(Enem-MEC) In 1947, the United Nations (UN) approved a plan for the partition of Palestine that foresaw the creation of two states:one Jewish and the other Palestinian. The Arab refusal to accept the decision led to the first conflict between Israel and Arab countries.
The second war (Suez, 1956) resulted from the Egyptian decision to nationalize the canal, an act that affected Anglo-French and Israeli interests. Victorious, Israel took control of the Sinai Peninsula. The third Arab-Israeli conflict (1967) became known as the Six-Day War, such was the speed of Israel's victory.
On October 6, 1973, as Jews celebrated Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), Egyptian and Syrian forces attacked Israel by surprise, which retaliated in a devastating way. The American-Soviet intervention imposed the ceasefire, concluded on October 22.
Based on the text, tick the correct option.
a) The first Arab-Israeli war was determined by the military action of traditional European powers in the Middle East.
b) In the second half of the 1960s, when the third Arab-Israeli war broke out, Israel won a quick victory.
c) The Yom Kippur war took place at the time when, following the UN decision, the State of Israel was officially installed.
d) The action of the governments of Washington and Moscow was decisive for the ceasefire that ended the first Arab-Israeli conflict.
e) Despite successive military victories, Israel maintains its territorial dimensions as established by the 1947 resolution passed by the UN.
question 2(PUC-Minas, 2008) Carefully read the following text, by Moacyr Scliar.
“The birth of political Zionism coincided, not by chance, with the rise of nationalism, with the emergence of modern nation-states such as Italy and Germany, and with the beginning of the struggles against colonialism. But the movement underwent a sharp turnaround. [...] Then came the Holocaust. Revelations about the massacre of Jews gave dramatic legitimacy to the Zionist movement and a claim to territory. The foundation of Israel was to be decided by the newly created United Nations. USA and USSR supported the partition of Palestine and the creation of two states – one Arab, one Jewish.
With the superpowers concurring in their views, it was not difficult for the UN General Assembly to approve, in November 1947, the division of the Holy Land. The project was rejected by representatives of the Arab countries. But the Jews, led by David Ben-Gurion, took the proposal forward. Almost six months later, on May 14, 1948, they proclaimed independence. Immediately the war broke out, won by the Israelis. Other conflicts followed, notably the Six Day War. Israel has consolidated itself as a military power. Since then, there has been a bitter and inhuman struggle between Israelis and Palestinians, who, over these decades, ended up forging a national identity."
SCLIAR, Moacyr. The creation of Israel:a date not to be forgotten. Adventures in History Magazine. Available at http://guiadoestudante.abril.com.br/aventuras-historia/criacao-israel-data-nao-ser-esquecida-435375.shtml
The partition of Palestine is completing 60 years. In view of the sharing and its impacts, the basis for the creation of the State of Israel was laid:
a) the existence of a Jewish State under the approval of the Arab countries.
b) in the legitimation by force proven by the sequence of conflicts and wars.
c) the possibility of the existence of a Jewish majority in a territory.
d) in the Zionist ideology, which defended the entry of Jews into Palestine under British rule.
question 3Read below an excerpt from a text by Maurício Tragtenberg:
“The only parallel precedents are the Crusades and the émigrés who founded the USA. In the future nation-states, there was no provision for a place for Jews. They were "different". More and more to stop giving up everything and to build a “national home” encouraged the Jews. All these national movements had a common matrix:looking to the past, each people took care to invent a glorious national past, intending to mark by its existence the return to a “golden age”.
In the excerpt above, it is possible to perceive the reasons that encouraged sectors of the Jewish population to create a “national home”. The main political movement that spurred the creation of the State of Israel was:
a) socialism, led by Victor Klemperer.
b) Marxism, led by Walter Benjamin.
c) Nazism, led by Adolf Hitler.
d) Zionism, led by Theodor Herzl.
e) fascism, led by Ariel Sharon.
question 4The State of Israel was founded in 1948, after the UN's approval of the partition of Palestine between Arabs and Israelis. However, there were already thousands of families of Jewish origin who had immigrated to Palestine when the State of Israel was created. This immigration mainly took place after the end of World War I, when the League of Nations passed the Balfour Declaration, placing Palestine under administration:
a) from England.
b) from the USSR.
c) from Germany.
d) from the USA.
e) from Italy.
answers Question 1Letter B. The third Arab-Israeli war was also known as the Six-Day War, because it was the time that the conflicts lasted, with a quick Israeli victory and the considerable expansion of its borders, compared to what was stipulated by the UN in 1947 .
question 2Letter C. For the creation of the State of Israel, the need pointed out by Jewish sectors of the creation of a State to unify them was taken into account, guaranteeing the existence of these Jews in the Palestinian territory, even constituting a smaller population than the one previously inhabited the region.
question 3Letter D. Zionism was a political movement initially created by Theodor Herzl, at the end of the 19th century, whose objective was to create a Jewish state. Initially Herzl didn't get much support, but over the decades the movement grew stronger, culminating in the formation of the State of Israel in 1948.
question 4Letter A. Under British administration, thousands of Jews headed to Palestine, starting to inhabit the region, a situation that helped in the pressure for the creation of the State of Israel some decades later.