IEC Lexicon

Welcome to The Lexicon. This resource is designed to clarify the vocabulary around Israel on campus. Like all subjects, Israel is complex and understanding the language in the context of campus is a key step toward meaningful, authentic conversation.

Entries include definitions and commentary, which is in italics. Each entry includes cross-references listed as "See: X, Y, Z." Beneath the cross-reference you'll find citations. Within each section of The Lexicon, entries are listed alphabetically and the entire database is searchable.

The Lexicon will always be a work in progress as we add entries and fine-tune the ones already here. We want it to be useful to you, so please be an active participant! If an entry is unclear, if you have questions about the way a term was presented, or if something is missing and you think it should be here-- contact us iec@juf.org


  
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These terms refer to the 1949 Armistice Lines, which served as Israel's borders between 1949 and the 1967 Six Day War. A call for Israel to return to the 1967 borders means relinquishing all of the territories conquered in the Six Day War. Most Israelis assert that the pre-67 borders are indefensible but support modifications and land swaps in the context of a peace deal. Numerous efforts to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace have been based on the pre-1967 borders with modifications.
Another name for the Yom Kippur War.
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After the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) carried out several terrorist attacks against Israel and militant members of Fatah attempted to assassinate Israel's ambassador to Great Britain, the Israel Defense Forces entered Lebanon on June 6, 1982 with the intent of weakening the PLO and stopping the terrorist attacks. This is considered first war Israel entered out of choice rather than necessity. Israeli forces withdrew from Lebanon in 1985, after a new coalition government led by Shimon Peres took office.

Nickname for Mahmoud Abbas.
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AJC is a global Jewish advocacy organization, that works with government officials, diplomats, and other world leaders. Through these relationships and their international presence, AJC is able to impact opinion and policy on the issues that matter most: combating rising antisemitism and extremism, defending Israel's place in the world, and safeguarding the rights and freedoms of all people.
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Aliyah (Hebrew) literally means 'ascent' and is used to describe the act of a Jewish person moving to the State of Israel. For example, an American Jewish person who moves from the United States to Israel "makes aliyah."
al-Nakba (Arabic) means "the catastrophe" and is the common name ascribed by many Palestinians and their supporters to the 1948 War of Independence. The establishment of Israel in May 1948 represented a significant loss for those who opposed Jewish sovereignty in the region, and it led to the displacement of 700,000 Palestinians.  Palestinians and Arabs commemorate Nakba Day annually on May 15th through demonstrations, strikes, and rallies.

This term is frequently used on campus to dismiss the legitimacy of the State of Israel, by referring to its creation as a “catastrophe.” The term is an emotionally charged representation of the clash of narratives at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is a bipartisan pro-Israel lobby committed to maintaining a strong U.S.-Israel relationship. AIPAC activists are encouraged to build relationships with members of Congress and urge their support of Israel through foreign aid, government collaboration, and bilateral negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian people.

AIPAC offers multiple leadership development programs for students, including on-campus internships and conferences.

Founded in 1914, the JDC works in Israel and more than 70 other countries to alleviate hunger and hardship, rescue Jews in danger, create lasting connections to Jewish life, and provide immediate relief and long-term development support for victims of natural and manmade disasters.

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Amnesty International is a non-governmental organization focused on human rights founded in London in 1961. Amnesty conducts research and promotes action to end human rights abuses around the world.  

There is a concern on campuses that Amnesty focuses disproportionate attention on Israel, in some ways following suit with the United Nations’ excessive focus on Israel at the exclusion of other countries.

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Annexation occurs when a state expands its borders to incorporate a neighboring territory into the existing state. Many nations consider annexation illegal under international law, citing the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Some Israeli politicians have advocated for Israel to annex the West Bank as a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, while others are concerned about the legality of annexation and maintaining Israel’s Jewish majority.

The ADL works to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all. The organization was established in 1913 to fight discrimination and racism through education, legislation, and advocacy.

ADL serves as a resource on bias and antisemitism for the campus community, providing trainings, speakers, resource materials, and advice to students, administrators, Hillel professionals, and others.

Political criticism of Israel that challenges Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state and as a Jewish homeland in the territory defined as the historic Land of Israel.

Political criticism is healthy in any society; however, Israel is regularly criticized far beyond the scope of normal political discourse. For example, Israel receives significantly more criticism in politics, media, and campus conversations than nearly any other political entity; including noted human rights abusers such as North Korea, Russia, Syria, or China. Though not all criticism of Israel is antisemitic, it often provides a pretext for critics who mask deeper anti-Jewish attitudes. Anti-Israel rhetoric crosses the line into antisemitism when it demonizes, delegitimizes, and holds Israel to a double standard.

Advocates of this strategy argue that any interaction with supporters of Israel validates the belief that Israel has a right to exist, and so interactions should be resisted. They maintain that Israelis are the aggressors and Palestinians are the victims, so any interaction constitutes an unacceptable concession and implicit validation of Israel.

Some significant anti-Israel campaigns and strategies are predicated on anti-normalization, including acts of interrupting and silencing pro-Israel speakers. Such tactics have been employed against numerous Israeli diplomats and Israel-related speakers during speeches at universities across the country. Anti-normalization policies exist at the root of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which is based explicitly on rejection and isolation including the boycott of Israeli academics and visiting scholars. This practice is crippling to the campus climate. For students on the receiving end of anti-normalization, they find themselves isolated socially and academically. Classmates who adhere to this practice refuse to sit beside them, to speak to them, work with them in groups or engage in any way. When anti-normalization grips a campus community it drives a tremendous wedge between students forcing them to pick sides and cut off their pro-Israel friends or risk complete ostracization.

Antisemitism is hostility to, or prejudice against, Jewish people, the Jewish community or Judaism broadly.

The United States' State Department describes when criticism of Israel crosses over into antisemitism in the following ways:

Demonizing Israel
  • • Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism to characterize Israel or Israelis
  • • Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis
  • • Blaming Israel for all inter-religious or political tensions


Double Standard For Israel
  • • Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation
  • • Multilateral organizations focusing on Israel only for peace or human rights investigations


Delegitimize Israel
  • • Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, and denying Israel the right to exist

Antisemitism on campus often manifests itself in the destruction of Jewish-owned property, vandalism such as spray painting swastikas, and equating Jewish students with racists, war criminals, and apartheid apologists simply for supporting Israel.

Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism, broadly defined in the modern era as the opposition to the movement of Jews and Jewish culture that supports the establishment of a Jewish state as a Jewish homeland in the territory defined as the historic Land of Israel or to the modern State of Israel as defined as "a Jewish and Democratic State." The term is used to describe various religious, moral, and political points of view, but their diversity of motivation and expression is sufficiently different that "anti-Zionism" cannot be seen as having a single ideology or source. According to many notable Jewish and non-Jewish sources, anti-Zionism has become a cover for modern-day antisemitism, a position that critics have challenged as a tactic to silence criticism of Israeli policies.

On campus, attempts are made to cleave Zionism and Judaism from one another. However, that is impossible as Zionism is defined as the movement Jewish self-determination in the Land of Israel. This push is made so that activists can attack Zionism while trying to avoid charges of antisemitism.

After the National Party gained power in South Africa in 1948, its all-white government began enforcing existing policies of racial segregation under a system that it called apartheid. Under apartheid, nonwhite South Africans (the majority of the population) were forced to live in separate areas from whites and to use separate public facilities, and contact between the two groups was limited.

The boycott campaign against Israel takes its inspiration from the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, which involved a sustained campaign of economic sanctions. However, the apartheid analogy is critically flawed. It bears no resemblance to the realities of contemporary Israel and plays down the uniqueness of the apartheid state in South Africa. That state was extraordinarily repressive, regulating every detail of the lives of its subjects – 90 percent of whom were non-white – on the basis of their skin color. By contrast, Israel is a democracy which has a flourishing free press and shares with other liberal democracies a core value: the equality of all its citizens before the law. Citizens regardless of skin color or ethnicity enjoy equal protection and opportunity under the law, including the right to vote. Completely unlike South Africa, Arab people are full participating citizens and hold some of the highest positions in society such as members of Knesset, doctors, lawyers, teachers and membership in the Supreme Court.

The anti-Israel movement uses this term in reference to the Security Barrier, inferring that the barrier was constructed as a tool of racism rather than a security necessity. During "Israel Apartheid Week" events on US campuses, anti-Israel activists often construct a "mock wall" meant to depict Israel's Security Barrier. The "wall" often has statements on it in an attempt to educate passersby about alleged Israeli human rights violations against the Palestinian civilian population.

This false equivalency trivializes the severity of apartheid South Africa and misrepresents the reality in Israel.

Arab is a term used to refer to Arab people most of whom are from 22 Arab-majority countries in the Middle East and North Africa. There are approximately 380 million Arab people in the world. Arab people have a shared culture with the primary language being Arabic.

Arab-Israelis are Arab citizens of the State of Israel. Arab-Israelis may be Muslim, Christian, or Druze and often speak both Arabic and Hebrew.  Arab-Israelis represent about 20 percent of Israel's population and are guaranteed equal rights in the Declaration of Independence and under Israeli laws. They vote in Israeli elections, serve in parliament (in the 2015 election, the Joint (Arab) List became the third largest party in parliament), and work in every field of endeavor. They are not required to serve in the Israel Defense Forces, though some volunteer to do so. In recent years, many Arab-Israelis have opted to refer to themselves as Palestinian Israelis, Palestinians, 1948 Palestinians, and other variations. In public opinion polls, most Arab-Israelis say they recognize Israel's right to exist and that after a Palestinian state is established they would prefer to remain Israeli citizens and to continue living in Israel.
The Interim Agreements of the Oslo Accords divided the West Bank into three categories: Areas A, B, and C. Area A comprises about 18% of the land in the West Bank, including all the Palestinian cities and most of the territory's Palestinian population. The Palestinian Authority (PA) is endowed with most governmental powers in Area A. Area B comprises approximately 22% of the West Bank and encompasses large rural areas; Israel retained security control of the area and transferred control of civil matters to the PA. Area C covers 60% of the West Bank; Israel has retained almost complete control of this area, including security matters and all land-related civil matters, including land allocation, planning and construction, and infrastructure. There are about 350,000 Israeli citizens living in Area C of the West Bank. The PA is responsible for providing education and medical services to the Palestinian population in Area C. However, construction and maintenance of the infrastructure necessary for these services remains in Israel's hands. Civil matters remain under Israeli control in Area C and are the responsibility of the Civil Administration.

Beginning at the Camp David Summit in 2000, Israel and the PA have discussed land swaps which would grant Israel sovereignty over those small parts of the West Bank where most of the Israeli population resides, and Israel would cede an equal amount of territory from its sovereign territory, ensuring that the new State of Palestine would be the size of 100% of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

There has been criticism of the division of the West Bank, and the limitations that this places on Palestinian self-determination. The division into Areas A, B, and C was envisioned as a temporary measure to facilitate an incremental transfer of authority to the Palestinian Authority. It was not designed to address the needs of long-term demographic growth. Yet this “temporary” arrangement has remained in force for more than 20 years because the two-sides have been unable to complete a final status agreement.

Generally, Armistice Lines are borders between two neighboring countries that are negotiated at the conclusion of a war or conflict.

In the Arab-Israeli conflict, Armistice Lines refer to the Armistice agreements Israel reached with each of its neighbors between January and July, 1949. The agreements delineated ceasefire lines, but not permanent, agreed borders. The border between Israel and Jordan, in which the West Bank was controlled by Jordan, came to be known as the Green Line.
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  • [1] BBC
An asylum seeker is a refugee or displaced person who flees their country and requests sanctuary in another country, but the application has yet to be processed.

According to the Interior Ministry, there are more than 38,000 refugees seeking asylum in Israel. 90 percent live in South Tel Aviv. The vast majority are from Africa: 72 percent are from Eritrea, while 20 percent are Sudanese.

Asylum seekers are a source of great controversy in contemporary Israel. Some Israelis advocate for their deportation, contending that they are not true refugees and are migrants seeking work. Other organizations and activist movements advocate for the asylum seekers’ resettlement.

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The Balfour Declaration was a letter written by British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Zionist leader Baron Walter Rothschild on November 2, 1917. The letter declared Britain's commitment to establishing a Jewish national home in Palestine provided that the existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine did not lose their civil or religious rights, and that Jews living outside of Palestine maintained their status in their home countries.  Subsequent British actions did not always align with the declaration's support of a Jewish homeland.

