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A pop quiz in reading comprehension By Doron Rosenblum Tags: israel news Read the following passage very carefully, and answer the questions at the end: About nine years separated the 1920-21 Arab riots and the 1929 riots, and about seven years passed between the latter and the 1936 riots, which went on for three years, taking the lives of more than 600 Jews and wounding more than 2,000. Less than a decade later, the War of Independence erupted, in which the Jewish Yishuv (pre-state community) suffered more than 6,000 casualties. Advertisement Just seven years passed until the Sinai Campaign, and we didn't enjoy quiet and security during those years either, particularly in what were known at the time as the "borderline communities." (Author's comment: Ah! What we wouldn't give today for "borderline communities" - i.e., for a sense that there is some buffer between the heart of the country and the border! In fact, what wouldn't we give just for a "border," an outer limit, now that the entire country is a "border state" under threat!) Between the Sinai Campaign and the Six-Day War there was about one decade of relative quiet (albeit replete with border incidents in the east), which also devolved into a broad recession and a feeling of suffocation and siege, which supposedly came to an end with the Six-Day War. Why "supposedly"? Because those nostalgic for "the seven good years" Israel supposedly enjoyed between that ecstatic victory and the blow of the Yom Kippur War ought to be reminded that we're really talking about just six years, or about 2,100 days, half of which were taken up with the "Hundred Days War" - the bitter war of attrition along the Suez Canal, and the various terror attacks in which more than 700 were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded. Four years after the Yom Kippur War came the Litani Operation, and exactly four years after it, the first "war of choice" was declared - otherwise known as Operation Peace for Galilee (and later as the first Lebanon War), which was intended "to heal the trauma of the Yom Kippur War" and "to put an end to terror." That war officially lasted three years, and unofficially, about 18 years, until the unilateral withdrawal from the "security zone," whose protection also exacted a very bloody price and spawned a new enemy, even worse than its PLO predecessor: Hezbollah. In the interim, the first intifada erupted, and right after the unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon came the second intifada, which killed hundreds and wounded thousands on Israel's city streets. Also, in the interim, we experienced two Gulf wars. The first ripped our deterrence myth to shreds with missile barrages. The second - a decade later, and "thanks" to the trauma left behind by its predecessor - only underscored the vulnerability of the home front, a lesson taken to heart by our enemies in both the north and south, who armed themselves to the teeth with short- and long-range rockets that can now reach just about anywhere in the state. As soon as the second intifada abated, the second "war of choice" in Lebanon broke out. It was meant to punish Hezbollah for capturing two soldiers and ended with more than 160 Israelis killed and with rockets that can reach not just Haifa, but as far as the Negev. Meanwhile, Hamas, which took over Gaza following the unilateral withdrawal from there without an agreement, has armed itself with rockets that can strike as far as the southern Sharon region, for now at least. This has just been demonstrated in Operation Cast Lead, which erupted two years after the previous conflagration, in order to restore the deterrent capability in the south, and to heal the trauma of the Second Lebanon War, among other reasons. Now the hope is that this war - which the defense minister would rather call an "operation" - will conclude (like all of its predecessors) with a clear victory; and if not, then with terror being quashed; and if not, then with a verbal cease-fire agreement; and if not - then at least with an "arrangement" that either exists solely in the consciousness, or will maybe involve deployment of UN or other international forces, which will anyway be swept aside on the eve of the next war, the outbreak of which, as usual, is only a question of time. About a century ago - and 10 years before the 1921 riots, in which he was killed - Y.H. Brenner wrote: "And the whole account has yet to be settled." And that was a decade before the account even began. Today, a whole century later, we cannot even permit ourselves the luxury of an interim account, let alone a summary, or even a guess - wild as it may be - regarding the final outcome. Why? Because even in the first decade of the 21st century we still have no idea where we stand here: At the beginning? At the end? In the middle? Questions 1. Please calculate - based on the above text and on your own knowledge - how many years (for advanced students: how many days) of peace and security Israel has managed to piece together in the 60 years of its existence and during a century of Zionism? 