Anti-Semitism, hostility to the Jews (Semites), has long been actively exhibited in severities and attacks of various kinds. A movement of the late 19th century manifested in various countries, especially Russia, Austria-Hungary, Germany, Romania, and France. It may have been attributed to different motives in different countries, but on the whole owed its origin less to the fact of the Jews being a 'peculiar people' by race and religion, than to the comparatively high position won by them in the financial and political worlds.
In Western Russia there was a great outburst against the Jews in 1881, in which men, women, and children were slaughtered. The Russian government, by its anti-Jewish policy, may be said to have sanctioned this murderous outbreak, which was followed by harsh laws and actual persecutions, though afterwards there was a mitigation of the severity shown towards the Jews. Yet in 1903 the world was startled by a terrible massacre of Jews at Kishinef, in Bessarabia, connived at by the authorities on the spot; and towards the end of 1905, in connection with the Russian revolutionary movement, there were dreadful massacres of Jews in Odessa, Kishinef, and other towns, the authorities being similarly involved. In Russia, hatred of the Jews was party due to the position they occupied throughout the country as money-lenders.
In Rumania their position resembled what it was elsewhere in mediaeval times, and was less favourable than it was even under the Turks. In Germany, even before Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party the movement was worked chiefly by politicians for their own ends, though the racial and religious question also had some influence; and among the ignorant the .belief that the Jews murder Christian children for ritual purposes was revived, as also in Austria-Hungary. In Austria-Hungary the movement was partly political, partly social and economic, partly religious.
In France anti-Semitism was employed chiefly as a weapon by monarchists and clericals as against republicanism, and by the socialists as against capitalism, racial antipathy having also its influence in the movements. In Britain, anti-Semitism was much less severe, owing to there having been a very large influx of Jews from the Continent, forming part of Britian's immigration policy.
Anti-Semitism hit a climax in the 1930's with Adolf Hitler and the German Nazi Party with the wholesale slaughter of Jews throughout Europe, which provided an excuse for other world powers to oppose Germany's expansion through war - though economic reasons seem much more likely - and culminated in the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, subsequently named Israel, following the end of the Second World War. Research Anti-Semitism
Babism is the doctrines of a Muslim messianic Shiite sect. Founded in 1844 by the Persian Sayyid Ali Muhammad of Shiraz known as the Bab ed-Din (the gate or intermediary between man and God), who declared himself to be the long-awaited Mahdi. For inciting insurrection the Bab was arrested in 1848 by the government and executed in 1850, his remains being interred in 1909 on MountCarmel, Palestine. In 1863 Baha'ullah and his son Abdul Baha declared themselves the new leaders, and their followers became known as the Baha'is. Research Babism
A Kibbutz is a co-operative village, or communal farm, in Israel, where all property is collectively owned and work is organised on a collective basis. Members contribute by working according to their capacity and in return receive food, clothing, housing, medical services, and other domestic services according to their needs. Dining rooms, kitchens, and stores are central, and schools and children's dormitories are communal. Each village is governed by an elected assembly. Although most kibbutzim are entirely agricultural, some have manufacturing industries. The first kibbutz was founded on the bank of the Jordan River in 1909. This type of community was necessary to the early Jewish immigrants to Palestine. By living and working collectively, they were able to build homes and to begin to irrigate and farm the barren desert land. Each person could contribute individual abilities to the growth of the community. Since many kibbutzim were established along Israel's frontiers after independence in 1948, they became important in the defence of the new nation. Strategically located kibbutzim have been subject to attack from Palestinian forces. Kibbutz members, although a small percentage of the Israelipopulation, wield much political power. Research Kibbutz
The Palestine Liberation Organisation or PLO was formed in 1964 by the Arab states as an organisation embracing the various Palestinian resistance organisations into one organisation with the aim of creating a secular democratic state over the whole of pre-Second World War Palestine. Under the leadership of Yasser Arafat the PLO modified its objective to the creation of an independent Palestinian state in any part of Palestine from which Israel would agree to withdraw. The PLO was recognised by the United Nations in 1974. After the end of the 20th century the influence of the PLO among Palestinians had waned, to be replaced by more militant groups such as Hamas (formed in 1987 to oppose the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem) and Hezbollah. Research Palestine Liberation Organisation
Zionism is a political movement advocating the re-establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, the 'promised land' of the Bible, with its capital Jerusalem, the 'city of Zion'. The movement commenced in 1896 when, as a response to European anti-Semitism, Theodor Herzl published his 'Jewish State', outlining a scheme for setting up an autonomous Jewish commonwealth under Ottoman suzerainty. Research Zionism
Ash (Fraxinus) is, a genus of deciduous trees belonging to the natural order Oleaceae, having imperfect flowers and a seed-vessel prolonged into a thin wing at the apex (called a samara). There are a good many species, chiefly indigenous to Europe and North America. The common ash {Fraximus excelsior), indigenous to Britain, has a smooth bark, and grows tall and rather slender. The branches are flattened; the leaves have five pairs of pinnae, terminated by an odd one, dark-green in colour; lanceolate, with serrated edges. The flowers are produced in loose spikes from the sides of the branches. and are succeeded by flat seeds which ripen in autumn. It is one of the most useful of British trees on account of the excellence of its hard, tough, elastic wood and the rapidity of its growth. There are many varieties of it, as the weeping-ash, the curled-leaved ash, the entire-leaved ash, etc. The flowering or manna ash (Fraximus Ornus), by some placed in a distinct genus (Ornus), is a native of the south of Europe and Palestine. It yields the substance called manna, which is obtained by making incisions in the bark, when the juice exudes and hardens. Among American species are the white ash (Fraximus americana), with lighter bark and leaves; the red or black ash (Fraximus pubescens), with a brown bark; the black ash (Fraximus sambucifolia), the blue ash, the green ash, etc. They are all valuable trees. The mountain-ash or rowan belongs to a different order. Research Ash
Cedar is a tree which forms fine woods on the mountains of Syria and Asia Minor, the Pinus Cedrus of Linnaeus, the Cedrus Libdni of some other botanists, while by others it is referred to the genus Larix, and by others again, along with the larch, to the genus Abies. It is an evergreen, grows to a great size, and is remarkable for its durability. Of the famous cedars of Lebanon comparatively few now remain, and the tree does not grow in any other part of Palestine. Cedar timber was formerly much prized, but in modern times is not regarded as of much value, perhaps from the trees not being of sufficient age.
