On this day

On this day: Letters of recognition

By Hannah Tosh, September 9, 2011

In 1993 Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) finally reached agreement over the distribution of land with the Oslo Accords, fully named the "Declaration of Principles on Interim Self Government Arrangements".

This was the initial stage in the first direct attempts between the organisations to solve the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict.

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On this day: The Blitz begins

By Hannah Tosh, September 7, 2011

Nazi Germany started bombing Britain in September 1940. The bombings continued on for 76 consecutive days - until May 10 1941 - as Germany attempted to destroy Britain's infrastructure and cripple the country's war economy.

It was reported at the time that the attacks were the worst offence committed by Germany since the war began.

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On This Day: hostages at the Munich Olympics

By Hannah Tosh, September 5, 2011

Nine members of the 1972 Israeli Olympic team were snatched from their apartment in the Olympic village and murdered by the terrorist group Black September.

Eight gunmen struck as the athletes slept. Others were spared when a colleague- Yossef Gutfreund heard a disturbance, raised the alarm.

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On this day: Germany invades Poland

By Hannah Tosh, September 1, 2011

For the second time in less than 20 years Britain and France were declaring war on Germany, this time, for the invasion of Poland.

Hitler's obsession with expanding Germany into a greater nation with more "Lebensraum" (living space) began with the Polish territories.

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On this day: The liberation of Paris

By Jennifer Lipman, August 25, 2011

The city had been occupied by Hitler's forces for four long years, but finally General Charles de Gaulle and the allied forces were able to march back into Paris.

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On this day: Clifford Odets dies

By Jennifer Lipman, August 18, 2011

The Philadelphia-born Odets gained world-wide fame in his career. When he died at the age of 57 he had authored almost 20 plays, writing on topics including the Nazis, the great depression and the trials of ordinary life.

His themes were not necessarily Jewish but, as the son of immigrants to America, his work often had a Jewish feel to it.

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On this day: Gaza settlements evacuated

By Jennifer Lipman, August 17, 2011

As Israeli soldiers began removing Jewish Gaza residents from their homes, pictures of clashes, stories about the settlers and why they did not leave and musings about what Gaza would be like after appeared in newspapers around the world.

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On this day: A Nazi sentenced

By Jennifer Lipman, August 11, 2011

At the age of 25, in 1944, Josef Scheungraber was a Nazi commander operating in Italy. It was on his orders that the military police massacred 14 people in a quiet Tuscany village. His victims were ordered into a barn and the barn was then blown up.

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On this day: Mahmoud Darwish dies

By Jennifer Lipman, August 9, 2011

Darwish was an iconic figure to the Palestinians; a poet, but also a prominent political voice. When he died he was mourned by ten thousand Palestinians and the Ramallah Cultural Palace was renamed in his honour.

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On this day: Britain declares war on Germany

By Jennifer Lipman, August 4, 2011

As the Balkan power keg lit up Europe, Germany made its move and invaded Russia, and then Belgium.

In keeping with the terms of the 1839 Treaty of London, the Great Powers were required to protect Belgium's neutrality.

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On this day: The Einstein - Szilárd letter

By Jennifer Lipman, August 2, 2011

Was it a letter that changed the course of history? Albert Einstein's confidential missive to Franklin Roosevelt, penned along with Hungarian Jewish physicist Leó Szilárd and other scientists, called on the US President to support the development of a nuclear weapon.

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On this day: World Scout Day

By Jennifer Lipman, August 1, 2011

When Lieutenant-General Robert Baden-Powell arranged a camping trip for 22 boys in August 1907, he probably was not expecting the movement to grow to a worldwide institution.

The first camp was held at Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour, with Baden-Powell eager to try out the ideas that would later be published as the book Scouting for Boys.

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On this day: Mel Gibson’s ‘antisemitic’ rant

By Jennifer Lipman, July 28, 2011

Mel Gibson was the toast of Hollywood – had been for years – when he was stopped by a police officer in Malibu, California. He was arrested for drunk driving and launched into an attack on the officer - who was Jewish.

He allegedly shouted: "F***king Jews…the Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world".

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On this day: Israeli embassy bombed

By Jennifer Lipman, July 26, 2011

Fourteen people were injured when a car bomb was left next to the Israeli Embassy in Kensington.

The attack was followed by another, 24 hours later, at the head offices of the Joint Israel Appeal in Finchley. A further six people were injured in the second hit. Both buildings were left severely damaged, as were some nearby shops.

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On this day: Arthur James Balfour

By Daniel Walters, July 25, 2011

Arthur Balfour was best known for his 'Balfour Declaration' of 1917, a publication which supported the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. This was published during his time as Foreign Secretary, during the First World War.

The publication made him hugely popular with Jews all around the world, with the JC at the time calling the declaration a "Jewish triumph".

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On this day: North Korea fined for terrorist attack

By Daniel Walters, July 21, 2011

Thirty-eight years on from the terrorist attack at Ben Gurion International airport in Israel – known at the time as the Lod Airport massacre - North Korea was finally fined nearly £200 million for supporting terrorists in an attack that killed 26 people.

The US Federal Court found North Korea guilty of aiding the terrorist's mission and of giving them material support.

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On this day: Hitler survives assassination attempt

By Daniel Walters, July 20, 2011

One of several high profile assassination attempts made on the life of Adolf Hitler, this event had the potential to significantly alter the history of the Jewish people and of Europe.

A bomb exploded at the Nazi headquarters in Rastenberg, East Prussia, sending shockwaves through Europe after the announcement of the failed assassination attempt was made by the German News Agency.

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On this day: Iraqi army overthrows the monarchy

By Jennifer Lipman, July 14, 2011

The events of that day in July changed the face of the Middle East, as the Hashemite monarchy was overthrown after 26 years of rule.

The coup, led by Major-General Abdul Karim el Qasim and a group of army officers, was greeted in Baghdad by many as liberation from the forces of imperialism. But as Iraq lost its Western-backed leadership and became a republic,

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On this day: John Demjanjuk charged

By Jennifer Lipman, July 13, 2011

The old man who was wheeled into the German court may have had little resemblance to the young Nazi soldiers seen in photographs, but in May he was indeed found guilty of some of the most chilling war crimes.

He was sentenced to five years in prison but prosecutors agreed he could remain free pending an appeal.

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On this day: Goldwasser and Regev captured

By Jennifer Lipman, July 12, 2011

As the Second Lebanon War went on, less and less appeared in the newspapers about the two men whose kidnapping led to the conflict.

Eldad Regev was 25 when he was captured during an attack on their patrol at the Israel-Lebanon border in 2006, Ehud Goldwasser, at 30, was older and married.

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