Chapter 23 Section 2.pdf

(1)

Objectives

Upon completion of Section 2,

students should be able to:

◆

discuss how Israel has changed its

environment to make its land

more productive and to increase

prosperity;

◆

identify the major cultural groups

in Israel and the roles they have

played in the nation’s history;

◆

list the steps that Israel and its

Arab neighbors have taken to

prevent conflict.

National Geography

Standards

The following National Geography

Standards are highlighted in this

section: 1, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14,

15, 16

Bellringer

Ask students to think of at least

three challenges they would face if

they decided to move to the frontier

region of a country. (Challenges

may include loneliness, lack of

mod-ern conveniences, and lack of

ser-vices such as schools and hospitals.)

L E S S O N P L A N

1. Focus

Tell students that, in

an attempt to develop Israel’s

deserts, the Israeli government

encouraged its citizens to move

to desert areas by offering special

incentives. Ask the students what

incentives might convince them

to move to the desert.

2. Instruct

Write the following

sentence on the board:

Technology

is one of Israel’s greatest allies.

Ask

students to write five facts from

the text that support this

state-ment. Then have students share

their facts with the class.

3. Close/Reteach

Write the

title

Israel

on the board. Ask

stu-dents to develop an outline of

Section 2, using the subsection

titles as main headings.

G

“

There was nothing but desert and swamp; they had to clear it and build. . . . They never stopped to say, ‘Should we clear a potato patch here, . . . or raise sheep over there?’. . . No, our founders said with breathtaking simplicity: ‘Let there be a potato patch. . . . Anywhere, everywhere, and right away.’ [Today] we do not say, ‘Let there be a potato patch, and scratch it into the nearest soil.’ We must say, ‘Should there be a potato patch? And, if so, where is the best place to put it? . . . How much irrigation will it need? . . . Or do we need more cotton, more tools, or is there a more nutrient, efficient food than potatoes?’

_”

G

ideon Samet, a young Israeli journalist, used these words to describe the chang-ing character of Israel. Today, Israel is a very different place from when its founders first cleared, irrigated, and farmed the land. Its land-scape is different. Its diverse economy is differ-ent. Even the character of its people has changed. Since gaining independence, Israel has raced along

a path of urgent and rapid development to be-come one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world.

Environmental Change

When the first Zionist settlers arrived in Pales-tine, people were already living along the fertile coastal plains and in the rich valleys of the high-land regions. Much of the high-land available to the immigrants was either mosquito-infested swamp or barren stretches of desert. In the 1880s settlers began the long, slow process of reclaiming the land. Acre by acre they drained the swamps. Pa-tiently they coaxed water into the desert.

Since 1948, when Israel became independ-ent, the Israeli government has viewed the desert as one of the main challenges to its existence. David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, said, “If the state does not put an end to the desert, the desert is likely to put an end to the state.” Then and now, an important part of Is-rael’s national policy has been directed at turn-ing the unwelcomturn-ing desert into productive land that can be used for agriculture, industry, and settlement.

Reading Focus

• How has Israel changed its environment in order to make its land more productive and increase prosperity?

• Who are the major cultural groups in Israel, and what roles have they played in the nation’s history?

• What cooperative steps have Israel and its Arab neighbors taken to try to prevent conflicts from erupting?

Key Terms

Israel

2

2 Main

Idea

Israel struggles to maintain peace among its diverse population and with its Arab neighbors.

Economic Systems

In a kibbutz, or collective community, all property is shared.

drip irrigation potash

475

Chapter 23 ■_{Section 2}

S

ection

2 pp. 475–481

CUSTOMIZE FOR...

Gifted and Talented

Comparing Viewpoints

Have each student do

library or Internet research to find an account of

the early days of Israel’s independence. Ask

stu-dents to highlight sentences in the accounts that

seem to show either pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian

sentiments. Instruct students to write a brief report

that first summarizes the account and then uses

examples from the account to explain whether it is

pro-Israeli, pro-Palestinian, or neutral.