Bedouin are an Arab minority population residing primarily in villages in the Negev (the desert of Israel), Central Israel, and Northern Israel. Bedouin are largely unintegrated into the rest of Israeli society, though the northern Bedouin are much more established within Israeli society. Many Bedouin (especially northern Bedouin) serve in scouting or tracking units in the Israel Defense Forces. There are also Bedouin communities outside of Israel.
The Prime Minister of Israel, re-elected most recently in 2015 after serving 1996-1999, and 2009-Present. He is the leader of the conservative Likud Party. Netanyahu is serving his fourth term as Prime Minister. As leader of the parliamentary opposition in the mid-1990s, Netanyahu led the opposition to the Oslo Accords, championed by then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Regular criticism of Israel's leadership is a norm on campus. Netanyahu often becomes the face of the accusations leveled against Israel broadly, including ethnic cleansing and genocide.

Birthright Israel offers a ten day all-expense-paid trip to Israel for Jewish people between the ages of 18-26. Supported by the State of Israel, the Jewish Federation system, the Jewish Agency for Israel, and individual donors, Birthright aims to strengthen Jewish identity worldwide by connecting Jewish people with the people and land of Israel.

Birthright recruitment events on campus are often targeted as a tactic in delegitimizing the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel.

Israel's borders, which have changed in recent decades as a result of wars and land-for-peace negotiations, separate Israel from the sovereign states of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.

In the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the "border" delineates the line between autonomous Palestinian area and the State of Israel.  According to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement from the Oslo Accords, the two sides will negotiate permanent borders between Israel and the West Bank and Gaza.
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  • [1] BBC
BDS or the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement was started in 2005. The Boycott part of the movement calls for the complete financial, academic, and cultural boycott of Israel. This entails calling on consumers to cease purchasing Israeli goods and for universities and other entities to cease any and all engagement with Israeli academics, institutions, and other organizations. Divestment refers to the call for all entities to withdraw  investments in companies doing business with Israel, particularly companies involved with Israel's security and military sectors. This is a tool commonly seen at universities where BDS activists call for their universities to withdraw investments from companies doing business with Israel. The Sanctions part of the movement calls for governments to impose sanctions against Israel.

BDS has become a major tactic to delegitmize Israel on college campuses across the world. The tactic has failed to harm Israel's economy but has opened the door to increasingly virulent anti-Jewish rhetoric, isolated Jewish communities on campus, and serves as a platform to spread lies and false accusations under the guise of concern for human rights. The BDS movement focuses solely on Israel, ignoring severe human rights abuses elsewhere. Some students who participate in BDS activities may be unaware that the movement’s leaders do not support a two state solution and seek the destruction of the Jewish state.

After World War I, the Ottoman Empire was abolished and Turkey was forced to relinquish its claims in the Middle East and North Africa. The League of Nations awarded Britain control over Palestine, which the British retained until May 1948. The British made conflicting promises to the Arab people and the Jewish people, Jewish immigration continued and increased - especially as the Nazi threat in Europe became more ominous.

Throughout the Mandate, the Arab population in Palestine grew increasingly opposed to Jewish immigration and land sales by Arab people to Jewish people, launching several revolts. In an effort to mitigate the unrest amongst Arab communities, the British issued the 1939 White Paper which limited Jewish immigration to Palestine.

During World War Two, despite strict British limits on immigration, Jews continued to try to enter Palestine. Many Jews in Palestine enlisted in the British war effort against the Axis. Ben-Gurion famously explained this by saying, "We must assist the British in the war as if there were no White Paper and we must resist the White Paper as if there were no war."

On November 29, 1947, after Britain had announced it would relinquish the Mandate for Palestine, the UN General Assembly voted to establish two states, Jewish and Arab, in the territory.
In 1979, Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty, named for the US Presidential retreat where the details were hammered out. It was the first time an Arab country had established diplomatic relations with Israel, and the Arab world promptly punished Egypt by expelling it from the Arab League and moving the organization's headquarters from Cairo.

In November, 1977, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat announced in the Egyptian parliament that it was time to end the state of war with Israel, and he expressed his willingness to travel to Israel to advance the cause. A few days later, his jet landed in Israel, where he was greeted by hundreds of thousands of Israelis lining the streets waving Egyptian flags. He addressed the Israeli parliament, offering peace and reconciliation, and negotiations between representatives of the two countries, with active involvement by US President Jimmy Carter, yielded a treaty that was signed in March, 1979.

Under the terms of the Camp David Accords, Israel withdrew entirely, including strategic military outposts, from the Sinai Peninsula, which it had conquered in the 1967 Six Day War, leading the two countries established full diplomatic relations on the promise of peace. Though the agreement has led to a ʺcold peace,ʺ the two countries have enjoyed quiet borders and the deal has been lauded as a blueprint for future Arab-Israeli peace deals. President Sadat was assassinated in 1981 by four Egyptian military officers who hoped to reverse the treaty, but Sadat's successors all have maintained it.
The Israeli government instituted checkpoints in response to Palestinian violence during the Second Intifada. Similar to airport security, checkpoints ensure that all individuals entering Israeli population centers are unarmed. On multiple occasions, they have prevented would-be suicide bombers from entering Israel and committing terror attacks in Israeli cities. Critics of the checkpoints note that they place an unreasonable burden on the overwhelming majority of law-abiding Palestinian residents. While acknowledging the challenges posed by checkpoints, Israel maintains that its primary priority is to ensure the security of its citizens.

Anti-Israel activists have created "mock checkpoints" on many quads across the country. The street theater display is a scare tactic meant to present Israel as evil while disregarding the need for the checkpoints to protect citizens from terrorism.

Christians United for Israel is an American Evangelical Christian organization that garners support for Israel in "matters related to Biblical issues." CUFI has local and state branches that hold events and engage with public officials. The organization's CUFI on Campus initiative builds student leaders into advocates for Israel. CUFI is the largest pro-Israel organization in America, with over 3 million members nationwide.

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To delegitimize something is to withdraw authority or status. 

On campus, the delegitimization of Israel comes as individuals deny Israel's right to exist as the Jewish homeland. Often questioning Jewish indigeneity in the land of Israel, opponents of Israel look to undermine the very rationale for Israel's establishment. Some activists also try to decouple Zionism from Judaism, which serves to undercut the legitimacy of the Jewish claim to the land of Israel.

Diaspora is literally "the body of Jews living outside of the land of Israel," however it has come to refer to any group of people living outside of their indigenous homeland. In the case of the Jewish people, that land is the State of Israel. The word Diaspora is also applied to the Palestinian people living outside of the land that they identify as their homeland, which is also the Land of Israel.

The Jewish people are indigenous to the physical Land of Israel, and so their homeland is that particular piece of earth.

The Druze people are ethnic minority that lives both inside Israel and outside of Israel. Within Israel, they consist of approximately 80,000 individuals in 22 villages in northern Israel and they speak Arabic. Druze is a religious, social, and cultural identity that firmly believes in loyalty to the government of their country.  For this reason, the Druze serve in the Israel Defense Forces though it is not a legal requirement.

Ethnic cleansing is the attempt to eliminate (through deportation, displacement, or mass killing) members of an ethnic group in order to establish an ethnically homogenous area.

On campus, Israel detractors often falsely accuse Israel of ethnic cleansing, trying to rid Israel of Palestinians. This horrifying accusation is neither supported by the record nor the population registry figures.

Extremism is the holding and expression of religious, political, or other thought that is fanatic in nature and frequently leads the adherent to behave in ways that are outside of the behavioral norm. For example, environmental extremists might burn down a logging company's headquarters to make a statement about their political views on logging.

Fatah was founded in 1959 and led by Yasser Arafat with the goal of bringing about the demise of the State of Israel. Its followers engaged in terror attacks aimed primarily at Israeli civilian targets. By the 1960s, Fatah had become the most powerful member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and has remained a central  force in Palestinian politics. It dominated the Palestinian Parliament and the government headed by Yasser Arafat after the establishment of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1994.

In the last parliamentary elections held in the PA, in 2006, Hamas won control of the Parliament, while Fatah remained in control of the presidency. The following year, tensions between Fatah and Hamas grew dramatically and resulted in a split Palestinian government in which Hamas governed Gaza and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority governed the West Bank. In 2014, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority announced a reconciliation but it has since disintegrated and no apparent progress has been made.

  • Citation(s):
  • [1] BBC
This term refers to an official peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians as envisioned in the Oslo Accords. The Declaration of Principles (DOP) signed by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Chairman Yasser Arafat on September 13, 1993, called for a five-year "interim" or "transitional" period  which would be used to create an environment of confidence between the two sides and would culminate in a Final Status agreement. The final status negotiations were to begin in the third year of the five-year interim period, and were to  address challenging issues such as Jerusalem, refugees, settlements, security arrangements, borders, and relations and cooperation with other neighbors. On multiple occasions, Prime Minister Rabin famously said that deadlines were not holy, implying that it might take longer than five years to reach a final status agreement. Today, it is clear that the framework envisioned in the Oslo Accords has failed to achieve the goals set forth in that historic agreement.

The Arabic word for "uprising" (literally: "shaking off"), the First Intifada began in November, 1987, as a spontaneous street protest by Palestinians in Gaza who were enraged when an Israeli truck driver struck and killed a Palestinian child. The crowd responded by pelting stones at Israeli civilians and soldiers, and the uprising quickly spread to the West Bank and became more organized. Between 1987 and 1990, the Intifada became an increasingly violent protest against Israel's continued rule in the West Bank and Gaza. In addition to stones, Molotov cocktails, axes, hand grenades, and small firearms were used. While dozens of Israeli soldiers and civilians were killed, and hundreds were wounded, the Palestinian casualty figures were much higher. 
Gaza is a tiny strip of land that hugs the Mediterranean Sea and is bordered by Israel and Egypt. The territory is about 25 miles long, and between 3.7 and 7.5 miles wide, for a total area of 140 square miles. With a population of 1.75 million, it is one of the most densely populated territories in the world.

In 1948, at the time of the Israeli War of Independence, Gaza was held by Egypt, which continued to rule there until 1967 but did not annex or claim Gaza as its own. When Israel conquered the area in the Six Day War. Leading up to the Six Day War, the Gaza Strip was in Egyptian control and was held as an Egyptian territorial interest. The land was not seen as a future Palestinian state, rather it was seen as a strategic position for Egypt due to its 1958 alliance with Syria that sought to create a pan-Arab state including Gaza.

In the first stage of the 1993 Oslo Accords, Israel handed daily administration of civilian affairs for the Palestinians in Gaza over to the newly created Palestinian National Authority.

In 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza, removing all military and civilian operations. During the 2005 election, Hamas -  an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood - won a decisive victory granting them control of the economy and resources of the region. Following bloody battles between Fatah and Hamas forces in Gaza in 2007, Hamas maintained control of the Strip, and has ruled ever since. Hamas has launched thousands of rocket, mortar and missile attacks against Israel since 2005, and there have been multiple large-scale military confrontations between Israel and Gaza.
In 2004, Israel decided unilaterally (meaning, not as a result of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, but solely as a decision by the Israeli government) to end its civilian and military presence in Gaza. First proposed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2003, the Gaza disengagement, as it came to be known, was believed to be a significant step toward peace with the Palestinians while minimizing terrorism and maximizing security for Israeli citizens. In August 2005, the State of Israel officially removed its military installations and 21 settlements from Gaza, along with four small, remote settlements in the northern part of the West Bank. While 8,000 Israeli civilians lost their homes and had to be relocated into Israel, the majority of Israeli citizens supported the disengagement and expressed hope that it would open the door for future peace negotiations.  

The disengagement was an Israeli effort towards peace but shortly after the withdrawal, Hamas was elected in Gaza and began a terror campaign of rocket fire into Israel that has lasted over ten years.

Palestinians are among the world's largest per capita recipients of international foreign aid having received $1,246,802,615 in 2015 through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNWRA)

According to UNRWA, the top 20 government donors in 2015 were (from highest to lowest): United States, European Commission, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Sweden, Japan, Kuwait, Norway, Switzerland, Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Denmark, Belgium, Italy, Ireland, Finland, and Luxembourg. The top 20 non-government donors in 2015 were: UN Agencies, Islamic Development Bank, Islamic Relief USA, Education Above All Foundation, American Friends of UNRWA, Opec (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) Fund for International Development, MBC Group, International Committee of the Red Cross, Al-Khair Foundation, RKK, Saudi Committee, UNRWA Spanish Committee, Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization, League of Arab States, Interpal, Islamic Relief Canada, OXFAM, Microclinic International and Tkiyet Un Ali.

