**This class will be taught on Zoom.**
One of the challenges to creating an informed opinion is that everything happens in a context. While one can perhaps learn the specific actions that take place in the Middle East, and particularly in Israel and Palestine, without understanding the history of the area, one cannot hope to understand why those actions take place. Further, the actions in Israel and Palestine very much impact life here in the United States. This course will attempt to consider the history of the area and understand the roots of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Though it is an incredibly challenging topic to consider, it is imperative to understanding one of the most divisive issues of our era.
Week by Week Outline
Week 1 - Understanding Settler Colonialism; The Origin of the Jews - This week will delve into colonialism versus settler colonialism, in order to understand the nation of Israel as colonial, but not settler colonialism. With that basis, it will then grasp how the history of the Jews in the land of Israel also affects this understanding of colonialism. It will examine how Jews have Canaanite roots and have lived in that land for thousands of years.
Week 2 - When Judea Became Palestine; The Origin of the Arabs - This class considers the origin of the term “Palestine,” and how the first people called “Palestinians” were historically Jews (by the historian Herodotus). It will look at the official changing of the name of the territory by the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the second second. Then, it will shift to consider the origin of the Arab. They too have roots in the Canaanites, and have thus lived in the land approximately as long as Jews.
Week 3 - Origins of a Jewish National Identity; Origins of a Palestinian Identity - This week quickly passes through the Middle Ages to look at nationalism and its impact on both Jewish and Palestinian independence. Jewish independence really took shape in the 1800s, while Palestinian independence came about more slowly and was hampered both by Britain and the other Arab nations.
Week 4 - Partition Plans, the 1948 War, and the Nakba - This week will note the time of the British Mandate over Palestine and the attempts to create a Palestinian identity. It will look at the US partition plan, the Arab rejection of the plan, and the expulsion of the Palestinians by the IDF in 1948/1949 (the Nakba).
Week 5 - The PLO, the Impact of 1967, and the Settlers - This examines the time period between 1948 and 1967, noting Israel’s absentee property law, and the way in which both Egypt and Jordan prevented Palestinian independence. It also considers Jordan’s lack of adherence to the Armistice Agreement in 1949. It looks at the origins of the 1967 war, and the impact of the Israeli settlements.
Week 6 - Hamas, Oslo, and the Netanyahu Era - This final class considers the development of Hamas as the PLO shifted its approach, and the eventual coming together of the Oslo Accords. These appeared to have significant promise, although various outside elements attempted to derail the peace process, and were ultimately successful. It will end with the Gaza withdrawal in 2005 and the election of Hamas.