|
Institute for the Study of Modern of Emory University ISMI |
ISMI
NEWSLETTER Number 4 July 2005 |
404.727.2441 fax www.ismi.emory.edu |
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Hi,
What follows is our fourth
newsletter to pre-collegiate teachers, educators, and those generally interested
in
As part of our continuing effort to keep you informed, we offer you this
newsletter. We encourage you to share your developed curriculum and lesson
plans on
We hope you enjoy and use the information provided here.
Ken
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CONTENTS
I.
New
II.
Videos on the Yishuv and
the Early Years of the State for Classroom Use or Student Take-Home are
Available!
III.
IV.
V.
Reading List on Current Contemporary Middle Eastern
Events: What Should I, as a Teacher, be Reading?
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I. New Reading
List on
In the Winter 2004 edition of CAJE’s publication, JEN (Jewish Education News) Online, there are more than half-a-dozen excellent articles focusing on how we teach Israel, why we should teach about it, shaping your classroom activities to make them Israel-engaging, and providing content and strategies on topics that relate to women in Zionism and Herzel’s Zionism. Some are suggested below; however, others are listed on the web site but only accessible with a hard copy of the issue. To acquire these articles go to: http://www.caje.org/learn/fs_jen.html and choose “Teaching About Israel, 2004.” You may also copy the author and the article and let Google or Yahoo do the searching for you.
Deena
Bloom’s article is particularly useful for k-4
grades and creating a classroom environment conducive to
*Deena Bloom, “Making Israel Part of the Everyday Education For
Young Students,” CAJE JEN Online,
Winter 2004, http://www.caje.org/learn/fs_jen.html.
For use in the
classroom -- virtually a curriculum with study questions -- and definitely
appropriate for middle school and high
school is David Breakstone’s fine article using one of Herzl’s
publications. He poses critical questions about the origins and definition of
Zionism, using segments of Herzl’s Altneuland as a text for study and reading. It is
highly recommended. Dr. David Breakstone heads the Department for Zionist
Activities of the World Zionist Organization. david_breakstone@hotmail.com
*David Breakstone, “Herzl and Me: A
Visit to Altneuland and its Relevance to the Teaching
of Israel Today,” CAJE JEN Online,
Winter 2004, http://www.caje.org/learn/fs_jen.html.
Articles by Liat-Ben David and Nachama Moskowitz focus on defining
*Liat Ben-David, “Israel Literacy: The Development of a Conceptual Framework for Jewish
Education,” CAJE JEN Online,
Winter 2004, http://www.caje.org/learn/fs_jen.html.
*Nachama Skolnik Moskowitz, “Israel
Education: Thinking Out of the Box,” CAJE JEN Online, Winter 2004, http://www.caje.org/learn/fs_jen.html.
Barbara Rosoff provides us with half-a-dozen biographies of women
who were engaged in the Zionist enterprise, and then gives us a lesson sample
on how you might use those biographies. Dr. Barbara Rosoff
has served as a principal at both Solomon Schechter
and supplementary schools, and was the Chair of the Jewish Education News
editorial board for four years. Rosoffbarbaral@aol.com
*Barbara Rosoff, “The Women Who Helped to Found the State of Israel,” CAJE JEN Online, Winter
2004, http://www.caje.org/learn/fs_jen.html.
Sims and Rothenberg’s
article is a wonderful compilation and guide for integrating materials and initiating classroom teaching strategies
for
*Ronni Sims and Anne Rothenberg, “Making Israel Real: Strategies for
acquiring and using authentic resources as learning tools in the process of
student inquiry and discovery,” CAJE JEN
Online, Winter 2004, http://www.caje.org/learn/fs_jen.html.
A second publication, in case you missed it, is JESNA’s Winter 2004 Issue of Agenda:
Jewish Education. The title of this Issue is “Israel Education.” In
it you will find five or six articles on why
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II. Videos on the Yishuv and the Early Years of the State for Classroom Use
or Student Take-Home are Available!
