History of Modern Israel

HIST190-02P/JS190-02P/MES190-01P

Spring 2006

(Course designed for Freshman)

Dr. Kenneth W. Stein Monday 2-4pm

121 Bowden Hall Callaway S101

kstein@emory.edu

Office hours: Mondays 11:30am B 1pm

404-727-4472

Content:

This undergraduate freshmen seminar will review the history of modern Israel from the inception of Zionism to the present. The four periods of study will be the ideological formations (to 1917), Zionist autonomy in Palestine and nation-building (to 1949), the problems and successes of sovereignty (to 1977), and the quest for identity and normalization (to the present). Issues to be discussed will include the structure of the old and new Yishuv, immigrations to Eretz Yisrael, British rule in Palestine, relationships with the great powers, sociological associations and cleavages, Israel-Diaspora relations, American Jewry and Israel, religion and state policy interaction, the political and economic systems, constitutional issues, Arab-Israeli wars, American-Israeli relations, the negotiating process, and quest for recognition from Arab neighbors. Several guest speakers will participate in the class.

Required Texts:

Mahler, Gregory S. Politics and Government in Israel: The Maturation of a Modern State, Rowman and Littlefield, 2004 (paperback), ISBN: 0742516113.

Laqueur, Walter. A History of Zionism, New York: Schocken, 1989 (paperback), ISBN: 0805205233.

Dowty, Alan. The Jewish State A Century Later, University of California Press, 2001 (paperback), ISBN: 052022918.

Hertzberg, Arthur. The Zionist Idea: A Historical Analysis and Reader, New York: Jewish Publication Society, 1997 (paperback), ISBN:0827606222.

Stein, Kenneth W. Heroic Diplomacy: Sadat, Kissinger, Carter, Begin, and the Quest for Arab-Israeli Peace, New York: Routledge, 1991 (paperback), ISBN: 0415921554.

Sternhell, Zev. The Founding Myths of Israel, Princeton University Press, 1999 (paperback), ISBN: 0691009678.

Grading:

There will be two examinations: a mid-term and a final. The first examination will cover the period up to Israel’s establishment in 1948; the final examination will focus primarily on the period from 1948 to the present. The mid-term examination will be held on March 20, 2006. The final

examination will be held on May 4, 2006, from 8:30-11:00am. For the mid-term and final examinations, please bring two (2) large blue books to class; please do not write in or on the blue books before the examination. If you would like your final examination paper returned to you by mail, please provide me with a self-addressed envelope with sufficient postage. Otherwise, your final examinations will appear in a box outside my office door at 121 Bowden Hall until September 15, 2006.

Students are expected to do all the readings assigned, both the required texts and reserved readings. Students should complete the readings for a particular week prior to meeting each Monday. Students are expected to be at every class. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, if you miss one class session, you can expect your grade to be reduced by one full grade.

CLASS ASSIGNMENTS:

*Indicates assigned articles are on-line at Woodruff Library Reserves Direct.

A dotted line under a reading indicates assignment to particular students to lead discussion

January 23:

Course orientation and syllabus distribution

From Abraham to Haskalah: Evolution of Jewish Political Culture (Stein Lecture)

Readings:

Laqueur, pp. xi-269; 384-437.

Writings of Early Zionist Thinkers- Adler, Borochov, Ginsburg, Herzl, Nordau, Pinsker, and

Herzl- The Jewish State Six Chapters

*Avineri, Shlomo. “Zionism as a National Liberation Movement,” Jerusalem Quarterly, Winter 1979, pp. 133-144.

--------------------------, ------------------------------, -----------------------------, -------------------------

*Kolatt, Israel. “The Organization of the Jewish Population of Palestine and the Development of its Political Consciousness Before World War I,” in Moshe Ma’oz (ed.) Studies in Palestine During Pre-Ottoman Period (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1975), pp. 211-245.

---------------------------, ----------------------------, ----------------------------, ---------------------------

*Katz, Jacob. “The Forerunners of Zionism,” Jerusalem Quarterly, 7, Spring 1978, pp. 10-21.

--------------------------, -------------------------------, --------------------------, ---------------------------

*Landes, David S. “Palestine Before the Zionists,” Commentary, February 1976, pp. 47-56.

--------------------------, -------------------------------, --------------------------, ---------------------------

January 30:

Origins of Zionism to World War I, (Stein Lecture)

February 6:

World War I Promises and the Making of the Mandate, (Stein Lecture)

Readings:

*Kedourie, Elie. “Sir Herbert Samuel and the Government of Palestine, ” Middle East Studies, 5, 1969, pp. 44-68.