On campus, it is common to hear claims that the United States and Israel do nothing to help the Palestinians.

The Golan Heights is a region in Israel's north. About half of the population is Jewish, while the other half is mostly Druze. Golan Heights came under Israeli control legally during the Six Day War. Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981

Campus conversations about occupation generally do not include the Golan Heights.

Golda Meir was the world's fourth and Israel's first female prime minister, serving from 1969 to 1974. Meir previously served as Israel's Minister of Labor and Foreign Minister. A leader in Israel's Labor Party, Meir was known for championing education, workers rights, and women's issues. During her time in office, she worked to resume peace negotiations with the Arab world and led the country through the defensive 1973 Yom Kippur War. 
The Green Line is the armistice line between Israel and Jordan following the War of Independence. Named for the green marker that was used to delineate the boundary, the Green Line refers to the border as it was until 1967 with the West Bank and East Jerusalem outside of Israel. In 1950, Jordan annexed the West Bank and East Jerusalem, in a move recognized only by the UK and Pakistan. Though Israel asserts that the Green Line borders are indefensible (at its narrowest point, pre-1967 Israel was nine miles wide), they have been used as the basis for land-for-peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel.  The Green Line is also referred to as the Armistice Line.

Founded in 1988 by a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas is an Islamic Palestinian organization that calls for the destruction of the State of Israel and an Islamic Palestinian state in its place. The organization's Charter makes clear that Hamas will never accept a Jewish sovereign presence in the region, and it embraces any means - including violence - to eliminate Israel. The US, the EU, Canada, Japan, and other countries categorize Hamas as a terror organization. It has ruled Gaza since 2007 and has been responsible for the majority of terror attacks, suicide bombings, and rockets into Israel over the past two decades. As with other brutal regimes, dissent against Hamas is met with imprisonment, torture and death.

In Gaza, Hamas plays a central role in all aspects of Palestinian life, including military and social, giving the organization great influence over how Gazans view Israel, Jews, and violence. For example, Hamas uses youth groups and summer camps as venues for promoting suicide bombing and anti-Israel rhetoric. Escalating tensions between Hamas and the Israeli government have led to conflicts such as Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012 and Operation Protective Edge in 2014. Hamas was responsible for the 2023 terror attack on Israel that resulted in the murder of over 1,200 people, injury of over 5,000, and nearly 200 men, women, elderly, children, and babies being taken hostage. 

On campus, often support for Hamas is alleged to be about "resistance," "liberation," or "justice." These expressions of support for Hamas also include chants such as "bloody knives are justified" and "you give us occupation we give you genocide." Hamas supporters have claimed that Israeli reports of the atrocities of October 7th are exaggerated or fully untrue.

Hezbollah (Arabic for 'The Party of God') is a radical Shi'a Muslim group fighting against Israel and "western imperialism" in Lebanon. The group does not recognize the legitimacy of the State of Israel and it has been labeled as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department since October 1997. Hezbollah refers to itself with multiple titles including the "Organization of the Oppressed on Earth" and the "Revolutionary Justice Organization." Its main goal is the establishment of an Islamic government across the Arab world that will "liberate" Jerusalem and the entire area of present-day Israel.

Since Israel completed its withdrawal from Lebanon in May 2000, Hezbollah has continued to use that country as a base for attacks on Israel. On July 12, 2006, Hezbollah attacked an IDF patrol in a cross-border raid. In the raid and its aftermath, eight IDF soldiers were killed and two others were  kidnapped. The assault sparked a month-long conflict, known as the Second Lebanon War, with Hezbollah launching thousands of rockets at Israel's northern cities and Israel targeting Hezbollah positions throughout Lebanon with air strikes and, eventually, a ground operation. The fighting ended after 34 days, in accordance with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701.

Hezbollah is also responsible for more American deaths than any other terrorist organization except al-Qaeda, including the 1983 attack in Beirut which resulted in the deaths of 241 US service personnel.

Hillel is the primary organization for Jewish student life at universities. Founded in 1923, Hillel has served as a an on campus community for Jewish students from all walks of life. Serving students at 550 locations around world, Hillel holds Israel at the heart of their work. Hillel welcomes, partners with, and aids the efforts of organizations, groups, and speakers from diverse perspectives in support of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.

Hillel is the number one convener of positive Israel related educational programming and work to prevent BDS and limit its damaging effect on campus.

Auto-Emancipation, published in 1881 by Dr. Yehuda Leib Pinsker, called for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in response to frequent pogroms and profound antisemitism in Europe.  Pinsker's work sparked a public debate over the feasibility and necessity of Jewish salvation through a Jewish homeland. Although Pinsker offered several locations for the proposed homeland, an important Jewish ideal of settling in the Land of Israel was present from the moment Zionism took form. Regardless of this religious aspect, Zionism was a secular movement at its core with the ultimate goal of Jewish self-determination.

Theodor Herzl expanded on Pinsker's work and concluded that antisemitism was a deeply rooted, illogical hatred for the Jewish people that could not be overcome. As such, Jewish survival would be predicated on the formation and success of a Jewish state. Achieving such a thing would necessitate widespread diplomatic support which Herzl garnered through identification of what he called, "the Jewish question." By defining Zionism is such a way, Herzl reasoned with the international community that the only way to rid themselves of the Jewish problem would be to establish a Jewish state

In 1897, Herzl convened the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, where the future of the Jewish state began to be fleshed out. Convening every one or two years, the Congress formed the initial organizational and political foundations of the Jewish state. Proposed sites included Argentina, Uganda, and Palestine. Ultimately, the religious ties to the Land of Israel, then known as Palestine, surpassed any political or economic pull towards other lands

Zionism is the continuation of a 2,000 year intent to return to the Jewish homeland of Israel. Pinsker, Herzl, and others played seminal roles in moving the Jewish people from dreams to action.
The Holocaust was the state-sponsored killing of six million Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators from 1941 to 1945. Nazi Germany also murdered an additional 5 million people, including Catholic, LGBTQ, Roma, and mentally and physically disabled people.

Hundreds of thousands of Holocaust survivors immigrated to Israel in the years following World War II, and there are nearly 200,000 survivors currently living in the Jewish state.
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IfNotNow is a group led by young American Jews whose stated mission is to "end the American Jewish community's support for the occupation." IfNotNow does not take a stance on Zionism, the BDS Movement, or a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The group has 17 chapters across North America.

In June 2018, IfNotNow launched “Not Just A Free Trip,” a campaign aimed at changing the educational model of Birthright trips. In addition to handing out leaflets to Birthright participants at airports and protesting Birthright events, a few IfNotNow members have walked off Birthright trips as a form of protest.

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Intersectionality is the theory that all of the different facets of a person's identity (race, gender, religion, disability, and other protected identities and statuses) converge and inform one another. This convergence can lead to overlapping discrimination and/or disadvantage, as well as privilege. The theory of intersectionality also links various oppressions through the idea that all oppressions are intertwined; therefore, one oppression cannot be addressed without addressing all oppression.

There is a common sentiment on American university campuses that Jewish people are not a minority group, which leads Jewish people to be excluded from concepts of intersectionality. This perspective stems in part from the fair complexion common to Jews of European descent but ignores the reality that Jewish people have been no more than 1% of the global population at any point. It also erases the history of bias, harassment and discrimination that Jewish people have faced at the hands of many governments over time. Intersectionality often plays into the Israel on campus narrative through an argument that the experience of Palestinians is linked to the experience of Black Americans. The idea is that all oppressions (this presumes a belief that Palestinians are oppressed) are linked and so the oppression of Palestinians is inextricably linked to the oppression of Black Americans. While Black Americans have survived centuries of bias resulting from institutional, chattel slavery, the Palestinians have experienced nothing like it. To suggest otherwise does a disservice to the memory and legacy of Black Americans. On many college campuses there is also a lack of understanding about the minority status of Jewish people. Their is a prevailing belief that Jewish people are just another group of generic White people who came to the United States, rather than a specific ethnoreligious group. It is due to this misunderstanding that often Jewish habitation in Israel is talked about as ‘white colonization’ and is lumped in with Europeans conquering Native American land here. However, Jewish people are indigenous to the Land of Israel and thus are returning to their homeland. Intersectionality could serve to help inform others about the experience of Jewish people, and the underlying narrative about the State of Israel. The suffering and oppression experienced by Jewish people at the hands of myriad foreign rulers has created a singular experience. Though this framing, others could begin to understand the overlapping oppressions of being part of immigrant, Jewish and sometimes gender minority groups who have experienced legacy oppression unseen elsewhere.

Iran, or the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a Persian country in the Middle East bordered by Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, and Iraq.

Iran was one of 13 countries that voted against the UN Partition Plan of Palestine in 1947. Iran also voted against Israel's admission to the United Nations. Despite these actions, Iran was the second Muslim-majority nation to recognize Israel's sovereignty, although it later withdrew this recognition.

Iran and Israel currently have no diplomatic relations, and Iran does not recognize Israel's right to exist. Relations between the two nations rapidly deteriorated after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, when an Islamic government was installed. Since then, Iranian leaders have called for the destruction of Israel, and threatened to carry out nuclear actions against the Jewish state. Iran also funds Hezbollah and Hamas - two terrorist organizations that similarly have called for the destruction of Israel and have actively engaged in warfare.
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Developed by the Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., with American monetary support, the Iron Dome is the most effective missile-interception system in military history. It was invented as an inexpensive defensive tactic against thousands of rocket attacks by Hamas and other organizations from Gaza. Israeli cities close to the Gaza border, such as Sderot and Ashkelon, which were constantly under rocket fire in the early 2000s, have resumed a more normal way of life due to the Iron Dome. As a result of Israel's investment in defense technologies such as the Iron Dome, Israeli casualties in times of conflict are significantly less than those of Palestinians; a topic that is often misconstrued in the media and on college campuses.

  • Citation(s):
  • [1] Time
Islam is the youngest of the three major monotheistic religions, often together referred to as Abrahamic faiths. The name comes from the Arabic word for "surrender;" a fundamental element of Islam being that one must surrender to the will of Allah (Arabic: God.)  Muslims, followers of Islam, believe that Allah revealed the word of the Quran (the Islamic scripture) to the Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century CE as the last of a series of prophets, including those from the Jewish and Christian bibles. As such, Islam is the last of the three monotheistic religions (those believing in one God), following Judaism and Christianity

The two primary sects of Islam, Sunni and Shia, vary in doctrine, tradition, and law, and are often at odds with one another. The majority of the world's Muslims are Sunnis, but some countries, including Iran, Bahrain, and Azerbaijan, are majority Shia.  
The modern Jewish state is known as the State of Israel. The name originates from the Jewish Bible as the name given to Jacob by God. According to biblical tradition, the descendants of Jacob developed into the 12 Tribes of Israel, collectively referred to as the Israelites. God promised the Israelites that they would prosper in the land of Canaan, the ancient name for the Land of Israel, which is believed to have stretched from southern Syria to the Eastern Sinai. The Jews were the sovereign in the Land of Israel for two periods of history, ending with their defeat by the Babylonians in 586 BCE and again, at the hands of the Romans, in 70 CE. Since the fall of the Second Temple and the exile of the Jews from the Land of Israel, Jews around the world continued to pray for their eventual return. To this day, Jews around the world face Jerusalem, the site of the ancient Temple that was the focal point of their nation, when they pray

Israel Action Network is a strategic initiative of The Jewish Federations of North America, in partnership with the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, created to counter assaults on Israel's legitimacy. IAN  educates and mobilizes the organized North American Jewish community to develop strategic approaches to countering these assaults and develop innovative efforts to change the conversation about Israel and advocate for a negotiated two-state solution

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is the military of the State of israel. Established on May 31, 1948, soon after the State of Israel was founded, the IDF incorporated the pre-state paramilitary organizations of the Haganah, Palmach, Irgun, and Lehi. Its mission is "to defend the existence, territorial integrity, and sovereignty of the State of Israel, to protect the inhabitants of Israel, and to combat all forms of terrorism which threaten daily life." Jewish citizens of Israel along with some minority populations are drafted at the age of 18; men serve for three years and women serve for two years.

In addition to being one of the strongest armies in the world, the IDF plays an important role in shaping Israeli society. The IDF is often touted on campus as an aggressive, heavy-handed entity that perpetuates the occupation and the oppression of the Palestinian people.

Israel provides humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people by supporting development projects, providing medical care, and working with the Palestinian Authority to strengthen the Palestinian economy. In 2015, over 190,000 Palestinians received medical treatment in Israel, and many more were cared for by IDF medical units in Gaza and West Bank.