2. Please calculate the average number of years that pass between one round of war and another in Israel? 3. Has there been an acceleration or a deceleration in the frequency of rounds of war? Draw a graph that illustrates this, and indicate whether you obtained a depression parabola or a cycloid (a line generated by a point on a circle that rolls along a straight line). 4. From reading the text, one can conclude, after a span of 100 years (taking into account the infusion of endless billions into the defense budget, the use of anti-aircraft missiles and long-range missiles, improved warning systems, improved Foreign Ministry PR, the learning of lessons and the healing of traumas from one war to the next), that: a. Personal and general security has improved. b. Personal security has improved, but general security has worsened. c. General security has improved, but personal security has worsened. d. General and personal security has worsened. 5. Is the author's nostalgia for "borderline communities" and borders justified, as part of existential normalization, and in light of the failure of the unilateral withdrawals to borderlines? How many more wars will it take, in your opinion, for this yearning to be universally shared and even considered an achievement? In particular, provide a well-reasoned response to the following question: By definition, can there be such a thing as a "unilateral border"? 6. Explain the difference between an "operation" and a "war": After how many days, which end without real accomplishments, is a war defined as no more than an "operation"; and after how many months or years does a "rolling operation" earn the distinguished title of "war"? And why do you think the current defense minister prefers the term "operation," despite his promise that "it won't be short and it won't be easy"? 7. Based on the quote from Y.H. Brenner from 1911, do you think that today, after 100 years: a. The whole account has yet to be settled. b. Two-thirds of the account is settled. c. Half of the account is settled, and as for the other half - come back 100 years from now and then we'll see. Good luck! Bookmark to del.icio.us   Following Chavez Bolivia cuts ties with Israel, says it seeks war crimes charges. Who needs the Knesset? Arab parties: We'll establish an alternative Arab parliament.

Read & React Bradley Burston: In Gaza's shadow: Obama's Inaugural message Send response Harel & Issacharoff: Egypt's Gaza truce plan is mostly bad for Hamas Responses: 45 U.S., Israel near deal aimed at halting Gaza arms smuggling Responses: 19 Gideon Levy: The IDF has no mercy for the children in Gaza nursery schools Responses: 41 U.S. may cut $1billion in loan guarantees to Israel over West Bank settlements Responses: 13 More Headlines 14:56 Gaza hospital, UN facility hit in Hamas-IDF fighting 14:21 UN Chief: Success of Gaza truce deal depends on Israel's will 15:04 Israeli charged with attempting to spy on behalf of Iran 15:00 Livni urges Red Cross to press Hamas for access to Gilad Shalit 13:37 U.S., Israel near deal aimed at halting Gaza arms smuggling 12:23 ANALYSIS / Key to Israeli exit from Gaza rests with Egypt, U.S. 14:58 Hamas agrees in principle to Egypt offer for Gaza truce 12:22 ANALYSIS / Egypt's Gaza truce plan is mostly bad for Hamas 13:47 WATCH / Obama: We must engage Syria and Iran in Middle East peace efforts 15:02 Gaza militants fire 22 rockets at Israel, one hitting Gedera 12:00 Israelis receive SMS messages apparently from Hamas warning of `surprises` in Gaza 11:57 Unsung Israeli hero risks his life to save Gaza children 13:04 U.S. may cut $1 billion in loan guarantees to Israel over West Bank settlements 14:26 Protesters against Gaza op heckle Israeli ambassador at Holocaust ceremony in Poland 12:01 Poll shows most Israelis back IDF action in Gaza 13:46 Israel Foreign Ministry preparing for 'day after' IDF leaves Gaza 12:17 Venezuela: We cut ties with Israel over 'persecution of Palestinians' 14:47 The IDF has no mercy for the children in Gaza nursery schools 08:27 False rumors of Shalit release do not faze family and friends 09:25 Pro-Gaza demonstration in Ramallah canceled for a lack of protesters 09:36 Israeli Arab singer urged to step down from Eurovision, so as not to present 'false image' of coexistence 08:45 IDF helping coordinate aid for civilians in Gaza Strip 05:46 Operation Cast Lead taking toll on Israeli businesses overseas Previous Editions Select Day 14 jan 13 jan 12 jan 11 jan 09 jan 08 jan 07 jan 06 jan 05 jan 04 jan 02 jan 01 jan

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