title: History of banking

text: The process of financial innovation also advanced enormously in the first few decades of the 21st century, increasing the importance and profitability of nonbank finance. Such profitability priorly restricted to the non-banking industry, has prompted the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to encourage banks to explore other financial instruments, diversifying banks' business as well as improving banking economic health. Hence, as the distinct financial instruments are being explored and adopted by both the banking and non-banking industries, the distinction between different financial institutions is gradually vanishing. For example, in 2020, the OCC muddled the distinction between traditional banking and the cryptocurrency ecosystem when it published a number of interpretive letters clarifying national banks' ability to custody cryptocurrency and provide banking services to cryptocurrency companies, as well as use blockchain innovations like stablecoins as settlement infrastructure. In addition, in 2021, the OCC granted its first federal banking charter to Anchorage Digital, a digital asset platform for institutions.


title: History of banking

text: The financial crisis of 2007–2008 caused significant stress on banks around the world. The failure of a large number of major banks resulted in government bail-outs. The collapse and fire sale of Bear Stearns to JPMorgan Chase in March 2008 and the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September that same year led to a credit crunch and global banking crises. In response governments around the world bailed-out, nationalised or arranged fire sales for a large number of major banks. Starting with the Irish government on 29 September 2008, governments around the world provided wholesale guarantees to underwriting banks to avoid panic of systemic failure to the whole banking system. These events spawned the term 'too big to fail' and resulted in a lot of discussion about the moral hazard of these actions.


title: Quadrophenia

text: Quadrophenia is the sixth studio album by the English rock band the Who, released as a double album on 26 October 1973 by Track Records. It is the group's third rock opera, the two previous being the "mini-opera" song "A Quick One, While He's Away" and "Tommy". Set in London and Brighton in 1965, the story follows a young mod named Jimmy and his search for self-worth and importance. "Quadrophenia" is the only Who album entirely composed by Pete Townshend.


title: Quadrophenia

text: The group started work on the album in 1972, trying to follow up "Tommy" and "Who's Next", both of which had achieved substantial critical and commercial success. Recording was delayed while bassist John Entwistle and singer Roger Daltrey recorded solo albums and drummer Keith Moon worked on films. Because a new studio was not finished in time, the group had to use Ronnie Lane's Mobile Studio. The album makes significant use of Townshend's multi-track synthesizers and sound effects, as well as Entwistle's layered horn parts, in addition to the group's typical playing styles, especially from Moon. Relationships between the group and manager Kit Lambert broke down irretrievably during recording and Lambert had left the band's service by the time the album was released.


title: Quadrophenia

text: "Quadrophenia" was released to a positive reception in both the UK and the US, but the resulting tour was marred with problems with backing tapes replacing the additional instruments on the album, and the stage piece was retired in early 1974. It was revived in 1996 with a larger ensemble, and a further tour took place in 2012. The album made a positive impact on the mod revival movement of the late 1970s, and the resulting 1979 film adaptation was successful. The album has been reissued on compact disc several times, and seen a number of remixes that corrected some perceived flaws in the original.


title: Quadrophenia

text: The original release of "Quadrophenia" came with a set of recording notes for reviewers and journalists that explained the basic story and plot.


title: Quadrophenia

text: The narrative centres on a young working-class mod named Jimmy. He likes drugs, beach fights and romance, and becomes a fan of the Who after a concert in Brighton, but is disillusioned by his parents' attitude towards him, dead-end jobs and an unsuccessful trip to see a psychiatrist. He clashes with his parents over his usage of amphetamines, and has difficulty finding regular work and doubts his own self-worth, quitting a job as a dustman after only two days. Though he is happy to be "one" of the mods, he struggles to keep up with his peers, and his girlfriend leaves him for his best friend.


title: Quadrophenia

text: After destroying his scooter and contemplating suicide, he decides to take a train to Brighton, where he had enjoyed earlier experiences with fellow mods. However, he discovers the "Ace Face" who led the gang now has a menial job as a bellboy in a hotel. He feels everything in his life has rejected him, steals a boat, and uses it to sail out to a rock overlooking the sea. On the rock and stuck in the rain, he contemplates his life. The ending is left ambiguous as to what happens to Jimmy.


title: Quadrophenia

text: 1972 was the least active year for the Who since they had formed. The group had achieved great commercial and critical success with the albums "Tommy" and "Who's Next", but were struggling to come up with a suitable follow-up. The group recorded new material with "Who's Next" collaborator Glyn Johns in May 1972, including "Is It In My Head" and "Love Reign O'er Me" which were eventually released on "Quadrophenia", and a mini-opera called "Long Live Rock – Rock Is Dead", but the material was considered too derivative of "Who's Next" and sessions were abandoned. In an interview for "Melody Maker", guitarist and bandleader Pete Townshend said "I've got to get a new act together… People don't really want to sit and listen to all our past". He had become frustrated that the group had been unable to produce a film of "Tommy" (a film version of Tommy would be released in 1975) or "Lifehouse" (the abortive project that resulted in "Who's Next"), and decided to follow Frank Zappa's idea of producing a musical soundtrack that could produce a narrative in the same way as a film. Unlike "Tommy", the new work had to be grounded in reality and tell a story of youth and adolescence that the audience could relate to.


title: Quadrophenia

text: Townshend became inspired by "Long Live Rock – Rock Is Dead"'s theme and in autumn 1972 began writing material, while the group put out unreleased recordings including "Join Together" and "Relay" to keep themselves in the public eye. In the meantime, bassist John Entwistle released his second solo album, "Whistle Rymes", singer Roger Daltrey worked on solo material, and Keith Moon featured as a drummer in the film "That'll Be the Day". Townshend had met up with "Irish" Jack Lyons, one of the original Who fans, which gave him the idea of writing a piece that would look back on the group's history and its audience. He created the character of Jimmy from an amalgamation of six early fans of the group, including Lyons, and gave the character a four-way split personality, which led to the album's title (a play on schizophrenia). Unlike other Who albums, Townshend insisted on composing the entire work, though he deliberately made the initial demos sparse and incomplete so that the other group members could contribute to the finished arrangement.


title: Quadrophenia

text: Work was interrupted for most of 1972 in order to work on Lou Reizner's orchestral version of "Tommy". Daltrey finished his first solo album, which included the hit single "Giving It All Away", fueling rumours of a split in the press. Things were not helped by Daltrey discovering that managers Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp had large sums of money unaccounted for, and suggested they should be fired, which Townshend resisted.


title: Quadrophenia

text: In order to do justice to the recording of "Quadrophenia", the group decided to build their own studio, Ramport Studios in Battersea. Work started on building Ramport in November 1972, but five months later it still lacked an adequate mixing desk that could handle recording "Quadrophenia". Instead, Townshend's friend Ronnie Lane, bassist for Faces, loaned his mobile studio for the sessions. Lambert ostensibly began producing the album in May, but missed recording sessions and generally lacked discipline. By mid-1973, Daltrey demanded that Lambert leave the Who's services. The band recruited engineer Ron Nevison, who had worked with Townshend's associate John Alcock, to assist with engineering.


title: Quadrophenia

text: To illustrate the four-way split personality of Jimmy, Townshend wrote four themes, reflecting the four members of the Who. These were "Bell Boy" (Moon), "Is It Me?" (Entwistle), "Helpless Dancer" (Daltrey) and "Love Reign O'er Me" (Townshend). Two lengthy instrumentals on the album, the title track and "The Rock" contain the four themes, separately and together. The instrumentals were not demoed but built up in the studio. Who author John Atkins described the instrumental tracks as "the most ambitious and intricate music the group ever undertook."


title: Quadrophenia

text: Most tracks involved each of the group recording their parts separately; unlike earlier albums, Townshend had left space in his demos for other band members to contribute, though most of the synthesizers on the finished album came from his ARP 2500 synthesizer and were recorded at home. The only song arranged by the band in the studio was "5.15". According to Nevison, the ARP 2500 was impossible to record in the studio, and changing sounds was cumbersome due to a lack of patches, which required Townshend to work on these parts at home, working late into the night. To obtain a good string section sound on the album, Townshend bought a cello and over two weeks learned how to play it well enough to be recorded.


title: Quadrophenia

text: Entwistle recorded his bass part to "The Real Me" in one take on a Gibson Thunderbird and spent several weeks during the summer arranging and recording numerous multi-tracked horn parts. Having been forced to play more straightforwardly by Johns on "Who's Next", Moon returned to his established drumming style on "Quadrophenia". He contributed lead vocals to "Bell Boy", where he deliberately showcased an exaggerated narrative style. For the finale of "Love, Reign O'er Me", Townshend and Nevison set up a large group of percussion instruments, which Moon played before kicking over a set of tubular bells, which can be heard on the final mix.


title: Quadrophenia

text: During the album production, Townshend made many field recordings with a portable reel-to-reel recorder. These included waves washing on a Cornish beach and the doppler whistle of a diesel train recorded near Townshend's house at Goring-on-Thames. The ending of "The Dirty Jobs" includes a musical excerpt from "The Thunderer", a march by John Philip Sousa, which Nevison recorded while watching a brass band play in Regent's Park. Assembling the field recordings in the studio was problematic; at one point, during "I Am the Sea", nine tape machines were running sound effects. According to Nevison, Townshend produced the album single-handedly, adding that "everything started when Pete got there, and everything finished when Pete left". Townshend began mixing the album in August at his home studio in Goring along with Nevison.


title: Quadrophenia

text: The album was preceded by the single "5:15" in the UK, which benefited from a live appearance on "Top of the Pops" on 4 October 1973 and was released the next day. It reached No. 20 in the charts. "Quadrophenia" was originally released in the UK on 26 October, but fans found it difficult to find a copy due to a shortage of vinyl caused by the OPEC oil embargo. In the UK, "Quadrophenia" reached No. 2, being held off the top spot by David Bowie's "Pin Ups". The album reached No. 2 on the US "Billboard" chart, the highest position of any Who album in that country, being kept from No. 1 by Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road". In the US, "Love Reign O'er Me" was chosen as the lead single, released on 27 October.