(2)

The Physical World

Deserts

The Negev Desert is an arid

region occupying about 60 percent

of Israel’s land. Triangular in shape,

it stretches over a 4,700-square-mile

(12,170-sq-km) area in the southern

part of the country. Flash flooding

during the winter rainy season is

common. Irrigation of the Negev

is largely carried out under the

National Water Plan. Irrigated areas

produce grain, fodder, fruits, and

vegetables.

Group Work

Activity:

Role-playing

Purpose:

Have students role-play

the members of an Israeli family

trying to decide whether they should

take advantage of government

incen-tives and move to the Negev Desert.

Roles:

Each student in the group

portrays a family member. Family

members give reasons for their

opin-ions on whether they should move.

Result:

Ask a spokesperson from

each group to explain his or her

“family’s” decision.

Connecting With . . .

Archaeology

The Dead Sea Scrolls

were found in a cave near the Dead

Sea in 1947. They are older than any

other biblical manuscript. Carbon-14

dating has confirmed that the scrolls

date from 3

B

.

C

. to

A

.

D

. 68.

Alternative

Assessment

Introduce the Activity

Class Discussion

Ask students to

research the topic of the shortage of

water in Southwest Asia. Tell them

that they will participate in a class

discussion on the topic: Will water

bring war to Southwest Asia?

Distrib-ute the Class Discussion Rubric

found on page 22 in the Assessment

Rubrics for students’ reference.

Technology Transforms the Desert The Negev Desert is Israel’s driest region. It covers over half of the country. Here the Israelis have built a system of pipelines, canals, and tunnels almost 100 miles (160 km) long called the Na-tional Water Carrier. Water from the Sea of Galilee is pumped southward through the system to irri-gate parts of the Negev. A region that was once barren stretches of sand is now striped with huge tracts of fertile green land.

The Israelis have also invented other scien-tific methods for increasing land use. A process called drip irrigationpreserves precious water

resources by letting precise amounts of water drip onto plants from pipes. Agricultural pro-duction in Israel has increased greatly over the years. Today Israel produces almost all of its own food.

However, Israel’s agricultural success has a price. Increased demands for water have se-verely strained limited supplies. Therefore, Israel has investigated ways to save water. In-dustrial wastewater is treated and reused. Groundwater runoff is stored in reservoirs. Nevertheless, like other countries in the re-gion, Israel could face a serious water short-age in the near future.

Mining the Dead Sea Between Israel and Jordan lies the Dead Sea, a huge salt-water lake. Because of the quantity of minerals in the sea, fish or other animals can-not live in it. Even the surrounding land is a dry, lifeless wilderness. The Israelis have built processing plants

to extract potash—which is used in

explosives and fertilizer—table salt, bromine, and other minerals from the Dead Sea. Israel exports these minerals worldwide.

Encouraging Migration to the Desert Despite the Israeli government’s drive to develop the Negev and other desert areas, it was dif-ficult to attract people to these places to work. Few people wanted to live and raise families away from the conven-iences of modern life and in such an isolated area. New towns, such as Arad, had to be built. Workers had to be offered high pay and extra time off.

Still, feelings about living in the desert are mixed. One Israeli couple, Zvi and Rebecca Ru-bin, had differing views about their life in Arad.

“

I [Zvi] came to Arad because I was of-fered a high salary, a good flat, and low taxes. . . . This is a good place to live, work, and put money aside. . . . For him [Zvi] it is a good place to work and live. For me [Rebecca] it is the desert. . . . I wish he could find a job back in Haifa.

”

Chapter 23 IThe Countries of Southwest Asia

476

APPLYING THE

GEOGRAPHIC THEMES

쎲Location The three areas controlled by Israel after 1967 were the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights between Lebanon and Syria, and the West Bank, bordering the Dead Sea and Jordan. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005.

