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. In addition, we will address and discuss some of the major debates over Israeli history and society, such as whether Israel can be both a Jewish and a democratic state; Israel’s independence as the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe); discrimination against minority groups in the country; and even the role of politics and ethnicity in Israeli sports and popular culture. Our discussion of historical events and secondary sources will be accompanied by the reading or viewing of historical documents, literary and journalistic pieces, documentary and entertainment films and television programs, and online sources that both you and I will bring to class. Contact Information Jonathan Grossman Email address: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected] </a>[Hopefully will be substituted with a UT address] Office location: 2109 San Jacinto Boulevard Bellmont Hall, Suite 243 Phone number (office): 000000000 Office hours: Tuesday, 11:00–2:00 (by appointment or drop-in) Course Requirements I reserve the right to make changes to the syllabus and the course assignments during the semester. Any such changes will be duly notified. Punctuality. Please be at the class on time. Latecomers are allowed to enter, but their attendance will not be recorded. If you know you are going to be late for a specific class, you have to notify me in advance. Similarly, if you need an extension for submitting an assignment, please ask me about it as soon as possible, and definitely not a few hours before submission is due. Attendance (10% of final grade). All students are expected to attend every class. If, for some reason, you are not able to make it to class, let me know in advance (that is, not at midnight on the night before class), and I may or may not authorize this absence. Throughout the semester, each student is allowed two unexcused absences. Further ones will result in the subtraction from the final grade of two points per absence. If you have missed a class, it is your responsibility to complete the required reading for that class and to check with me or with your fellows the assignments that are due for the next class. Participation (10% of final grade). All students are expected to come to class prepared and to participate in the discussion that will take place based on the reading assignments and on current events in Israel. During the discussion, do not hesitate to ask me any question, as obvious as the answer to it may appear. As most classes will begin with a brief discussion of contemporary Israel, you are expected to stay informed on the latest developments in Israeli politics and society (you are welcome to ask me for recommended English websites. At least once in the semester I will ask every one of you to find and bring to the classroom a current, brief, non-academic source that relates to the topic of the class or to the reading material. Such a source may be a newspaper article, a Facebook post, a blog entry, or even a short videoclip. In addition, every once in a while I may ask for a volunteer to read one of the optional items in the syllabus and present it to the class. Needless to say, volunteering for such a task is an easy way to get bonus points to your final grade. Comments on the reading assignments (10% of final grade). For every class, you are expected to send me, by Email, a one-paragraph double spaced comment on one or more of the obligatory or optional reading items for the upcoming class. Please send it no later than 5PM on the day before the class. I may show some or all of your comments at the classroom. I will not grade each comment individually, but extremely good comments throughout the semester, which will show a profound understanding and analysis of the reading material, may result in up to five bonus points to your final grade. In the same manner, failure to send your comments on time, or comments that fail to convince me that you had actually read the assigned material, may negatively affect your final grade. Short Exams (20% of final grade). During the semester, there will be three short exams, in which you will have to answer multiple choice questions, true/false questions, short answer questions, write a short essay, or a combination of some or all of the above. In order to answer these questions correctly, you need to be familiar with all the required reading material up to the date of the exam. The questions will be neither petty nor pedantic (in other words, no such questions as “in what year was Theodor Herzl born?” or “name five ministers from Levi Eshkol’s government in 1967?”). Rather, their purpose is to make sure that you understand the “big picture” and are familiar with the most significant events, personalities, and developments in the story of Israel (therefore, expect such questions as "what was Theodor Herzl’s solution to the problem of anti-Semitism in Europe?” or “why did Prime Minister Levi Eshkol ask Moshe Dayan to join his cabinet in the eve of the 1967 Six-Day War?”). When calculating your final grade, I will only consider the score of the two best exams, so if you have done terribly in one of them, don’t despair – you’ll have another chance. Three perfect exams, however, may result in some bonus points. Every exam will be announced at least one week beforehand, and there will be no makeup exams – not showing up to an exam means zero points. Midterm Assignment: Article Review (20% of final grade). By the class of October 17, you have to submit a critical review (up to three double spaced pages, 12-size font) of one of the optional reading items from this course’s syllabus. Your review should present the main arguments of the article or the chapter; explain whether you agree with them or not (and why); address its historical, theoretical, and methodological strengths and weaknesses; and provide your own critical and learned evaluation of it. When citing or discussing parts of the text, clear reference to the page number (either between parentheses or as a footnote) must be included. Any reference to works other than the one being reviewed is not mandatory (you can get a perfect score without any comparative examination), but is very welcome. As always, exceptionally good work may result in bonus points. Final Paper (30% of final grade). By the end of the year, you will have to submit an original research paper on a topic of your own choice. The topic should be related to one or more of the issues discussed in this course. Your research question must be clear, specific, and appear in bold type in the first section of the paper. You are welcome to consult with me about your topic and research question. The final paper will be of eight to ten pages, in addition to a title page and a bibliography of at least eight sources. The paper should be written in a 12-size font, double spaced. It may be written in English, Hebrew, Spanish, or Portuguese. Every primary or secondary source used in the paper must be properly cited in concordance with the Chicago Manual of Style citation rules, preferably by using a citation manager software (Zotero.org is free, cloud-based, and highly recommended!). You are welcome to consult with me for any further instructions, advice, and recommendations. For a quick guide to the Chicago Manual of Style rules check: <a href="/goto?url=http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org.ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/tools_citationguide.html" target="_blank">http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org.ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/tools_citationguide.html</a>. Your final paper does not have to contain an analysis of a primary source, but you are highly encouraged to search for primary sources that fit your topic, which will make your work more intriguing. Such a source may be an historical document, a newspaper article, a blog entry, a film, a series of tweets, a Facebook post, a YouTube video, and even recollections from your own experience. In order for your paper to get a perfect grade, you should: 1. Be genuinely interested in and enthusiastic about your chosen topic 2. Show a deep understanding of the issue in question, of Israeli history and society in general, and of the reading materials 3. Rely on a wide array of sources and cite them correctly 4. Demonstrate high analytical and methodological skills 5. Be innovative, original, and critical. Merely summing up the arguments of other writers regarding your chosen topic may gain you a good score, if done well, but in order to get a perfect one you will need to come up with a clear and original argument of your own, which may be either a synthesis of these arguments or a new, evidence-supported approach to the question 6. Write an interesting piece that is also fun to read Your research topic should be approved by me before ***. By the *** week, you should submit for approval a one-paragraph abstract of your paper and a preliminary list of at least five sources. Feel free to send me drafts to comment on, but no later than the *** week. FINAL GRADE CALCULATION: Attendance: 10%; Participation: 10%; Short Comments: 10%; Short Exams: 20%; Midterm Assignment: 20%; Research Paper: 30%. <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">Grading </li><li style="flex:1">Scale: </li></ul>99–100 = A+ 93–98 = A 90–92 = A- 87–89 = B+ 83–86 = B 80–82 - B- 77–79 = C+ 73–76 = C 70–72 = C- 60–69 = D Below 60 = F LIST OF TOPICS AND READING ITEMS (Some topics will be discussed over more than one class. The order of topics may change) 1. Introduction Core Reading: 1. S. Ilan Troen, Maoz Azaryahu, and Arnon Golan, “Israel: Geography, Demography, and Economy,” in Essential Israel: Essays for the 21st Century, ed. S. Ilan Troen and Rachel Fish (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2017), pp. 12–39. 