Israel is actively working to support reconstruction efforts in Gaza despite concerns about the diversion of materials by Hamas for terrorist purposes. In 2015, Israel sent 2.5 million tons of construction materials to Gaza, which helped build 2,733 homes, repair 100,513 homes and construct 241 large scale development projects.  In addition, Israel supplies electricity, water, canned food, medical supplies, fuel, school supplies, and cosmetic products to the Palestinian people.

Supplies continue to flow into Gaza and the West Bank from Israel, despite full knowledge that those supplies often get used by terrorist organizations to threaten the Jewish state. Hamas routinely uses building supplies intended for rebuilding to instead create tunnels into Israel to try to kidnap and murder civilians and soldiers.

On campus, there is often the argument that Israel ignores the needs of the people in the Palestinian territories. However, as noted above, Israel provides significant resources to the Palestinian leadership for a wide of array of materials and services.

ICC works to unite pro-Israel organizations that operate on campuses across the United States by coordinating strategies, sharing in-depth research, and increasing collaboration.

Israel shares borders with four sovereign countries: Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. Additionally, it borders on Gaza and the West Bank.

Egypt : In the first 25 years of Israel's existence, Egypt and Israel fought five wars: the War of Independence, 1956 Suez Campaign, 1967 Six Day War, 1969-1970 War of Attrition, and 1973 Yom Kippur War.  In 1979, Egypt became the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel, for which it was expelled from the Arab League (but has since rejoined.) Relations between the two countries have been characterized as "a cold peace," with ties strained by multiple regional and bilateral concerns. In recent years, the two countries have been working closely to combat terror and to coordinate their policies regarding the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, which borders both countries.

Jordan : Although Jordan engaged in the 1948 and 1967 wars with Israel, its leaders engaged in behind-the-scenes diplomacy and coordination with Israeli leaders beginning even before 1948. The two countries signed a peace treaty in 1994. The treaty has not led to warm bilateral relations, but it is widely considered to have served both countries well since it took effect.

Syria : Syria fought in the 1948, 1967, and 1973 wars in addition to cross-border skirmishes ever since Israel gained independence, and significant but indirect roles via its Lebanese and Palestinian proxies over the years.  While always tense, relations between Israel and Syria have grown even more complex in light of the ongoing Syrian civil war.

Lebanon : Along with much of the Arab world, Lebanon has been in a state of war with Israel since 1948, and bound by the terms of an armistice agreement signed in 1949. The First and Second Lebanon wars, launched by Israel in 1982 and 2006, were fought primarily by non-governmental fighting forces on the Lebanese side. These wars were launched in response to sustained rocket and terror attacks by the Palestine Liberation Organization and Hezbollah, respectively, operating from southern Lebanon.
An Israeli is an individual who is a citizen of the State of Israel. Israeli citizens span across a multitude of ethnicities, religions, races, and cultures including but not limited to: Arabs, Druze, Christians, Armenians, and Jews who trace their origins to many regions of the world.

1991- Madrid Conference   The Madrid Conference was a joint effort between the United States and Soviet Union to produce peace agreements between Israel and her Arab neighbors. The Palestinians were part of a joint delegation with the Jordanians. The Madrid Conference resulted in a peace agreement between Israel and Jordan, and the Palestinian track of the conference paved the way for the Oslo Agreement.

1993- Oslo Agreement   The Oslo Agreements represented the first direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. The Israeli government and the Palestine Liberation Organization-the official representative of the Palestinian people at the time-publically recognized one another for the first time. The agreement was signed on the White House lawn on September 13 1993. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin shook hands with PLO leader Yasser Arafat in a historic moment overseen by President Bill Clinton.

The Oslo Agreement represented the first tangible steps towards peace for the Israelis and Palestinians. The agreement included staged timelines for Israeli withdrawal from sections of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and implementation of Palestinian self-governance. Unfortunately, Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in November 1995, which halted the progress of the peace agreement.

2000- Camp David   The Oslo Accords did not address 'final status' issues, such as water, refugees, borders, and Jerusalem. The Camp David talks, initiated by President Bill Clinton, attempted to address these final status issues. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak met with Palestine Liberation Organization for the most comprehensive and detailed negotiations to date. The Israeli delegation offered the Palestinian leadership the entire Gaza Strip, a large part of the West Bank, and additional land from the Negev desert, while maintaining the major settlement blocks and unified Jerusalem. The Israeli delegation additionally proposed Islamic guardianship of key religious sites in the Old City of Jerusalem, and financial contributions for Palestinian refugees. These talks ultimately failed, as it is said that "the maximum Israel offered was less than the minimum the Palestinians could accept." The failure of these talks led to the deadly Second Intifada.

2001- Taba   The peace talks split between Washington, DC and Taba, Egypt were not peace talks at the highest level, but represented an attempt to resolve differences on issues such as territory and Jerusalem. EU observers reported that the Israeli negotiation team accepted the idea of East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state; regardless, the parties failed to make any lasting agreements or progress.

2002- Arab Peace Initiative   The Arab Peace Initiative was a Saudi peace plan presented at an Arab Summit in Beirut and represented a return to a multi-lateral strategy for peace talks. This plan stated that Israel would withdraw to the 1967 borders, and a Palestinian state would be created in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In return, Arab countries would recognize Israel. This plan didn't make much progress beyond the Arab summit.

2003-Roadmap   The Roadmap was an effort by the United States, Russia, The European Union, and the United Nations, to reignite the peace process. This plan was created after George W. Bush became the first US president to call for a Palestinian state. This plan established a phased timetable that led towards final status negotiations. Security and mutual confidence were considered prerequisites to a peace agreement, rather than the other way around. Neither the Israeli government nor the Palestinian leadership were directly involved, and the road map was never implemented.

2003-Geneva Accord   The Geneva Accord was an informal agreement crafted by Israeli and Palestinian figures, some of whom were involved in drafting the Oslo Peace Agreements. This agreement strays from the Roadmap and puts a peace agreement as a prerequisite to security, peace, and mutual confidence.

2007- Annapolis, MD   President George W. Bush attempted to re-launch the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and hosted a conference at the US Naval Academy. Attendees included Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, as well as representatives from the United States, United Nations, European Union, and Russia. Additionally, more than a dozen Arab countries were represented, including Saudi Arabia and Syria, who to this day do not officially recognize Israel.

The Israeli and Palestinian leadership in attendance issued a joint understanding to initiate negotiations with the goal of achieving a full peace deal by the end of 2008. Ehud Olmert's offer of international supervision of Jerusalem's holy sites, the return of a few thousand Palestinian refugees, Israeli withdrawal from 93.7% of the West Bank and a 5.8% land swap to Mahmoud Abbas is often considered the most far reaching offer to date. Regardless, the two parties were unable to reach an agreement.

2010- Washington, DC    President Barack Obama made it a high priority to restart the peace process. After a 19 month break in contact between Israeli and Palestinian leadership, US Middle East envoy George Mitchell successfully employed "proximity talks" to restart communications between the two parties in May 2009. The talks in Washington, DC, which began in September 2010, were attended by Israeli and Palestinian delegations, as well as Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and King Abdullah of Jordan. Prior to the talks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to a 10-month freeze on West Bank settlement construction, but Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas would not move forward without a guarantee of a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders. The talks reached a stalemate within weeks, and the parties were unable to reach an agreement.
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  • [1] BBC
Israel is a parliamentary democracy with a legislative branch known as the Knesset (Parliament), an executive branch, and a judicial branch. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction to hear criminal and civil appeals from judgments of the District Courts, similar to how the U.S. Supreme Court functions. National elections are held once every four years (or at shorter intervals, as is the case in all parliamentary democracies), and all Israeli citizens aged 18 and older are eligible to vote for a political party of their choice. The 120 seats in the Knesset are distributed in proportion to each party's percentage of votes and the head of one party- usually the party with the largest number of seats, but in some situations it may be the leader of the second-largest party- assembles a parliamentary majority coalition and becomes Prime Minister. The Knesset elects a President every seven years; while serving as the official head of state, the President's role is largely ceremonial. 

In the 2015 election, the three largest parties were Likud, with 30 seats, Zionist Union, with 24 seats, and the Joint (Arab) List, with 13 seats. As the head of the largest party, Benjamin Netanyahu was invited to present a parliamentary majority, and when he did so he became Prime Minister.

This term is used as shorthand to refer to the decades of tension between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Some anti-Israel activists want to stop using the word “conflict” as they say it implies a level of equality between the sides that they do not believe exists. This perspective is advocated by opponents of normalization who believe that any suggestion that there is a balanced conflict gives tacit support to the idea that Israel deserves to exist, so they reject the title outright.

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  • [1] BBC
IsrAID is an Israeli non-profit, non-governmental humanitarian organization that implements international development programs and provides disaster relief, including international search and rescue assistance.

Many student organizations fundraise for IsrAID, which has been among the first to respond to international disasters such as earthquakes in Nepal and Italy, Hurricane Katrina, and the European refugee crisis.

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Jerusalem, one of the oldest cities in the world and important to the three monotheistic religions, is the capital of the State of Israel and the seat of the Israeli government. Between the establishment of Israel in 1948 and the Six Day War in 1967, Jerusalem was divided into two according to the Armistice Lines, with West Jerusalem under Israeli control and East Jerusalem under Jordanian control. (Jordan annexed East Jerusalem, along with the rest of the West Bank, but only the UK and Pakistan recognized the move.)

During the Six Day War, Israel captured Jerusalem's Old City and the rest of East Jerusalem, reuniting the city. Subsequently, Israel annexed East Jerusalem (but not the West Bank), in a move not recognized by any countries around the world. Although Israel asserts that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Israel, Palestinians demand East Jerusalem be included in an independent Palestinian state and they refer to Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem as settlements.
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  • [1] BBC
  • [2] BBC
Jew is a term used to refer to a Jewish person. The Jewish people are a monotheistic, ethnoreligious group, originating from the Israelites, or Hebrews, of the Ancient Near East. Jewish ethnicity, nationhood, and religion are closely related, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation, while its observance varies from strict observance to complete non-observance.

The Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI or "The Agency") was founded in 1929 "to secure a vibrant Jewish future." Prior to 1948, JAFI acted as the unofficial government of the Jews living in pre-State Israel. More recently, JAFI works to connect the Jewish diaspora and Israel. Their primary functions include assisting with and coordinating Aliyah, rescuing Jews from dangerous environments around the world, and connecting Jewish communities with Israeli communities through the Partenership2gether Peoplehood Platform. 

JAFI supports programs for students including Birthright Israel, Masa, and Hillel's Israel Fellows.

The Jewish Community Relations Council, JCRC, is the umbrella body for more than 40 major Jewish organizations in the Chicago area, and the community relations arm of the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Chicago. The JCRC works on issues of concern to the Jewish community, including Israel, international affairs, interfaith and intergroup relations, antisemitism, anti-Israel activity, community violence reduction and immigration.
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The creation of the State of Israel in 1948 fundamentally challenged the status of Jews living in Arab countries throughout the Middle East. Entire Jewish populations faced persecution and mass expulsion as their home countries either declared war against Israel or supported the effort to eliminate the Jewish state.

Prior to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, 850,000 Jews resided in Arab lands throughout the Middle East. These populations dated back to Biblical times.  Today, only 8,500 remain. In the aftermath of Israel's victory in the War of Independence, Arab countries launched an aggressive campaign against their domestic Jewish populations. Over 40,000 square miles of land were seized from Jews living in Arab countries--- this is about five times the size of Israel's entire land mass.  Jews were stripped of citizenship and forced to leave their homes, leaving all property and assets behind.

