israel

www.fretnotgospel.com/israel.html

by Noah Arthur

References - Books
Cultures of the World - Israel, Jill DuBois and Mair Rosh, Benchmark Books, Tarrytown, New York, 2003
Internet
I ndonesia: History, Geography, Government, and Culture, Infoplease.com, 05/22/07
Popular Entertainment and Islam in Indonesia, Wall Street Journal, April 2007

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by Noah Arthur

Israel

Country of the Month

by Noah Arthur

SECOND IMPORTAN THING ABOUT ISRAEL:
Israel is the only Jewish nation in the world and it allows any Jewish person citizenship when they come to live in Israel.

Land and Water

     As a rule, Israel is green in certain mountains and on the coasts, and is brown everywhere else. The higher mountains support conifers, and, like the rest of the country, are carpeted with wildflowers for a short period each spring. During that period, at least in rainy years, the entire country is a carpet of green, waved and swirled with flowers of every color. But, after early spring is over, many areas turn brown.
     For most of the year, most of Israel is a landscape of sand and rocks called the Negev Desert. Most of the southern and central portions of Israel are devoted to this desert, one of the bleakest places on earth. It is high elevation, but not high enough to be a treed mountain.
     The coast is at low elevation, as is the aea at the eastern border along the Jordan River. These areas are also moist, so they are generally covered with plants and grasses.
     The Jordan is Israel's largest river, but others run through the interior and coastal regions of the tiny country. Mountains are scattered randomly throughout the country, but mostly in the central area.

Cities

    Jerusalem is the centre of Judaism, and of Israeli life altogether, although Tel Aviv has more government centred in it. Jerusalem has two sections; the Old City and the New City. In the former is the old temple, including the Wailing Wall, where some Jews go to pray. Built actually on the old temple is the Muslim mosque called Dome of the Rock.
     There are many other historically interesting sites in the Old City, but a large amount of the area is residential.
     The New City, in fact, has almost as many interesting places as the old, including Mount Zion. A large portion of the New is commecial, another large amount residential, and only a little at the edge is industrial.
     In the Old City, Jerusalem Stone is what many buildings are made of. That is a mineral unique to the area, and was a favorite for building buildings a long time ago. Jerusalem perfume wafts through the evening air in the city. This smell is made by an endemic and very fragrant wildflower, and is burnt off by the sun during the day.

     Jaffa was an ancient city on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea.
     A long time ago, a prophet named Jonah, lived in Jaffa. God told him to go to Ninevah, but he went in the opposite way. One day, while at sea, he found his way overboard and was gulped by a gigantic sea creature. The thing urped him up on the shore of Ninevah.
     Recently, Jaffa grew and joined another city, Tel Aviv. The whole thing, called Tel Aviv, is the largest and most governmentally importan Israeli city, and one of the farthest from Israel's Muslim eastern region. Tel Aviv is full of business, from florists to car dealerships.

     Haifa is a large port city, on the Mediterranean Sea, and is much like San Francisco. There is always the smell of sea in the air, and seagulls squealing over bits of stale bread in every grocery store parking lot.
     Haifa is a major economic port city, where most of Israel's import and export takes place, and is also industrial. Ships are built along its coasts.
     The ships made are later used to import and export food and other products for grocery stores, and, inevitably, some of that food is thrown away, so it all comes back down to seagulls squealing over stale bread.

I will make you a great nation; ... I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. - Gen 12:2-3

