Welcome to this week’s History Thread!

Today’s picture: Today is the 71st anniversary of Israeli independence. After a prolonged political and insurgent struggle with Great Britain, Israel was granted independence, becoming the modern world’s first Jewish state under the leadership of David Ben-Gurion. Not surprisingly, Israel’s Arab neighbors didn’t take kindly to the establishment of Israel and immediately attacked, resulting in a 14 month war that set the tone for the region’s future Arab-Jewish relationships.