• Describe the relative location of Jerusalem.

ll l l l l l l l l Har Ramon 3,396 ft. (1,035 m)

N E G E V

GAZA WEST BANK GOLAN HEIGHTS Dead Sea

Mediterranean Sea

Jo rd a n R .

Sea of Galilee

Gulf of Aqaba Elat Dimona Ashqelon Bethlehem Jericho Tulkarm Nazareth Tiberias Beersheba Gaza Hebron Nabulus Netanya Tel Aviv-Yafo Jerusalem Ramallah Haifa Janin Qalqilyah EGYPT JORDAN SYRIA LEBANON

30°N

N

S W E

0

0 30 60 km 30 60 mi

Israel:

PHYSICAL-POLITICAL

KEY

Lambert Conformal Conic Projection

14,000 7,000 1,500 700 (sea level) 0

4,270 2,135 457 213 0 (sea level) Feet Elevation Meters

National capital Area controlled by Israel after 1967 Palestinian self-rule Major city Mountain B A C K G R O U N D

Answer to Map Caption

Jerusalem is in the middle of the

country, bordering the West Bank.

A C T I V I T Y

B A C K G R O U N D

RESOURCE DIRECTORY

Assessment

Assessment Rubrics

• Class Discussion Rubric, p. 22

Technology

(3)

Enrichment

Designing a Brochure

Tell

stu-dents they will work in pairs to

design a brochure advertising the

economic opportunities available in

Israel. Ask them to research Israel’s

economic activities and then create

a brochure with photos and brief

descriptions that highlight a

num-ber of these activities. As students

pass their completed brochures

around the class, ask volunteers to

describe an economic activity that

they found interesting. (Visual/

Spatial)

Summ

a

rizing M

a

in Ide

a

s

Instruct students to fold a piece of

paper in half lengthwise and to

label each half with one of the

fol-lowing headings:

Ashkenazi Jews

and

Sephardic Jews.

Next, ask students to

read the subsection Israel’s Jews

be-ginning on this page. As they read,

have them look for the following

facts in the text about these two

groups: where the people came

from, when they arrived in Israel,

and what their place in Israeli

soci-ety has been. They should list each

fact under the appropriate heading.

Economic Activities Israelhas su

ccess-fully developed its few natural resources. How-ever, its agriculturaland chemicalindustries alone could not produce enough employment opportunities to support the nation’s rapidly growing population. It had to develop new eco-nomic activities.

Israellooked in part to high technology to

help its struggling economy. Withthehelp of grants and loans from other countries, Israel’s well -educated and highly trained scientists and engi-neers applied their skills to make Israel a world

leader in medicallaser technology, sophisticated weaponry, aerospace equipment, and electronics.

Israel also developed service industries to su p-port its growing population. Today more than three quarters of all Israelis work in areas such as education, housing, and tourism.

Diverse Cultures

Israel’s citizens come from a great variety of back -grounds. About 80 percent are Jewish. But at any public gathering you will recognize that great differences exist even among the Jews of Israel. To strengthen the nation, the Israeli government

has encouraged Jews to immigrate from around the world. If youlisten, you willhear Hebrew

spo-ken with a variety of accents—Russian, American, Arabic, Turkish, and German.

Israel’s Jews Until recently, two groups of Jews—Ashkenazi Jews and Sephardic Jews— formed a sharp division in Israeli society. Most who immigrated to Israel before 1948 were Ashkenazi Jews from northern and eastern Eu -rope. As a result, when Israel was established it

had a modern, Westernized character. After 1948, more than half of the Jews immigrating to Israel were Sephardic Jews from countries in southern Europe, Southwest Asia, North Africa, and Asia. Many of them were from Middle East countries where they faced growing hostility. Poorer and less educated than the rest of Israel’s citizens, they were unskilled laborers and earned

less than the Ashkenazi Jews. They also had less influence in the government. In recent years, the gap between the two groups has begun to close. Today most Israelis are of Middle Eastern origin.

