Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA)

Seventy years after Israel’s establishment as an independent state, its accomplishments in high tech, medical research and innovation has far exceeded expectations of a country its size. Some might be surprised to learn that Israel consistently ranks in the top 15 countries on the “Happiness Index.” All this despite the fact that Israel has been at war with its neighbours since its inception – and the threats to its security are as real today as they were in 1948. In this talk, the speakers will describe the complex and long history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, beginning with the longing of the Jewish people for a state, the emergence of the Zionist movement, the British Mandatory period and the Arab world’s rejection of Israel’s right to exist. In the absence of diplomatic relations between Israel and its neighbours, wars have played a significant role in determining borders. Hope for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in the 1990s resulted in peace agreements with the Egyptians and Jordanians