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History of Israel
History of Israel FALL-Tuesday and Thursday, 9:30–10:45, CBA 4.340 Course Description Israel is a country of contrasts. Merely 263 miles long, one can drive from its northernmost point to the southernmost one in six hours, passing by a wide variety of landscapes and climates; from the snowy capes of Mount Hermon to the arid badlands of the Negev Desert. Along the way, she might come across a plethora of ethnic and religious groups – Jews originating in dozens of diasporas all over the world, Palestinians, Druze, Bedouins, Bahá'ís, Samaritans, Circassians, Armenians, Gypsies, Filipinos, Sudanese, Eritreans, and more – and hear innumerable languages and dialects. From the haredi stronghold of Bene-Beraq to the hedonistic nightclubs and sunny beaches of Eilat; from a relative Jewish-Arab coexistence in Haifa to the powder keg that is East Jerusalem; from the “Start-up Nation” in Ra’anana and Herzliya to the poverty-stricken “development towns” and unrecognized Bedouin settlements of the Negev; from the messianic fervor of Jewish settlers in the West Bank to the plight of African refugees and disadvantaged Jews in South Tel Aviv – all within an area slightly smaller than the State of Vermont. This is an introductory survey of Israel’s political, diplomatic, social, economic, ethnic, and cultural history, as well as an overview of Israeli society nowadays. We will start with a brief examination of the birth of the Zionist movement in nineteenth-century Europe, the growth of the Jewish settlement in Palestine, and the establishment of a modern Jewish State. Next, we will review a number of key moments and processes in Israeli history and discuss such crucial and often controversial topics as the Israeli-Arab and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts; ethnic and social stratification in Israel; civil-military relations and the role that the armed forces and other security agencies have played in everyday life in the country; Israel’s relations with the world and the Jewish diaspora; and more. -
Palestinian Refugees: Adiscussion ·Paper
Palestinian Refugees: ADiscussion ·Paper Prepared by Dr. Jan Abu Shakrah for The Middle East Program/ Peacebuilding Unit American Friends Service Committee l ! ) I I I ' I I I I I : Contents Preface ................................................................................................... Prologue.................................................................................................. 1 Introduction . .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 2 The Creation of the Palestinian Refugee Problem .. .. .. .. .. 3 • Identifying Palestinian Refugees • Counting Palestinian Refugees • Current Location and Living Conditions of the Refugees Principles: The International Legal Framework .... .. ... .. .. ..... .. .. ....... ........... 9 • United Nations Resolutions Specific to Palestinian Refugees • Special Status of Palestinian Refugees in International Law • Challenges to the International Legal Framework Proposals for Resolution of the Refugee Problem ...................................... 15 • The Refugees in the Context of the Middle East Peace Process • Proposed Solutions and Principles Espoused by Israelis and Palestinians Return Statehood Compensation Resettlement Work of non-governmental organizations................................................. 26 • Awareness-Building and Advocacy Work • Humanitarian Assistance and Development • Solidarity With Right of Return and Restitution Conclusion .... ..... ..... ......... ... ....... ..... ....... ....... ....... ... ......... .. .. ... .. ............ -
The Ideology of Internationalism in David Ben-Gurion's
Statesman or Internationalist?: The Ideology of Internationalism in David Ben-Gurion’s Imagined Transnational Community, 1900 – 1931 Ari Cohen Master’s Thesis Corcoran Department of History University of Virginia January 2018 Introduction In 1983 Benedict Anderson wrote, “Nation-ness is the most universally legitimate value in the political life of our time.”1 His seminal book, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, contended that nationalism shaped the modern world by creating independent political units of nation-states still visible today. The nation comprised Anderson’s sole unit of measure for global modern politics. Anderson’s thesis defined two generations of historians who focused on nations and their construction in the post-imperial period: ideologically, geographically, culturally, and intellectually, in minds and along borders. This historical trend produced vital explorations of the 1 Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (Place: Publisher, 1983), 3. 1 fundamental transition from empires to modern states. It accounted for the creation of modern nation-states and for the nationalist movements that reordered a broken world system. Still, the Anderson approach was not without its critics. Many scholars challenged his stark view of nationalism as an imaginary construct of modernity, which excluded the possibility for premodern nations and national identities.2 Others questioned his narrow focus on print capitalism as a key driver of the nation-formation process.3 These critiques centered on the causes of nationalism and its periodization. More recently, however, a third more expansive line of critique has appeared. As recent scholarship has demonstrated, Anderson explicitly viewed nation-states as atomized units. -