Egypt
The history of Jewish communities in Egypt dates back to Biblical times. There is a Jewish cemetery in Cairo from the 9 th century, and Maimonides' synagogue from the 12 th century still stands today. In the 1940s, the Jewish population in Egypt numbered 80,000, and Jews held prominent positions in business, politics, journalism, and the film industry

Following the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 and a strong surge of Egyptian nationalism in the early '50s, then-President Gamal Abdel Nasser initiated a mass expulsion of Egyptian Jews. Jews were stripped of citizenship, property, and businesses, and became the target of anti-Jewish violence. Bombs were set off in the Jewish quarter of Cairo, and arsonists burned the Jewish section of Alexandria. Jews were arrested arbitrarily and killed in attacks on Jewish synagogues and businesses. Half of Egypt's Jewish population left in 1948, and the remainder were expelled during the 1956 Sinai War between Egpyt and Israel. Jews who were expelled from Egypt were not allowed to take any property with them, nor were they allowed to sell their property before they left. As of 2014, only 12 Jews remained in Egypt

Yemen
The Jewish community in Yemen dates back to the times of King Solomon. Prior to 1948, Yemen was home to 45,000 Jews. Today, only 200 remain

Libya
Anti-Jewish violence in Libya began in full-scale following World War II. Rioters burned Jewish businesses and synagogues, and hundreds of Jews were killed in the violence. In 1948, prior to the establishment of the State of Israel, there were about 40,000 Jews living in Libya. 31,000 Jews left between 1948-1951, and today, no Jews remain in Libya

Morocco
In June 1948, following the establishment of the State of Israel, anti-Jewish riots broke out throughout Morocco. More than 40 Jews were killed, and in the following year more than 18,000 Moroccan Jews fled the country. Anti-Jewish riots continued throughout the 1950s, and 60,000 Jews fled Morocco between 1955 and 1956. The Moroccan government outlawed Jewish emigration to Israel from 1956-1961. In 1948, there were 300,000 Jews living in Morocco, constituting the largest Jewish population in the Arab world; today, only 2,500 remain

Algeria
Prior to the establishment of the State of Israel, Algeria was home to 135,000 Jews. Today, no Jews remain in Algeria, following expulsion and riots

Iraq
In 1941, 150 Jews were killed over the course of a three day pogrom against the Iraqi Jewish community. In a domestic response to Israel's independence, Iraq implemented martial law which led to a strong wave of anti-Jewish persecutions. Jews were arrested, and handed large fines, jail time, or death sentences, and they were forbidden to leave the country. In the Spring of 1950, the Iraqi government allowed Jews to leave, but they were forced to relinquish their citizenship and all property. 90% of the 150,000 Jews living in Iraq left in 1950 alone, leaving all property and assets behind

Syria
The Syrian Jewish community numbered 27,000 prior to 1948. Today, less than 100 Jews remain in Syria.
The Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago (JUF) impacts every aspect of local and global Jewish life in Illinois and around the world, providing human services for Jews and others in need, creating Jewish experiences, and strengthening Jewish community connections.

With more than a decade of experience working on campus and in the community, the Israel Education Center (IEC) is a pillar of JUF's multi-pronged approach to Israel education. IEC casts a wide net for engagement with Israel and is pluralistic in its approach. IEC staff supports students' grassroots initiatives while providing them with the knowledge and support that empowers them as advocates and gives them the tools to become leaders.

In addition to all of the work that JUF does, they are also the primary funder of Hillel in the state of Illinois. Of the entire budget of JUF, 29% goes to Israel and overseas projects, with another 29% going directly to local, Chicago area needs.

The ADL describes Jewish Voice for Peace as the largest and most influential Jewish anti-Zionist group in the United States. Despite the neutral tone of its name,JVP counts among its objectives an end to U.S. aid for Israel and the success of boycott and divestment campaigns against Israel. JVP has become a leader in the American anti-Israel movement and has assumed a particularly visible role in the BDS campaign against Israel. JVP's local chapters actively support divestment initiatives on college campuses and have helped anti-Israel student groups pressure their universities to divest from corporations that profit from the "Israeli occupation."

Campus JVP chapters work with Students for Justice in Palestine to advance BDS campaigns, and to spread negative images of Israel and its supposed treatment of the Palestinians. JVP supports BDS and utilizes strident tactics such as die ins, mock checkpoints, mock eviction notices and apartheid walls to further their cause. JVP is a small, radical group that does not represent the mainstream sentiments of the Jewish community nor do they represent the majority of Jewish student opinions on campus.

Jihad (Arabic: struggle or effort) means much more than holy war. Muslims use the word jihad to describe three kinds of struggle: A believer's internal struggle to live out the Muslim faith as well as possible; the struggle to build a good Muslim society; and holy war, or the struggle to defend Islam, with force if necessary. Many modern writers claim that the main meaning of Jihad is the internal spiritual struggle, and this is accepted by many Muslims. However there are so many references to jihad as a military struggle in Islamic writings that it is incorrect to claim that the interpretation of jihad as holy war is wrong.

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  • [1] BBC
JStreet is a political action committee (PAC) whose slogan is "Pro-Israel, pro-peace" that advocates elected officials for "an end to the occupation and a two-state solution."  JStreetU is the campus arm of JStreet and is not a PAC. Campus chapters mobilize support for a two-state solution through programming and engagement.
Judaism is the most ancient of the three Abrahamic religions (the other two being Christianity and Islam), with a foundational text called the Torah (English: The Five Books of Moses) and other texts including the Book of Prophets and the Talmud.  Judaism is characterized by its belief in one God who promised the prophet Abraham to make of his offspring a great nation in the Land of Israel. Followers of the religion are referenced in the Bible as Hebrews, Israelites, and Jews (though today followers are exclusively referred to as Jews or Jewish people). Adherents of Judaism do not believe in Jesus or Muhammed, nor do Jewish people believe in individual salvation.  
Commonly known today as the West Bank, the areas of Judea and Samara comprise key parts of the biblical Land of Israel, and many Jews consider them cornerstones of Jewish civilization.

Justice is the act of upholding fairness, morality and equitableness. 

On campus activists will often clarify that they are calling for justice not peace, as peace is seen as passive or ineffective conceptually. Often exemplified by the rally cry, “No justice, no peace!”

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A keffiyeh is a scarf - often black and white, or red and white - that is typically worn as a head covering by Arab and Kurdish men. The keffiyeh has come to represent the Palestinian political movements in the United States and elsewhere. It is often worn as a sign of solidarity with anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian activists. The Palestinian movements have adopted the fishnet-pattern keffiyeh as it was typically worn by Yasser Arafat.

The Knesset, Israel's parliament, is the country's legislative body. The Knesset legislates and revises laws, provides the parliamentary majority required by governments in all parliamentary democracies,  holds public debates on issues of national importance, reviews government activities, and elects the President of the State and the State Comptroller. The name "Knesset," as well as its makeup of 120 members, is derived from the Knesset Hagedolah (Great Assembly), the representative Jewish council convened in Jerusalem by Ezra and Nehemiah in the 5th century BCE.  The 20th Knesset was sworn in on March 31, 2015, and includes representatives from 10 political parties. Largest among them:  Likud, Zionist Union, and Joint (Arab) List.

Hebrew term for the Western Wall.
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Israel's Law of Return, enacted in 1950, guarantees Jewish people of any ethnicity or nationality, and their immediate families, the right to citizenship and residence in the State of Israel. This policy is based on the understanding of Israel as the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people. The state ensures the Right of Return because Jewish people moving to Israel are understood to be returning home after their forebears were forcibly exiled.

The Law of Return is often used as an example of Israeli governmental policy to increase the Jewish occupation of land that rightfully belongs solely to the Palestinians. Many advocates for that perspective believe that any Jewish immigration is illegitimate and has nefarious motives. This perspective also often denies Jewish indigeneity in the Land of Israel and asserts that the indigenous claim is a trumped-up lie crafted only to steal land from Palestinians.

Additionally, the Law of Return has enabled Israel to extract entire Jewish communities from countries in which those Jewish communities were not safe, and to then bring those people to Israel to be resettled. Most well-known are the evacuations of the Ethiopian Jewish people called Operation Moses (1984) and the Yemeni Jewish people called Operation Wings of Eagles or Magic Carpet (1949-50).
Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, was elected President of the Palestinian Authority in 2005. Regarded as a pragmatist, he was one of the main proponents of dialogue with moderate Israelis as early as the 1970s.  Long one of Yasser Arafat's closest confidantes, Abbas accompanied Arafat to the White House in 1993 to sign the Oslo Accords. When he was elected President after Arafat's death in 2004, many observers hoped that he would open a new chapter in Israeli-Palestinian relations, and breathe new life into moribund peace efforts. Today, he continues in his role as President, despite the fact that his three-year term ended long ago. Unpopular at home, he is seen as lacking the support necessary to lead his people to a final status agreement.

Campus activists often ignore Abbas's role in the current tensions between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Seen as the leader of a disenfranchised people, Abbas seems to get a pass when students criticize the lack of progress towards peace. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu often is portrayed as the antagonist, while Abbas's thinly veiled incitement to violence is largely ignored.

  • Citation(s):
  • [1] BBC
Masa provides subsidies to participants in dozens of programs, all of which include trips throughout Israel, educational programming about Israel and Zionism, Hebrew study, and engagement with Israelis. Since it was established in 2004, Masa Israel Journey has helped over 110,000 young Jewish adults experience Israel in a wide range of long-term immersive programs that include study abroad, internship, service learning, and Jewish studies programs.
A Muslim is an adherent of the religion of Islam.
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  • [1] BBC
The Muslim Brotherhood is a transnational Islamist organization founded in Egypt in 1928 that has spread across the Arab world, influencing other Islamist groups such as Hamas and drawing the ire of established leaders in multiple countries. Long banned in Egypt until the January Revolution in 2011, the Brotherhood won popular elections there the following year, only to be removed by the military soon thereafter. Concerns about Islamic extremism, in the form of the Brotherhood and Hamas, are seen as a key element that has contributed to bringing Israel and Egypt closer together in recent years.

  • Citation(s):
  • [1] CNN
Nationalism is a shared group feeling in the significance of a geographical and sometimes demographic region. It can also describe desire for land-based independence and self-determination for a population currently without a state, but united in ethnicity, region, or other shared affinity.

This small, marginal group of ultra-Orthodox Jews opposed the establishment of the State of Israel and continues to oppose its existence. Members align themselves with opponents of Israel, including the Iranian regime, and can be seen demonstrating publicly in Israel and around the world. They believe that humans should not attempt to create a Jewish state and that the state should be created by God. In their view, the problem is not the notion of Jewish people living in the land of Israel, it is that the decision is not one that should be made by man. They believe that Jewish exile is the result of punishment from God and that only God can end that exile when Jewish people are deemed worthy

While their members often are vocal, Neturei Karta represents only a very small minority of Orthodox Jews. Occasionally anti-Israel groups will cite Neturei Karta as being representative of the Jewish community, which is grossly misleading and wildly inaccurate. They are a radical fringe group.

Occupation can be defined as the action, state, or period of occupying or being occupied by military force.

Israel gained control of the West Bank and Gaza in the defensive 1967 Six-Day War. Since that victory, Israel has maintained civil and military presence in the West Bank. While critics maintain that Israel is an illegitimate "occupier" of these territories, Israel maintains that neither the West Bank nor the Gaza Strip were part of sovereign countries prior to 1967, and that their final status must be determined through negotiations. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 and relinquished any claim to it. Israel, like Egypt, continues to control imports and exports at international crossing points for security reasons.

Typically occupation refers to Israeli presence in the West Bank. However, there are many who see the entire State of Israel as an occupying force on Palestinian land. For critics of the former, Israel’s withdrawal from the entire West Bank is seen as the goal. For critics of the latter, the dissolution of the State of Israel is seen as the only solution for ending the occupation.

The Old City of Jerusalem is one square kilometer and surrounded by walls dating back to the early Ottoman Empire. There are 11 gates into the city, though only seven are open, and it is divided into four quarters: Jewish, Muslim, Armenian, and Christian. The Temple Mount/Haram al Sharif, which lies at the heart of the Old City, is the holiest site for Judaism, and among the holiest for Islam. The Old City is holy to all three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam., as it is home to the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (understood by a majority of Christians as the place where Jesus was entombed and subsequently resurrected), and the Temple Mount.

Until 1865, the entire population of Jerusalem lived inside the Old City walls. As the city's population increased, both Jews and Arabs began to build outside the walls. By the time the UN approved the Partition Plan in 1947, a thriving Jewish community was living in the Old City's Jewish Quarter and in East Jerusalem. When the new State of Israel lost control of these areas, the Jewish residents fled to West Jerusalem. Between 1949 and 1967, Jordan controlled East Jerusalem and the area was off-limits to Jews. In 1967, Israel captured the city in the Six Day War and formally annexed East Jerusalem and the Old City, declaring the united city the eternal capital of the State of Israel.  However, the international community considers Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem to be no different than settlements in the West Bank, a critical issue in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.
A one-state solution, also referred to as a binational state, suggests a single state in all of the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, in which Israelis and Palestinians would live together. The one-state "solution" is often touted by harsh critics of Israel in an indirect attempt to bring about the demise of the State of Israel as the national homeland of the Jewish people. (The population of the entire territory, which includes the State of Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, is almost equally split between Jews and Arabs; the high Arab birth rate and the possibility of an influx of Palestinian refugees and their descendants now living around the world seem likely to render Jews a minority in a binational state. The overwhelming majority of Israelis reject a one-state solution, and it is unrealistic to expect Israel to voluntarily give up its sovereign existence and nationalist identity in exchange for becoming a vulnerable minority.  