2. The birth of Zionism and the first immigrants to Israel; is Zionism a colonial movement? Core Reading: 1. Anita Shapira, Israel: A History, The Schusterman Series in Israel Studies (Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press, 2012), Chapters 1 and 2. 2. Avi Shlaim, The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World (New York: W.W. Norton, 2000), Introduction. Primary Source: Theodor Herzl, Old New Land, excerpts. Optional Reading: 1. Beshara B. Doumani, “Rediscovering Ottoman Palestine: Writing Palestinians into History,” Journal of Palestine Studies 21, no. 2 (1992): 5–28. 2. Colin Shindler, A History of Modern Israel, 2nd ed (Cambridgeꢀ; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013), Chapter 1. 3. Derek Penslar, Israel in History: The Jewish State in Comparative Perspective (New York: Routledge, 2007), Chapters 3 and 5. 4. Gershon Shafir, “Zionism and Colonialism: A Comparative Approach,” in The Israel/Palestine Question, ed. Ilan Pappé, Rewriting Histories (Londonꢀ; New York: Routledge, 1999), pp. 72–85. 3. Jewish-Arab relations during the British Mandate on Palestine Core Reading: 1. Anita Shapira, Israel: A History, The Schusterman Series in Israel Studies (Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press, 2012), Chapters 3 and 5. 2. Rashid Khalidi, Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness (New York: Columbia University Press, 2010), Chapter 7. Optional Reading: 1. Hillel Cohen, Year Zero of the Arab-Israeli Conflict: 1929, The Schusterman Series in Israel Studies (Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press, 2015). 2. Efraim Karsh, The Arab-Israeli Conflict: The Palestine War 1948 (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2014), pp. 13–28. 4. Israel’s War of Independence/the Palestinian Nakba – Contrasting Narratives <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">Core </li><li style="flex:1">Reading: </li></ul>1. Paul Scham, “Competing Israeli and Palestinian Narratives,” in The Routledge Handbook on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, ed. Joel Peters and David Newman (Londonꢀ; New York: Routledge, 2013), pp. 33–43. 2. Colin Shindler, A History of Modern Israel, 2nd ed (Cambridgeꢀ; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013), Chapter 2. 3. Ahmad H. Sa’di, “Catastrophe, Memory and Identity: Al-Nakbah as a Component of Palestinian Identity,” Israel Studies 7, no. 2 (November 21, 2002): pp. 175–98. 4. Efraim Karsh, Rethinking the Middle East, Cass Series--Israeli History, Politics, and Society (Londonꢀ; Portland, OR: Frank Cass, 2003), Chapter 8 (“Were the Palestinians Expelled?”). 5. Ilan Pappé, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (Oxford: Oneworld, 2006), pp. 58–61, 92–96. Primary Source: Yoram Kaniuk, 1948, chapters 1 and 12. Optional Reading: 1. Rashid Khalidi, “The Palestinians and 1948: The Underlying Causes of Failure,” in The War for Palestine: Rewriting the History of 1948, ed. Eugene L. Rogan and Avi Shlaim, 2nd ed, Cambridge Middle East Studies 15 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007), pp. 12–36. 2. Benny Morris, “Revisiting the Palestinian Exodus of 1948,” in The War for Palestine: Rewriting the History of 1948, ed. Eugene L. Rogan and Avi Shlaim, 2nd ed, Cambridge Middle East Studies 15 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007), pp. 37–59. 3. Efraim Karsh, The Arab-Israeli Conflict: The Palestine War 1948 (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2014), pp. 29–68. 5. The Rise and Fall (and Ressurection?) of the Kibbutz Reading: 1. Daniel Gavron, The Kibbutz: Awakening from Utopia (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000), Chapter 1 (Degania). 2. Ran Abramitzky, “Lessons from the Kibbutz on the Equality—Incentives Trade-Off,” The Journal of Economic Perspectives 25, no. 1 (2011): pp. 185–207. Primary Sources: 1. Amos Oz, “Little Boy” (in Between Friends). 2. Batya Gur, Murder on a Kibbutz: A Communal Case, Chapter 18. Optional Reading: 1. Daniel Gavron, The Kibbutz: Awakening from Utopia (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000), Chapters 2 (Givat Brenner) and 6 (The Collapse of 1985). 2. Meir Chazan, “The Struggle of Kibbutz Women to Participate in Guard Duties during the Arab Revolt, 1936–1939,” Journal of Israeli History 31, no. 1 (2012): pp. 83–108. 3. Eliezer Don-Yehiya and Charles S. Liebman, “The Symbol System of Zionist- Socialism: An Aspect of Israeli Civil Religion,” Modern Judaism 1, no. 2 (1981): pp. 121–48. 