Most recent immigrants to Israel come from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union. In the

PAST

Political Change

Migration In the 1940s, British officials in Palestine enforced restrictive immigration policies. Jewish refugees from Europe violated British regulations and risked their lives to enter Palestine (PAST). Today, Jewish immigrants from Africa and other parts of the world are welcomed to Israel (PRESENT).

MovementWhy do you think people risk their lives to emigrate to another country?

PRESENT

Change Over Time

477

Answer to Photo Caption

Possible answer: Emigrants believe that

they will have better opport

u

nities and

better lives in a new co

u

ntry. Also, they

may face discrimination and have few

economic opport

u

nities in their home

co

u

ntries.

A C T I V I T Y

(4)

Reteach

Knesset

Tell students that the

Knes-set is a parliamentary body that is

democratically elected. Ask:

What

branch of the United States

gov-ernment is similar to the

Knes-set?

(Congress) (Verbal/Linguistic)

Word Origin

Orthodox

The word

orthodox

stems

from two Greek words,

orthos,

mean-ing “straight,” and

doxa,

meaning

“opinions.” Often used to refer to

religion, orthodox means

“conform-ing to established beliefs.”

Enrichment

Jerusalem: A Mosaic of Cultures

Ask students to do library or Internet

research on Jerusalem. Tell them to

create a poster that illustrates the

city’s cultural and religious diversity.

(Visual/Spatial, Bodily/Kinesthetic)

mid-1980s and early 1990s, thousands of Ethio-pian Jews moved to Israel. Hundreds of thousands of Soviet Jews immigrated to the Jewish state when the Soviet Union relaxed its emigration poli-cies in the 1980s.

Along with cultural differences among Jews in Israeli society, there are also wide political di-visions. Representatives in the Knesset, Israel’s democratically elected parliament, range from ultra-Orthodox Jews to the nonreligious. Ultra-Orthodox Jews adhere strictly to Jewish religious tradition and believe that Israel should be gov-erned accordingly. The nonreligious believe that religion should not dictate the running of the state and interfere with people’s daily lives. In between these two groups are a number of other groups. Divergent beliefs and goals have led to serious political conflicts in complicated, coali-tion governments. It is always difficult, and of-ten impossible, for the government to reach any kind of agreement on important issues.

Israel’s Arabs Almost 20 percent of Is-rael’s population is Arab. This diverse population includes Christians, Muslims, and Druzes (inde-pendent people who broke from Islam in the eleventh century and live in northern Israel).

Israeli Arabs are citizens of Israel. As such, they have full political rights. Arabs serve in the Knesseet. They can form political parties that comply with the rules governing any political party. Because Arabs cannot serve in the military, they do not gain the benefits that are granted to veterans. In recent years, Arabs in Israel have be-gun to demand a greater voice in Israeli society.

Cooperation

and Conflict

Along with building a strong economy and main-taining harmony among its diverse population, Israel faces another major challenge. It must build a lasting peace with the Palestinians and its other Arab neighbors. Israel has had to struggle for its survival.

Palestinian Refugees The source of the conflict between the Israelis and the Pales-tinians goes back to 1947. That was the year when the United Nations voted to partition the British mandate of Palestine into two states—one Arab, one Jewish. Arab leaders refused to accept that decision. As a result, when Israel declared its inde-pendence in May 1948, five neighboring Arab

Chapter 23 IThe Countries of Southwest Asia 478

Bar Mitzvah in

Jerusalem

Cultures Jerusalem is a sa-cred city to Jews, Christians, and Muslims. People from around the world visit the vari-ous religivari-ous and cultural sites of the city. Here, a young Jew-ish boy celebrates his bar mitzvah at the Western Wall.

Place How is the ceremony in this photograph similar to and different from those in your community in which you have participated?