FIRST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT ISRAEL:
Israel is made up of many different people
Recent History
     Eventually, after Jesus's life and death, the great Roman empire was mainly converted to Christianity, which turned into Catholicism. After that, it fell apart.
     Muslim Arabs were the next to take over. During their rule, the first exiled Jews, who had lived in Europe and other places, began trickling into the Palestinian area, soon to be the nation of Israel.
     For many years, the Muslim rule was fine, but, after a while, the Muslims began subtly persecuting down on people of other religions, such as Judaism. Taxes on non-Muslims went up, and other little things happened.
     After a while of this uncomfortable Muslim rule, European Christians invaded and defeated the Muslims. Christians are the Jews' only real friends, so the time under their rule was good.
     But it did not last. Eighty-eight years later, Muslims recaptured Israel. Their rule, too, was brief. After them, yet another Muslim force invaded, this time from Egypt. These conquerors were the Mamluks, and they held Palestine for over two hundred years.
     During the Mamluks' reign, still more Jews returned to Palestine, which was not really a country at all but a bit of land in the Mamluk empire.
     The Mamluks were tolerable rulers, and Jewish towns and communities lived untroubled in Palestine.
     By the petering-out of the Mamluk empire, Jews from all over the world were gushing into Palestine like. The Ottomans were the next rulers, and they were defeated by the British.
     By now, two major waves of immigration had swept into Israel, as European Jews began to feel the sting of Nazi forces who were oppressing them. WWII would soon begin. Other problems included grumbling Arabs, who wanted land of their own within Palestine, which was planned to become its own country, Israel. Although the British and others decided to split the land equally, the Arabs refused, wanting the whole thing.
     Then the Holocaust took place. By now, the Jews were pouring into Palestine from oppression in Europe. Jews were being killed right and left in Europe, and none of them wanted to be there. Although the British put immigration limits into effect, the European Jews still came, legally or not.
     After the Nazi flare up began to die down, the Arab issues were something to be considered. Israel had, by now, been made its own independent country by the British. It was a few hours after the independence had been declared. The Arab issue was about to be fought out.
     Less than a day after independence, Muslims from several countries attacked Israel, but were beaten back and Israel increased its land size by 100%. Two other similar short wars followed, and in each one Israel gained huge amounts of territory. The Arabs are still unhappy about Israel's presence, and sporadic fighting still continues, but, seemingly, the Arabs cannot beat the tiny country.

Swallowtails mating

... you're welcome.

military jets

jewish rabbi

clouded apollo

palestine sunbird

muslim market

munny

victorious Israeli soldiers

hoopoe

bad traffic...

little green bee eater

farmers' market

Israeli soldiers at night

two tailed pasha

jewish temple

people walking

Druze men

palestinian shepherd

cross at Mar Saba

ostrich

oryx

dome of the rock mosque, built
on the ancient temple in Jerusalem

this takes some skill

writing on shells

black veined white

Economy
   Israel has undergone two periods of ecomonic growth. The firs one was during the mid to late 1900's, ending in 1972. During this growth spurt, the economy grew at 10% a year, faster than any other country did during the same period. After 1972, the growth had slowed, being in short spurts rather than constant.
     Israel's main exports include medical electronics. This is an uncommon major export, but makes Israel a lot of money.
     Government has much to do with the economy, because it controls telephone and transportation. Even though it has a good economy, Israel has a "trade deficit". This is when a country imports more than it exports, which Israel does.
     Israel has a hard-labor force employed in various labor unions. These workers work long hours at minimum wages doing tedious, tiring labor, and, at the end of the long, long day, have only the money to pay for another day's food and water. The Histadrut is a labor union, which is an organisation of workers working to make workers' work better.
     Agriculture is rather small in Israel, employing only five percent of the workforce. One new method of farming is "plastic farming", in which the rows of plants are covered in plastic. The condensation from the plastic waters the plants.
     Tourism was once a major money-maker, but after a number of occurences that made the political environment testy, tourists no longer want to visit Israel. The tourism industry crashed, and with it went transit, hotels, and restaurants. Any service that relied on tourists for business died out.

Language
Hebrew is one of Israel's two official languages. It is probably the most common language in most areas of Israeli life, although English is the main commercial language. Originally, Hebrew was used only in prayer. A man named Ben-Yehuda was responsible for the change. He organised Hebrew, adding many words, to fit the modern world, and it is now spoken by most Israelis.
     In Israel, English is the main commercial language. This is because most Israelis do not have the same first language as most other Israelis, but almost everyone knows a little English. English, Hebrew, and Arabic are the three languages likely to be seen jostling for space on Israeli signs, and English is the most likely one to be seen in TV commercials. On road signs, English is at the bottom of the sign, then Arabic, then Hebrew.
     Arabic is a language spoken by Israeli Arabs and many other older people. It is the main language of the Middle East, and is in the Semitic lanugage family. This family shares some common features, such as the text reading from right to left. Arabic is only one of teh Semitic languages, but it has many dialects. Some dialects are so differet from others that a person who speaks one cannot understand someone speaking another.
     Yiddish is a hybridization of Hebrew and German, with some Slavic in it as well. It is like Hebrew, but with the vowels actually written out, rather than indicated by marks above the consonants. It is spoken by some orthodox Jews who still believe that Hebrew should be reserved for prayer.