Anti-Israel groups rarely use the terms “one-state solution” or “binational state,” but they are referring to the same idea when they call for a “Palestinian right of return.” The founder of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement explicitly rejected the idea of a two-state solution and created the BDS movement with the ultimate goal of destroying the Jewish State of Israel, leading to one Palestinian state.

On September 13, 1993, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, and Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat signed the Oslo Accord in a ceremony hosted by President Bill Clinton on the White House lawn in Washington, DC. In the Accord, the PLO recognized Israel's right to exist, and Israel recognized the PLO as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.

The Declaration of Principles (DOP), termed Oslo I, initiated a five-year "interim period" during which a new Palestinian Authority would be established to govern over autonomous Palestinian areas in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The interim period was to be used to build confidence that would enable the sides to reach a final status agreement by the end of the five-year period. In the first stage of implementation, Israel handed control of civilian affairs in Gaza and part of the West Bank to the Palestinian Authority. Over time, the DOP called for Israel to cede more territory to PA control. In return, the PA agreed to combat terror and engage in joint security patrols with IDF forces.

A second agreement, termed Oslo II, was signed on September 28, 1995, in Taba, Egypt. It created a detailed framework for governing the autonomous Palestinian areas of Gaza and the West Bank and set a timetable for final status negotiations, which were to address tough issues including the status of Jerusalem, refugees, settlements, borders, and more. The Oslo Accords made no mention of a sovereign Palestinian state, leaving the ultimate nature of an agreement to be negotiated in final status talks. The final status talks have not progressed beyond preliminary stages.
The name dates back to the second century CE, when the Romans completed their conquest of Judea (approximately the Land of Israel as well as some outlying areas) and renamed it Palestina as a way of diminishing the Jewish connection to the land. After World War I, the League of Nations granted Britain a Mandate for Palestine, and those living there - Jews and Arabs alike - were referred to as Palestinians.

When the UN voted to partition Palestine into two states, it referred to a Jewish state and an Arab state - not to Israel and Palestine. After Israel's independence in 1948, there was no longer a place named Palestine but over time the Arab people living in the West Bank and Gaza - under Jordanian and Egyptian rule, respectively - came to be called Palestinians.

Since 2010, there have been no high-level negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian leadership. The Palestinian Authority has unilaterally pursued recognition as an independent Palestinian state by the United Nations and the international community. Today, over 130 countries recognize Palestine as a state consisting of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem. Such recognition is largely symbolic.

The name Palestine has multiple meanings, and those meanings carry a wide range of messages. On campus, references to Palestine most often are references to the West Bank and Gaza, or - among those who seek to delegitimize Israel - to the entirety of the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. At no time in history has there been an independent state called Palestine. Many on campus talk about Palestine as if it already is an independent state, but the Palestinian territories operate under a mix of various levels of self-rule, not independence.
The Palestine Liberation Organization was founded in Cairo in 1964 with the goal of fulfilling the national aspirations of the Palestinian people. Its most notable leader was Yasser Arafat, head of the Fatah group, who was elected Chairman in 1969 and remained in power until his death in 2004. The PLO's Charter explicitly called for the destruction of the State of Israel and served as justification for a slew of terrorist attacks against Israel in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. In 1993, Israel recognized the PLO as the official representative of the Palestinian people and the PLO recognized Israel's right to exist, removing the call for the destruction of Israel from the PLO charter and renouncing terrorism.  
A person who was an inhabitant of the former British Mandate Palestine, and their descendants, particularly the Arabs now living in the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, or in the Palestinian diaspora.

Though the term Palestinian is now widely understood to refer to the Arab population of the British Mandate, during the years of the British Mandate the word Palestinian also referred to Jewish people living in the land that would become Israel. On campus, students will sometimes claim Palestinian identity, regardless of ethnicity or origin, as a display of solidarity with Palestinian activists.

The Palestinian Authority was established in May 1994 under the Oslo Accords. The Palestine Liberation Organization formed the basis of an interim autonomous government that was to rule until democratic elections could be held. Today, the Palestinian Authority governs the West Bank (it governed Gaza until Hamas seized control in 2007), and acts as the Palestinian voice for the international community and in peace negotiations with Israel. Though less radical than Hamas, the PA is criticized by Israelis for celebrating terror activity and promulgating anti-Israel propaganda. The first leader of the PA, Yasser Arafat, died in 2004 and was succeeded by Mahmoud Abbas who remains in power today.

  • Citation(s):
  • [1] CNN
According to the United Nations Relief and Works Association, a Palestinian refugee is, "persons whose normal place of residence was Palestine (See: Palestine) during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict." Palestinian identity is frequently defined by regional identity rather than by ethnic identity

Considering the shift in borders of the State of Israel compared to the previous British Mandate of Palestine, this definition can include displaced Jordanian and Jewish people, as well as any populations living within the borders of the British Mandate at the time of the War of Independence. However, the term "Palestinian refugee" is used colloquially to refer to all people of Arab descent who have ancestry in the British Mandate of Palestine prior to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 (See: 1948 War)

UNRWA claims there are 4.5 million Palestinian refugees, however this number is inflated as a political tool to denigrate Israel. Many of the people that UNRWA claims as refugees are multi-generational residents of other Arab countries, primarily Jordan, who never lived in pre -'48 Palestine. Arab countries which are home to many of these refugees have declined to grant citizenship to Palestinians, thereby prolonging their inherited refugee status

In contrast, the United Nations has a entirely different criteria for what makes someone a refugee for all other populations. Generally, to be considered a refugee one must fit the following:

"...as a result of events occurring ... and owing to well founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it. "
The "Palestinian Right of Return" is the theory that Palestinian refugees and their descendants have a right to reclaim and return to their former homes in what is now the State of Israel. The Palestinian right of return is often cited as international law according to UN Resolutions 242 and 338; however, the resolutions are not binding and merely suggest that Israel has a responsibility to resolve the Palestinian refugee issue through resettlement and compensation.

Moreover, the idea of a Palestinian right of return dates back to a time when the PLO and Arab states sought to dismantle the Jewish state and replace it with a Palestinian state to which the "right of return" would then be applied. Israel rejects any Palestinian right of return to the State of Israel, saying that when a Palestinian state is established, the Palestinian government will be free to enact laws permitting a return -- to that new Palestinian state. If Israel was to accept Palestinian demands for a right of return to Israel, the influx of millions of Palestinians would cause Israel to lose its Jewish majority and it would cease to exist. Additionally, while it calls for a Palestinian right of return to Israel, the Palestinian Authority has stated repeatedly that Jews will not be permitted to live in the future State of Palestine.
Freedom from, civil unrest or disorder; absence of, or cessation of war or hostilities; the condition or state of a nation or community in which it is not at war with another; peacetime.

Some campus organizations and student leaders advocate for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, while others advocate solely for justice for Palestinians claiming that justice and peace are not equivalent and that they are willing to sacrifice peace in pursuit of justice. Peace is sometimes considered the 'feel good' option, while justice is seen as more tangible. In terms of state relationships and peace, peaceful resolutions to both the Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab conflicts have been sought since the 1970’s. Some negotiations have been successful - Israel signed peace treaties with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994 - while others have failed to produce a successful outcome. The most recent round of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority occurred from 2013-2014, facilitated by then-Secretary of State John Kerry.

Peoplehood is the unity of a people who share a common culture, history, and language and feel a sense of belonging within that people. The fact or state of being a community of people of shared race or nationality, often with the implication of associated status or rights. Jewish peoplehood is a concept that originates in the Torah and has united the Jewish nation for thousands of years.

Pinkwashing is a compound word combining pink and whitewashing that is used by anti-Israel activists who claim that Israel's queer-friendliness is a deliberate marketing and political strategy designed to deflect attention from perceived wrongdoing by the Israeli government.    

In other words, critics say that Israel uses its status as a safe-haven for the queer community as a way to divert international attention from its alleged human rights abuses. In reality, Israel is the only place in the Mideast that provides safety and support for the LGBT community. In Gaza, homosexuality is illegal and in the West Bank being an ‘out’ member of the LGBT community can lead to harassment and even murder. On campus, Israel is often decried for pinkwashing and that argument is used as a rationale for the BDS movement. Regionally, Israel is an island of tolerance and acceptance with neighbors going so far as to criminalize homosexuality with penalties ranging from jail time and torture (Egypt, Iran, Gaza, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen) to execution (Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Qatar, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq). Some neighbor countries even criminalize dissemination of material that could be interpreted as LGBTQ propaganda (Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Qatar, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Kuwait). Israel is also the only country in the region to offer protection from hate crimes, discrimination, harassment and protection for members of the trans community. These protections are not offered by the PA or Hamas.

Pluralism is a condition in which minority groups (ethnic, religious, and otherwise) participate fully in the dominant society, yet maintain their cultural differences

It also refers to a social organization in which diversity of racial, religious, ethnic, or cultural groups is tolerated. In Israel, people of diverse identities and backgrounds are full members of Israeli society, both legally and practically. In Israel this pluralism plays out on the national level. To ensure access and communication, Israel maintains Hebrew and Arabic as its national languages

The world pluralism can also be used to describe a space in which multiple perspectives and practices of Judaism can exist together. Jewish student spaces often are described as being pluralistic because they are open to Jewish students of all denominations and beliefs.

The Chief Rabbinate of Israel is the supreme rabbinic and spiritual authority for Judaism in IsraelIt has legal and administrative authority to organize religious arrangements for Israel's Jews and religious questions submitted by Jewish public bodies in the Diaspora. The Chief Rabbinate of Israel consists of two Chief Rabbis: an Ashkenazi rabbi and a Sephardi rabbi. Its jurisdiction includes personal status issues, such as marriages, divorces, and burials for Jews, conversion to Judaism, kosher laws and kosher certification, Jewish immigrants to Israel, supervision of Jewish holy sites, working with various ritual baths (mikvaot) and yeshivas, and overseeing Rabbinical courts in Israel. Modeled on the Ottoman tradition of regulating issues of personal status through central religious offices, the Rabbinate is paralleled by the Waqf for Muslims, and the various churches for Christians.
In 1970, an Israeli court sentenced Rasmea Odeh to life in prison for her role in a 1969 Jerusalem supermarket bombing in which two university students were killed.  After serving 10 years in an Israeli prison, Odeh was freed in a large-scale prisoner swap. Upon her release, Odeh immigrated to the United States and did not disclose her conviction on her immigration application, in violation of US law. On November 10, 2014, a federal jury in Detroit convicted Odeh of illegally procuring naturalization.

Groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine claim that Odeh was arrested as a political activist and endured 25 days of sexual torture while in Israeli prison; claims that were rebutted in court. Since her 2014 conviction, Odeh has become a symbol for anti-Israel activists in the United States and is touted as the embodiment of Palestinian oppression and resilience. As of October 2016, her case is currently under review, and a US court will decide if she should serve her 18 month sentence or begin a retrial in January 2017. If the conviction is upheld, after Odeh serves her sentence she will face deportation to Jordan.
   
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The Second Intifada was a violent Palestinian uprising in the early 2000s, resulting in over 1,000 Israeli deaths and thousands more injured. it began with a spate of protests and terror attacks in the Old City of Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza. Palestinians engaged in suicide bombings, drive-by-shootings, rocket launches, and attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians. In 2003, Israel began construction of a security barrier separating Israeli and Palestinian areas in an effort to thwart Palestinians' abilities to carry out attacks.

The violence of the Second Intifada led to the construction of the security barrier around the West Bank. Construction of the security barrier led a 98% reduction in Palestinian terror attacks on Israel. Approximately 95% of the barrier is constructed chainlink fencing, while less than 5% of the barrier around major population centers is built of concrete.

The Israeli government voted in 2002 to construct a security barrier separating Israeli and Palestinian populations in order to prevent Palestinian terror attacks against Israeli targets.  The decision to build the barrier was reached following more than two years of relentless terrorism by Palestinian suicide bombers who targeted Israeli buses, cafes, shopping centers, and other civilian gathering points during the Second Intifada, which killed over 1,000 Israelis and injured thousands more.

Ninety percent of the 450-mile security barrier is chain-link fence and 10% is concrete wall, and it has been extremely successful in reducing terror attacks.

On college campuses there is a lot of misinformation about the reason Israel built the security barrier. Israel is often accused of having built it to enforce race-based separation between Israelis and Palestinians. Due to this misinterpretation, the barrier is occasionally represented as an “apartheid wall” to spotlight its supposedly racist intent.