A Survey of Textbooks Most Commonly Used to Teach the Arab-Israeli
A Critical Survey of Textbooks on the Arab-Israeli and Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Working Paper No. 1 │ April 2017 Uzi Rabi Chelsi Mueller MDC Working Paper Series The views expressed in the MDC Working Paper Series are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies or Tel Aviv University. MDC Working Papers have not undergone formal review and approval. They are circulated for discussion purposes only. Their contents should be considered preliminary and are not to be reproduced without the authors' permission. Please address comments and inquiries about the series to: Dr. Chelsi Mueller Research Fellow The MDC for Middle Eastern and African Studies Tel Aviv University Ramat Aviv, 6997801 Israel Email: [email protected] Tel: +972-3-640-9100 US: +1-617-787-7131 Fax: +972-3-641-5802 MDC Working Paper Series Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the research assistants and interns who have contributed significantly to this research project. Eline Rosenhart was with the project from the beginning to end, cataloging syllabi, constructing charts, reading each text from cover to cover, making meticulous notes, transcribing meetings and providing invaluable editorial assistance. Rebekka Windus was a critical eye and dedicated consultant during the year-long reading phase of the project. Natasha Spreadborough provided critical comments and suggestions that were very instrumental during the reading phase of this project. Ben Mendales, the MDC’s project management specialist, was exceptionally receptive to the needs of the team and provided vital logistical support. Last but not least, we are deeply grateful to Prof. -
Avi Shlaim How Israel Brought Gaza to the Brink of Humanitarian Catastrophe 1/4
Avi Shlaim How Israel brought Gaza to the brink of humanitarian catastrophe 1/4 How Israel brought Gaza to the brink of humanitarian catastrophe Avi Shlaim* Oxford professor of international relations Avi Shlaim served in the Israeli army and has never questi- oned the state's legitimacy. But its merciless assault on Gaza has led him to devastating conclusions A wounded Palestinian policeman gestures while lying on the ground outside Hamas police headquar- ters following an Israeli air strike in Gaza City. - Photograph: Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images The only way to make sense of Israel's senseless war in Gaza is through understanding the historical context. Establishing the state of Israel in May 1948 involved a monumental injustice to the Palestini- ans. British officials bitterly resented American partisanship on behalf of the infant state. On 2 June 1948, Sir John Troutbeck wrote to the foreign secretary, Ernest Bevin, that the Americans were responsible for the creation of a gangster state headed by "an utterly unscrupulous set of leaders". I used to think that this judgment was too harsh but Israel's vicious assault on the people of Gaza, and the Bush administration's complicity in this assault, have reopened the question. I write as someone who served loyally in the Israeli army in the mid-1960s and who has never questi- oned the legitimacy of the state of Israel within its pre-1967 borders. What I utterly reject is the Zionist colonial project beyond the Green Line. The Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of the June 1967 war had very little to do with security and everything to do with territori- al expansionism. -
A History of Money in Palestine: from the 1900S to the Present
A History of Money in Palestine: From the 1900s to the Present The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Mitter, Sreemati. 2014. A History of Money in Palestine: From the 1900s to the Present. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University. Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:12269876 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA A History of Money in Palestine: From the 1900s to the Present A dissertation presented by Sreemati Mitter to The History Department in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the subject of History Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts January 2014 © 2013 – Sreemati Mitter All rights reserved. Dissertation Advisor: Professor Roger Owen Sreemati Mitter A History of Money in Palestine: From the 1900s to the Present Abstract How does the condition of statelessness, which is usually thought of as a political problem, affect the economic and monetary lives of ordinary people? This dissertation addresses this question by examining the economic behavior of a stateless people, the Palestinians, over a hundred year period, from the last decades of Ottoman rule in the early 1900s to the present. Through this historical narrative, it investigates what happened to the financial and economic assets of ordinary Palestinians when they were either rendered stateless overnight (as happened in 1948) or when they suffered a gradual loss of sovereignty and control over their economic lives (as happened between the early 1900s to the 1930s, or again between 1967 and the present). -