title: Quadrophenia

text: The album was originally released as a two-LP set with a gatefold jacket and a booklet containing lyrics, a text version of the story, and photographs taken by Ethan Russell illustrating it. MCA Records re-released the album as a two-CD set in 1985 with the lyrics and text storyline on a thin fold-up sheet but none of the photographs. The album was reissued as a remastered CD in 1996, featuring a reproduction of the original album artwork. The original mix had been criticised in particular for Daltrey's vocals being buried, so the 1996 CD was completely remixed by Jon Astley and Andy Macpherson.


title: Quadrophenia

text: In 2011, Townshend and longtime Who engineer Bob Pridden remixed the album, resulting in a deluxe five-disc box set. Unlike earlier reissues, this set contains two discs of demos, including some songs that were dropped from the final running order of the album, and a selection of songs in 5.1 surround sound. The box set came with a 100-page book including an essay by Townshend about the album sessions, with photos. At the same time, the standard two-CD version was re-released with a selection of the demos as bonus content; some Disc Two tracks were moved to Disc One to accommodate space for these demos. In 2014, the album was released on Blu-ray Audio featuring a brand-new remix of the entire album by Townshend and Pridden in 5.1 surround sound as well the 2011 Deluxe Edition stereo remix and the original 1973 stereo LP mix.


title: Quadrophenia

text: Critical reaction to "Quadrophenia" was positive. "Melody Maker"s Chris Welch wrote "rarely have a group succeeded in distilling their essence and embracing a motif as convincingly", while Charles Shaar Murray described the album in "New Musical Express" as the "most rewarding musical experience of the year". Reaction in the US was generally positive, though Dave Marsh, writing in "Creem" gave a more critical response. Lenny Kaye, wrote in "Rolling Stone" that "the Who as a whole have never sounded better" but added, "on its own terms, "Quadrophenia" falls short of the mark". In a year-end top albums list for "Newsday", Robert Christgau ranked it seventh, and found it exemplary of how 1973's best records "fail to reward casual attention. They demand concentration, just like museum and textbook art."


title: Quadrophenia

text: Retrospective reviews were also positive. Writing in "" (1981), Christgau regarded "Quadrophenia" as more of an opera than "Tommy", possessing a brilliantly written albeit confusing plot, jarring but melodic music, and compassionate lyrics about "Everykid as heroic fuckup, smart enough to have a good idea of what's being done to him and so sensitive he gets pushed right out to the edge anyway". Chris Jones, writing for BBC Music, said "everything great about the Who is contained herein." In 2013, "Billboard", reviewing the album for its 40th anniversary, said: "Filled with performances packed with life and depth and personality, "Quadrophenia" is 90 minutes of the Who at its very best." The album has sold 1 million copies and has been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. In 2000 "Q" magazine placed Quadrophenia at No. 56 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. The album has been ranked at No. 267 on "Rolling Stone" magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It is also ranked at No. 86 on VH1's list of the 100 greatest albums of all time.


title: Quadrophenia

text: Townshend now considers "Quadrophenia" to be the last great album that the Who recorded. In 2011, he said the group "never recorded anything that was so ambitious or audacious again", and implied that it was the last album to feature good playing by Keith Moon.


title: Quadrophenia

text: The band toured in support of "Quadrophenia" but immediately encountered difficulties playing the material live. To achieve the rich overdubbed sound of the album on stage, Townshend wanted Chris Stainton (who had played piano on some tracks) to join as a touring member. Daltrey objected to this and believed the Who's performances should only have the four core members. To obtain the required instrumentation without additional musicians, the group elected to employ taped backing tracks for live performance, as they had already done for "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again". Initial performances were plagued by malfunctioning equipment. Once the tapes started, the band had to play to them, which constrained their styles. Moon, in particular, found playing "Quadrophenia" difficult as he was forced to stick to a click track instead of watching the rest of the band. The group only allowed two days of rehearsals with the tapes before touring, one of which was abandoned after Daltrey punched Townshend following an argument.


title: Quadrophenia

text: The tour started on 28 October 1973. The original plan had been to play most of the album, but after the first gig at Stoke-on-Trent, the band dropped "The Dirty Jobs", "Is It In My Head" and "I've Had Enough" from the set. Both Daltrey and Townshend felt they had to describe the plot in detail to the audience, which took up valuable time on stage. A few shows later in Newcastle upon Tyne, the backing tapes to "5:15" came in late. Townshend stopped the show, grabbed Pridden, who was controlling the mixing desk, and dragged him onstage, shouting obscenities at him. Townshend subsequently picked up some of the tapes and threw them over the stage, kicked his amplifier over, and walked off. The band returned 20 minutes later, playing older material. Townshend and Moon appeared on local television the following day and attempted to brush things off. The Who played two other shows in Newcastle without incident.


title: Quadrophenia

text: The US tour started on 20 November at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. The group were nervous about playing "Quadrophenia" after the British tour, especially Moon. Before the show, he was offered some tranquillisers from a fan. Just after the show started, the fan collapsed and was hospitalised. Moon's playing, meanwhile, became incredibly erratic, particularly during "Quadrophenia" where he did not seem to be able to keep time with the backing tapes. Towards the end of the show, during "Won't Get Fooled Again", he passed out over his drumkit. After a 20-minute wait, Moon reappeared onstage, but after a few bars of "Magic Bus", collapsed again, and was immediately taken to hospital. Scot Halpin, an audience member, convinced promoter Bill Graham to let him play drums, and the group closed the show with him. Moon had a day to recover, and by the next show at the Los Angeles Forum, was playing at his usual strength. The group began to get used to the backing tapes, and the remainder of gigs for the US tour were successful.


title: Quadrophenia

text: The tour continued in February 1974, with a short series of gigs in France. The final show at the Palais de Sports in Lyon on the 24th was the last time "Quadrophenia" was played as a stage piece with Moon, who died in 1978. Townshend later said that Daltrey "ended up hating "Quadrophenia" – probably because it had bitten back". However, a small selection of songs remained in the set list; live performances of "Drowned" and "Bell Boy" filmed at Charlton Athletic football ground on 18 May were later released on the "30 Years of Maximum R&B" box set.


title: Quadrophenia

text: In June 1996, Daltrey, Townshend and Entwistle revived "Quadrophenia" as a live concert. They performed at Hyde Park, London as part of the Prince's Trust "Masters of Music" benefit concert, playing most of the album for the first time since 1974. The concert was not billed as the Who, but credited to the three members individually. The performance also included Gary Glitter as the Godfather, Phil Daniels as the Narrator and Jimmy, Trevor MacDonald as the newsreader, Adrian Edmondson as the Bell Boy and Stephen Fry as the hotel manager. The musical lineup included Townshend's brother Simon, Zak Starkey on drums (his first appearance with the Who), guitarists David Gilmour (who played the bus driver) and Geoff Whitehorn, keyboardists John "Rabbit" Bundrick and Jon Carin, percussionist Jody Linscott, Billy Nicholls leading a two-man/two-woman backing vocal section, and five brass players. During rehearsals, Daltrey was struck in the face by Glitter's microphone stand, and performed the concert wearing an eyepatch.


title: Quadrophenia

text: A subsequent tour of the US and UK followed, employing most of the same players but with Billy Idol replacing Edmondson, Simon Townshend replacing Gilmour and P. J. Proby replacing Glitter during the second half of the tour. 85,000 fans saw the ensemble perform "Quadrophenia" at Madison Square Garden over six nights in July 1996. A recording from the tour was subsequently released in 2005 as part of "Tommy and Quadrophenia Live".


title: Quadrophenia

text: The Who performed Quadrophenia at the Royal Albert Hall on 30 March 2010 as part of the Teenage Cancer Trust series of ten gigs. This one-off performance of the rock opera featured guest appearances from Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and Kasabian's Tom Meighan.


title: Quadrophenia

text: In November 2012, the Who started a U.S. tour of "Quadrophenia", dubbed "Quadrophenia and More". The group played the entire album without any guest singers or announcements with the then regular Who line-up (including Starkey and bassist Pino Palladino, who replaced Entwistle following his death in 2002) along with five additional musicians. The tour included additional video performances, including Moon singing "Bell Boy" from 1974 and Entwistle's bass solo in "5:15" from 2000. After Starkey injured his wrist, session drummer Scott Devours replaced him for part of the tour with minimal rehearsal. The tour progressed, with Devours drumming, to the UK in 2013, ending in a performance at Wembley Arena in July.


title: Quadrophenia

text: In September 2017, Townshend embarked on a short tour with Billy Idol, Alfie Boe, and an orchestra entitled "Classic Quadrophenia".


title: Quadrophenia

text: "Quadrophenia" was revived for a film version in 1979, directed by Franc Roddam. The film attempted to portray an accurate visual interpretation of Townshend's vision of Jimmy and his surroundings, and included Phil Daniels as Jimmy and Sting as the Ace Face. Unlike the "Tommy" film, the music was largely relegated to the background, and was not performed by the cast as in a rock opera. The film soundtrack included three additional songs written by Townshend, which were Kenney Jones' first recordings as an official member of the Who. The film was a commercial and critical success, as it conveniently coincided with the mod revival movement of the late 1970s.


title: Quadrophenia

text: There have been several amateur productions of a "Quadrophenia" musical. In 2007, the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama performed a musical based on the original album at the Sherman Theatre, Cardiff, featuring a cast of 12 backed by an 11-piece band.