Defined by the Oxford Dictionary as "the process by which a country [or in some cases, a people] determines its own statehood and forms its own allegiances and government."  

This idea comes into play throughout the Israeli-Palestinian debate and is used by both sides to describe their national movements and their rights to establish statehood and national identity. Jewish hopes of self-determination arguably never ceased after the Romans expelled the Jews from their land in 70 CE, and full-scale efforts to bring it to fruition began with the early Zionists in the 19th century, later gaining momentum during and following the Holocaust. There has always been a Jewish presence in the Land of Israel. Any evacuation of Jews has been involuntary and at the hand of a conquering army. The concept of self-determination also serves as rationale for the Palestinian movement for statehood. Palestinian goals of self-determination vary in terms of borders, with some calling for the West Bank and Gaza to be the Palestinian state, and others calling for the entire territory of Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza to become the Palestinian state.

The term "settlements" refers to the towns and villages that Jews have established in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and Gaza since the Six Day War. The issue of settlements has become a focal point for Arab-Israeli peace negotiations as some argue that the Israeli settlements are in violation of international law according to the Fourth Geneva Convention's Rules of War. Under the convention, established in response to Nazi atrocities in World War II, occupying powers are forbidden from resettling on territories under their military control. Israel rejects that its settlements in the West Bank violate the convention as the land was captured as a result of a defensive war in 1967, and the territories captured in the West Bank and Gaza Strip were not under the recognized sovereignty of any other country at the time

The issue of settlement building was discussed during the Oslo years but the PA never demanded a total Israeli freeze on settlement activity as a precondition for negotiations. Israel removed its settlements from Gaza during the 2005 Gaza disengagement, but settlements  in the West Bank continue to grow. Israel said the disengagement offered the Palestinians an opportunity to prove that if Israel made territorial concessions, they would be prepared to coexist with their neighbor and to build a state of their own. However, terrorism from Gaza has continued unabated. Some cite the continuation of settlement building in the West Bank to justify the recent wave of violence perpetrated by Palestinians against Israelis

In 2009, US President Barack Obama pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to freeze settlement construction as a condition for restarting peace talks with the PA, something no Palestinian leader had ever demanded. Israel acceded to the American request, freezing construction for 10 months. For most of that time, no peace talks took place, and at the end of the 10-month period, when Israel resumed construction activity in the West Bank settlements, the PA broke off talks.

Terror predates the building of Israeli homes in the West Bank or Gaza. The idea that settlements are the singular impediment to peace betrays the fact that total withdrawal of settlements, military and even cemeteries from Gaza in 2005 did not lead to peace. The withdrawal from Gaza has resulted in the election of Hamas, continued rocket bombardment of Israel and to Hamas crippling the Palestinian economy and infrastructure in Gaza.

Settler is the widely used term for Jewish individuals who are citizens of Israel and who live in the West Bank. Many, but not all, settlers believe it is a religious obligation to settle and maintain control of the land due to its importance in Jewish history and tradition. Settlers include secular Israelis, new immigrants, those who believe it is a matter of national security to maintain a stronghold in the West Bank, as well as many who moved there for non-ideological reasons.

A shared society is one where citizens of all religions and backgrounds have equal rights and opportunities. In Israel, there are movements and organizations that advocate for a shared society between Israelis and Palestinians, achieved through education, economic cooperation, and dialogue. 

This is the not the same as a call for a one-state solution, in which there would be a Palestinian majority and Jewish minority. A shared society can exist within a two-state solution. It merely refers to the status of citizens within existing populations and existing state structures.

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In May, 1967, President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt took two steps that put Israel on a war footing: He closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, essentially shutting the port of Eilat; and he expelled UN troops from the Sinai Peninsula, which had been a non-militarized zone for the past decade. Both of these moves were in violation of signed agreements, and they signaled that Nasser was preparing for war

At the same time, calls for the destruction of Israel reached a fever pitch in Egypt and other countries in the region. After three weeks of high military alert, on June 5, the IDF launched a preemptive strike, capturing the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including the Old City, from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. For the first time since Israel gained independence, Jews could pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City. Although Israel was triumphant, the war resulted in one million Palestinian Arabs coming under Israeli military rule

The land acquired during this war is referred to as 'the territories" and a variety of variations including "the occupied territories." Israel's role often is referred to as the "Israeli occupation." The issues of territories and occupation serve as the basis for many discussions about the Arab-Israeli conflict and have been central to peace negotiations between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

StandWithUs is an international, non-profit organization founded in 2001 with the mission of educating people about Israel and antisemitism. StandWithUs holds conferences and sponsors fellowships for college students across North America.
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According to international law, a nation can declare statehood if it has a defined territory, a population of citizens, a sovereign government, and the ability to establish relations with other countries.

Israel’s right to statehood is frequently challenged by anti-Israel organizations on campus who claim that Israel is a settler-colonial state, rather than a legitimate sovereign state.

The ADL describes SJP, an organization with over 126 chapters at American universities, as the primary organizer of anti-Israel events on U.S. college campuses and the group most responsible for bringing divestment resolutions to votes in student governments. SJP chapters throughout the U.S. routinely initiate Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaigns against corporations and individuals that do business with Israel and frequently organize events that accuse Israel of war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and genocide.

Students Supporting Israel (SSI) was established in 2012 at the University of Minnesota as a non-partisan pro-Israel campus movement. Since its inception, SSI has grown to college campuses throughout the United States and Canada. SSI hosts conferences and supports student activities on campus.  
The Temple Mount is the elevated area of the Old City in Jerusalem that was the site of the ancient Jewish Temple. It is one of the holiest sites for the world's three monotheistic religions; in addition to being the site of the Jewish Temple, Muslims believe it is the site from which the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven, and Christians believe that Jesus visited it  frequently. The Temple Mount, known in Arabic as Haram al Sharif or the Noble Sanctuary, is governed by the Supreme Muslim Religious Council, Waqf, and is home to the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque, which is the third-holiest site in Islam, after the holy cities of Mecca and Medina (both located in Saudi Arabia).

After the 1948 War of Independence,  Jordan controlled the Temple Mount and refused Jewish entry to the area. In the 1967 war, the Israel Defense Forces conquered Jerusalem and reestablished Jewish control for the first time since the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 CE. Today, the Temple Mount is controlled by the Jordanian Waqf with Israeli oversight.

Beginning in 2015, rumors that Israel was encroaching on Islamic access and control of the site, by expanding a Jewish prayer plaza, led to incitement of violence against Israelis and security forces. Similar rumors arise periodically, often leading to incitement of violence.
A political term referring to an area of land under the jurisdiction of a ruler or state.  In the Israeli-Palestinian context, the word originally referred to the land conquered by Israel during the Six Day War, which included the Golan Heights, the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. In the ensuing years, Israel has returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in the framework of the 1979 Camp David Accords and withdrawn unilaterally from the Gaza Strip in 2005.

On campus, “the territories” usually refers to Gaza and the West Bank, although Gaza is no longer controlled by Israel as all Israeli presence (military, civilian, and even grave sites) was removed.

This definition is offered in Bruce Hoffman's book Inside Terrorism : "Terrorism is the deliberate creation and exploitation of fear through violence or the threat of violence in the pursuit of political change. All terrorist acts involve violence or the threat of violence. Terrorism is specifically designed to have far-reaching psychological effects beyond the immediate victim(s) or object of the terrorist attack. It is meant to instill fear within, and thereby intimidate, a wider `target audience' that might include a rival ethnic or religious group, an entire country, a national government or political party, or public opinion in general. Terrorism is designed to create power where there is none or to consolidate power where there is very little. Through the publicity generated by their violence, terrorists seek to obtain the leverage, influence and power they otherwise lack to effect political change on either a local or an international scale."

On campus, terrorism against Israelis is often ignored and efforts to discuss it can be viewed as an unwelcome conversation. Given Israel’s strength and, more recently, the development of the Iron Dome it can be hard to believe that Israelis suffer from the effects of terrorism -- but they do. The characterization of a black-and-white situation in which the victims (Palestinians) rebel against the oppressors (Israelis) ignores the current reality in which the threat of rocket fire and terror tunnels meant to kill Jewish Israelis looms heavily. Hamas fires rockets into Israel toward population centers. Israel relies upon Iron Dome to prevent those rockets from achieving their goal of harming Israelis. During 2014 war with Gaza (Operation Protective Edge) Israel went to extreme lengths to prevent civilian casualties through leafleting, roof knocking and phone calls to residents prior to military incursion. However, Hamas continually used human shields to protect their armories resulting in loss of life.

The founder of the Modern Zionist movement, Theodor Herzl was born in Budapest in 1860. After witnessing severe antisemitism, he concluded that the Jews needed a state of their own. In 1896, Herzl published "The Jewish State," which asserted that the Jewish people must establish a Jewish State if they are to survive. He proposed to enlist the support of  Jews around the world to raise money to  increase the Jewish presence in mandatory Palestine (as there had been a Jewish presence in the land since the earliest efforts at expulsion) and to build global support for such a state. Eventually this led to the establishment of key institutions that led the effort, including the Zionist Organization and the Jewish National Fund.

In 1897, Herzl convened the first Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, a milestone in setting the Zionist movement on its course. At the conclusion of the gathering, he wrote in his diary, "At Basel, I founded the Jewish State. If I said this out loud today, I would be answered by universal laughter. Perhaps in five years, certainly in 50, everyone will know it."  His forecast was almost exactly right: Fifty years later, the UN voted to establish a Jewish state

Herzl died in 1904, and did not see the success of the movement he had created. By the sheer force of his unique personality, he launched a movement that unified not only the splintered Zionist groups but much of the Jewish people, overcoming opposition from many quarters. He got the secular, socialist, capitalist, and religious Zionists to sit together in one hall and to bind themselves together into a single organization for a common purpose. Herzl laid the foundation for a Jewish state and has since become the symbol of Zionism.
The two-state solution refers to variations on the notion that  two states, Israel and Palestine, can exist side by side with secure, recognized borders in the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. The boundary between the two states is still subject to negotiation, with many proposals envisioning modifications to the 1967 borders.

There have been many diplomatic efforts to realize a two-state solution, beginning in 1937 with the Peel Commission and again in 1947 when the United Nations approved the Partition Plan. Though the PA and Israeli leadership claim to support a two-state solution, critics note that each side can be faulted for holding back crucial support in negotiations.

  • Citation(s):
  • [1] BBC
UNESCO is a specialized UN agency that promotes peace-building efforts through international collaboration in the fields of education, science, communication, and information.

Israel has been a UNESCO member since 1949. In recent years, UNESCO has passed highly controversial, anti-Israel resolutions that disregard the Jewish historical connection to the Land of Israel. Most recently, UNESCO passed a resolution that characterizes the Jerusalem holy sites, including the Western Wall, as Muslim holy sites. This arguably ignores both Jewish and Christian connections to the land and serves to delegitimize the Jewish state.

The UN General Assembly is the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative body of the United Nations in which all 193 member countries can discuss and make recommendations regarding international issues. Though the General Assembly has influence over international politics, its resolutions are non-binding under international law.

Since the 1970s, the UN has been a hotbed for antisemitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric. From 1947 to 1991, there were 300 UN General Assembly resolutions about Israel. Between 2015-2016 the UN passed 20 resolutions against Israel, and three against the rest of the world combined (Iran, Syria, North Korea).

While SJP may cite United Nations resolutions as evidence against Israel, however the resolutions passed by the UN do not reflect its commitment to be a human rights centered organization looking out for the world's people. While the civil war in Syria has raged on, the North Korean regime continues to oppress their own people, and the Chinese government's continued condemnation of the Uyghurs and control of Tibet, Taiwan and Mayanmar, the United Nations has chosen to practically ignore these global issues, instead passing hundreds of redundant, inflammatory and biased resolutions condemning Israel.

Established in 1945, the United Nations replaced the League of Nations as an international organization charged with restoring global cooperation in the aftermath of World War II.  One such task given to the United Nations was to find a solution to the Palestine problem facing the Mandatory government. Britain, which had been granted the Mandate for Palestine after World War I, had come to the conclusion that it was unable to manage growing tensions between Jews and Arabs in the area, so it announced its intention to leave. In 1947, the UN Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) devised a Partition Plan which would divide Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state, with Jerusalem as UN-controlled "international city."

