Everything You Need to Know - PALESTINE

2 | Terms You Should Know

1 . Palestine (noun, place)

A state located in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. It is an area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. The majority of the biblical narrative takes place in this region. Islam, Judaism, and Christianity all have ties to this region. The West Bank and the Gaza Strip make up the Palestinian territories as of today.

2. Israel (noun, place)

A Middle Eastern country located at the Eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. It is bordered by Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt. Its proclaimed capital is the city of Jerusalem. Established in 1948.

3. Zionism (noun, belief)

The movement for re-establishment of what is known as modern Israel under the belief that it is the Jewish people's ancestral homeland. Zionism was established as a political organization in 1987 under Theodor Herzl, later to be led by Chaim Weizmann.

4. Semite (noun, label)

Name given to a member of any people who speak one of the Semitic languages, a family of languages primarily spoken in parts of western Asia and Africa. The term came to include Arabs, Hebrew, Akkadians, Caanites, and some Ethiopians, and Armaean tribes. It does not simply mean "Jewish person".

5. Antisemitism (noun, social construct)

Racial hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against semites. Understand that this term is most commonly associated with hatred against Jewish people, and modernly used in relation to Jews. Antisemitism falls under the umbrella of racism.

6. Racism (noun, social construct)

A set of beliefs which perpetuates the discrimination, prejudice, and antagonism of a specific marginalized group of people. The end goal of racism is for the oppressed to remain in a place of oppression, and for the oppressor to remain in a position of power and control.

7. HAMAS (noun, group)

Founded in 1987, HAMAS is an acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya. Officially known as the Islamic Resistance Movement, HAMAS is a Palestinian militant group committed to resisting Israel. On October 7th, 2023, HAMAS launched an attack on an Israeli music festival of Sukkot, killing over 1,200 people, and capturing an estimated 220 hostages**

UPDATE: Israeli officials have since amended the total of persons killed on the October 7 attack from the initial claim of 1,400 persons to 1,200 persons. It was also confirmed that a third of these deaths consisted of armed forces and not civilians. The IDF (along with witnesses) has also admitted that IDF helicopters and ground forces were responsible for many of the civilian deaths, initially claimed to be HAMAS casualties.

8. Gaza Strip (Noun, location)

The Gaza strip, or Gaza, is a portion of Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It is bordered by Egypt on the southwest, and Israel on the east and north. Together, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank make up the State of Palestine, which has been under Israeli military occupation since 1967.

9. Colonization (noun, social practice)

A process of settling and establishing control over the indigenous people or targeted territories for the purpose of taxation, control, or cultivation.

10. Propaganda (noun, form of media)

A form of media intended to influence or persuade an audience to side with one perspective of a socio-political issue, often with the purpose of furthering an agenda. Propaganda is often biased or intended to mislead or distort a certain narrative.

11. Genocide (noun, act)

The deliberate and targeted killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group.

12. Ethnic Cleansing (noun, act)

The systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, and religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making a region ethnically homogenous.

13. IDF (noun, military)

Acronym for Israeli Defense Forces, Israel's official military force, committed to the defense and establishment of the colonial and religious state of Israel.