Answer to Photo Caption

Answers will vary. Possible answer: At

bar mitzvahs in the United States, boys

wear yarmulkes and carry the Torah.

However, most bar mitzvahs take place

inside the synagogue, not outside.

A C T I V I T Y

RESOURCE DIRECTORY

Teaching Resources

Creative Teaching Activities,

A Personal View of

History, p. 25

(5)

History

Gaza Strip

This narrow strip of

land along the Mediterranean Sea

was taken by Israel from Egypt in the

1967 war. An area often rife with

conflict, the region is now home

to more than 750,000 Palestinian

refugees and a small percentage of

Jews as well.

Enrichment

Current Events

Ask students

to listen to the evening news for

stories about the Israeli-Arab peace

process. Then have them report

back to the class about what they

have heard. (Verbal/Linguistic)

Cooper

a

tion

a

nd Conflict

Terrorism

Terrorism and guerrilla

warfare tactics have been used

around the world to influence

po-litical decisions and to attract global

attention. Like the PLO, the Irish

Republican Army (IRA) has killed

civilians in its attempts to overthrow

the ruling government that it

consid-ers to have stolen its homeland. In

French-controlled Algeria, terrorism

was used not only by the Algerians

who were seeking independence,

but also by some of the French

settlers who were trying to maintain

control. In the United States,

terror-ism was used by the Ku Klux Klan

to defy Reconstruction following

the Civil War. More recently,

Ameri-can Timothy McVeigh bombed a

federal building in Oklahoma City,

killing nearly 170 people, to protest

actions of the U.S. government. On

September 11, 2001, terrorists flew

planes into the World Trade Center

towers in New York and the

Penta-gon near Washington, D.C.

Thou-sands of civilians died in the attacks.

countries launched attacks to destroy it as the Britishleft.

By the end of the war in 1949, most of the Palestinians had lost their homes and property. As many as 500,000 people had fled to neigh bor-ing Arab countries. At the same time, an even

larger number of Jews were expelled from Arab countries, most of whom were resettled in Israel. Societies across the Middle East were shattered.

The Palestinians took refuge in the Gaza Strip (ruled by Egypt), Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. A conflict between these Arab countries and Israel

erupted in 1967. Israeli troops took control of the West Bank in Jordan and the Gaza Strip re-ferred to by Palestinians as the Occupied Territo-ries. About 200,000 Palestinians fled from the West Bank to East Jordan. Fewer than one million Palestinians remained in the West Bankunder Is-raeli military rule, but many Palestinians who had fled were not allowed to return to their homes.

By this time more than one million Pal estini-ans were living permanently as refugees. Some of them found jobs and housing in other Arab countries and resumed fairly normallives. Others remained in crowded refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. Palestinians everywhere dreamed of returning to their homeland and es-tablishing an independent Palestinian state.

More Conflict In the mid-1960s, many of these refugee camps became bases for the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO)—the Palestinians’ government in exile. The PLO refused to recognize Israelas a country. It demanded that Palestine beliberated, openly calling for Israel’s destruction, and that the refugees be allowed to return to their homes. PLO extremists engaged in terrorist acts—

hijacking planes, kidnapping and killing Israeli citizens, and conducting raids on Israeli com-munities.

Most Israelis viewed the PLO as terrorists whose goal was to destroy not only Israel but also Israeli Jews. To protect its citizens and weaken those intent on its

de-struction, Israel began to conduct raids on PLO bases in neigh bor-ing Arab countries. By the mid-1970s, most PLO activity was be-ing conducted from Lebanon. The Israelis

launched heavy attacks against Palestinian refu -gee camps situated near the Lebanese border

479

A Living

Memorial

Cooperation and Conflict Conflicts between Jews and Palestinians over land have plagued Israel since its creation in 1948. The Palestinians in this photograph plant a tree in observance of Land Day, a day Palestinians set aside to commemorate their losses. PlaceWhat other sources of conflict are there between the Arabs and Jews of Israel?