title: Quadrophenia

text: In October 1995, the rock group Phish, with an additional four-man horn section, performed "Quadrophenia" in its entirety as their second Halloween "" at the Rosemont Horizon in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois. The recording was later released as a part of Live Phish Volume 14. The band also covered the tracks "Drowned" and "Sea and Sand" on their live album "".


title: Quadrophenia

text: In June 2015, Townshend released an orchestral version of the album entitled "Classic Quadrophenia". The original album was orchestrated by his partner Rachel Fuller and conducted by Robert Ziegler, with music provided by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Tenor Alfie Boe sang the lead role, supported by the London Oriana Choir, Billy Idol, Phil Daniels and Townshend.


title: Palestinian territories

text: The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been militarily occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has referred to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as "the Occupied Palestinian Territory", and this term was used as the legal definition by the ICJ in its advisory opinion of July 2004. The term occupied Palestinian territory was used by the United Nations and other international organizations between October 1999 and December 2012 to refer to areas controlled by the Palestinian National Authority, but from 2012, when Palestine was admitted as one of its non-member observer states, the United Nations started using exclusively the name State of Palestine. The European Union (EU) also adopts the term occupied Palestinian territory, with a parallel term Palestinian Authority territories also occasionally used.


title: Palestinian territories

text: The Gaza Strip and the West Bank had been occupied by Egypt and Jordan, respectively, since the 1948 Arab–Israeli War until the Six-Day War of 1967. Israel occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1967 and has since maintained control. In 1980, Israel officially absorbed East Jerusalem and proclaimed the whole of the city to be its capital. The inclusion, though never formally amounting to legal annexation, was condemned internationally and declared "null and void" by the United Nations Security Council. The Palestinian National Authority, the United Nations, the international legal and humanitarian bodies and the international community regard East Jerusalem as part of the West Bank, and consequently a part of the Palestinian territories. The Palestinian National Authority never exercised sovereignty over the area, although it housed its offices in Orient House and several other buildings as an assertion of its sovereign interests. Israeli sovereignty over East Jerusalem has not been recognized by the International community, on the grounds that the unilateral annexation of territory occupied during war contravenes the Fourth Geneva Convention. The cost of the occupation for Israel over four decades (1967–2007) is estimated to amount to $50 billion. The World Bank estimates the annual cost in 2013 to the Palestinian economy of Israeli occupation at $3.4 billion.


title: Palestinian territories

text: In 1988, with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) intention to declare a Palestinian State, Jordan renounced all territorial claims to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. In 1993, following the Oslo Accords, parts of the territories politically came under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian National Authority (Areas A and B). Israel still exercised full military control and, civil control over 61% of the West Bank (Area C). The Oslo Accords established access to the sea for Gaza within 20 nautical miles from the shore. In the context of the Gaza–Israel conflict, Berlin Commitment of 2002 reduced this to . In October 2006 Israel imposed a 6-mile limit, and at the conclusion of the 2008-2009 Gaza War restricted access to a 3-nautical-mile limit, beyond which a no-go zone exists. As a result, in 2012 more than 3,000 Palestinian fishermen were denied access to 85% of the maritime areas agreed to in 1995. The majority of the Dead Sea area is off-limits to Palestinian use, and Palestinians are denied access to its coastline.


title: Palestinian territories

text: Israel disengaged from the Gaza Strip in 2005. The Hamas takeover of Gaza in 2007 divided the Palestinian territories politically. Abbas's Fatah largely ruled the West Bank and was recognized internationally as the official Palestinian Authority. In 2009, the UN considered the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to be still occupied by Israel.


title: Palestinian territories

text: On 29 November 2012, UNGA 67/19 reaffirmed "the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to independence in their State of Palestine on the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967" and decided "to accord to Palestine non-member observer State status in the United Nations". The next month, a UN legal memorandum recognized Palestine's preference of the name "State of Palestine" with Mahmoud Abbas as its current leader. It was noted that there was no legal impediment to using the designation 'Palestine' to refer to the geographical area of the Palestinian territory. It was also explained that there was also no bar to the continued use of the term "Occupied Palestinian Territory including East Jerusalem" or such other terminology as might customarily be used by the UN General Assembly. The ISO adopted the name change in 2013. The UN Security Council continues to treat Palestine as a non-sovereign entity, preventing its admission to the UN General Assembly as a full member state. Israeli governments have maintained that the area involved is within territorial dispute. The extent of the territories, while subject to future negotiations, have frequently been revendicated by the Palestinian Authority as the Green Line. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, 135 UN Member Nations have recognized the State of Palestine. It has not been recognized by Israel and most Western nations, including the United States.


title: Palestinian territories

text: In 2014, Fatah and Hamas agreed to hold elections and form a compromise Unity Government. The government survived the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, but dissolved on 17 June 2015 after President Abbas said it was unable to operate in the Gaza Strip.


title: Palestinian territories

text: The United Nations, the European Union, International Committee of the Red Cross, and the government of the United Kingdom, have used for many years the terms the "Occupied Palestinian Territory" or "Occupied Palestinian Territories".


title: Palestinian territories

text: The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Dore Gold have objected to the use of the term "Occupied Palestinian Territories". The phrase "occupied Palestine" has been used by Palestinians to mean Israel although Professor Julie Peteet also says that this usage diminished with the advent of the peace process and PLO recognition of Israel. A parallel exists in the aspirations of David Ben-Gurion, Menachem Begin, to establish Jewish sovereignty over all of Greater Israel in trust for the Jewish people.


title: Palestinian territories

text: The Palestinian territories consist of two distinct areas: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. Although the boundaries are commonly referred to as the "1967 borders", they are historically the armistice lines under the 1949 Armistice Agreements, which brought an end to the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and are commonly referred to as the Green Line. The 1949 armistice lines were expressly declared to be armistice lines, and not international borders. Some Palestinian negotiators have claimed a return to those lines as the borders of a future Palestinian state, while Hamas does not recognize the State of Israel at all. The Arab League has supported these boundaries as the borders of the future State of Palestine in the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.


title: Palestinian territories

text: The eastern limit of the West Bank is the border with Jordan. The Israel–Jordan peace treaty defined that border as the international border, and Jordan renounced all claims to territory west of it. The border segment between Jordan and the West Bank was left undefined pending a definitive agreement on the status of the territory.


title: Palestinian territories

text: The southern limit of the Gaza Strip is the border with Egypt. Egypt renounced all claims to land north of the international border, including the Gaza Strip, in the Egypt–Israel peace treaty. The Palestinians were not parties to either agreement.


title: Palestinian territories

text: The Gaza Strip is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea. The natural geographic boundary of the West Bank, as the name implies, is the Jordan River. To the Territories belong the territorial waters of the Gaza Strip and the part of the Dead Sea between the West Bank and the Jordan border-line (see adjacent CIA map), which are also completely controlled by Israel.


title: Palestinian territories

text: The Palestinian territories are part of the area intended by the United Nations to become the territory of the future State of Palestine. Originally, a larger area was allotted to the planned Palestinian state in Resolution 181 of 29 November 1947, but the Arabs rejected it and in the 1948 Palestine war, the Israeli army conquered major parts of it. While in the "Partition Plan" about 45% of historic Palestine was destined for the Arabic state, the Palestinian territories constitute only some 23%. The last figure is including all space occupied by Israeli settlements, walls, and roads.


title: Palestinian territories

text: In the UN, nearly all countries voted in favour of Resolution 58/292 of 17 May 2004; namely, that the boundaries of a future Palestinian state should be based on the pre-1967 borders, which correspond with the Green Line. The Resolution affirmed, in connection with the Palestinian right to self-determination and to sovereignty, that the independent State of Palestine should be based on the pre-1967 borders.<ref name='Res 58/292'>"Resolution 58/292. Status of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem" ; 17 May 2004 (doc.nr. A/RES/58/292)</ref> In Resolution 43/177 of 15 December 1988, the declaration of independence of the State of Palestine was acknowledged by the UN General Assembly, but it was not admitted as a member state. In the same resolution, their sovereignty over the Occupied Palestinian Territory was recognized.


title: Palestinian territories

text: On 29 November 2012, the UN General Assembly passed United Nations General Assembly resolution 67/19 changing Palestine's observer status at the UN from "entity" to "non-member state" by a vote of 138 to 9, with 41 abstentions.


title: Palestinian territories

text: Immediately after the Six-Day War of June 1967, Israel effectively annexed East Jerusalem, an area comprising the much smaller prior Jordanian municipality of east Jerusalem and a surrounding area of the West Bank, as far as Kalandia to the north and Har Homa to the south. Israeli law, jurisdiction and administration were applied to this area, which was also made part of the Israeli Jerusalem municipality in its entirety. East Jerusalem residents became Israeli residents with blue Israeli ID cards. In 1980, the Knesset elevated the issue of the unity of Jerusalem to constitutional status by enacting Basic Law: Jerusalem the Capital of Israel, an act which was condemned by much of the world community, the few, mainly Latin American, embassies maintained in west Jerusalem promptly moving to Tel Aviv. Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem lacks international recognition by any country. Seven UNSC resolutions, including United Nations Security Council Resolution 478 declared it "null and void" and required that it be rescinded, stating that it was a violation of international law (the Fourth Geneva Convention). The United Nations never explicitly recognized Jerusalem as part of either Israel or Palestine, as Resolution 181 (1947) was never revoked. In Resolution 181, Jerusalem was intended to become a "corpus separatum" under international regime. Most countries do not recognize either West Jerusalem or Jerusalem as Israel's capital.


title: Palestinian territories

text: Palestinians regard East Jerusalem as the capital of the future Palestinian state. East Jerusalem is generally recognized as part of the Palestinian Territories. In UN resolutions concerning Israel, East Jerusalem is routinely referred to as a part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.