An Unusual Revolution: the Palestinian Thawra in Lebanon, C
Durham Middle East Papers AN UNUSuaL REVOLUTION: THE PALESTINIAN THAWra IN LEBANON, C. 1969-82 Dr Anne Irfan Durham Middle East Paper No. 103 Durham Middle East Papers Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Durham University Al-Qasimi Building Elvet Hill Road Durham AN UNUSuaL REVOLUTION: Durham Middle East Papers No. 103 DH1 3TU ISSN 1476-4830 THE PALESTINIAN THAWra IN LEBANON, C. 1969-82 Tel: +44 (0)191 3345680 September 2020 The Durham Middle East Papers series covers all aspects of the economy, politics, social science, history, literature and languages of the Middle East. Authors are invited to submit papers to the Editorial Board for consideration for publication. Dr Anne Irfan The views expressed in this paper are the author(s) alone and do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher or IMEIS. All Rights Reserved. This paper cannot be photocopied or reproduced without prior permission. Durham Middle East Paper No. 103 © Dr Anne Irfan and Durham University, 2020 About The Institute Editorial Board The Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies (IMEIS), within the Professor Anoush Ehteshami Dr Colin Turner School of Government & International Affairs, is a Social Science-focused Exofficio member Reader in Islamic Thought in academic institute of excellence, research-led in ethos, with a track-record of Professor of International Relations the School of Government and internationally acclaimed research outputs across all sub-areas of its activity. in the School of -
ABSTRACT Arab American Racialization and Its Effect
ABSTRACT Arab American Racialization and its Effect oniAmerican Islamophobiaa in the United States Catherine Haseman Director: Dr. Lisa Lacy, Ph.D. Over the past few years, anti-Muslim and anti-Arab rhetoric and discrimination has surged. Prejudice against Arabs and Muslims has moved from the fringes of American society to the mainstream. The American Islamophobic discourse is so deeply rooted in U.S. history, culture, and society that we often misunderstand its origins as well as its manifestations. This paper proposes a critical dialogue about how to understand one contested concept (Islamophobia) by using another contested one (racialization). This paper seeks to understand if--and if so, to what extent--racialization is central to understanding America’s pernicious brand of Islamophobia. In addition to reviewing the historical connection between racialization and Islamophobia, this paper analyzes the results of a survey of Texans’ views of Islam and Muslims. The survey results are used to understand how racialized conceptions of Arab Muslims correspond with Islamophobic tropes. APPROVED BY DIRECTOR OF HONORS THESIS: ____________________________________________ Dr. Lisa Lacy, Department of History APPROVED BY THE HONORS PROGRAM: __________________________________________________ Dr. Elizabeth Corey, Director DATE: _________________________________ ARAB AMERICAN RACIALIZATION AND ITS EFFECTS ON AMERICAN ISLAMOPHOBIA A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Baylor University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Honors Program -
The Memory of the Yom Kippur War in Israeli Society
The Myth of Defeat: The Memory of the Yom Kippur War in Israeli Society CHARLES S. LIEBMAN The Yom Kippur War of October 1973 arouses an uncomfortable feeling among Israeli Jews. Many think of it as a disaster or a calamity. This is evident in references to the War in Israeli literature, or the way in which the War is recalled in the media, on the anniversary of its outbreak. 1 Whereas evidence ofthe gloom is easy to document, the reasons are more difficult to fathom. The Yom Kippur War can be described as failure or defeat by amassing one set of arguments but it can also be assessed as a great achievement by marshalling other sets of arguments. This article will first show why the arguments that have been offered in arriving at a negative assessment of the War are not conclusive and will demonstrate how the memory of the Yom Kippur War might have been transformed into an event to be recalled with satisfaction and pride. 2 This leads to the critical question: why has this not happened? The background to the Yom Kippur War, the battles and the outcome of the war, lend themselves to a variety of interpretations. 3 Since these are part of the problem which this article addresses, the author offers only the barest outline of events, avoiding insofar as it is possible, the adoption of one interpretive scheme or another. In 1973, Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, fell on Saturday, 6 October. On that day the Egyptians in the south and the Syrians in the north attacked Israel. -
