Israel101 Israel 101

Jerusalem in the twenty-first century is the flashpoint of geopolitics, as it has been from time immemorial. Though united under Israeli rule since 1967, the facts on the ground are nonetheless evidence of two Jerusalems, one Jewish and one Arab. It is in the sleepy Arab suburb of Silwan that the fragile modus vivendi of these two populations is being threatened by, of all things, an archaeological dig. Incredibly, the ground beneath has given up, over years of excavation, the remains of what might well be the palace of none other than King David.http://israel-101.com

Did you know that the first general in modern Israel’s fledgling army was a volunteer from America? Meet Mickey Marcus, a tough Brooklyn Street kid, who, having helped liberate the Nazi death camps in World War II, arrived in Israel, to relieve the siege of embattled Jerusalem. http://israel-101.com

Birth Pangs of a Nation The birth of the modern state of Israel isn't just a history lesson. It's a collection of individual stories, which together represent nothing short of bringing to life the hopes and dreams of the Jewish people for the past two millennia. From the heroic deeds of Hanah Senesh, who parachuted into Nazi occupied Hungary, to the Haganah ship Exodus, laden with Jewish refugees en-route to the shores of Palestine, we’ll experience the “birth pangs of a nation” through their eyes.