title: Palestinian territories

text: According to the Israeli Supreme Court, the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits unilateral annexation of occupied territory, does not apply to East Jerusalem, as there was no "legitimate sovereign" recognised by Israel and its allies previously exercising control over the territory. In Israel, there has always been large support for retaining all of Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty, although opinions differ regarding the large number of outlying Palestinian villages and neighbourhoods annexed to Jerusalem beyond "core" East Jerusalem (the Old City, Sheikh Jarrah and the large post-1967 Jewish neighborhoods such as Ramot, Ramat Eshkol, French Hill and Gilo). A few times, there were Israeli or U.S. proposals to divide East Jerusalem between Israel and the Palestinians. In the 1995 Beilin–Abu Mazen agreement, Israeli negotiators proposed Palestinian sovereignty over some Arab neighborhoods within an expanded Jerusalem that would include annexed Israeli neighborhoods and major settlement blocs. In 2000, U.S. president Bill Clinton offered a similar proposal in his Clinton Parameters. In more recent years, the Israeli position has strongly been favourable to keeping all of Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty.


title: Palestinian territories

text: In 2005, Israel pulled all its remaining forces out of the Gaza Strip and dismantled its settlements. Nevertheless, according to the international community, the Gaza Strip is still considered to be occupied by Israel. Israel has denied that it occupies the Gaza Strip, but two of the three border sectors of the Gaza Strip, together with the coast and airspace, are controlled by Israel (the third border sector near Rafah is controlled by Egypt). The UN "Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967" stated in 2007:


title: Palestinian territories

text: Israel remains an occupying Power in respect of Gaza. Arguments that Israel ceased its occupation of Gaza in 2005 following the evacuation of its settlements and the withdrawal of its troops take no account of the fact that Israel retains effective control over Gaza by means of its control over Gaza's external borders, airspace, territorial waters, population registry, tax revenues and governmental functions. The effectiveness of this control is emphasized by regular military incursions and rocket attacks.


title: Palestinian territories

text: The political status of the territories has been the subject of negotiations between Israel and the PLO and of numerous statements and resolutions by the United Nations. (See List of United Nations resolutions concerning Israel.) Since 1994, the autonomous Palestinian National Authority has exercised various degrees of control in large parts of the territories, as a result of the Declaration of Principles contained in the Oslo Accords. The United States government considers the West Bank and Gaza as a single entity for political, economic, legal and other purposes. The State Department and other U.S. government agencies, such as USAID West Bank and Gaza, have been tasked with projects in the areas of democracy, governance, resources, and infrastructure. Part of the USAID mission is to provide flexible and discrete support for implementation of the Quartet Road Map. The Road Map is an internationally backed plan that calls for the progressive development of a viable Palestinian State in the West Bank and Gaza. Participating states provide assistance through direct contributions or through the Palestinian State account established by the World Bank.


title: Palestinian territories

text: Hamas won a majority of seats in elections for the Palestinian Parliament in 2006 and formed a government in Ramallah for the entire PA largely shunned by the United States and Israel. However, the Fatah movement continued to dominate the PA security forces in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In 2007, Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip by force, executing PA officers and removing its officials, many of whom, such as Muhammad Dahlan, escaped the Gaza Strip with their families. Mahmoud Abbas promptly deposed the Hamas-dominated PA government, and two rival administrations were created, a Fatah-controlled one in the West Bank, with which Israel, the US and the EU resumed business, and a Hamas-controlled one in the Gaza Strip which was largely shunned by the world community. After Hamas intensified rocket and mortar fire on Israeli civilian centers from the Gaza Strip, the United States and Israel instituted a military and economic blockade of the Gaza Strip. When that failed to topple the new government, a covert operation was launched to eliminate Hamas by force. The covert initiative was exposed when confidential State Department documents were accidentally leaked by the U.S. envoy. The talking points delivered to the Fatah leadership said:


title: Palestinian territories

text: Hamas should be given a clear choice, with a clear deadline: they either accept a new government that meets the Quartet principles, or they reject it. The consequences of Hamas' decision should also be clear: If Hamas does not agree within the prescribed time, you should make clear your intention to declare a state of emergency and form an emergency government explicitly committed to that platform.


title: Palestinian territories

text: Since the Battle of Gaza (2007), the administration of the territories has been contested by two rival factions of the Palestinian National Authority, with Hamas controlling the Gaza Strip and Fatah continuing to administer the West Bank. Both groups claim legitimacy over leadership of the Palestinian territories. Most countries with an interest in the issues, including most of the Arab countries, recognize the administration of Mahmoud Abbas as the legitimate government over both Palestinian Territories.


title: Palestinian territories

text: During Operation Cast Lead the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1860 (2009), which said that the Gaza Strip constitutes an integral part of the territory occupied in 1967 that will be a part of the Palestinian state.


title: Palestinian territories

text: On 15 December 2011, Iceland recognized Palestine as an independent and sovereign state within the pre-1967 Six-Day War borders; Össur Skarphéðinsson, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iceland, and Dr. Riad Malki, the Foreign Minister of Palestine, formally confirmed the establishment of full diplomatic relations between Iceland and Palestine.


title: Palestinian territories

text: The 2014 Fatah–Hamas Gaza Agreement provided for elections and the formation of a compromise unity government. The 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict intervened, however the unity government survived. In August, Palestinian leaders said they would apply to the United Nations Security Council for the establishment of a timetable for ending the Israeli occupation in the West Bank. The application would be made on 15 September 2014, following an Arab League meeting on 5 September at which support for the move would be requested. Unless a timetable was established, the Palestinian leadership said it would apply to the International Criminal Court where it would hold Israel responsible for its actions not only in the West Bank, but in the Gaza Strip.


title: Palestinian territories

text: The international community regards the Palestinian territories, meaning the West Bank including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, as territories occupied by Israel. Israel has withdrawn its military forces from the Gaza strip, but it continues to be designated the occupying power in the Gaza Strip by the United Nations, the United States and various human rights organizations. The final status of the Palestinian Territories as an independent state is supported by the countries that form the Quartet's "Road map for peace". The government of Israel has also accepted the road map but with 14 reservations.


title: Palestinian territories

text: A transfer of powers and responsibilities for the Gaza Strip and Jericho took place pursuant to the Israel–PLO 4 May 1994 Cairo Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area. In other areas of the West Bank, transfer of powers took place pursuant to the Israel–PLO 28 September 1995 Interim Agreement, the Israel–PLO 15 January 1997 Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron, the Israel–PLO 23 October 1998 Wye River Memorandum, and the 4 September 1999 Sharm el-Sheikh Agreement.


title: Palestinian territories

text: The DOP provides that Israel will retain responsibility during the transitional period for external security and for internal security and public order of Israeli settlements and citizens. Direct negotiations to determine the permanent status of Gaza and the West Bank had begun in September 1999 after a three-year hiatus, but have been derailed by the al-Aqsa Intifada that began in September 2000.


title: Palestinian territories

text: In 2003, the Israeli government issued a plan for total withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and part of the northern West Bank by late 2005. This became known as the Disengagement Plan. The Palestinian Authority welcomed this plan, but declared that until final status, it would still consider the Gaza Strip under Israeli occupation. Many Israelis opposed the plan, and tensions were very high in Israel before and after the Disengagement Plan was approved by the Israeli Knesset on 16 February 2005.


title: Palestinian territories

text: In August 2005, the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli police forcibly removed all settlers from the Gaza Strip. Israel completed the disengagement on 12 September 2005. Presently, most of the West Bank is administered by Israel though 42% of it is under varying degrees of autonomous rule by the Fatah-run Palestinian Authority. The Gaza Strip is currently under the control of Hamas.


title: Palestinian territories

text: The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an independent international treaty organisation with its own legislative assembly. Many of the member states recognise the State of Palestine. The Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki presented the ICC prosecutor with documentary evidence which shows that 67 states in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe have legally recognised the State of Palestine.


title: Palestinian territories

text: In January 2010, King Abdullah of Jordan, after a meeting with the Israeli president Shimon Peres at the World Economic Forum in Davos, declared that his country does not want to rule the West Bank and that "the two-state solution" to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict was the only viable option. If rule over the territory was to be transferred to the kingdom, it would only "replace Israeli military rule with Jordanian military rule... and the Palestinians want their own state".


title: Palestinian territories

text: On Thursday, 29 November 2012, In a 138–9 vote (with 41 abstaining) General Assembly resolution 67/19 passed, upgrading Palestine to "non-member observer state" status in the United Nations. The new status equates Palestine's with that of the Holy See. The change in status was described by "The Independent" as "de facto recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine". The vote was a historic benchmark for the partially recognised State of Palestine and its citizens, whilst it was a diplomatic setback for Israel and the United States. Status as an observer state in the UN will allow the State of Palestine to join treaties and specialised UN agencies, including the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the International Criminal Court, and other organisations for recognised sovereign nations. It shall permit Palestine to claim legal rights over its territorial waters and air space as a sovereign state recognised by the UN, and allow the Palestinian people the right to sue for control of their claimed territory in the International Court of Justice and to bring war-crimes charges against Israel in the International Criminal Court.