6. The Israeli Arabs/Palestinian Citizens of Israel. Is Israel a Democratic State for All its Citizens? Reading: 1. Majid Al-Haj, “The Status of the Palestinians in Israel: A Double Periphery in an Ethno-National State,” in Critical Issues in Israeli Society, ed. Alan Dowty, Praeger Series on Jewish and Israeli Studies (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2004), pp. 109–26. 2. Nadim Rouhana and Asad Ghanem, “The Crisis of Minorities in Ethnic States: The Case of Palestinian Citizens in Israel,” International Journal of Middle East Studies 30, no. 3 (1998): pp. 321–46. 3. Hillel Cohen, “Land, Memory, and Identity: The Palestinian Internal Refugees in Israel,” Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees 21, no. 2 (2003): pp. 6–13. Optional Reading: 1. Alexander (Sandy) Kedar and Oren Yiftachel, “Land Regime and Social Relations in Israel,” in Swiss Human Rights Book, ed. Hernando De Soto and Francis Cheneval, vol. 1 (Rochester, NY: Social Science Research Network, 2006), 127–44. 2. Sammy Smooha, “Ethnic Democracy: Israel as an Archetype,” Israel Studies 2, no. 2 (1997): pp. 198–241. 3. Oren Yiftachel, “‘Ethnocracy’: The Politics of Judaizing Israel/Palestine,” in Across the Wall: Narratives of Israeli-Palestinian History, ed. Ilan Pappé and Jamīl Hilāl (Londonꢀ; New York: I. B. Tauris, 2010), pp. 269–306. 7. The Six-Day War Core Reading: 1. Anita Shapira, Israel: A History, The Schusterman Series in Israel Studies (Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press, 2012), Chapter 13. 2. Ian J Bickerton, The Arab-Israeli Conflict: A History (London: Reaktion Books, 2009), pp. 118–30. 3. Tom Segev, 1967: Israel, the War, and the Year That Transformed the Middle East, trans. Jessica Cohen (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2007), Chapters 8, 9, 10, and 11. Optional Reading: 1. Michael B. Oren, Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002). 2. Avi Shlaim, The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World (New York: W.W. Norton, 2000), Chapter 6. 3. Yaacov Bar-Siman-Tov, Israel, the Superpowers, and the War in the Middle East (New York: Praeger, 1987), Chapter 3. 8. The Occupation and the Settlers Core Reading: 1. Colin Shindler, A History of Modern Israel, 2nd ed (Cambridgeꢀ; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013), Chapter 6. 2. Michael Feige, “Jewish Settlement of Hebron: The Place and the Other,” GeoJournal 53, no. 3 (2001): pp. 323–33. 3. Sara Yael Hirschhorn, “The Origins of the Redemption in Occupied Suburbia? The Jewish-American Makings of the West Bank Settlement of Efrat, 1973–87,” Middle Eastern Studies 51, no. 2 (2015): pp. 269–84. Primary Source: Amos Oz, “The Finger of God” and “An Argument on Life and Death (A)” (in In the Land of Israel) Optional Reading: 1. Idith Zertal and Akiva Eldar, Lords of the Land: The War over Israel’s Settlements in the Occupied Territories, 1967-2007, trans. Vivian Eden (New York: Nation Books, 2009), Chapters 1 (Blindness) and 7 (Everything is Legal in the Land of Israel). 2. Michael Feige, Settling in the Hearts: Jewish Fundamentalism in the Occupied Territories (Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 2009). 9. The Yom Kippur War Core Reading: 1. Anita Shapira, Israel: A History, The Schusterman Series in Israel Studies (Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press, 2012), Chapter 15. 2. Avi Shlaim, The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World (New York: W.W. Norton, 2000), Chapter 7. 3. Edna Lomsky-Feder, “Life Stories, War, and Veterans: On the Social Distribution of Memories,” Ethos 32, no. 1 (2004): pp. 82–109. Primary Source: Golda Meir, My Life, Chapter 14. Optional Reading: 1. Charles S Liebman, “The Myth of Defeat: The Memory of the Yom Kippur War in Israeli Society,” Middle Eastern Studies 29, no. 3 (1993): pp. 399–418. 2. Yaacov Bar-Siman-Tov, Israel, the Superpowers, and the War in the Middle East (New York: Praeger, 1987), Chapter 53 3. Ahron Bregman, “Ashraf Marwan and Israel’s Intelligence Failure,” in The Yom Kippur War: Politics, Legacy, Diplomacy, ed. Asaf Siniver (Oxfordꢀ; New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), pp. 195–208. 10. Peace and War under the Likud Government Core Reading: 1. Anita Shapira, Israel: A History, The Schusterman Series in Israel Studies (Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press, 2012), Chapter 17. 2. Colin Shindler, A History of Modern Israel, 2nd ed (Cambridgeꢀ; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013), Chapters 7 and 8. Optional Reading: 1. Avi Shilon, Menachem Begin: A Life, trans. Danielle Zilberberg and Yoram Sharett (New Haven, CTꢀ; London: Yale University Press, 2012), Chapters 17 and 18. 2. Ian J Bickerton, The Arab-Israeli Conflict: A History (London: Reaktion Books, 2009), Chapter 6.

History of Israel

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