Founded 1897 ZIONIST ORGANIZATION OF AMERICA The American College Student’s Complete Guide To All Things ISRAEL ZOA Campus aims to provide you with the resources you need to fight for Israel on campus. Unfortunately, anti-Israel activists use lies and misleading information to spread their propaganda to uniformed students. Because of this, we created this book with information on nearly all Israel-related terms you will hear on campus to arm you with the facts you need to combat the anti-Israel movement. Here’s how this book works: • We title each section with the term you will typically hear on campus. In many cases, that term is inaccurate, which we explain later in that section. However, we use that inaccurate term as the title so you know what to expect to hear. • Each section starts with the definition of the term, where we simply define the term as objectively as possible. • We then lay out the myth associated with that term that is generally spread across campus. • Finally, we lay out the facts about the term, how the anti-Israel movement often lies or misleads students with that term, and how it should be appropriately used. This book is meant to educate you about the key facts you must know as a Zionist activist on your campus. Please use this book as a resource or “study guide” to ensure you know the facts while planning and executing your educational and advocacy-based programs. The leaders of your Zionist groups should also read through these terms to ensure they are prepared to talk about Israel on campus. Please be in touch with your ZOA Campus coordinators to take advantage of our resources and to plan effective pro-Israel events. Visit zoacampus.org for more information on our resources and opportunities for Zionist student leaders! Table of Contents Introduction Disputed 3 Zionism/ Zionist Territories 5 Muslim, Palestinian, Arab 43 West Bank 45 Occupied Territories Israel 48 Settlements 51 1967 Borders 6 1948 War of Independence 53 UN Resolution 242 9 Nakba 56 Two-State Solution 10 Law of Return 59 Defensible Borders 11 Israel Defense Forces 60 Golan Heights 15 Temple Mount 61 Judea and Samaria: Palestine Water Rights 17 Palestine Genocide 20 Colonialism 64 Freedom Fighter 22 Refugees 66 Genocide 26 Right of Return 68 Ethnic Cleansing 28 Arab Leadership in the 69 Apartheid Arab-Israeli Conflict Legal Terms & Gaza Agreements 72 Gaza Withdrawal 75 Blockade on Gaza 31 UN Partition Plan 77 Flotilla 32 Oslo Accords 34 Camp David Accords Campus & Terrorism & Activism Counterterrorism 80 Anti-Semitism 82 Pro-Palestinian 36 Intifada 38 Separation Wall 40 Checkpoints www.mapsofworld.com/israel Introduction ° Since the Romans destroyed the holy Temple in 70 CE Zionism/Zionist and expelled the Jews from the land of Israel (for- merly called Judea), Jews have yearned to go back to Definition: their historic homeland. is the Jewish (ציִֹוּנּות ,Zionism (Hebrew: Tziyonut • • The Jewish people express this desire to return to Israel National Liberation Movement and the push for largely through prayer. Jewish self-determination. ° Returning to Zion, statehood, and Jerusalem is It asserts the Jewish people’s right to exist as a sovereign a request found in almost every prayer throughout nation and supports the establishment of the Jewish state Jewish liturgy. in the Jewish historic homeland of Israel. ° Jews pray three times per day facing Jerusalem, It also aims to provide a safe haven for Jews, who have suffered signifying the importance of their homeland. If from more than 2,000 years of persecution worldwide. a Jewish person prays within Jerusalem, s/he prays • A Zionist is an individual who supports Jewish nation- facing the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism. al liberation and sovereignty, and for Jewish national ° The Jewish grace after meals (“birkat hamazon”) liberation to take place in the Jewish homeland. contains limited mention of the food itself; the prayer is largely about the land of Israel, the food ° A Zionist believes in the Jewish right to self-deter- mination. Providing a safe haven for the Jewish it produces, and the Jewish desire to return there. people is a critical social justice cause. The Jewish people also show their desire to Supporters of Zionism can include members reestablish their sovereign homeland through of any religion and nationality. formal practices and informal traditions. ° The term for Jewish return to the land of Israel is History: referred to in Hebrew as “Aliyah”, meaning “to go u p.” This term is exemplifies the Jewish connection • Israel and Zionism have been an inherent part of to Israel. Leaving Israel is referred to as “yeridah”, the Jewish faith from the time of the Bible and has meaning “to go down,” symbolic of the loss experi- continued to be so throughout history. enced from leaving. ° Origin of the term: The term tzion has its origins ° The Jewish people observe four fast days each year in the Old Testament and