Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth

Israel became a highly contested and valuable piece of real estate, but only through an organized (and legal!) effort.

The Jews did not “take Palestine.” There was no Palestine for the taking.

these same Arab countries who refused to properly take care of their Arab refugee brothers, expelled their own Jewish populations. In the years to come, approximately 850,000 Jews would be expelled from countries in the Middle East,11 leaving behind their homes and their possessions. In the following decade, they’d be encouraged to leave or brutall

The world needs to understand that the conflict is not Israeli/Palestinian; the entire Arab world is implicated and should take part in reaching a solution.

The unbelievably inspiring School for Peace in Lesbos, the Yazidi woman who goes back to Iraq with tools to heal, and the hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children who go back to Syria after being treated in Israeli hospitals may carry a key to regional transformation. After decades of violence and propaganda, I see a glimmer of possibility

you were the rest of the country, how would you feel? Yeah. Not great.

Why such passion when Israel comes up? Why aren’t the boycott movements, worldwide condemnations, political resolutions, international media headlines, demonstrations, and twitterstorms not equally directed at, say, China, North Korea, Syria, Iran, Venezuela, Yemen, Turkey, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, Burundi, Egypt, Algeria, Sierra Leone, Pakis

before the establishment of Israel, the Arab residents of the land did not have one unified identity and were divided among themselves on various issues, ranging from family and tribal loyalties to demands to be annexed to Syria, Jordan, and the like. It was a pan-Arab identity and not a particular nationalistic attachment to Palestine per se.

The peace camp had no plan B. We put all our chips on Arafat being the elected representative of the Palestinian people and that he would do the right thing for his and our people and for the future of the world. What a mistake.

thought Zionism was a highly self-explanatory concept, and I was shocked to discover the misunderstanding and misinformation about it and about Israel in general.