half of the few hundred surviving members of the Samaritan community live near Tel Aviv in the town of olon. The rest live on Mount Gerizim (Arabic: Jabal al-r), near Nblus in the West Bank. They preserve their separate religious and communal organizations and speak Arabic but pray in an archaic form of Hebrew. They participate in national life as part of the Jewish section of the population.
Arabs constitute the largest single minority in Israel, and though most are Muslims of the Sunnite branch, Arab Christians form a significant minority, particularly in the Galilee region in northern Israel. Arabs, whether Christian, Muslim, or Druze, speak a dialect of Levantine Arabic and learn Modern Standard Arabic in school. An increasing number also avail themselves of higher education within Israels public schools and colleges, and many younger Arabs are now bilingual in Hebrew. Although most Israeli Arabs consider themselves Palestinians, all are full Israeli citizens with political and civil rights that are, with the exception of some limitations on military service, equal to those of Israeli Jews. Many Arabs participate actively in the Israeli political process, and several Arab political parties have members in the Israeli Knesset. Despite this inclusiveness, however, many Israeli Arabs still see themselves as living in an occupied state, and suspicions and antagonism persist.
The overwhelming majority of Israels Muslims are Arabs. Like all other religious communities, Muslims enjoy considerable autonomy in dealing with matters of personal status. They have separate religious courts for issues such as marriage, divorce, and inheritance. The state oversees their religious institutions. Israels Bedouin, roughly one-tenth of the Arab population, are exclusively Muslim.
Most Christians in Israel are Arabs, and Christian communities in Israel, regardless of ethnicity, have a wide degree of autonomy in religious and communal affairs. The Greek Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches are the largest denominations, and most of them are found in Jerusalem. Apart from the Greek Orthodox church, which has a patriarchate in Jerusalem, each church is dependent to a degree on a supreme hierarch abroad. These communities include Roman Catholics and Uniates (Melchites, Maronites, Chaldean Catholics, Syrian Catholics, and Armenian Catholics). Jerusalem also has a Russian Orthodox community. The Evangelical, Episcopal, and Lutheran churches are small and primarily Arabic-speaking.
The Druze, who live in villages in Galilee and around Mount Carmel, have traditionally formed a closed, tight-knit community and practice a secretive religion founded in 11th-century Fimid Egypt. Though Israeli Druze maintain contact with coreligionists in Lebanon and Syria, members of each group adhere to the authority of the country of their residence. Israel has recognized the Druze as a separate Arab community since 1957, and Israeli Druze serve in the armed forces. Druze have traditionally been agriculturists, but younger members have found employment throughout the economy.
The Bah faith, a universal religion founded in Iran in the mid-19th century, is the only religion other than Judaism to have its world centre in Israel. A teaching centre, archive building, shrine, and administrative headquarters are located on Mount Carmel in Haifa. There are a few hundred adherents in Israel, most of whom are employed at the centre in Haifa.
The Circassians, who are Sunnite Muslims, emigrated from the Caucasus in the 1870s. They number a few thousand and live in villages in Galilee, preserving their native language and traditions. Older Circassians speak Arabic as well as the Circassian language, but members of the younger generation speak Hebrew. The men serve in the Israeli armed forces.
The most significant demographic issue in Israel since its establishment has been Jewish immigration. In 1948 the Jewish population of Israel was about 670,000; this number increased to more than 1,000,000 the next year as a result of immigration. Between 1949 and 1997 about 2,350,000 Jewish immigrants entered the country; about 700,000 to 750,000 Jews left it, although some later returned. The total number of immigrants includes more than 320,000 Soviet Jews who came to Israel in 198991 and have continued to arrive at the rate of about 50,000 per year. Nearly 28,000 Ethiopian Jews immigrated in 199092, adding to an earlier migration of 11,000 in 198485. The largest proportion of Jews trace their roots to Europe (including the former Soviet Union) and North America, though some also hail from Africa (mostly North Africa), Asia, and the Middle East.
More than half of the Arab population fled their homes during the war of 1948, of whom only a small fraction were allowed to return after the end of hostilities. While the Jewish population has grown more from immigration than from natural increase since that time, the Arab population has grown mainly through high birth rates, which are markedly higher than among Israels Jews, and through the addition of about 66,000 residents of East Jerusalem, captured from Jordan in 1967 and later annexed by Israel. Overall, the population is youthful, with about one-fourth being 15 years old or younger. Life expectancy is among the highest in the world: some 80 years for women and 77 years for men.
