Israel is a country in Western Asia, located on the Southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. It has land borders with Lebanon to the north, officially known as the State of Israel. Syria to the northeast, Jordan on the east, the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to the east and west, respectively, and Egypt to the southwest.
The land of Israel is as ancient as the sand that blows across the faded mosaic tiles at Masada, as old as the wind that rustles the lush gardens of Haifa, as powerful as the walls that surround the old city of Jerusalem, and as profound as the basic tenets of Judaism upon which the nation was founded.
The story of Israel is a story of prosperity in the desert—a literal desert as well as a wasteland of wandering, assimilation, and loss. It is a tale of a nation's will to exist against all odds, a will to survive in the face of adversity. It is a story of religious faith and cultural evolution, of the sheer force of spirit that has made modern Israel into a thriving, powerful, bountiful nation, a land of milk and honey: the promised land.
From roughly 70 C.E., when the second great Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed by Roman invaders and the Jewish people were conquered, until 1948, when the State of Israel was reestablished in the lands of the Middle East then known as Palestine, the Jews were wanderers, nomadic exiles in a largely hostile world.
When the Temple of Jerusalem (of which the Western or Wailing Wall is the sole remaining part) was torn down, it is said, a shard of its stone broke away and entered the heart of every Jew, and for almost 2,000 years that stone in their hearts was their only country. Dispersed throughout Europe and the Middle East (and in later centuries the Americas), buffeted by politics and hatred wherever they attempted to settle, the story of the Jews has always been one of triumph in the face of adversity.
The early history of the Jews is preserved in the pages of the Old Testament. Aside from the religious and moral instruction it contains, the Bible is a repository of stories illustrating the forging of the Jewish identity. Tales of slavery, of conquest, of war, of defeat, and of loss illustrate emphatically that the Jewish nation has always been and always will be a Nation - with or without possession of its homeland.
Since the biblical dispersal of the ten tribes of Israel, the character of the Jewish people has been defined by its ability to survive. Long before the Jews withstood the Nazi holocaust of World War II, they endured the Babylonian exile, the Roman occupation, the Egyptian enslavement, the darkness of the Middle Ages, the persecution and torture of the Spanish Inquisition, the tyranny of the Crusades, and the failure of the Enlightenment to eradicate anti-Semitism.
Homeless, mistrusted, feared, forced to die for their beliefs, losing touch with their Jewish past through assimilation and conversion, the national identity of the Jewish people has always remained, finally, inviolable.
Thailand – Israel Relations
Thailand and Israel have had official relations since 23rd June 1954. In 1958, the Embassy of Israel was established in Bangkok. Then later in 1996, Thai Embassy was established in Tel Aviv. The First Foreign Ministries Working Dialogue was held in Jerusalem in 2002. For over 60 years, the two countries have shared a close and friendly relationship as well as cooperating in various fields including agriculture, water management, startups, technological innovation, education, medicine and culture.
You can find more information about Israel from the AU Library Web site
Sources
Israel. (2021, April 5). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel
Shapiro, D. (1997). Israel: triumph of the spirit. MetroBooks.
Thailand – Israel Relations. (n.d.). https://embassies.gov.il/bangkoken/Relations/Pages/Relations.aspx
Israel and Assumption University Relations
Assumption University of Thailand comprises faculty members from countries around the globe and more than 2000 foreign students of diverse cultures and backgrounds from more than 80 counties including Israel students.
On the occasion of the 74th Anniversary of National Day of The State of Israel (April 14, 2023), the management, administrators, lecturers, staff, students and alumni of Assumption University of Thailand (AU), would like to congratulate and express their sincerest & best wishes for the Israeli happiness, successes and prosperity.
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The Director of Assumption University’s Office of International Affairs Mr. Glen Chatelier greeted the Ambassador of the State of Israel and his wife at the Kempinsky Hotel on the occasion of the National Day of the State of Israel on May 16, 2016. |
| Mr. Glen Chatelier, the Director of the Office of International Affairs, and Thai distinguished guests greeted His Excellency Simon Roded, the Ambassador of Israel to Thailand on the occasion of the 67th anniversary of the independence of the State of Israel at the Kempinsky Hotel on May 19, 2015. |  |
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The special lecture on “Approaches to Intercivilizational Dialog” on January 11, 2008 at Room A52, Assumption Building, , Huamark Campus. Assumption University. The keynote speaker was honored by Dr. Ben Mollov, BarIlan University, Israel. |
Related Links
The Embassy of Israel to Thailand
National Day of the State of Israel
The 67th anniversary of the independence of the State of Israel