-------------------------, ---------------------------,--------------------------------,---------------------------

*Verete, Mayir. “The Balfour Declaration and Its Makers,” Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 4, 1970, pp. 48-76.

--------------------------, ----------------------------, ----------------------------, ---------------------------

*Wasserstein, Bernard. “Clipping the Claws of the Colonizers,” Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 13, No. 2, May 1977, pp. 171-194.

--------------------------, -----------------------------, -----------------------------, --------------------------

February 13:

The British Mandate, 1920-1929: Jewish Institutional Development, (Stein Lecture)

Readings:

Dowty, pp. 3-60.

Sternhell, pp. ix- 314 --------------------, ---------------------, ---------------------, ---------------------

*Kolatt, Israel. “The Zionist Movement and the Arabs,” Studies in Zionism, No. 5, April 1982, pp. 129-157.

--------------------------, ----------------------------, ----------------------------, ----------------------------

*Stein, Kenneth W. “Palestine's Rural Economy, 1917-1939, ”Studies in Zionism, Vol. 8, No. 1, 1987, pp. 25-49.

---------------------------, --------------------------, ----------------------------, ----------------------------

February 20:

The Palestine Mandate, 1930-1939, (Stein Lecture)

Readings:

Mahler, pp. 13-52.

*Berkson, Isaac B. “Jewish Education in Palestine, in Harry Vitteles and Khalil Totah (eds.) The Annals of The American Academy of Political and Social Science, 164, Philadelphia, November 1932, pp. 139-154.

---------------------------, --------------------------,-----------------------------, ----------------------------

*Cohen, Michael J. “Appeasement in the Middle East: The British White Paper on Palestine,” May 1939, Historical Journal, Vol.16, September 1973, pp. 571-596.

--------------------------,--- -----------------------,-------------------------------,---------------------------

*Cohen, Michael J. “ The British White Paper on Palestine, May 1939, Part II: The Testing of a Policy, 1942-1945,” The Historical Journal, Vol. 19, No. 3, 1976, pp. 727-758.

---------------------------, ---------------------------,------------------------------, --------------------------

*Stein, Kenneth W. “The Jewish National Fund: Land Purchase Methods and Priorities, 1924- 1939,” Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 20, No. 2, April 1984, pp. 190-205.

--------------------------, ---------------------------,------------------------------, ---------------------------

February 27:

AThe Palestine Mandate, 1939-1949, (Stein Lecture)

Readings:

Laqueur, pp. 270-337; 441-600.

Sternhell, pp. 318-345.

*Cohen, Michael J. “Truman, the Holocaust and the Establishment of the State of Israel, ”The Jerusalem Quarterly, No. 23, Spring 1982, pp. 79-94

---------------------------------, -------------------------------------,-------------------------------------

*Shapira, Anita. Conclusion: The Birth of the State, Land and Power The Zionist Resort to Force 1881-1948, Oxford University Press, 1992, pp. 355-370.

*Stein, Kenneth W. “ One Hundred Years of Social Change: The Creation of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, in Laurence J. Silberstein (ed.) New Perspectives on Israeli History, New York, pp. 57-81.

---------------------------------, -------------------------------------,--------------------------------------

March 6:

Writing the national narrative and historiography of the conflict, (Stein Lecture)

Readings:

*Khalidi, Rashid. “The Palestinians and 1948 the underlying causes of failure,” in Eugene L. Rogan and Avi Shlaim (ed.) The War for Palestine Rewriting the History of 1948, (Cambridge University Press), 2001, pp. 12-36.

---------------------------------, -------------------------------------

*Morris, Benny. “Origins of the Palestinian Refugee Problem,” in Laurence J. Silberstein (ed.), New Perspectives on Jewish Studies (New York: New York University Press, 1991), pp. 42-56.

---------------------------------, -------------------------------------

*Shapira, Anita. “History, Memory, and Identity,” in Stuart A. Cohen and Milton Shain, (eds.), Israel Culture, Religion, and Society, 1948-1998 (Bar-Ilan University, 2000), pp. 6-22.

---------------------------------, -------------------------------------

*Teveth, Shabtai. “ Charging Israel with Original Sin,” Commentary, 88, September 1989, pp. 24-33.

---------------------------------, -------------------------------------

*Morris, Benny. “Revisiting the Palestinian Exodus of 1948,” in Eugene L. Rogan and Avi Shlaim, eds. The War for Palestine: Rewriting the History of 1948, Cambridge University Press, 2001, pp. 37-59.