Art and Music
Environment
    With its high human population and small size, it is no surprise that Israel has a number of envoironmental protection laws. These deal with hazardous waste, water, nature conservation, and other things. Air pollution is a major problem in the cities, and there are laws and strategies in action to deal with it. Air is sometimes tested for pollutants such as ozone and farty-smelling sulphurous gasses.
     Being a small country, Israel has only so much habitat not covered in city. A quarter of Israel's land has been placed in nature preserves, and on these lands no development is allowed. Many animals, such as certain deers, the oryx, tne ostritch, and the leopard, have become extinct. At a place called Hai Bar Preserve, these species have been reintroduced and wander free on the preserve.
     Wildflowers, once naturally abundant in Israel, were greatly overpicked, but laws regulating picking have brought them back to abundance. The direct affect of picking, the individual flower being gone, can have no real affect on the appearance of the landscape. It is the fact that each flower picked does not have the chance to become a pod of seeds that is the problem.

Government
     Israel's government is called a parliamentary democracy. There is a president, but he or she has very little political power. The president's only power is to appoint supreme court justices
     The Knesset is the main body of government in Israel. Each member is like the president of the United States, but the members work together as a team.
     Elections are held to vote someone into the Knesset. In a system opposite of that of the United States, the people first vote on a political party, then on a person from that party, to join the Knesset.
     Israel has no constitution, only a set of laws that could be made into a constitution. In the mean time, there are more important things to deal with than making a constitution. Without the valuable document, a new government could be started with no more than a majority vote.
     Besides the Knesset, there is one other major political body. This is the cabinet. The cabinet is made up of a prime minister, and some other ministers. If the prime minister dies, all of the cabinet members must resign and ndew ones must be elected.

Judaism is, and always has been, Israel's main religion. Jews, unlike Christians, believe that all the laws given at Mount Sinai still hold true and must be obeyed. These laws include:
- no work on Saturday
- no eating pork, bats, certain birds, or bugs
- no boiling beef in cow's milk
- and many others.
     Jews believe that there is only one God, and he will, someday, send his son, the Messiah, to take on the punishment that people deserve.
     "Orthodox" Jews believe that it is wrong to use the Hebrew language at any time except in prayer and in Scriptures. The rule of no Saturday work means that nothing that might be considered work - from coloring to building to going more than 100 yards from the house - is not allowed.
     Judaism includes many dietary laws, such as "do not boil a calf in its mother's milk". the Jews take this to mean that meat and milk can't be eaten at the same meal. Many species, from pigs to beetles, are not allowed to be eaten. Some birds, such as the Eagle Owl and the Osprey, are also not on the menu.
     God originally gave the Iraelites these laws to set them apart from the surrounding nations.

    Judaism

     Judaism is, and always has been, Israel's main religion. Judaism's roots started soon after the creation of the world. The talking snake, Satan, tempted the woman, Eve, into disobeying God's command and eating a certain forbidden fruit. After this happened, disobedience was introduced into the world and God had to do something about it.
     With the introduction of disobedience, people could no longer live in happiness in the Garden of Eden. People had to endure pain and trouble and do hard labor to get what they needed, and all of life was corrupted by disobedience.
     But God didn't want to leave it this way. He chose a certain people group from to be "his chosen people". God's plan was that he would send his son to take the punishment for disobedience that people deserved, and that son would be born as a baby to a member of this people group.
     God taught these people the religion of Judaism, which, after the life and death of his son, would mainly turn into Christianity. God taught those people the laws of Judaism at a place called Mount Sinai, by giving them stones with laws written on them.
     After generations of that people group, now called the Israelites, living under these laws, God sent his son. The son was born in a natural human birth by an Israelite woman who had never mated.
     The son, named Jesus, lived and died, taking on himself the punishment that humanity deserved. After dying, he came back to life and went back up to heaven.
     This was a turning point. The great religion of Judaism divided, some Jews accepting the now-famous Jesus as God's son, others going on waiting and hoping for someone else. The former are Christians, the latter Jews.
     Today, Christianity has greatly outgrown Judaism, but in Israel the Jews are still the majority.

