The war between Israel and Gaza

1. Where is Israel? Locate it on a map. Borders:
- Southwest: Egypt and the Gaza Strip
- East: Jordan and the West Bank
- North: Syria and Lebanon

2. Why was Israel created?
- Israel was created after the World War II, in 1948 , to establish a "National Home" for the Jews in Palestine.

3. Where are the Palestinian Territories? Locate on a map.
- It's divided in 2 regions: the Gaza Strip and the West Bank which are located in the Middle East. Gaza Strip borders the Mediterranean Sea and Egypt. West Bank is between Jordan and Israel.

1. What is happening in Israel and Gaza?
- Israel attacked Hamas targets in Gaza in response to repeated rocket fire on southern Israel. This is because they are in war due to the fact that Israel wants to get back the Gaza territory.

2. How many Palestinians have died and how many Israelis?
- 900 Palestinians, and 13 Israelis, up to Jan 12- 2009

3. What is Hamas?
- An Isalmisc group that governs Gaza, and it's considered a terrorist organization by the United States.

4. What was the U.S. response to the attacks?
- The U.S. is against the terrorist attacks from Hamas, and supports Israel's decission to attack Gaza

5. What happened when Israel was declared a state in 1948?
- It was immediately invaded by armies from neighboring Arab states.

6. What did Israel agree to in the Oslo accords?
- Israel agreed withdrawing from parts of Gaza Strip and West Bank to leave their territory.

7. How did Hamas come to power in Gaza?
- Hamas won the Parliamentary election over Fatah and isolating the area they took control over Gaza.

THE NEW MEANING OF AN OLD BATTLE

a. To which "old battle" does the article's headline refer?
- It referrs to the battle they have for the territories since the U.N. established Palestine.

b. What seem to be the hopes underlying Israel's assault on Gaza?
- Delegitimize the group’s leadership in the eyes of the Palestinian people and eliminate its power to prevent a two-state solution.

c. How would a clear Israeli victory affect the region?
- It would cause countries, such as Iran, to declare common cause against Islamic militancy.

d. How would a clear Israeli victory affect the United States?
- It would help U.S. recover from the crisis of the economy recession.

e. Why does Iran have much at stake in the outcome of the current crisis?
- Because it sponsors Hamas and Hezbollah to spread its influence in the Arab world. A defeat of Hamas would undercut that strategy.

f. How likely is it that the Israeli assault will be successful?
- If everything remains the way it is, they might win, but with all the deaths in Gaza, all of the Middle East Divisions, like Lebanon, could prevent Arab countries from supporting Israel. Also histoy says the opposite.

g. What are some of the divisions in the Middle East that this conflict has highlighted?
- It's divided in two: One include the Arabs, which are Palestine, Iran and Lebanon, and the other side is formed by Israel that is supported by US, Egypt, and Jordan.

h. What happened in Lebanon in 1982? How are the Gaza attacks similar?
- Israel attacked, and invaded Lebanon to eliminate the threats of Yasir Arafhat. They accomplished their goal, but in the meantime a new anti-Israel threat was born in form of Hezbollah. The similarity with Gaza attacks is that in both cases Israel was dealing with Arab Terrorist groups.

i. In what ways might the attacks on Gaza backfire?
- Israel has a lot of probabilities to fail just as it did in lebanon on 1982, that's what history says.

j. Why does Mr. Abbas say he will walk away from the peace talks begun by President Bush in 2007?
- because U.S. is supporting Israel, instead of doing something to make peace as his treaty says.

k. What lessons has Israel learned from Lebanon?
- To lower expectations, and not to claim victory. This time Israel seems more prepared.

m. In what way is the timing of this renewed battle beneficial?
- It came before the inauguration of the President Barack Obama, on January 20.

n. How will the Obama administration be able to capitalize on the situation in Gaza?
- On the cease-fire to renew a permanent settlement. He once thought about supporting Hamas, but that is impossible, because President Bush refused to back up a terrorist organization.

Next, select a recent image (it must be copied to your blog) from the war and answer the following questions:

-What is going on in the photograph?
- A kid is injured, and he is crying

-Who is pictured?
- A little kid

-What can you learn about how the main subject in the photo is feeling from his or her facial expression?
- He seems to be in pain, scared, and he doesn't know what is going on

-What might this person be feeling, given what is going on in the photograph?
- Pain, sadness, angryness

-What might this person want to say to the "opposite side"?
- Please don't hurt us, this is not the way to set an agreement, you are just making it worse.

Finally, write a letter from the person in the photograph to a corresponding person on the other side of the conflict, revealing the photographic subject's perspective on the situation. This letter must be handwritten on a 1/4 cardboard together with the photograph.