Some fine cedars are met with in England. The name is given also to the deodar (Cedar Deoddra), which is indeed regarded by many botanists as a mere variety of the cedar of Lebanon, and which produces excellent timber. It is a native of India, and is a large and handsome tree, growing in the Himalayas to the height of 45 meters, with a circumference of nine metres. It has wide-spreading branches, which droop a little at the extremities. The leaves are tufted or solitary, larger than those of the cedar of Lebanon and very numerous, of a dark-bluish green, and covered with a glaucous bloom. The cones are rather larger than those of the Lebanon cedar, and very resinous. The wood is well adapted for building purposes, being compact and very enduring.
The cedar was introduced into Great Britain in 1822, and is now common in lawns and parks. The MountAtlas cedar (Cedar Atlantica}, as its name implies, is a native of the mountains of North Africa. This cedar, though differing in habit and minor features, is regarded by some botanists as specifically identical with the other two. The name is also applied to many trees which have no relation to the true cedar, as the Bermuda cedar (Juniperus bermudiana), used for making pencils, the red cedar (Juniperus virginiana), the Honduras, or bastard Barbadoes cedar (Cedrela odordta) and the red cedar of Australia (Cedrela australis). Research Cedar
The long-eared bat (Plecotus aufitils) is a medium-sized bat with a wing- span of about 25 cm. The ears are enormously long; their inner edges meet each other on the top of the head, and their outer edges end just behind the angle of the mouth. The tragus is long, narrow and pointed. The ear is folded back under the arm when the bat is asleep, leaving the long tragus standing up alone. During flight the ears are carried pointing forwards. The fur is long and silky, extending a short way on to the surfaces of the wings. The colour is dusky brown above, shading into light brown or dirty white below. The distribution of the long-eared bat includes all temperate Europe and Asia to Japan and extends into Egypt, Palestine and northern India. In Great Britain it is one of the commonest and most widely distributed bats, being scarce only in the highlands of Scotland. It is gregarious and often found in large colonies of fifty to a hundred or more in the spaces under house and church roofs, both in summer and winter. It also hibernates in
caves in which it is more solitary in habit, single individuals creeping alone into crevices. During the summer large companies of breeding females, sometimes a hundred or more, often take up temporary quarters in some building while they are nursing. The food consists of flies, moths and beetles, which are generally picked off the foliage of trees and not caught on the wing. The flight among foliage is a gliding one, with frequent pauses to hover while capturing insects. When going to another tree the flight is swift, strong, and close to the ground. Research Long-Eared Bat
Abdullah ibn Hussein was the first king of Jordan. He was born in 1882 at Mecca and died in 1951. After taking a prominent part in the Arab revolt against Turkey from 1916 to 1918, he was appointed emir of the British mandated territory of Transjordan in 1921, and in 1946 with the end of the mandate became king, in 1948 being also proclaimed king of Palestine though with the formation of the state of Israel he lost sovereignty of Palestine. He was assassinated by Arab nationalists in 1951. Research Abdullah ibn Hussein
Alexander The Great was king of Macedon (Macedonia). He was born in 356 BC at Pella and died in 323 BC.
Following the assassination of his father, Philip, in 336 BC Alexander ascended the throne determined to carry out the expedition that his father had been preparing against the Persians. Before he could, however, he had to chastise the barbarian tribes on the frontiers of Macedon, as well as quell a rising in Greece in which he took and destroyed Thebes, killing 6000 of the inhabitants and imprisoning 30,000. Leaving Antipater confirmed as commander-inc-chief of the Greek forces in the general assembly of the Greeks, he crossed over the Hellespont into Asia in 334 BC with 30,000 foot and 5000 horse soldiers.
His first encounter with the Persian forces (assisted by Greek mercenaries) was at the small river Granicus, where he gained a complete victory. Most of the cities of Asia Minor surrendered to him, and Alexander restored democracy in all the Greek cities. Marching onwards he conquered Lycia, Ionia, Caria, Pamphylia and Cappadocia. In 333 BC he defeated the Persian emperor Darius and his army of 500,000 men near Issus. Heading south, Alexander conquered the Mediterranean cities, including Tyre following a seven month siege, and then Palestine and Egypt, founding the city Alexandria as he did so.
Returning, Alexander was met by Darius and a new immense army which Alexander defeated at Gaugamela in 331 BC, taking Babylon and Susa and afterwards the Persian capital Persepolis. He later decided to unite the nations of Macedon and Persia, married the eldest daughter of Darius and rewarded those of his men who married Persian women. Following his sudden death in 323 BC his empire was divided among his chief generals, and became the scene of continual wars. Research Alexander The Great
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Anti-Semitism