Notes on Middle East for Government 35, World Politics
Notes on Middle East for Government 35, World Politics 1. Important to note that there is much more diversity of opinion regarding Palestine in Israel than there is in the United States. For example, according to Haaretz, a leading English language newspaper’s recent poll, 64% of Israelis believe direct negotiations with Hamas should be undertaken, which is contrary to the opinion of the Israeli and U.S. governments. a. Decades ago, articles by noted Jewish intellectuals Hans Morgenthau and Hannah Arendt, in Commentary Magazine, argued that the consistency of American Jews’ support for Israel was based upon guilt that they lived in a relatively peaceful America, while Israeli’s peaceful existence was under the constant threat of war and terrorism. Then, the magazine was considered an organ of the American Jewish Committee. Now, Commentary Magazine’s website, http://www.commentarymagazine.com/, lists its importance to the neoconservative movement in American politics. 2. The main lobbying organization for Israel over the years has been the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which some believe was initially funded by Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service, although not so today so far as we know. a. The site can be found at: http://www.aipac.org/ i. (You can note that it lists itself as “America’s Pro-Israel Lobby.”) 3. Recently, another group has been formed to counter some of the influence of AIPAC: Jstreet a. The site can be found at: http://www.jstreet.org/ i. (You can note that it lists itself as “A new pro-peace, pro-Israel political voice.”) 4. -
Concept of a Crusade Within Each Faith in an Attempt to Ascertain the Roots of the Actions of Christian and Muslim Crusades
InSight: RIVIER ACADEMIC JOURNAL, VOLUME 5, NUMBER 2, FALL 2009 CONCEPT OF A CRUSAID Thomas Jackson* Master of Arts in Teaching Social Studies Program, Rivier College Keywords: Crusades, Islam, Pope, Warfare, Christianity Abstract Mention the word Crusade and depending on who is listening, the word's meaning and cultural impact varies significantly. Specifically, the Medieval Crusades, often traditionally defined by historians as offensive military campaigns waged by Christians to recapture the Holy Land from Muslims are held out as an example of western exploitation of Islam. Much work by authors such as John M. Riddle and Jonathan Riley-Smith has highlighted the historical events but has not considered the possibility these Crusades were defensive actions to counter previous Islamic advances into Christian territories. This paper will first examine the origins of Christianity and Islam, their spread, and the general concept of a Crusade within each faith in an attempt to ascertain the roots of the actions of Christian and Muslim Crusades. There will be an examination of the early Islamic advances into the Christian Levant. The work will assess the 1094 call for help by Byzantine Emperor Alexius Comnenus I to thwart the Seljuk Muslim invaders. The paper will also examine the abhorrent Western European behavior during the Crusades. Finally, in a thoughtful postmortem analysis, the case will made that if the Crusades were not undertaken, Europe and its culture that we know today may not have existed. Introduction Mention the word Crusades and depending on who you converse with, the word's connotation and historical impact varies significantly with Christians and Muslims often holding diametrically opposing views. -
Edward-Said---The-Last-Interview.Pdf
Quotation from Roland Barthes quoted by Edward Said in his book Beginnings “The only sort of interview that one could, if forced to, defend would be where the author is asked to articulate what he cannot write”. For 10 years, Edward Said, critic and political activist, lived with incurable leukemia. In the summer of 2002, almost one year before he died, one of his former students, D. D. Guttenplan, proposed a filmed conversation that would not be bound by either occasion or journalistic convention. Charles Glass, a mutual friend, agreed to ask the questions. The Last Interview • Filmed over 3 days in the summer of 2002 • Interviewer: Charles Glass (1951) an American author, journalist, and broadcaster specializing in the Middle East • Glass was taken hostage in 1987 for 62 days in Lebanon (described in his book: Tribes and Flags) • Clip is around 3.5 hours • We will skip the first 1 hour which covers his childhood, teens and education • We will show the discussion on Orientalism and eventually questions about his political activities • Full interview found on YouTube and VIMEO Timeline (Jerusalem 1953 – USA 2003) • 1935-1951 between Jerusalem and Cairo • 1952 goes to the USA to complete High School • 1957 gets BA from Princeton • 1960 gets MA from Harvard • 1964 gets PhD from Harvard • 1963-2003 member of faculty of Columbia University (Comparative Literature) • Various years: visiting professor in Harvard, Stanford, Yale, etc. • Illness starts in 2003 Relevant Dates • 1978: Publication of ORIENTALISM • From 1977 until 1991: independent