---------------------------------, -------------------------------------

*Shlaim, Avi. “The Debate about 1948,” The International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 287-304, 1995.

--------------------------------, -------------------------------------

March 13: Spring Break - No Class

March 20:

Mid Term Examination

Bring two large unmarked blue books

March 27:

“Arab-Israeli Wars, 1956, 1967 and 1973 and Their Diplomatic Aftermath (Stein Lecture)

Readings:

*Brecher, Michael. “Jerusalem: Israel's Political Decisions, 1947-1977,” The Middle East Journal, Vol. 32, No.1, Winter 1978, pp. 13-34.

*Safran, Nadav. “America's Israel Connection,” Jerusalem Quarterly, Summer 1977, pp. 3-30.

April 3:

Israeli Society, Politics and Culture - Religion and Ethnicity, (Stein Lecture and the Israeli elections)

Readings:

Dowty, pp. 61-183.

Goldscheider, pp. 3-64; 109-237.

Mahler, pp. 53-250.

Kamil, Omar. “Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and his Culture War in Israel,” MERIA Journal, Vol. 4, No. 4, December 2000

http://meria.idc.ac.il/journal/2000/issue4/jv4n4a3.html

------------------------------------------------------, ------------------------------------------------------

*Avruch, Kevin. “ The Emergence of Ethnicity in Israel,” American Ethnologist, Vol. 14, No. 2, May 1987, pp. 327-339.

------------------------------------------------------, ------------------------------------------------------

*Cohen, Asher and Bernard Susser. Israel and the Politics of Jewish Identity: The Secular-Religion Impasse (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998), Ch. 1.

-------------------------------------------------------, -----------------------------------------------------

*Don-Yehiya, Eliezer. “Religious Leaders in Political Arena: Case of Israel,” Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 20, No. 2, April 1984, pp. 154-171.

-------------------------------------------------------, ---------------------------------------------------------

*Eisenstadt, S.N. , “ Change and Continuity in Israeli Society II. Dynamic Conservatism vs. Innovation,” The Jerusalem Quarterly, No. 2, Winter 1977, pp. 3-11.

-------------------------------------------------------,-----------------------------------------------

*Eisenstadt, S.N., “Israeli Society -- Major Features and Problems,” The Jerusalem Quarterly, No. 1, Fall 1976, pp. 28-35.

-------------------------------------------------------, -----------------------------------------------

*Peres, Yochanan. “Ethnic Relations in Israel,” American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 76, No. 6, July 1970-May 1971, pp. 1021-1047.

-------------------------------------------------------,------------------------------------------------

April 10:

Israeli Economy, (Stein Lecture)

Readings:

Shiraby, Linda., “Israel’s Economic Growth: Success Without Security,” MERIA Journal, Vol.6, No.3, September, 2002 http://meria.idc.ac.il/journal/2002/issue3/jv6n3a3.html

*Taub, Y.J. “Israel's Economy: The Challenge of Peace,” Jerusalem Quarterly, Fall 1979, pp.18- 32.

April 17:

Israeli Foreign Affairs: Israel and the United States, 1977-2005, (Stein lecture)

Readings:

Dowty, pp. 216-248.

Mahler, pp. 251-367.

*Eisenberg, Laura Zittrain. “Passive Belligerency: Israel and the 1991 Gulf War,” The Journal of Strategic Studies, Vol. 15, No. 3, September 1992, pp. 304-329.

April 24:

Passover -- No Class (To be made up at mutually convenient time)

Israeli Foreign Affairs: Israel and the Arab world, 1977-2005, (Stein lecture)

Readings:

*Stein, Kenneth W. “Continuity and Change In Egyptian Israeli Relations, 1973-1977, ”Israel Affairs, Vol. 3, Nos. 3 & 4, Spring/Summer 1997, pp. 296-320.

*Dowty, Alan. “Israeli Foreign Policy and the Jewish Question,” MERIA Journal, Vol. 3, No. 1, February 1999.

*Lieber, Robert J. “U.S-Israeli Relations Since 1948,”MERIA Journal, Vol. 2, No. 3, Sept. 1998.

*Steinberg, Gerald M. “srael and the United States: Can the Special Relationship Survive the New Strategic Environment?” ERIA Journal, Vol. 2, No. 4, December 1998.

Tuesday, May 4, 2006

Final Examination, 8:30 B 11:00am

Bring two large unmarked blue books