<

CONNECTIONS

GL

BAL

Global Trade Patterns The world depends on oil from Southwest Asia. In the past, fighting between Israel and its Arab neighbors has severely disrupted the world’s oil supply.

Answer to Photo Caption

Possible answer: Many Arabs in

Israel feel that they are discriminated

against in education, employment,

and other areas.

A C T I V I T Y

TEST PREPARATION

Have st

u

dents read t

h

e s

u

bsection More

Conflict beginning on t

h

is page and t

h

en

answer t

h

e following q

u

estion.

What prompted many Palestinian fighters to

leave Lebanon?

A

Plane hijackings and kidnappings

B

Israel’s invasion of Lebanon

C

Frequent demonstrations, strikes, and

violence

D

The settling of Israelis in occupied

territories

(6)

Environment

a

l Issues

Water

One of the biggest issues

between Israel and the Palestinians

is water. Israel gets much of its water

for drinking and irrigation from an

aquifer located in the Palestinian

West Bank. The issue over who will

control the aquifer is so critical that

it has been part of every major peace

negotiation in recent decades.

Geogr

a

phy on Video

City of Religions

Jerusalem: Within

These Walls

(Vestron Video, 1987),

filmed by the National Geographic

Society, provides a context for current

conflict in the region by considering

the 3,000-year history of this city.

Surrounded by ancient walls, 26,000

people—Christians, Muslims, and

Jews—live in an area measuring less

than one square mile. This film

por-trays each group’s religious beliefs and

its strong connections to the city.

that they suspected of supporting PLO guerrillas. In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon in a final at-tempt to crush the PLO. After a long siege and a

heavy bombardment, many Palestinian fighters

left Lebanon.

Meanwhile, more and more Israelis were set-tling in the occupied territories—the West Bank

and Gaza Strip. As Palestinians there increasingly despaired of ever gaining a homeland, support for the PLO grew. There were frequent demon-strations, strikes, and violence. In response, Israel

tightened its control of the occupied territories, imprisoning or exiling thousands of suspected PLO supporters.

The Struggle for a Solution During the 1970s into the 2000s, thousands of Pal estini-ans and Israelis lost their lives in the fighting. Various solutions to the conflict were proposed, but Palestinians seemed unwilling to acknowl -edge the right of Israel to exist, and Israel seemed

unwilling to allow a Palestinian homeland. In 1987, Palestinians used different forms of resist-ance in a movement called an intifada(in tee FAH dah), a term that means “shaking off” in Arabic. Israel responded with military force.

Israel and the PLO finally agreed to terms in Oslo, Norway, in 1993. Israel agreed to withdraw from Gaza and parts of the West Bank, while the Palestinians assumed authority for sel f-gover-nance in the vacated areas. The expansion of Is-raeli settlements on the West Bank angered

Chapter 23 ■_{The Countries of Southwest Asia}

480

Death of a Leader

Cultures A huge crowd of Palestinians flooded to the West Bank city of Ramallah on November 12, 2004, to attend the burial service of Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat. Here, Palestinians watch from a tree as mourn-ers show their grief when Arafat’s coffin passes through the large crowd. Cooperation and Conflict How might an event like the one shown in this photograph turn into a conflict between citizens and police?

Southwest Asia

and the United States

Southwest Asia

and the United States

Country

Television Receivers

(per 1,000 people)

Newspaper Circulation

(daily, per 1,000 people)

Personal Computers

(per 1,000 people)

Iran Iraq Israel Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Oman Saudi Arabia Syria Turkey Yemen United States

173 83 355 177 486 335 553 265 182 423 283 854

28 19 290 77 374 107 28 59 20 111 15 198

75 NA 246 38 121 81 37 137 19 45 7.4 659

Source: Encyclopedia Britannica Almanac NA = information not available.

