THE WAR BEETWEEN GAZA AND ISRAEL

1. Where is Israel? Locate it on a map.
Israel is located ate the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, bounded by Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan to the east, and Egypt to the southwest.

2. Why was Israel created? Israel was created to set up an official homeland for Jewish people. Since it was established, the country has been in conflict with the Palestinians.

3. Where are the Palestinian Territories? Locate on a map.
Palestinian territories are Gaza and the West Bank.

4. What is happening in Israel and Gaza? They are having a war for territory. Israel bombed Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in response to the rocket fires by Hamas militants on southern Israeli towns.

5. How many Palestinians have died and how may Israelis? Up to date, there are 900 Palestinians dead and 13 Israeli people.

6. What is Hamas? Hamas is an Islamist group that governs Gaza. There are the biggest of the militant Islamist groups which aspire to the destruction of Israel and the establishment of an Islamic state of Palestine. Hamas uses terrorism as a weapon and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States.

7. What was the U.S response to the attacks? The U.S is against the violence that is emerging between these 2 territories, so Hamas must stop firing rockets into Israel and agree to get to an end.

8. What happened when Israel was declared a state in 1948? Immediatly after Israel was declared a state, armies of neighbor Arab states started to invade.

9. What did Israel agree to the Oslo accords? Israel committed to withdrawing with parts of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Also Israel agreed that a Palestinian Authority would be set up.

10. How did Hamas came to power in Gaza? Hamas took hold of Gaza in the democratic vote of 2006 by gaining the majority of the Palestinian Legislative Council and took total control of Gaza in 2007.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"THE MEANING OF AN OLD BATTLE"

a. To which "old battle" does the article`s headline refer? It refers to the conflicts Israel ha had since the time it was created with Palestine and neighbor territories.

b. What seem to be the hopes underlying Israel`s assault on Gaza? While Israeli leadership was not stating wider goals, there was clearly hope in the country - as tanks and troops massed late in the week - that the assault in Gaza would do more than just stop the rocket fire in which Hamas had broken a cease-fire last month.

c. How would a clear Israeli victory affect the region? A clear victory for Israel would make it easier for Egypt, Jordan and countries farther afield to declare common cause against Islamic militancy and its main sponsor in the region, Iran.

d. How would a clear Israelivictryaffect the United States? An international peackeeping force made up of Turkish and Arab troops could clear the way for a restoration of political control in Gaza.

e. How would Iran have much at stake in the outcome of the current crisis? Israel is the one country with the most at stake in the outcome. It sponsors Hamas and Hezbollah not only to torment Israel but also to spread its influences in the Arab world.

f. How likely is it that Israeli assault will be successful? Israel is more likely to be successful because United States has its back and the Israeli government counts with one of the most powerful weapon army. Fo the other side, Palestine have the musulman support.

g. What are some of the divisions in the Middle East that this conflict has highlighted? Egypt, whose peace treaty with Israel is anathema to militants in the Middle East, kept its border to Gaza largely shut last week, and its president, Hosni Mubarak, quarreled openly with the leader of Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant Shiite group that now shares power in Lebanon. And the meeting of the Arab League, Saudi Arabia`s foreign minister gently and indirectly rebucked Hamas for provoking the conflict.

h. What hapened in Lebanon in 1982? How are the Gaza attacks similar? In Lebanon in 1982, it invaded to eliminate the threat of Yasir Arafat`s forces, which were then encamped on its northen border. It accomplished that goal and eventually Mr. Arafat recognized Israel and negotiated. It is similar to Gaza`s conflict right now because it envolves terrorist attacks to other terretories.

i. In what ways might the attacks in Gaza backfire? The political consequences could reverberate throughout the Middle East, all the way to Iran, and help determine the ability of President-elect Barak Obama to pursue hus stated goals of calming the Middle East through dipomacy.

j. Why does Mr. Abbas say he will walk away from the peace talks begun by President Bush in 2007? Now Mr. Abbas, already deeply mired in a rivalry with Hamas, could find himself further isolated from Palestinian sentiment the longer the Israeli assaults continue. Signs were growing last week that the fighting was emboldening Palestinian resistance.

k. What lessons has Israel learned from Lebanon? One lesson Israel learned from Lebanon was to lower expectations, depriving Hamas of the chance to declare victory simply by surviving the Israeli assault, as Hezbollah did. Israel also seems to have prepared better.

m. In what way is the timing of this renewed battle beneficial? It came before the inauguration of Mr. Obama on Jan. 20. Although he has expressed staunch support for Israel he has raised expectations of a change in policy in the Middle East.

n. How will the Obama administration be able to capitalize on the situation in Gaza? President Obama will be able to capitalize on the cease-fire to renew a push for a permanent settlement.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PHOTOGRAPH OF THE WAR

What is going on in the photograph? A doctor is taking care of a girl after a rocket fired from Gaza hit the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon.

Who is pictured? A doctor and a girl that seems to be very scared.

What can you learn about how the main subject in the photo is feeling from his or her facial expression? She is feeling scared, few minutes away there was a rocket fired near where she was. I can learn from this picture that civilians including children are also suffering.

What might this person be feeling, given what is going on in the photograph? Definitely she is feeling frustrated and "attacked" by Gaza. Obviously now she will be a little relieved to know that she will be "safe" where they will take her.

What might this person want to say to the opposite side? She might want to say to the opposite side to stop war. That not only ary people are dying and being wounded, but civilian people that have nothing to do with the conflict.