Growing up in a reformed, Jewish household, religion never held an important role in my life. While growing up, I went to "Hebrew School" twice a week, learning the basics of Jewish history culture and language. This education consisted very little of information about modern Israel, and consequently my knowledge of the Jewish Homeland was scarce at best. My mother always tells me how incredible and beautiful Israel is and that she hopes for an opportunity to go back for a visit. She particularly favors the feeling that overcame her while she was in Israel, which she described as feeling at peace with the homeland of our religion. I lacked the initiative to learn about Israel on my own due to my disinterest in both religion and politics growing up. What little information I knew came from news clips I saw here and there, often describing continuous fighting and unrest in Israel. I pictured Israel as a barren desert, filled only with Jews, constantly subjected to terrorism and other aggression. I had no idea how far that vision was from reality. In the spring of 2012, I applied and was accepted to go to Israel for ten days in May with an organization called Taglit Birthright. My first exposure to the land was absolutely incredible. I loved everything about it: the people, weather, architecture, food, and more. I never expected the extravagance of cities like Tel Aviv, Netanya, and Haifa. I saw a great and prospering nation, so I couldn't understand why my perceptions were so dramatically mistaken. In order to learn more, I began to conduct research, follow Israeli news outlets, and returned to Israel on a sixteen-day trip designed to educate on both sides of the conflict as well as immerse you in the experience. I will be returning to Israel this summer as part of the Global Student Experience program with Ernst & Young as an audit intern in Tel Aviv. I hope to move there on a more permanent basis after finishing school. Due to my deep passion for Israel, it is extremely difficult for me to understand why so many people can feel such intense hate for my beloved, future home. Topic Relevance to Course With regards to political stances, being pro-Palestinian unfortunately often becomes synonymous with anti-Israeli. In their efforts to support the Palestinian people, pro-Palestinian groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine often neglect internal problems faced by the Palestinians, and instead focus on antagonizing Israel and calling for what they believe to be justice. Of course, some groups support Palestine through a more positive means, but it is those who antagonize Israel that are in the spotlight. Key to their argument is the further construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The construction of such settlements, particularly around Jerusalem, is a question of justice in the quest for the good life. The Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, has declared that he will not resume peace talks with Israel so long as Israeli settlements continue to be built in the West Bank. Consequently, the construction of these Israeli settlements in the West Bank have been labeled as an obstacle to a peaceful resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. The relevance of this topic is twofold, analyzing the morality of settlement construction and the effects of those settlements on the peace talks in the Middle East. The "Is" In order to address the issue of Israeli settlement construction thoroughly, one cannot begin the discussions in the 2000s. The arguments against construction are meaningless without first mentioning the war of 1967, which in turn doesn't make sense without first explaining the formation of Israel in 1948. Again, Israel's independence is incomprehensible without the history of persecution and the Balfour Declaration. To that end, none of the aforementioned events hold logic without the history of the Jewish people in Israel, and so that is where we start. According to Jewish and Christian scriptures, Joshua led the Israelites into the land of Canaan, believed to be modern Israel/Palestine. Historians estimate their arrival to around 1250 B.C.E., at which time the Canaanites and the Philistines inhabited the land. Believing in their holy right to the land, the Israelites told the inhabitants to flee, and slaughtered those who remained. Located at the juncture of Eurasia and Africa, this land repeatedly came under siege by emerging empires, which alternated persecuting and dispersing the monotheistic Jews with allowing their return. In the fifth century B.C.E., the Greek historian, Herodotus, began using the term ˜Syria Palaestina' to identify Israel, believed to be after the ancient Assyrians and Philistines. After crushing the revolt of Shimon Bar Kokhba in the second century C.E., the Romans officially renamed Judea as Palaestina in order to minimize the Jewish identity with that land. These frequent transitions continued until 1516, when the Ottoman Empire assumed control for