The
Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Library,
http://www.spielbergfilmarchive.org.il/
The Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive made its films accessible online
in 2002 with over 200 films currently available. This project is made possible
by funds raised by the American Friends of the
The titles available in this project have been divided into five main
subject groups, broadly representative of the Archive's holdings, including
chronological and topical categories. A
number of films may appear in more than one relevant category. The films are of
uneven quality. The films reflect the heroic and triumphal nature of
Zionism and the struggle to create the state. They
are wonderful pictorial representations and will allow your students a visual
connection to the history of
What you have below are summaries of two of the
many excellent films to be viewed. The summaries are meant to give you a flavor
of what is in the archive. You can show these films to students, use them in an
informal education setting, or simply assign one of the films to a student with
study questions that could be combine with text study. If you plan to
peruse the films, expect to devote more time than you anticipated. They can be
captivating. Remember, they are meant to emphasize struggle, nationalism, and
triumph. And they do just that.
A State is Born (16
minutes, English) Abba Eban commences this film with
photos of the yishuv, politics before the state, and
his reading of
http://w3.castup.net/jfa/filmsscreen.asp?ai=148&ar=CMID23156
http://w3.castup.net/jfa/filmsscreen.asp?ai=148&ar=CMID23218
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III. Reading List on Origins and
Varieties of Zionism: What Do I Assign My High School Student?
There remain the classic texts such
as David Vital’s The Origins of Zionism (Oxford:
1975, ISBN:0198274394), reprinted in paper in 1990 for
$15.98 (used) and upwards on Amazon.com -- not a bad price for this 330+ page
book which reads easily. Vital’s work is a classic,
replete with details, analyses, and conclusions. Chapters Three to Five are the
best for reminding us why and how Zionism emerged particularly in the 19th
century. His discussion of the social changes within the Jewish communities of
Europe and
A second favorite is Walter Laqueur’s A History of Zionism (Schocken: 2003, ISBN:0805211497), available at Amazon.com for $12.00 (used) and up. This 688-page book is tough to assign to pre-collegiate students because of its length, but it remains one of the best overviews. These are not books that are easily comprehended by pre-collegiate students, though a serious student who wants to learn will find them a pleasure to read. Laqueur’s book focuses more on the politics of nations and the Jews, while Vital focuses more on the Jews and their interactions with nations.
My favorite summation of the varieties of Zionism that evolved for any level (pre-collegiate, college, and adult education/informal education) student is the array of short summaries provided for each Zionist thinker of the 19th and 20th century in Arthur Hertzberg’s The Zionist Idea (Jewish Publisher Society: 1997, reprinted from many earlier editions, the first in 1959). This book is a collection of documentary primary sources of some 39 important Zionist thinkers from the pre-cursors of Herzl through Ben-Gurion. Each of Hertzberg’s selections of the various Zionist thinkers is preceded by a snappy and informative one or two page introduction. Teachers can use four or five Zionist thinkers to show the students comparisons within original works by these Zionist thinkers, and/or assign the succinct 99-page introduction to the book, which collates all of the Zionist thinkers in one coherently written essay. Nothing exists to match what Hertzberg has provided in this compendium.
One of the most complete summaries of the Zionist movement from World War I to 1948 can be found in H.H. Ben Sasson’s A History of the Jewish People (Harvard: 1969). In a little less than 100 pages (pp.989-1062), he captures the political history in a sharp and accurate manner. If you had to assign reading material for this period to those in 10th grade and above, this would certainly be no mistake.
There are, of course, other
excellent books on the history of modern
In summary, the best combination might be Hertzberg’s 99-pages and Ben-Sasson’s 73-pages -- not a combined burden for students of 10th grade and up to read.
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IV.
Israel’s Disengagement From Gaza: 12 Points Worth
Noting
*You may choose to print out Section IV and use as needed in the
classroom.
When
classes resume in fall 2005,
The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs website has the complete collation of all documents associated with the pending withdrawal. The most important dates are PM Sharon’s address at the Herzelia Conference on December 18, 2003; the June 6, 2004, Israel's cabinet approval of the plan for disengagement from the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria; and the Knesset’s endorsement of the plan on October 25, 2004. These documents and others may be found at: http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Guide+to+the+Peace+Process/Israeli+Disengagement+Plan+20-Jan-2005.htm.