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Israel | Facts, History, & Map | Britannica.com
Israel: Pictures, Videos, Breaking News – The Huffington Post
Posted By admin on August 21, 2015
Donald Trump keeps on saying stupid, hateful things. About Mexicans, women, John McCain, Megyn Kelly... And he keeps on leading the Republican presidential race. Gosh, could there be a correlation?
The violence that has rocked the Middle East since 2011 has largely bypassed Arabs in Israel. Had they risen up they could have cited many causes: job discrimination, racism, an alien national anthem, minimal state funding for education and social services and low income.
Jonathan Adelman
Professor, Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver
I crave, in no particular order, respect for the audience, respect for the story and its characters and respect for women. It boils down to the basic definition of the principle of this grand word "respect," which is "due regard for the feelings, wishes, rights or traditions of others."
JERUSALEM -- The history of the last century provides a seemingly endless list of atrocities that were not stopped, and rarely was this ever for a lack of information about them. We, at least as countries and societies, simply don't really care. We would like to think we do, but, empirically speaking, we don't -- and the latest case in point is the sheer existence of a system of Yazidi sex slave trade in 2015.
Whether the deal is rejected or not by the U.S. Congress, in the process, conservatives in Israel and in the U.S. will have enhanced their ability to flex their lobbying muscles going forward, and Israel will be well positioned to receive enhanced defense assistance from the U.S.
The first GOP debate and the resultant infighting has shown us that passion, emotion and ideology will be our political undoing. Let's ignore our petty grievances, behave like adults and do what's best for our country by picking the candidates that can serve us best.
Rob Taub
Writer, Humorist & Television Commentator
If the liberal Jewish community can welcome LGBTQ Jews and Interfaith families into their midst why are Jews who stand for Palestinian freedom so easily excluded?
Fear-mongering and deliberate distortions will not make us safer. Outspending those of us who endorse the deal will not silence us. For the sake of Heaven, I urge you to support this historic accord.
Rachel S. Mikva
Herman Schaalman Chair in Jewish Studies and Director of the Center for Jewish, Christian & Islamic Studies at Chicago Theological Seminary
22 Democratic and 36 Republican members of Congress spent a full week of the August recess in Israel rather than among the constituents they were elected to serve.
Some ordinary people view the deal and Iran-West improving their ties as a sign that their living standards will improve. They hope for the possibility of reform and the advance of human rights, such as, freedom of speech, press, assembly, social justice, rule of law and democracy.
No American citizen should be subjected to the treatment that George Khoury and Habib Joudeh received when they arrived at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel last month.
James Zogby
President, Arab American Institute; author, 'Arab Voices'
Frankly, no one named Bush should be proposing anything in the Middle East. Especially a Bush who has 17 of 21 formally named geopolitical advisors who are alumni of the Bush/Cheney administration.
Padraig O'Malley's idea that both Israelis and Palestinians are so addicted to their meaning-systems ("narratives") that they are willing to slide into a chaotic abyss is chilling, but seems strongly supported by recent history and current facts.
Carlo Strenger
Professor of Psychology and Philosophy, Tel Aviv University
War cannot and should not be considered before all other options have been eliminated. This deal provides the option of significantly curtailing the Iranian program before a single sanction is lifted and keeping it under the vigilant eye of the world for at least the next decade -- three to five times longer than a preemptive strike.
Elie Jacobs
Public affairs and strategic communications consultant; partner, Truman National Security Project
If Congress blocks the Vienna Agreement, it will be a gross betrayal of our closest allies, it will do lasting damage to America's global leadership, and it will clear the path for Iran to advance towards a weapon.
Let me be clear, I have no sympathy for the Muslim Brotherhood and would never cast a vote in their favor. However, labeling the Arabic HuffPost as a mouthpiece for the Muslim Brotherhood is not only patently false, it is an attempt to constrain free speech that endangers journalists who are already suffering for simply reporting facts, or their insight, on Arab issues.
Chaker Khazaal
Writer, Reporter, Public Speaker and Author of the 'Confessions of a War Child' trilogy
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Israel: Pictures, Videos, Breaking News - The Huffington Post
