Ottoman & Mandate Eras
This 1917 official British document expressed government support for a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine.
What is the Balfour Declaration?
Palestinians use this Arabic term, meaning "catastrophe," to refer to their mass displacement during the 1948 war.
What is the Nakba?
This ancient city contains holy sites central to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
What is Jerusalem?
This ancient, biblical name for a hill in Jerusalem is often used as a historical and poetic synonym for the city and the Land of Israel.
What is Zion?
Following WWI and the collapse of this empire, Britain assumed administrative control over Palestine.
What is the Ottoman Empire?
A major war began in 1973 with a surprise attack on Israel during this holiest day of the Jewish calendar, known for fasting and prayer.
What is Yom Kippur?
This coastal enclave bordered by Israel, Egypt, and the Mediterranean Sea has been under a blockade since 2007.
What is the Gaza Strip?
God promises Abraham this specific, geographic title for the land in Genesis, a term frequently used throughout later political history
What is the Promised Land (or Land of Canaan)?
This major Arab civil uprising from 1936 to 1939 demanded an end to British rule and a halt to Jewish immigration.
What is the Arab Revolt?
On October 7, 2023, this Palestinian militant group launched a massive surprise attack on southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, leading to a major regional war.
What is Hamas?
This landlocked territory sits west of its namesake river and is home to the city of Ramallah.
What is the West Bank?
These two biblical, regional names—referring to the northern and southern ancient Israelite kingdoms—are used by the Israeli government to officially designate the West Bank.
What are Judea and Samaria?
This international body officially granted Great Britain the legal mandate to govern Palestine at the 1920 San Remo conference.
What is the League of Nations?
In late November 2023, Israel and Hamas agreed to this temporary, week-long pause in fighting to allow for the exchange of hostages and prisoners.
What is a ceasefire (or humanitarian truce)?
This major river forms a natural boundary between Israel, the West Bank, and its neighbor to the east.
What is the Jordan River?
Derived from the name of an ancient seafaring coastal people who clashed with the Israelites, this word evolved into the Greek term Palaestina.
Who are the Philistines?