On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly approved the Partition Plan, known as UN Resolution 181, by a vote of 33 to 13, with 10 abstentions. Although they had hoped to get a larger share of the land, and there were legitimate concerns about the defensibility of the Jewish state within the proposed borders, the Zionist leadership accepted the plan. The Arabs of Palestine and the surrounding states rejected the Partition Plan, declaring their refusal to accept a Jewish state in the Middle East.
The United Nations General Assembly established UNRWA in 1949 following the 1948 War of Independence with what was intended to be a short-term mandate to address the needs of Arab people who became refugees during the war. The General Assembly has renewed UNRWA's mandate multiple times, and the organization continues to provide services today. Whereas all other refugee populations around the world are cared for by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UNRWA provides services exclusively to Palestinian refugees. Israel has documented multiple instances in which UNRWA has promoted or sponsored anti-Israel events in its facilities. During the 2014 Gaza war, multiple UNRWA facilities, such as schools and hospitals, were used as storage facilities for Hamas rockets.

When UNRWA was established in 1950, it listed 750,000 Palestinian refugees. As of 2016, that number exceeds five million. Palestinians are the only population in the world who can transfer refugee status to the next generation. UNWRA, unlike UNHCR, has never sought to resettle refugees. UNWRA is often accused of using Palestinian refugees as pawns to manipulate the international community into unjustly condemning Israel.

The 15-member United Nations Security Council is charged with maintaining international peace and security, admitting new members to the UN, and electing judges for the International Court of Justice. Five countries have permanent membership in the Security Council: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the US. Ten non-permanent members are elected to two-year terms. As of 2016, the non-permanent members are: Angola, Egypt, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Senegal, Spain, Ukraine, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

The five permanent members of the Security Council have veto power over any UNSC resolution. A vote can be 14-1, but if the "1" is the United States or any other permanent member the resolution fails. The United States has historically supported its ally, Israel, in the Security Council.
As one of Israel's closest allies, the United States' support of Israel has included more than $120 billion of direct and indirect assistance since 1949. The aid ensures Israel can maintain a qualitative military edge over  its current and potential adversaries.   In 2016, Israel and the U.S. signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) guaranteeing Israel over $38 billion in U.S. military aid between 2018 and 2027. This agreement came as the previous MOU, signed in 2007, neared completion. The previous MOU required that Israel spend 74% of the military aid in the United States; under the terms of the 2016 MOU, this figure will  increase to 100%  after 5 years. These MOU's have been approved by Congress annually over the past decade and underscore the bipartisan nature of American support for Israel.

Another name for the Western Wall originating because of Jewish lamentation of the destruction of the Second Temple. This is not a term traditionally used by Jewish people.

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Waqf (Arabic: a religious endowment to Islam, usually a piece of land or a building, or the religious authority that oversees such endowments.)The Land of Israel is sometimes considered to be a Waqf for people who believe that Israel belongs in the hands of Muslim leadership, rather than the present government. According to University of Washington professor Walid Salem, "The roots of the Islamic anti-normalization position comes [sic] from their belief that Palestine is an Islamic waqf (endowment), and that Jews have no rights at all in it. Consequently, Israel's existence is not legitimate, and therefore it is not possible to recognize it." In the West Bank, reference to "the Waqf" is generally a reference to the Jordanian authority on Islamic endowments. After the 1967 Six Day War, in which Israel conquered the Old City of Jerusalem, Israel decreed that the Supreme Religious Council, the Waqf authority in Jordan, would retain authority for the Temple Mount and surrounding religious sites, with Israeli oversight.

Under the authority of the League of Nations (which became the United Nations on October 24, 1945) Britain had a mandate over Palestine (also referred to as Eretz Yisrael, or the Land of Israel) after the collapse of the Ottoman Turkish Empire during World War One. During the 1920s, 1930's, and 1940s, the British faced rising tensions between the Arab and Jewish residents of the territory. On November 29, 1947, after Britain announced its intention to return the Mandate the following year, the United Nations General Assembly voted to divide Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state with Jerusalem as an "international city." The leadership of the Jewish community in Palestine accepted the Partition Plan, while the  leadership of the Arab community in Palestine and surrounding Arab countries rejected it. Although the British would not actually leave the region until May 15, 1948, the War of Independence began the following day.

The date set for the British withdrawal, May 15, was a Saturday, or the Jewish Sabbath, so the leadership of the pre-State Jewish community decided to declare independence on Friday afternoon, May 14. Jerusalem, which was declared the capital of the new state, was under siege and largely cut off from the rest of the new country, so the ceremony was held in Tel Aviv. Immediately after the declaration, the armies of neighboring countries (Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq) joined the war with the stated goal of preventing the new State of Israel from surviving. Although vastly outnumbered and undersupplied, Israel was triumphant in securing territorial borders.

Between January and July 1949, Israel signed armistice agreements with the surrounding Arab countries, setting borders that would be internationally recognized. Transjordan controlled East Jerusalem and the West Bank, and Egypt held the Gaza Strip. As a result of the war, approximately 700,000 Palestinians had been displaced. Neighboring Arab countries refused to resettle them, resulting in the creation of refugee camps and villages in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.

The total of Israeli Jewish casualties during the War for Independence is over 21,000 individuals. That number represents roughly 3% of the total Jewish population of the State of Israel in 1948.
The West Bank refers to the land west of the Jordan River that was controlled by Jordan between 1949 and 1967. The term was coined to differentiate from the rest of Jordan, which lies on the east bank of the river. Conquered by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War, the area is  historically referred to as Judea and Samaria. Today, it forms the bulk of the Palestinian autonomous territories, as well as being home to hundreds of thousands of Israelis. Jordan annexed the West Bank in 1950, but only Britain and Pakistan recognized its sovereignty. In 1988, Jordan renounced its claim to the territory, saying it ultimately should be part of a Palestinian state. According to Israeli policy, the final status of the territory is to be determined in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

A remnant of the retaining wall of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, it was built by King Herod in 20 BCE as an expansion of the Second Temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. As the only remaining structure of the Temple, the Western Wall is considered the holiest site in Judaism and has long been a site of pilgrimage and prayer by Jews.

White Colonialism is an academic term describing the colonial behavior of White people (defined as a political term for dominant culture, usually fair-skinned in appearance, though sometimes in reference to the dominant population with less regard for skin color) in countries other than their place of origin, typically in countries with a darker-skinned native population. For example, European settlement in the United States is seen as a primary example of White Colonialism in that White Europeans came to the Americas and conquered the indigenous, darker-skinned Native Americans, colonizing their land.

Israel is sometimes accused of White Colonialism on campus because of the false notion that Israel represents the legacy of Western countries conquering smaller, often ethnically distinct, populations. Israel is seen as occupying land that rightfully belongs to the Palestinians, but to which Jews feel entitled supposedly because of their sense of privilege. However, this narrative ignores the fact that the Jewish people are indigenous to the Land of Israel and that ever since they were exiled by the Romans in 70 CE they hoped and dreamed of the day they would be able to return. Their migration to the Land of Israel and establishment of the State of Israel are the result of a generations-long liberation movement, calling for a return to the Jewish indigenous homeland. These cries for return grew louder after each successive increase in persecution in foreign lands.

Issued on May 17, 1939, in response to intensive Arab lobbying, the British White Paper limited Jewish immigration to Mandate Palestine to 75,000 over a five-year period. The White Paper also restricted land sales to Jews in most areas of the country. The White Paper had grave consequences for Jews seeking refuge from the Holocaust. The Jews of Palestine were outraged by it and felt that by turning Jewish refugees away, Britain was passively engaged in the murder of Jewish people

White Privilege is a term for societal privileges and expectations that benefit people identified as White in Western countries. Examples include safety in interactions with authorities, access to credit, and personal integrity.

Jewish people have a complicated relationship with “White” status, as the term has only been applied to Jewish people since the 1950’s and 60’s in the United States. While there were some Jewish people in the United States beginning in 1654, the vast majority of Jewish people do not share in the classic White historical experience. When the mass Jewish migration out of Eastern Europe began in the late 19th century, many Jewish people arriving in the US were met with hostility and bigotry which continued unabated until post-WWII apologism gave way to societal acceptance. Due to their status as “other” and therefore not White, Jewish students were not allowed to use certain campus facilities or to join sororities or fraternities at most universities. This bigotry led the Jewish community to start Jewish sororities, fraternities and Hillels to offer campus life opportunities to Jewish people in spaces free from bias. Beginning in 2015, anti-Jewish extremism has been on a sharp increase, including groups and actions specifically saying that Jewish people are not White.

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Women of the Wall is an Israeli social advocacy group whose central mission is to attain social and legal recognition of the right of women to wear prayer shawls, pray, and read from the Torah, collectively and aloud, at the Western Wall

The work of Women of the Wall is considered controversial by the Orthodox religious authorities in Israel, as well as many members of the public. Orthodox Jewish law (Hebrew: Halacha) forbids men and women from praying together, and the role of women in prayer is strictly limited

Yasser Arafat (1929-2004) was the longtime leader of Fatah, the largest faction in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and the Chairman, or President, of the Palestinian Authority from its establishment in 1994 until his death a decade later. Arafat was long reviled by Israel as an arch-terrorist, but Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin nonetheless shook his hand and embraced the Oslo Process with Arafat as his partner. Arafat was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 along with Rabin and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres for signing the Oslo Peace Accords in 1993

Despite years of terror and provocation of terrorist acts by Arafat, Israel was willing to sit at the table to discuss paths to peace because peace and stability are the highest priorities.
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  • [1] CNN
Yitzhak Rabin was Israel's first sabra (native-born) Prime Minister. After serving as Chief of Staff of the IDF and ambassador to the United States, he was elected to his first term at the country's helm in 1974. Re-elected in 1992, he championed the country's peace efforts, signing the Oslo Accords with the Palestinians and a peace treaty with Jordan. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994, together with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres

Rabin's pursuit of peace was not universally popular among Israelis. On November 4, 1995, he attended a large rally in support of the peace process in central Tel Aviv. As he was being escorted to his car, an Orthodox Jewish Israeli law student shot him three times at close range, and he died shortly thereafter. His assassin, who has not expressed remorse, is serving a life sentence. US President Bill Clinton, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and Jordan's King Hussein were among the many world leaders who attended his funeral. Clinton and Hussein both delivered moving eulogies. The site of the assassination was renamed Rabin Square.
On October 6, 1973, on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur, Egypt and Syria jointly attacked Israel. They were able to surprise the Israeli military and cause substantial losses. However, with the help of the United States, Israel reversed the course of the war before  a cease-fire ended the fighting on October 22, 1973. The war was a watershed moment for both Israel and the Arab world. Unable to destroy Israel through conventional warfare, Israel's enemies turned to diplomatic and economic warfare; they urged African and developing countries to sever diplomatic relations with Israel (many, including Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia and Senegal, abided), imposed an oil embargo on the West, and championed a United Nations General Assembly resolution equating Zionism and racism. 
Zio is a short version of "Zionist" which is commonly used amongst white supremacists and other groups with antipathy toward the Jewish people in the United States as a slur to refer to Jewish people.

Zionism is belief in the Jewish right to self-determination. This call came on the heels of millennia of oppression, restriction, and attempts at extermination of the Jewish people in multiple places around the world

The term "Zionism" was coined in 1890 by Nathan Birnbaum and popularized by Theodor Herzl, who is singled out in Israel's Declaration of Independence as "the spiritual father of the Jewish State." Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Zionism has come to include the movement for the development of Israel and the protection of the Jewish nation in Israel. The term Zionism describes that millennia long yearning to return to the Jewish homeland.

On campus, anti-Israel activists sometimes try to uncouple Zionism from its connection to Judaism as a way to delegitimize Israel while insisting they are not antisemitic. However, as the national liberation movement of the Jewish people; it is impossible to delegitimize Zionism without delegitimizing Jews. Additionally, others claim that Zionism is akin to a supremacy movement. This accusation is not only false, but antisemitic in that is allows for other national identities (such as Palestinian national identity, or others) while uniquely calling Jewish national identity racist.

A Zionist is a person who supports Zionism, the national liberation movement of the Jewish people. Zionism calls for the explicit self-determination of the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland, Israel. This call came on the heels of millennia of oppression, restriction, and attempts at extermination of the Jewish people at the hands of non-Jewish governments . While Jewish people have prayed for a return to their homeland since they were exiled by the Romans in 70 CE, individuals only took concrete steps to achieve renewed sovereignty beginning in the late 19th century.

The word Zionist is also frequently used as a euphemism for Jewish people. The Ku Klux Klan is notorious for their use of the word Zionists to make thinly veiled references to Jews. On campus and on social media, references to "Zionists" can describe behavior of the Jewish ethnic group or community, rather than a political group or entity.