title: Palestinian territories

text: Customary international law, including the International Court of Justice's interpretation of the Fourth Geneva Convention in their July 2004 ruling, has been widely interpreted as prohibiting Israel from building settlements, due to its clauses prohibiting the transfer of a civilian population into an occupied territory. This was reaffirmed 5 December 2001, at the Conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention. The participating High Contracting Parties called upon Israel "to fully and effectively respect the Fourth Geneva Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and to refrain from perpetrating any violation of the Convention. They reaffirm the illegality of the settlements in the said territories and of the extension thereof." Article 47 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits any change of status in occupied territory concluded through negotiations between the occupying power and local authorities under occupation. This finding also suggests that Israel may be in violation of the Rome Statute (one of the primary legal instruments of the International Criminal Court), Article 8, section (2)(b)(viii): "The transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies, or the deportation or transfer of all or parts of the population of the occupied territory within or outside this territory" see:. Given that United Nations General Assembly resolution 67/19 upgraded Palestine to non-member observer state status in November 2012, representatives of Palestine may now be able to take members of the Israeli government to the International Criminal Court under violations of the Rome Statute. On 31 January 2012, the United Nations independent "International Fact-Finding Mission on Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory" filed a report stating that if Israel did not stop all settlement activity immediately and begin withdrawing all settlers from the West Bank, it potentially might face a case at the International Criminal Court, increasing credibility of any Palestinianin attempt to do so.


title: Palestinian territories

text: The UN has, after granting Palestine observer state status, permitted Palestine to title its representative office to the UN as 'The Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations', seen by many as a reflexion of the UN's de facto recognition of the State of Palestine's sovereignty, and Palestine has started to re-title its name accordingly on postal stamps, official documents and passports. The Palestinian authorities have also instructed its diplomats to officially represent 'The State of Palestine', as opposed to the 'Palestine National Authority'. Additionally, on 17 December 2012, UN Chief of Protocol Yeocheol Yoon decided that 'the designation of "State of Palestine" shall be used by the Secretariat in all official United Nations documents'.


title: Palestinian territories

text: Critics point out that implementation of the Oslo Accords has not improved conditions for the population under occupation. Israel contends that the settlements are not illegal as the West Bank is considered a "disputed territory" under international law. United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 recognized Israel's rights to "safe and secure borders", which has been interpreted by the Israeli government as meaning that Israel had a right to West Bank territory for secure borders. The San Remo Conference, binding under international law, further envisioned the West Bank as being part of a sovereign Jewish state, and arguably encourages, rather than prohibits Jewish settlement in the area. Furthermore, according to the Israeli government, many of the settlements were established on the sites of former Jewish communities that had existed there prior to 1947 on land that was legitimately bought, and ethnically cleansed by Arab forces. Israel views the territory as being the subject of legitimate diplomatic dispute and negotiation under international law. East Jerusalem, captured in 1967, was unilaterally annexed by Israel. The UN Security Council Resolution 478 condemned the annexation as "a violation of international law". This annexation has not been recognized by other nations, although the United States Congress declared its intention to recognize the annexation (a proposal that has been condemned by other states and organizations). Because of the question of Jerusalem's status, most states base their diplomatic missions there and treat Tel Aviv as the capital, though the United States and Guatemala both have embassies in the Jerusalem. Israel asserts that these territories are not currently claimed by any other state and that Israel has the right to control them.


title: Palestinian territories

text: Israel's position has not been accepted by most countries and international bodies, and the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip are referred to as occupied territories (with Israel as the occupying power) by most international legal and political bodies, the rest of the Arab bloc, the UK, including the EU, the United States (before President Trump), both the General Assembly and Security Council of the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, the Conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, and the Israeli Supreme Court (in a decision regarding the Israeli West Bank barrier).


title: Palestinian territories

text: Former U.S. President George W. Bush stated, during his presidency, that he did not expect Israel to return entirely to pre-1967 borders, due to "new realities on the ground."


title: Palestinian territories

text: Both US President Bill Clinton and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, who played notable roles in attempts at mediation, noted the need for some territorial and diplomatic compromise on this issue, based on the validity of some of the claims of both sides. One compromise offered by Clinton would have allowed Israel to keep some settlements in the West Bank, especially those in large blocks near the pre-1967 borders of Israel. In return, Palestinians would have received concessions of land in other parts of the country. The United Nations did not declare any change in the status of the territories as of the creation of the Palestinian National Authority between 1993 and 2000, although a 1999 U.N. document implied that the chance for a change in that status was slim at that period.


title: Palestinian territories

text: During the period between the 1993 Oslo Accords and the Second Intifada beginning in 2000, Israeli officials asserted that the term "occupation" did not accurately reflect the state of affairs in the territories. During this time, the Palestinian population in large parts of the territories had a large degree of autonomy and only limited exposure to the IDF except when seeking to move between different areas. Following the events of the Second Intifada, and in particular, Operation Defensive Shield, most territories, including Palestinian cities (Area A), came back under effective Israeli military control, making the discussion along those lines largely moot.


title: Palestinian territories

text: In the summer of 2005, Israel implemented its unilateral disengagement plan; about 8,500 Israeli citizens living in the Gaza Strip were forcibly removed from the territory, along with citizens from 4 settlements in the northern West Bank; some were compensated with alternative homes and a sum of money. The Israel Defense Forces vacated Gaza in 2005, but invaded it again in 2006 in response to rocket attacks and the abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit by Hamas.


title: Palestinian territories

text: In January 2010, King Abdullah of Jordan, after a meeting with the Israeli president Shimon Peres at the World Economic Forum in Davos, declared that his country does not want to rule the West Bank and that "the two-state solution" to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict was the only viable option. If rule over the territory was to be transferred to the kingdom, it would only "replace Israeli military rule with Jordanian military rule... and the Palestinians want their own state."


title: Palestinian territories

text: In December 2010, Brazil recognized Palestine as a state with its 1967 borders. This move was later followed by Argentina, Peru, Uruguay, Bolivia and Ecuador. This action was later criticized by Israel and the United States, who labelled it "counterproductive".


title: Palestinian territories

text: The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) estimated Palestinians at mid year 2009 as 10.7 million persons as follows: 3.9 million in the Palestinian Territory (36.6%), 1.2 million (11.5%) in Israel; 5.0 million in Arab countries (46.2%), 0.6 million in foreign countries (5.7%).


title: Palestinian territories

text: According to "The Guardian" (2008), the Palestinian territories have one of the fastest growing populations in the world, with numbers surging 30% in the past decade (2008). There were 3.76 million Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, up from 2.89 million ten years earlier.


title: Palestinian territories

text: According to the U.S. Census, population growth from 1990 to 2008 in Gaza and the West Bank was 106%, from 1.9 million (1990) to 3.9 million persons.


title: Palestinian territories

text: According to the UN (2010), the Palestinian population was 4.4 million. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) population density in 2009 was 654 capita/km, of which 433 capita/km in the West Bank including Jerusalem and 4,073 capita/km in Gaza Strip. In mid-2009, the share of population less than 15 years was 41.9% and above 65 years 3%.


title: Palestinian territories

text: The overwhelming majority of Palestinians are Muslims. Almost the entire Palestinian Muslim population is Sunni, although few dozen converts to Ahmadiyya Islam resides in West Bank. According to Palestinian constitution, article 4: "Islam is the official religion of Palestine. Respect for the sanctity of all other divine religions shall be maintained". Christians constitute about 1–2% of population of Palestinian territories. The Christian population of Gaza is estimated at about 3,000 There are also about 370 Samaritans in West Bank village of Kiryat Luza on Mount Gerizim who hold both Palestinian and Israeli citizenship. The number of Jewish settlers in West Bank is estimated at 341 000 as of the end of 2012 and over 200 000 in East Jerusalem.


title: Palestinian territories

text: Arabic is the official language in the State of Palestine. Palestinian Arabic is the vernacular. Hebrew and English are widely spoken. 16.1% of the population are Israeli settlers who mostly speak Hebrew as their native language, and Hebrew is also a second or third language to many Palestinians.


title: Palestinian territories

text: The PCBS estimated that about 564,000 Israeli settlers lived in the West Bank in 2012. Some 203,000 of them were settled in East Jerusalem (Area J1 of the Jerusalem Governorate) and 346,000 in the remaining West Bank.


title: Palestinian territories

text: Consistent with its policy of Jerusalem as a united and indivisible capital of Israel, Israel does not publish exact figures of the number of settlers in East Jerusalem. Rather the figures of Israelis in Judea and Samaria District are given. Independently from the political composition of its subsequent governments, the number of settlers in the West Bank has grown rapidly and in a relatively straight line since 1967 (see graphics). The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics counted about 341,000 settlers end 2012 in the Judea and Samaria District, which does not include Jerusalem.


title: Palestinian territories

text: The Constitution of the League of Arab States says the existence and independence of Palestine cannot be questioned de jure even though the outward signs of this independence have remained veiled as a result of force majeure. The League supervised the Egyptian trusteeship of the Palestinian government in Gaza after the termination of the British Mandate and secured assurances from Jordan that the 1950 Act of Union was "without prejudice to the final settlement".


title: Palestinian territories

text: By the 1988 declaration, the PNC empowered its central council to form a government-in-exile when appropriate, and called upon its executive committee to perform the duties of the government-in-exile until its establishment.


title: Palestinian territories

text: Under the terms of the Oslo Accords signed between Israel and the PLO, the latter assumed control over the Jericho area of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip on 17 May 1994. On 28 September 1995, following the signing of the Israeli–Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israeli military forces withdrew from the West Bank towns of Nablus, Ramallah, Jericho, Jenin, Tulkarem, Qalqilya and Bethlehem. In December 1995, the PLO also assumed responsibility for civil administration in 17 areas in Hebron. While the PLO assumed these responsibilities as a result of Oslo, a new temporary interim administrative body was set up as a result of the Accords to carry out these functions on the ground: the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).


title: Palestinian territories

text: An analysis outlining the relationship between the PLO, the PNA (PA), Palestine and Israel in light of the interim arrangements set out in the Oslo Accords begins by stating that, "Palestine may best be described as a transitional association between the PA and the PLO." It goes on to explain that this transitional association accords the PA responsibility for local government and the PLO responsibility for representation of the Palestinian people in the international arena, while prohibiting it from concluding international agreements that affect the status of the occupied territories. This situation is said to be accepted by the Palestinian population insofar as it is viewed as a temporary arrangement.