Christianity

Christianity is an offshoot of Judaism that was born when Jesus, God's son sent to earth to take people's punishment, came back to life after being dead for three days.
     Chrisitanity is, in many ways, similar to Judaism. It believes in one God, like Judaism, and that there are no other gods. However, Christians know that Jesus really was the Messiah that God promised long ago. Also contrary to Judaism, Christians believe that, since Jesus took our punishment, the Jewish laws are not applicable any more.
     Christians believe that we are living in the "end times", a time when God will soon come back to the world, and is waiting for more people to become Christians.
     There are several subspecies of Christianity in Israel, the most common of which is Orthodox. Others present in Israel include Evangelical. The Evangelical denomination is growing in popularity throughout the world, and its distinctions from others are difficult to determine.
     Catholicism, the largest denomination, is a little different from the rest. Saints are prayed to in the same way that Christians pray to God. Catholics believe that, to pray to God, they must pray to a saint and ask the saint to talk to God for them.

?Islam

Islam is, in some ways, similar to Catholicism, Christianity, and, especially, Judaism. Like Judaism, Islam says that there is one god and that Jesus was no more than a smart prophet.
     Islamic customs include Ramadan, a month where no Muslim eats or drinks anything between sunrise and sunset. All eating and drinking must be done in the dark. At the end of this month, the festival of Ramadan is held. This is the Muslim version of the Christian holiday called Christmas. At the festival of Ramadan, people eat and eat and eat, eating all kinds of good food, and doing their eating during the day again.

WILDLIFE

    In such a small, overpopulated, desert-covered country as Israel, there is, understandably, rather little animal life. Many species, especially large mammals, have gone extinct, but some have been reintroduced in Hai Bar Nature Preserve. These species include oryx, leopards, and non-mammal ostriches. Israel's large vertebrate fauna is African.
     Israel has a beautiful variety of birds, including the yellow-wing-edged, green and blue Little Green Bee Eater and the beautiful, pastel-sheened black Palestine Sunbird. The spectacular Hoopoe is Israel's national bird. It is orange-brown, with black and white striped wings, and an insanely tall, black-bordered crest. The largest flying bird species in Israel is the Griffon Vulture, with a six-foot-plus wingspan. Eagles of various species, nearly as big as the Vulture, are also present in Israel. Bright pink Flamingos live on many Israeli lakes. As with most Middle Eastern and North African countries, Israel's avifauna (bird life) is mainly made up of migrants coming from Europe in the north and Africa in the south. It is a blend of the two continents that Israel has elements of; Eurasia and Africa.
     Like its avifauna, Isral's butterfly fauna is a mix of African influence, such as the Common Tiger, and European influence, such as the Swallowtail and Clouded Apollo. One species that is strictly Mediterranean is the Two Tailed Pasha, which has patterns and colors that are remarkably similar to the designs of the inside of a Jewish temple.

Phoood
     With so many immigrants from so many places, Israel has a variety of foods. Over time, this variety has blended together to form Israeli cuisine. Asian and European influence is tastable in many foods, such as Asian-style spices or European sweets. But, no matter what it's like, the food is Israeli.
     Israel food has been influenced by what is and isn't available. Veggies and fruits, which are always available, are most common in Israeli foods. During times when meat was rare, Israelis had to learn to make food with fruits and veggies. When meat became available, the Israelis ate it, but stuck to their old ways and fruit and veggies remained the main ingredient.
     Of course, Israeli cuisine is influenced by dietary laws practiced by most Israeli people. All of these laws are about meat. When God made the laws, he was not just putting restrictions on the people. Most dietary laws are about safety and humaneness. No pigs or any animals with non-cloven hooves, or without hooves, is allowed. Only animals that chew cud are edible. All animals must be killed, and all meat prepared, in certain special ways. Blood vessels must be removed, and the meat must be salted. Islam has slightly different laws.
     Each Jewish holiday has special foods that are eaten only then. For example, the Jewish new year, in fall, includes many sweets. A round loaf of bread symbolizing the "wheel of fate" is eaten. Pieces of it are dipped in honey to ensure a good year. Bland and sour are are carefully avoided.
     During the week of Passover, bread is eaten unleavened. This is in memory of the fact that the Israelites, about to leave from slavery in Egypt, had no time to wait for bread to rise. Also on this holiday, a dish symbolizing slavery is eaten.
     Other Jewish holidays have other special foods, such as Haman's ears eaten on a springtime holiday.
     On the weekly Sabbath day, no work, including cooking, is allowed. Foods that can simmer overnight in a warm oven are eaten on this weekly holiday. On the night before Sabbath, stew is placed in a warm oven and allowed to simmer till the next day, when it is eaten.