Modules 1 and 2: Introduction & Israel v. Palestine

Reality

A collective agreement on what is ‘normal’ based on the electrochemical processes in the human brain

Naturally Selective Adaptation

An origin theory of religion that asserts humans are pattern-seeking animals, and those who were more likely to perform Type 1 errors were naturally selected for over those who performed Type 2 errors, that extended into religions/superstition

Type 1 Error

A 'false positive’ error, which is historically safer and more viable

• ceremonies, songs, chants, rituals that happened to be correlated with an outcome = better to assume there is a correlation than randomness

Type 2 Error

A ‘false negative’ error, that was more deadly if proven incorrect

Hypersensitivity Agency Detection Device (HADD)

A certain process in the human brain that contributes agency to inanimate objects (more obvious in those who performed Type 1 Errors)

Socially Evolved Trait

The “Divine Babysitter” origin theory of religion that argues humans gave the world agency (religion) to promote cooperation in beneficial group living

Freeriders

Humans who do not positively contribute to group living, and were threatened to be punished by the ‘agent’ world if they did not help

Cana’anites

The indigenous (minor ethnic group) people of ancient Palestine (Canaan), who lived in an extremely geographically advantageous point along the Fertile Crescent

Suzerain Vassal Treaty

A type of treaty where one party has incredible power/advantage, so the weaker party has to submit, or else they will face consequences from other powerful parties

Tel Don Inscription

A stone found in Northern Israel that dates to the 9th-8th century that brags about the Judean defeat of “Israel” and the “House of David” (proof of ancient Jewish presence)

586

The year that King Nebuchadnezzar’s (of Babylon) army destroyed the Jewish temple in and the city of Jerusalem and exiled Judean nobles

Persian Province

What Palestine becomes after the Babylonian rule is abolished

Alexander the Great’s Conquest

The Greek feat that overthrew Persia’s occupation of Palestine

Maccabean Revolt of 165/4 BCE

The revolt that led to the Jews regaining control of Jerusalem, the last time they would self-rule before modern day

Hasmonean Dynasty 141-37 BCE

The last group of people to self-rule Jews until the modern day, until the Jewish kingdom was annexed by Rome in 63 BCE

Herod the Great

An ethnically Jewish King who ruled the Jewish kingdom for Rome after they annexed it, who severely oppressed Jews, causing a Jewish revolt that led to the second destruction of their temple

6th Century BCE

The migration of Arabs to Cana’an, that gradually expanded over thousands of years until the founding of Islam in the 7th century

Dome of the Rock

Built in 691 CE in Jerusalem, this structure established the dominant presence of Arabs in Palestine

Ottoman Empire (1517-1918)

The group that occupied Palestine in the early to late 1500s, which restored Jerusalem and encouraged the resettlement of Jewish migrants.

1918

The year the Ottoman Empire was defeated by the British, who then occupied Palestine

Theodore Herzl

An author who popularized the concept of secular Zionism, which inadvertently led to Jewish nationalism

Sykes-Picot Agreement

A secret agreement between France and the UK that divided the Ottoman empire, giving Britain geographically advantageous points like the Suez Canal and Palestine

Balfour Declaration 1917

A formal communication from Britain that expressed their desire to the Jewish elites of their wish to establish a Jewish nation in Palestine (for Jewish wartime support)

Peel Commission

An agreement that first outlined a two-state solution for fighting Arabs and Jews that was rejected by the first because of its disadvantageous propositions

Mohammed Amin al Husseini

The prominent Palestinian-Arab nationalist and Muslim leader who was extremely anti-Zionist and supported Nazi efforts

UN Partition Plan 1947

A post-WWII agreement that split Palestine into specific Arab and Jewish-ruled areas and established Jerusalem as an International City, rejected by the Arabs

1948

The year Israel was officially recognized as a state

Arab-Israel War

Immediately following the expiration of the British Mandate for Palestine and their subsequent withdrawal Arab forces attacked Jews, ending in the Green Line

Green Line

The result of the Arab-Israeli war that separated Arab controlled West Bank (Jordan) and Gaza Strip (Egypt) from Jewish land

Palestine-Liberation Organization

An Arab radical organization led by Yasser Arafat

Six-Day War

After Israel launched a preemptive strike on Arab forces, this war happened and Israel gained control of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip

Oslo Accords

The 1993 peace treaty between Arabs and Israelis that established the Palestinian National Authority