title: Palestinian territories

text: Since the Battle of Gaza (2007), the two separate territories, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, are divided into a Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip and a Fatah civil leadership in the autonomous areas of the West Bank. Each sees itself as the administrator of all Palestinian Territories and does not acknowledge the other one as the official government of the territories. The Palestinian Territories have therefore "de facto" split into two entities.


title: Palestinian territories

text: After the signing of the Oslo Accords, the Palestinian territories were divided 16 governorates under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian National Authority. Since 2007 there are two governments claiming to be the legitimate government of the Palestinian National Authority, one based in the West Bank and one based in the Gaza Strip.


title: Palestinian territories

text: The Oslo II Accord created three temporary distinct administrative divisions in the Palestinian territories, the Areas "A", "B" and "C", until a final status accord would be established. The areas are not contiguous, but rather fragmented depending on the different population areas as well as Israeli military requirements.


title: Palestinian territories

text: In 1922, after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire that ruled Greater Syria for four centuries (1517–1917), the British Mandate for Palestine was established. Large-scale Jewish immigration from abroad, mainly from Eastern Europe took place during the British Mandate, though Jewish immigration started during the Ottoman period. The future of Palestine was hotly disputed between Arabs and Jews. In 1947, the total Jewish ownership of land in Palestine was 1,850,000 dunams or , which is 7.04% of the total land of Palestine. Public property or "crown lands", the bulk of which was in the Negev, belonging to the government of Palestine may have made up as much as 70% of the total land; with the Arabs, Christians and others owning the rest.


title: Palestinian territories

text: The 1947 United Nations Partition Plan proposed a division of Mandate Palestine between an Arab and a Jewish state, with Jerusalem and the surrounding area to be a "corpus separatum" under a special international regime. The regions allotted to the proposed Arab state included what became the Gaza Strip, and almost all of what became the West Bank, as well as other areas.


title: Palestinian territories

text: The Partition Plan was passed by the UN General Assembly in November 1947. The Partition Plan was accepted by the Jewish leadership, but rejected by the Arab leaders. The Arab League threatened to take military measures to prevent the partition of Palestine and to ensure the national rights of the Palestinian Arab population. One day before the expiration of the British Mandate for Palestine, on 14 May 1948, Israel declared its independence within the borders of the Jewish State set out in the Partition Plan. US President Harry Truman recognized the State of Israel "de facto" the following day. The Arab countries declared war on the newly formed State of Israel heralding the start of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Arab countries announced "an intervention in Palestine to restore law and order", heralding the start of the 1948 Palestine War.


title: Palestinian territories

text: After the 1947–1949 Palestine war, the 1949 Armistice Agreements established the separation lines between the combatants, leaving Israel in control of some of the areas designated for the Arab state under the Partition Plan, Transjordan in control of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Egypt in control of the Gaza Strip and Syria in control of the Himmah Area.


title: Palestinian territories

text: In 1950, Jordan annexed the West Bank. Only the United Kingdom formally recognized the annexation of the West Bank, excluding the case of East Jerusalem which was "de facto" recognized. In the Gaza Strip the Arab League formed the All-Palestine Government, which operated under Egypt occupation.


title: Palestinian territories

text: Article 24 of the Palestinian National Covenant of 1964, which established the Palestine Liberation Organization, stated: "This Organization does not exercise any territorial sovereignty over the West Bank in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, on the Gaza Strip or in the Himmah Area" (i.e. the areas of the former Mandate Palestine controlled by Jordan, Egypt and Syria, respectively).


title: Palestinian territories

text: Israel captured both territories in the 1967 Six-Day War, as well as other territory belonging to Egypt and Syria. Since then, these territories have been designated Israeli-occupied territories. Immediately after the war, on 19 June 1967, the Israeli government offered to return the Golan Heights to Syria, the Sinai to Egypt and most of the West Bank to Jordan in exchange for peace. At the Khartoum Summit in September, the Arab parties responded to this overture by declaring "no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel and no negotiations with Israel."


title: Palestinian territories

text: UN Security Council Resolution 242 introduced the "Land for Peace" formula for normalizing relations between Israel and its neighbors. This formula was used when Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in 1979 in exchange for a peace treaty. While that treaty mentioned a "linkage" between Israeli–Egyptian peace and Palestinian autonomy, the formerly Egyptian-occupied territory in Gaza was excluded from the agreement, and remained under Israeli control.


title: Palestinian territories

text: The Oslo Accords of the early 1990s between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel led to the creation of the Palestinian Authority. This was an interim organization created to administer a limited form of Palestinian self-governance in the territories for a period of five years during which final-status negotiations would take place. The Palestinian Authority carried civil responsibility in some rural areas, as well as security responsibility in the major cities of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Although the five-year interim period expired in 1999, the final status agreement has yet to be concluded despite attempts such as the 2000 Camp David Summit, the Taba summit, and the unofficial Geneva Accords.


title: Bernardo Bertolucci

text: Bernardo Bertolucci (; 16 March 1941 – 26 November 2018) was an Italian film director and screenwriter with a career that spanned 50 years. Considered one of the greatest directors in Italian cinema, Bertolucci's work achieved international acclaim. He was the first Italian filmmaker to win the Academy Award for Best Director for "The Last Emperor" (1987), one of many accolades including two Golden Globes, two David di Donatellos, a British Academy Award, and a César Award. In recognition of his work, he was presented with the inaugural Honorary Palme d'Or Award at the opening ceremony of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. He had previously received a Lifetime Achievement Golden Lion from the Venice Film Festival.


title: Bernardo Bertolucci

text: A protégé of Pier Paolo Pasolini, Bertolucci made his directorial debut at 22. His second film, "Before the Revolution" (1964), earned strong international reviews and has since gained classic status, being called a "masterpiece of Italian cinema" by Film4. His 1970 film "The Conformist", an adaptation of the Alberto Moravia novel, is considered a classic of international cinema, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and the prestigious Berlin Golden Bear. His 1972 erotic drama "Last Tango in Paris" was controversial due to its sex scenes, in addition to an unscripted rape scene, which actress Maria Schneider did not consent to. Bertolucci's films such as the historical epic "1900" (1976), the family drama "La Luna" (1979), and the darkly comedic "Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man" (1981), were also controversial but acclaimed.


title: Bernardo Bertolucci

text: His 1987 film "The Last Emperor", a biopic of Chinese monarch Puyi, was a critical and commercial success, earning rave reviews and sweeping the 60th Academy Awards (including Best Picture and Best Director). He followed its success with two more films in his "Oriental Trilogy" – "The Sheltering Sky", an adaptation of the novel of the same name, and "Little Buddha", a Buddhist religious epic. His 1996 film, "Stealing Beauty", brought him his second of two Palme d'Or nominations. He continued directing well into the 21st century, releasing his final film, "Me and You", in 2012.


title: Bernardo Bertolucci

text: Bertolucci's films often deal with themes of politics, sexuality, history, class conflict, and social taboos; and his style has influenced several filmmakers. Several of his films have appeared on lists of the greatest film of all time.


title: Bernardo Bertolucci

text: Bertolucci was born in the Italian city of Parma, in the region of Emilia-Romagna. He was the elder son of Ninetta (Giovanardi), a teacher, and Attilio Bertolucci, who was a poet, a reputed art historian, anthologist and film critic. His mother was born in Australia, to an Italian father and an Australian mother (of Irish and Scottish descent).


title: Bernardo Bertolucci

text: Having been raised in an artistic environment, Bertolucci began writing at the age of 15, and soon after received several prestigious literary prizes including the "Premio Viareggio" for his first book. His father's background helped his career: the elder Bertolucci had helped the Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini publish his first novel, and Pasolini reciprocated by hiring Bertolucci as first assistant in Rome on "Accattone" (1961).


title: Bernardo Bertolucci

text: Bertolucci had one brother, the theatre director and playwright Giuseppe (27 February 1947 – 16 June 2012). His cousin was the film producer Giovanni Bertolucci (24 June 1940 – 17 February 2005), with whom he worked on a number of films.


title: Bernardo Bertolucci

text: Bertolucci initially wished to become a poet like his father. With this goal in mind, he attended the Faculty of Modern Literature of the University of Rome from 1958 to 1961, where his film career as an assistant director to Pasolini began. Shortly after, Bertolucci left the university without graduating. In 1962, at the age of 22, he directed his first feature film, produced by Tonino Cervi with a screenplay by Pasolini, called "La commare secca" (1962). The film is a murder mystery, following a prostitute's homicide. Bertolucci uses flashbacks to piece together the crime and the person who committed it. The film which shortly followed was his acclaimed "Before the Revolution" ("Prima della rivoluzione", 1964).


title: Bernardo Bertolucci

text: The boom of Italian cinema, which gave Bertolucci his start, slowed in the 1970s as directors were forced to co-produce their films with several of the American, Swedish, French, and German companies and actors due to the effects of the global economic recession on the Italian film industry.


title: Bernardo Bertolucci

text: Bertolucci caused controversy in 1972 with the film "Last Tango in Paris", starring Marlon Brando, Maria Schneider, Jean-Pierre Léaud and Massimo Girotti. The film presents Brando's character, Paul, as he copes with his wife's suicide by emotionally and physically dominating a young woman, Jeanne (Schneider). The depictions of Schneider, then 19 years old, have been criticized as exploitive. In one scene, Paul anally rapes Jeanne using butter as a lubricant. The use of butter was not in the script; Bertolucci and Brando had discussed it, but they did not tell Schneider. She said in 2007 that she had cried "real tears" during the scene and had felt humiliated and "a little raped". In 2013 Bertolucci said that he had withheld the information from Schneider to generate a real "reaction of frustration and rage". Brando alleged that Bertolucci had wanted the characters to have real sex, but Brando and Schneider both said it was simulated. In 2016 Bertolucci released a statement where he clarified that Schneider had known of the violence to be depicted in the scene, but had not been told about the use of butter.


