Thursday, February 24, 2011

Question of the week: the War of 1948

Our question this week is one of the most controversial ones in the history of the conflict, so feel free to debate it as much and as long as you wish:

Why did the Yishuv/Israel win and the Palestinians/Israel's Arab neighbors lose in the war of 1948? 
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Saturday, February 19, 2011

Question of the week: the Arab revolt of 1936-39

The Arab revolt of 1936-39 was perhaps the most concentrated attempt to halt Jewish expansion and persuade the British to limit Jewish immigration into Palestine. Our question this week is therefore:

Was the Arab revolt of 1936-39 a success?

Explain your answer and, if you are taking this course for credit, reference the weekly reading in some way. You may read more about the Arab revolt in the following link:


And read the original text of the British White Paper of 1939, which followed the revolt, here:
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Sunday, February 13, 2011

Question of the week: the Husayn-McMahon correspondence

The Husayn-McMahon correspondence of 1915-16, at the time a secret correspondence between Henry McMahon, the British High Commissioner in Egypt, and Husayn ibn Ali of Mecca - the letters were made public years later, in 1938 - were one of the most controversial promises the British had ever made. In a sense, the letters provided the basis for what could have been fruitful relationship between the British (who wished to dominate the Middle East), the Arabs (who wanted to see the Ottomans go), and Husayn and his family (who had personal ambitions). As it turned out, the British never fulfilled their promise to establish an Arab state, but rather pursued a policy that would make the Balfour Declaration a reality. So our question is:


What did the British in fact offer Husayn, why were their promises problematic, and who should be blamed for the eventual result of affairs at the end of the World War I? Did the Jews play any role in shifting British policy? If so, why weren't the Arabs successful in doing the same?


A big and long question - does anyone care to answer?
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Thursday, February 3, 2011

Question of the Week: Purchasing Land


This week we've read about Jews purchasing lands from Arabs in Palestine. Now let's discuss the moral implications of such acts, when there's a clear long-term goal of changing political realities - indeed what the early Zionists had done in Palestine from the 1880s.

Below you'll find links to a few stories (most from last year, some more recent) about purchasing property to affect demography. Nowadays, most Israelis reject the purchasing of land or real estate in Palestinian-dominated areas or neighborhoods, whether they are in Arab cities within Israel's borders, the West Bank, or East Jerusalem. However, a small group of ultra-right wing (and usually religious) Israelis who believe the entire country (Eretz Yisrael) belongs to the Jews, has been for quite some time intentionally looking for and buying property within Palestinian/Arab/Muslim areas.

Recently, the main area of dispute has been East Jerusalem, whether within the old city walls, or in the Arab parts of the city. In a few incidents, religious extremists have infiltrated Palestinian property, arguing that they have documents from the Ottoman period that prove their ownership of the land or houses. In some cases, they even forcefully evacuated the current residents of these houses. The police cannot intervene in most cases, because of a court order that permits the settlers to take possession of their property (Israeli law recognizes legal contracts from the Ottoman period).

Such stories have been in the news quite a lot recently, and engendered a lot of opposition from the sane parts of Israeli society. Leaders of the Israeli left even organized demonstrations in East Jerusalem in support of the Palestinians. Among the demonstrators were the famous Israeli authors Amos Oz and David Grossman, as well as Israel's former minister of education, Yossi Sarid.

These last developments bring us back to the historical question:

Was the Jewish practice of purchasing lands in Palestine from Arab landlords and driving away the farmers who used to work those lands for decades morally problematic? And, did the Jews have another way of achieving their goals of establishing a state in Eretz Yisrael? 

Note: if you are taking this course for credit, your response must relate to the weekly assigned readings in some way. 

More recent news items:



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