means “marker,” which to commemorate the destruction of the Jewish exemplifies its centrality to the Jewish people. Temple and the exile from the Jewish homeland. • While Zionist thinking dates back to Biblical times, ° Jewish couples break a glass on their wedding day, Zionism is a 2,000-year-old movement dating to as a reminder of the destruction of the Temple, when the Jewish people were expelled from the land which brought about the Jewish exile from Israel. (and were only able to maintain a small presence). Jews do this even on a happy occasion as a remind- 3 er of the pain they feel from the exile and that full ° For an overview of Jewish persecution through­­­­out happiness cannot be achieved until they can return history, including pogroms (violent massacres and home to Israel and live in peace. persecutions), expulsions, violence, and murders in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. ° It is traditional for Jewish family and friends to recite a verse about Jerusalem before leaving the presence • Since the 1880s, Zionism experienced a resurgence of a Jewish person in mourning. due to: Jews from all over the world have migrated to ° ° The increase in violence and frequency of pogroms Israel for millennia in an effort to reinstate Jewish (violent attacks against Jewish civilians) in Europe, life, although governing bodies did not always culminating in the Holocaust (the mass, systematic welcome them. Jewish religious scholars include murder of 6 million Jews throughout Europe in the figures such as Nachmanides (1194-1270), who 1930s and 1940s) exemplified the immense need migrated from France, and Maimonides (1135-1204), for a place designated for Jewish safety. who migrated from Spain. ° The Holocaust produced mass amounts of European ° The poem which inspired the Israeli national anthem refugees. Furthermore, attacks against Jewish Arabs predates the establishment of the State of Israel by about in the Middle East also produced hundreds of thou- Hatikvah 70 years. The title, , means “Hope” in Hebrew sands of refugees throughout the 1900s and earlier. and speaks of the 2,000-year-old hope for the re- establishment of a sovereign Jewish State and the desire ° Due to these atrocities and repeated forms of perse- to return to the Jewish homeland. cution, the League of Nations (precursor to UN) finally recognized the need for Jewish sovereignty, • The Jewish return to Israel is a social justice cause; the importance for this state to exist in British Man- the anthem emphasizes inclusion for all Jews in date Palestine, and agreed to Israel’s reestablishment. an effort to provide safety from harm and con- tains no reference to God. Supporters of Zionism and those concerned with the safety • Constant Jewish persecution reaffirms the need for of the Jewish people can include members of any religion Zionism. and nationality. www.commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Western_Wall_-_Jerusalem_(2).jpg www.commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Western_Wall_-_Jerusalem_(2).jpg Western Wall in Jerusalem. 4 Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims— What’s The Difference? Myth: • A Palestinian is any Muslim who originated from Judea and Samaria (“West Bank”) or Gaza and their descendants. • Arabs, Muslims, and Palestinians are interchangeable terms. Fact: Palestinians www. israelipalestinian.procon.org/view.background-resource.php?resourceID=945 www. A Palestinian is anyone originating from British Mandate The orange in the map shows British Mandate Palestine (which existed Palestine. This includes the areas of: from the end of WWI until Jordan became a state in 1946 and when Israel declared independence in 1948). The dark orange is what became Jordan • Modern Day Israel (including Judea and Samaria, (the first Palestinian Arab state) and the light orange became Israel. sometimes called the “West Bank”) • Palestinian Authority (located in Judea and Samaria) and Gaza • Modern Day Jordan Arabs • Before 1948, the area that became Israel was part of the British Mandate of Palestine. All inhabitants of An Arab is an individual who is a member of a Semitic this area were Palestinians, including Muslims, Jews, people. A Semite is a member of any ancient or modern and Christians. Palestinians are the modern descen- Semitic-speaking people originating in the Middle East. dants of these peoples who have lived in Palestine. An Arab is originally from the Arabian Peninsula. Muslims, Christians, Jews, and others can be Arabs ° Israelis and Jordanians who lived in British Mandate and speak Arabic. Palestine are Palestinian, as are their descendants. The term is often misused to refer ONLY to individ- Muslims uals and descendants of people who originated from Muslims are members of the religion of Islam, founded by Judea and Samaria (“West Bank”) and Gaza. the prophet Muhammad in 622 CE in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.