title: Bernardo Bertolucci

text: Following the “media glare” and her fame after the film's release, Schneider became a drug addict and suicidal. Criminal proceedings were brought against Bertolucci in Italy for obscenity; the film was sequestered by the censorship commission and all copies were ordered destroyed. An Italian court revoked Bertolucci's civil rights for five years and gave him a four-month suspended prison sentence. In 1978 the Appeals Court of Bologna ordered three copies of the film to be preserved in the national film library with the stipulation that they could not be viewed, until Bertolucci was later able to re-submit it for general distribution with no cuts.


title: Bernardo Bertolucci

text: Bertolucci increased his fame with his next few films, from "1900" (1976), an epic depiction of the struggles of farmers in Emilia-Romagna from the beginning of the 20th century up to World War II with an international cast (Robert De Niro, Gérard Depardieu, Donald Sutherland, Sterling Hayden, Burt Lancaster, Dominique Sanda) to "La Luna", set in Rome and in Emilia-Romagna, in which Bertolucci deals with the thorny issue of drugs and incest, and finally "La tragedia di un uomo ridicolo" (1981), with Ugo Tognazzi.


title: Bernardo Bertolucci

text: He then wrote two screenplays based on Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest. He hoped this would be his first film set in America, but nothing came of it.


title: Bernardo Bertolucci

text: In 1987, Bertolucci directed the epic "The Last Emperor", a biographical film telling the life story of Aisin-Gioro Puyi, the last emperor of China. The film was independently produced by British producer Jeremy Thomas, with whom Bertolucci worked almost exclusively from then on. The film was independently financed and three years in the making. Bertolucci, who co-wrote the film with Mark Peploe, won the Academy Award for Best Director. The film uses Puyi's life as a mirror that reflects China's passage from feudalism through revolution to its current state.


title: Bernardo Bertolucci

text: At the 60th Academy Awards, "The Last Emperor" won all nine Oscars for which it was nominated: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Music, Original Score and Best Sound.


title: Bernardo Bertolucci

text: "The Last Emperor" was the first feature film ever authorized by the government of the People's Republic of China to film in the Forbidden City. Bertolucci had proposed the film to the Chinese government as one of two possible projects. The other film was "La Condition Humaine" by André Malraux. The Chinese government preferred "The Last Emperor".


title: Bernardo Bertolucci

text: After "The Last Emperor", "The Sheltering Sky" and "Little Buddha", Bertolucci returned to Italy to film, and to revisit his old themes but with varying results from both critics and the public. He filmed "Stealing Beauty" in 1996, then "The Dreamers" in 2003, which describes the political passions and sexual revolutions of two siblings in Paris in 1968.


title: Bernardo Bertolucci

text: In 2007, Bertolucci received the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival for his life's work, and in 2011 he also received the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.


title: Bernardo Bertolucci

text: In 2012, his final film, "Me and You" was screened out of competition at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival and was released early in 2013 in the UK. The film is an adaptation of Niccolò Ammaniti's young-adult's book "Me and You". The screenplay for the movie was written by Bertolucci himself, Umberto Contarello and Niccolò Ammaniti. Bertolucci originally intended to shoot the film in 3D but was forced to abandon this plan due to cost.


title: Bernardo Bertolucci

text: Bertolucci appeared on the Radio Four programme Start the Week on 22 April 2013, and on Front Row on 29 April 2013, where he chose "La Dolce Vita", a film directed by Federico Fellini, for the "Cultural Exchange".


title: Bernardo Bertolucci

text: In the spring of 2018, in an interview with the Italian edition of Vanity Fair, Bertolucci announced that he was preparing a new film. He stated, "The theme will be love, let's call it that. In reality, the theme is communication and therefore also incommunicability. The favorite subject of Michelangelo Antonioni and the condition I found myself facing when I moved on from my films for the few, those of the sixties, to a broader cinema ready to meet a large audience."


title: Bernardo Bertolucci

text: Bertolucci wrote many screenplays, both for his own films and for films directed by others, two of which he also produced.


title: Bernardo Bertolucci

text: Bertolucci's films are often very political. He was a professed Marxist and, like Luchino Visconti, who similarly employed many foreign artists during the late 1960s, Bertolucci used his films to express his political views; hence they are often autobiographical as well as highly controversial. His political films were preceded by others re-evaluating history. "The Conformist" (1970) criticised fascism, touched upon the relationship between nationhood and nationalism, as well as issues of popular taste and collective memory, all amid an international plot by Benito Mussolini to assassinate a politically active leftist professor of philosophy in Paris. "1900" also analyses the struggle of Left and Right.


title: Bernardo Bertolucci

text: On 27 September 2009, Bertolucci was one of the signatories of the appeal to the Swiss government to release Roman Polanski, who was being held awaiting extradition to the United States.


title: Bernardo Bertolucci

text: On Twitter on 24 April 2015, Bertolucci participated in #whomademyclothes, Fashion Revolution's anti-sweatshop campaign commemorating the 2013 Savar building collapse, the deadliest accident in the history of the garment industry.


title: Bernardo Bertolucci

text: Bertolucci advocated the practice of Transcendental Meditation: "We want to evoke the present and it is difficult to do it all together, we can only meditate, as in transcendental meditation. One of the most powerful experiences. Either you meditate or watch a good movie, then the two things start to touch ... ".


title: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

text: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey is a 2014 American science documentary television series. The show is a follow-up to the 1980 television series "", which was presented by Carl Sagan on the Public Broadcasting Service and is considered a milestone for scientific documentaries. This series was developed to bring back the foundation of science to network television at the height of other scientific-based television series and films. The show is presented by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who, as a young high school student, was inspired by Sagan. Among the executive producers are Seth MacFarlane, whose financial investment was instrumental in bringing the show to broadcast television, and Ann Druyan, a co-author and co-creator of the original television series and Sagan's wife. The show is produced by Brannon Braga, and Alan Silvestri composed the backing score.


title: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

text: The series loosely follows the same thirteen-episode format and storytelling approach that the original "Cosmos" used, including elements such as the "Ship of the Imagination" and the "Cosmic Calendar", but features information updated since the 1980 series, along with extensive computer-generated graphics and animation footage augmenting the narration.


title: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

text: The series premiered on March 9, 2014, simultaneously in the United States across ten 21st Century Fox networks. The remainder of the series aired on the Fox Network, with the National Geographic Channel rebroadcasting the episodes the next night with extra content. The series has been rebroadcast internationally in dozens of other countries by local National Geographic and Fox stations. The series concluded on June 8, 2014, with home media release of the entire series on June 10, 2014. "Cosmos" has been critically praised, winning several television broadcasting awards and a Peabody Award for educational content.


title: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

text: The original 13-part "" first aired in 1980 on the Public Broadcasting Service, and was hosted by Carl Sagan. The show has been considered highly significant since its broadcast; David Itzkoff of "The New York Times" described it as "a watershed moment for science-themed television programming". The show has been watched by at least 400 million people across 60 countries, and until the 1990 documentary "The Civil War", remained the network's highest rated program.


title: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

text: Following Sagan's death in 1996, his widow Ann Druyan, the co-creator of the original "Cosmos" series along with Steven Soter, and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson sought to create a new version of the series, aimed to appeal to as wide an audience as possible and not just to those interested in the sciences. They had struggled for years with reluctant television networks that failed to see the broad appeal of the show.


title: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

text: Seth MacFarlane had met Druyan through Tyson at the 2008 kickoff event for the Science & Entertainment Exchange, a new Los Angeles office of the National Academy of Sciences, designed to connect Hollywood writers and directors with scientists. A year later, at a 2009 lunch in New York City with Tyson, MacFarlane learned of their interest to re-create "Cosmos". He was influenced by "Cosmos" as a child, believing that "Cosmos" served to "[bridge] the gap between the academic community and the general public". At the time MacFarlane told Tyson, "I'm at a point in my career where I have some disposable income ... and I'd like to spend it on something worthwhile." MacFarlane had considered the reduction of effort for space travel in recent decades to be part of "our culture of lethargy". MacFarlane, who has several series on the Fox network, was able to bring Druyan to meet the heads of Fox programming, Peter Rice and Kevin Reilly, and helped secure the greenlighting of the show. MacFarlane admits that he is "the least essential person in this equation" and the effort is a departure from work he's done before, but considers this to be "very comfortable territory for me personally". He and Druyan have become close friends, and Druyan stated that she believed that Sagan and MacFarlane would have been "kindred spirits" with their respective "protean talents". In June 2012, MacFarlane provided funding to allow about 800 boxes of Sagan's personal notes and correspondences to be donated to the Library of Congress.


title: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

text: In a "Point of Inquiry" interview, Tyson discussed their goal of capturing the "spirit of the original "Cosmos"", which he describes as "uplifting themes that called people to action". Druyan describes the themes of wonder and skepticism they are infusing into the scripts, in an interview with "Skepticality", "In order for it to qualify on our show it has to touch you. It still has to be rigorously good science—no cutting corners on that. But then, it also has to be that equal part skepticism and wonder both." In a "Big Picture Science" interview, Tyson credits the success of the original series for the proliferation of science programming, "The task for the next generation of "Cosmos" is a little bit different because I don't need to teach you textbook science. There's a lot of textbook science in the original "Cosmos", but that's not what you remember most. What most people who remember the original series remember most is the effort to present science in a way that has meaning to you that can influence your conduct as a citizen of the nation and of the world—especially of the world." Tyson states that the new series will contain both new material and updated versions of topics in the original series, but primarily, will service the "needs of today's population". "We want to make a program that is not simply a sequel to the first, but issues forth from the times in which we are making it, so that it matters to those who is this emergent 21st century audience." Tyson considered that recent successes of science-oriented shows like "The Big Bang Theory" and "", along with films like "Gravity", showed that "science has become mainstream" and expects "Cosmos" "will land on hugely fertile ground".


