Term 3 Vocabulary

Question 1

United Nations

Answer 1

an international organization, with headquarters in New York City, formed to promote international peace, security, and cooperation under the terms of the charter signed by 51 founding countries in San Francisco in 1945.

Question 2

Declaration of Human Rights

Answer 2

fundamental rights, especially those believed to belong to an individual and in whose exercise a government may not interfere, as the rights to speak, associate, work, etc.

Question 3

violation

Answer 3

to break, infringe, or transgress (a law, rule, agreement, promise, instructions, etc.).

Question 4

refugee

Answer 4

a person who flees for refuge or safety, especially to a foreign country, as in time of political upheaval, war, etc.

Question 5

Holocaust

Answer 5

the systematic mass slaughter of European Jews in Nazi concentration camps during World War II (usually preceded by the).

Question 6

concentration camp

Answer 6

a guarded compound for the detention or imprisonment of aliens, members of ethnic minorities, political opponents, etc., especially any of the camps established by the Nazis prior to and during World War II for the confinement and persecution of prisoners.

Question 7

Secretary General

Answer 7

the head or chief administrative officer of a secretariat.

Question 8

Security Council

Answer 8

the division of the United Nations charged with maintaining international peace, composed of five permanent members (U.S., Russian Federation, France, United Kingdom, and the People’s Republic of China) and ten temporary members, each serving for two years.

Question 9

General Assembly

Answer 9

1 the legislature in some states of the U.S.

2 the main deliberative body of the United Nations, composed of delegations from member nations.

Question 10

scapegoat

Answer 10

a person or group made to bear the blame for others or to suffer in their place.

Question 11

persecuted

Answer 11

to pursue with harassing or oppressive treatment, especially because of religious or political beliefs, ethnic or racial origin, gender identity, or sexual orientation.

Question 12

anti-semitic

Answer 12

a person who discriminates against or is prejudiced or hostile toward Jews.

Question 13

Israel

Answer 13

a republic in SW Asia, on the Mediterranean: formed as a Jewish state May 1948.

Question 14

Palestine

Answer 14

a former British mandate (1923–48) comprising part of this country, divided between Israel, Jordan, and Egypt in 1948: the Jordanian and Egyptian parts were occupied by Israel in 1967.

Question 15

West Bank

Answer 15

an area in the Middle East, between the W bank of the Jordan River and the E frontier of Israel: occupied in 1967 and subsequently claimed by Israel; formerly held by Jordan.

Question 16

partition

Answer 16

a division into or distribution in portions or shares.

Question 17

Balfour Declaration

Answer 17

a statement, issued by the British government on November 2, 1917, favoring the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jews but without prejudice to the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine.

Question 18

zionism

Answer 18

a worldwide Jewish movement that resulted in the establishment and development of the state of Israel.

Question 19

Palestine Liberation Organization

Answer 19

an umbrella organization for several Arab groups dedicated to the recovery of Palestine from the state of Israel and the return of refugees from the area to their homeland through diplomatic, military, and terrorist means.

Question 20

intifada

Answer 20

a revolt begun in December 1987 by Palestinian Arabs to protest Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.