Communications Data

CHART SKILLS

쎲Cultures Which Middle Eastern countries have greater newspaper circulation than the United States?

쎲Economic Systems Which Middle Eastern countries seem to have low levels of develop-ment compared to other countries in the region? Explain.

Answers to Chart Skills

Israel and K

u

wait

Syria, Jordan, Yemen, Iraq, and Iran

rank low in newspaper circ

u

lation and

in availability of televisions and personal

comp

u

ters.

Answer to Photo Caption

If the crowd became violent, the police

might have had to

u

se force to s

u

bd

u

e

them.

RESOURCE DIRECTORY

Te

ac

h

i

n

g

Resour

c

es

(7)

D

a

ily Life

Lifestyles

About 5 percent of

Israelis live on kibbutzim (collective

farms), where people work together

for the common good. In return they

are provided with food, shelter,

edu-cation, child care, and health care.

Answers to

Section 2 Assessment

1. (a)

drip irrigation, p. 476

(b)

potash, p. 476

2. Israel has used technology to

develop drip irrigation and water

carrier systems, allowing cultivation

of the desert.

3. The main cultural, ethnic, and

religious groups in Israel today

include Ashkenazi Jews, Sephardic

Jews, nonreligious Jews, and Arabs

(including Christians, Muslims, and

Druzes).

4. (a)

the control of land and the

establishment of a Jewish state in

Palestine

(b)

In 1993, Israel and the

PLO formally recognized each other;

since that time, Israel and the

Pales-tinians have negotiated several times

and have been making progress in

re-solving issues.

5. Possible answer: border security,

water rights, and economic

development

Activity Rubrics

Share rubrics

with students before they create

their journals.

Attempted

The journal is

incomplete.

Minimal

The journal includes some

details and has many mechanical

errors.

Adequate

The journal accurately

describes life on a kibbutz and

pro-vides good detail.

Exemplary

The journal accurately

describes a typical week on a kibbutz,

includes details, exhibits appropriate

voice and style, and is creatively

written.

Palestinians, while periodic violent actions by some Palestinians threatened Israel’s security.

Various Israeli governments negotiated with

the Palestinians in the late 1990s, but each dif-fered on what price Israel would pay for peace. U.S. President Bill Clinton facilitated peace talks in 2000, but Palestinian and Israeli leaders could not agree on terms. A new intifadaerupted as

1. Key TermsDefine (a)drip irrigation, (b)potash.

2. Environmental ChangeHow has Israel made

use of technology in developing its land?

3. CulturesWhat are the main cultural, ethnic,

and religious groups in Israel today?

4. Cooperation and Conflict (a)What is the

source of conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians? (b)How have both sides cooper-ated in an attempt to resolve the conflict?

5. Critical Thinking Solving Problems What

are three factors to be taken into consideration

when designing a peace treaty that addresses the demands of the Israeli Jews and the Palestinian Arabs?

S

ECTION

2 A

SS

E

SS

MENT

481

Striving for Peace

Cooperation and Conflict Newly elected Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (left) and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (right) shake hands af-ter attending a summit meet-ing. They both promised U.S. President George W. Bush (center) that they would work toward a plan for peace for Israel and a Palestinian state. RegionsHow might the involvement of other nations in the peace process help Israelis and Palestinians reach an agreement?

Writing a Journal Since the early 1900s,

kibbutzim, or communal farms, have played a major role in the agriculture and national identity of Israel. Use Internet resources to find out more about this topic. Then, create a journal to chroni-cle a typical week of activities on a kibbutz. Visit the World Geography section of www.phschool.com

for help in completing this activity.

Activity

Take It to the NET

suicide bombings and other violent acts by Palestinians were again met with Israeli military force. Peace seemed out of reach as the cycle of violence continued. Late in 2004, however, Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat died. Mahmoud Abbas was elected the new PLO leader. His election spurred new discussions that might help restore peace.