title: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

text: Tyson spoke about the "love-hate relationship" viewers had with the original series' Spaceship of the Imagination, but confirmed during production that they were developing "vehicles of storytelling". Tyson affirmed that defining elements of the original series, such as the Spaceship of the Imagination and the Cosmic Calendar with improved special effects, as well as new elements, would be present. Animation for these sequences was ultimately created by a team hand-picked by MacFarlane for the series. Kara Vallow developed and produced the animation, and the animation studio used was Six Point Harness in Los Angeles, California. The sound of the Spaceship of the Imagination, and sound design in general, was created by Rick Steele, who said of the show: "Cosmos has been, by far, the most challenging show of my career." The updated Spaceship was designed to "remain timeless and very simple", according to MacFarlane, using the ceiling to project future events and the floor for those in the past, to allow Tyson, as the host, to "take [the viewer] to the places that he's talking about".


title: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

text: In August 2011, the show was officially announced for primetime broadcast in the spring of 2014. The show is a co-production of Druyan's Cosmos Studios, MacFarlane's Fuzzy Door Productions, and National Geographic Channel; Druyan, MacFarlane, Cosmos Studios' Mitchell Cannold, and director Brannon Braga are the executive producers.


title: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

text: Fox's CEO Kevin Reilly considered that the show would be a risk and outside the network's typical programming, but that "we believe this can have the same massive cultural impact that the original series delivered," and committed the network's resources to the show. The show would first be broadcast on Fox, re-airing the same night on the National Geographic Channel.


title: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

text: In Canada, it was broadcast simultaneously on Global, National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo Wild. A preview of the show's first episode was aired for student filmmakers at the White House Student Film Festival on February 28, 2014.


title: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

text: "Cosmos" premiered simultaneously in the US across ten Fox networks: Fox, FX, FXX, FXM, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo Mundo, and Fox Life. According to Fox Networks, this was the first time that a TV show was set to premiere in a global simulcast across their network of channels.


title: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

text: The Fox network broadcast averaged about 5.8 million viewers in Nielsen's affiliate-based estimates for the 9 o'clock hour Sunday, as well as a 2.1 rating/5 share in adults 18-49. The under-50 audience was roughly 60% men. Viewing on other networks raised these totals to 8.5 million and a 2.9 rating in the demo, according to Nielsen.


title: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

text: "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey" has received highly positive reviews from critics, receiving a Metacritic rating of 83 out of 100 based on 19 reviews.


title: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

text: The miniseries won the 4th Critics' Choice Television Award for "Best Reality Series", with Tyson awarded for "Best Reality Host". The miniseries was also nominated for "Outstanding Achievement in News and Information" for the 30th TCA Awards and 12 Emmy Awards, including "Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series". The program won the Emmy for "Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming" and "Outstanding Sound Editing for Nonfiction Programming (Single or Multi-Camera)", and Silvestri won the Emmys for both "Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music" and "Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score)". The series won a 2014 Peabody Award within the Education category. In 2014, the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSICOP) presented "Cosmos" with the Robert B. Balles Prize in Critical Thinking. ""Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey" opened the eyes of a new generation to humanity's triumphs, its mistakes, and its astounding potential to reach unimagined heights."


title: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

text: The new miniseries has been criticized by some Christians and the religious right for some of the things stated during the show. Christian fundamentalists were upset that the scientific theories covered in the show opposed the Genesis creation narrative in the Bible. The Catholic League was upset over their claim that the science show smears Catholicism. A spokesman for the League noted how the show focused on Giordano Bruno, whom the Catholic Church turned over to secular authorities to be burnt at the stake for blasphemy, immoral conduct, practice of hermetic-ism, and heresy in matters of dogmatic theology, in addition to some of the basic doctrines of his philosophy and cosmology, and claimed that the show "skipped Copernicus and Galileo—two far more consequential men in proving and disseminating the heliocentric theory", further claiming that "in their cases, the Church's role was much more complicated".


title: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

text: "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey" was released on Blu-ray and DVD on June 10, 2014 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. The set contains all 13 episodes, plus an audio commentary on the first episode, and three featurettes: "Celebrating Carl Sagan: A Selection from the Library of Congress Dedication", ""Cosmos" at Comic-Con 2013" and ""Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey" – The Voyage Continues". Exclusive to the Blu-ray version is the interactive Cosmic Calendar.


title: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

text: On January 13, 2018, it was announced that another season titled "" would debut on Fox and National Geographic channels. It is hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson and executive produced by Ann Druyan, Seth MacFarlane, Brannon Braga, and Jason Clark. On November 7, 2019, it was announced that the sequel series would premiere on National Geographic on March 9, 2020, and will also premiere on Fox later that year.


title: The Thundermans

text: The Thundermans is an American comedy television series created by Jed Spingarn that aired on Nickelodeon from October 14, 2013 to May 25, 2018. The series stars Kira Kosarin, Jack Griffo, Addison Riecke, Diego Velazquez, Chris Tallman, Rosa Blasi, and Maya Le Clark, and features the voice of Dana Snyder as Dr. Colosso.


title: The Thundermans

text: The series revolves around the Thundermans, a family with superpowers who try to live normal lives in the fictional town of Hiddenville. Phoebe dreams of being a superhero and using her powers for good, while her twin brother Max wants to be the next big supervillain and use his powers for evil. Parents Hank and Barb attempt to live normal lives and not use their superpowers – albeit not very successfully – while Nora and Billy enjoy using theirs whenever possible. A former supervillain named Dr. Colosso has been transmogrified into a rabbit and lives in Max's lair in the basement, offering him advice on becoming a villain.


title: The Thundermans

text: During the third season, Phoebe starts training to become a superhero, while the master super villain, Dark Mayhem, trains Max to become a villain. At the end of the season, Dark Mayhem asks Max to prove he is a villain by taking away Phoebe's powers. However, Max chooses his family and becomes a superhero instead by helping them take down Dark Mayhem.


title: The Thundermans

text: During the fourth season, Max and Phoebe, under their Thunder Twins team-up, are selected as candidates for membership to the elite Hero League team called the Z-Force. Halfway through the season, Phoebe accidentally absorbs Dark Mayhem's powers, which turn her evil, but her family saves her. At the end, Phoebe and Max become the new Z-Force leaders and enroll the Thundermans as members.


title: The Thundermans

text: On August 3, 2012, Nickelodeon announced "The Thundermans" as one of its upcoming live-action series. Shooting began in mid-February and extras were cast at that time and throughout the production at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles. Its pilot was shot in October 2012. On December 20, 2013, the series was renewed for a second season. The second season premiered on September 13, 2014. On March 4, 2015, the series was renewed for a third season. The third season premiered on June 27, 2015. On March 2, 2016, the series was renewed for a fourth season, which premiered on October 22, 2016. Nickelodeon ordered six additional episodes for the series' fourth season on May 16, 2017, which would take the series over 100 total episodes. On July 27, 2017, Nickelodeon released a statement to "J-14", stating that the series has wrapped after four seasons and 103 produced episodes.


title: Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler

text: The Northrop Grumman (formerly Grumman) EA-6B Prowler is a twin-engine, four-seat, mid-wing electronic-warfare aircraft derived from the A-6 Intruder airframe. The EA-6A was the initial electronic warfare version of the A-6 used by the United States Marine Corps and United States Navy. Development on the more advanced EA-6B began in 1966. An EA-6B aircrew consisted of one pilot and three Electronic Countermeasures Officers, though it was not uncommon for only two ECMOs to be used on missions. It was capable of carrying and firing anti-radiation missiles (ARMs), such as the AGM-88 HARM.


title: Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler

text: The Prowler was in service with the U.S. Armed Forces from 1971 until 2019. It has carried out numerous missions for jamming enemy radar systems, and in gathering radio intelligence on those and other enemy air defense systems. From the 1998 retirement of the United States Air Force EF-111 Raven electronic warfare aircraft, the EA-6B was the only dedicated electronic warfare plane available for missions by the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Marine Corps, and the U.S. Air Force until the fielding of the Navy's EA-18G Growler in 2009. Following its last deployment in late 2014, the EA-6B was withdrawn from U.S. Navy service in June 2015, followed by the USMC in March 2019.


title: Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler

text: The EA-6A "Electric Intruder" was developed for the U.S. Marine Corps during the 1960s to replace its EF-10B Skyknights. The EA-6A was a direct conversion of the standard A-6 Intruder airframe, with two seats, equipped with electronic warfare (EW) equipment. The EA-6A was used by three Marine Corps squadrons during the Vietnam War. A total of 27 EA-6As were produced, 15 of which were newly manufactured. Most of these EA-6As were retired from service in the 1970s with the last few being used by the Navy with two electronic attack "aggressor" squadrons, with all examples finally retired in the 1990s. The EA-6A was essentially an interim warplane until the more-advanced EA-6B could be designed and built.


title: Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler

text: The substantially redesigned and more advanced EA-6B was developed beginning in 1966 as a replacement for EKA-3B Skywarriors for the U.S. Navy. The forward fuselage was lengthened to create a rear area for a larger four-seat cockpit, and an antenna fairing was added to the tip of its vertical stabilizer. Grumman was awarded a $12.7 million contract to develop an EA-6B prototype on 14 November 1966. The Prowler first flew on 25 May 1968, and it entered service on aircraft carriers in July 1971. Three prototype EA-6Bs were converted from A-6As, and five EA-6Bs were developmental airplanes. A total of 170 EA-6B production aircraft were manufactured from 1966 through 1991.