Three superb
articles that provide background to the notion of withdrawal in a pragmatic nature
without tackling the ideological controversy surrounding the pros and cons of
Israeli withdrawal are David Makovsky’s “Gaza: Moving
Forward: Pulling Back,” in Foreign Affairs (May/June 2005) at
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC06.php?CID=809;
Yehuda Ben Meir’s “The
Disengagement an Ideological Crisis,” in Strategic Assessment (Jaffe Center
for Strategic Studies, Vol 7 no. 4, March 2005) at http://www.tau.ac.il/jcss/sa/v7n4p2BenMeir.html;
and Minda Lee Arrow’s “Gaza Settler Relocation: New
Progress, Ongoing Complications,” in Peacewatch #504
(Washington Institute for Near East Policy, June 2005) at http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=2326.
Here are some basic questions that may be posed to your students with brief answers.
1. How did
Here, some mention that Gaza was part of the Palestine Mandate, taken and controlled by Egypt from 1948 to June 1967 War, Israel’s success at taking the Gaza Strip in June 1967 and control of its periphery since.
2. Who lives is in
the
Mention of 1.5 million Palestinians who live in the Gaza Strip and 9,000 Jewish settlers who began to live there after June 1967.
3. What is the background to the settlements?
Broadly, of course, the future of
Jewish settlement of the territories taken in the June 1967 War is touched upon
by
A fusion
evolved between the ideological religious imperative as seen by some Jews to settle
in all of the
The best summary of the impact
of the settler’s ideology and religious Zionism was offered on June 24, 2005,
by Aviezer Ravitsky, a
professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an expert on religious
Zionism. He addressed The Washington Institute's Special Policy Forum. The
following is a reporter’s summary of his remarks.
To view this PeaceWatch,
see http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=2337.
“The
impending Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip and four settlements in the
northern
Origins of Religious
Zionist Ideology
In the early twentieth century, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook established the
theological basis for what became the dati le'umi (National Religious or Religious Zionist)
movement. His son Tzvi Yehudah
Kook continued his legacy through
For
the most part, the initial settlement of the land that became modern
The Role of the
Territories in Religious Zionist Ideology
The
rabbinic establishment within the settlement movement is marked by disparate
views regarding the necessity of an Israeli presence in the territories. In
either case, settler ideologues, hawk and dove alike, accord the territories a
unique importance. On the political right, prominent activist Hanan Porat compared ceding the
territories to the Palestinians as tantamount to forfeiting one's wife in order to save oneself; in other
words, unthinkable. For those like Porat, a
meta-historical sense looms over
In
general, withdrawal challenges the self-esteem of the settlers and the National
Religious camp. Settling up to the frontiers of the territories gained in 1967,
particularly biblical cities such as
In
light of this background, the
In
practice, this dilemma will manifest itself as a choice between obeying those
rabbis who call for refusing evacuation orders and obeying the state's military
orders to dismantle the settlements. At the very least, the movement hopes to
inflict emotional trauma on the nation by resisting the disengagement and
making the prospect of further withdrawals seem too painful to consider
enacting. Hence, substantial civil disobedience will likely emerge throughout
the summer among
settlers and their sympathizers in
4. What is the meaning of withdrawal?
On the international political level, in November 1967, the United Nations passed Security Council Resolution 242 which called for “withdrawal from territories taken in the recent conflict.” That amorphous phrase came to debated among Israelis and between Arabs and Israelis.
Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza
Strip may be interpreted as part of
Israeli withdrawal from
5. Are there precedents in Israeli history to withdrawal?
The Historical Context
Israel initiated its first
withdrawals from lands taken in the June 1967 war with the first disengagement
agreement Israel made with Egypt (January 1974) and continuing in Sinai until
complete in the late 1980s with the final Israeli withdrawal from Tabah, just south of Eilat in the
Sinai Peninsula. In its disengagement
agreement with Syria in May 1974, Israel withdrew from some areas it captured
during the 1973 War and a small wedge of land taken in the June 1967 War (more
for symbolism for Syrian government needs than for any strategic decision made
by Israel).
6. Who is Hamas?
Here, I would look at the Microsoft Encarta encyclopedia entry http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761580639/Hamas.html and some of the quotations from Arabic sources that state their intentions which appear after these questions.
7. What motivates
a)
b) Depending on which polls you read and when, between 50-65% of Israelis are in favor of full withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
c) Israeli domestic politics did
not catalyze the withdrawal idea, in fact the idea splintered
d)
e)
8. In a broader
context of Zionism and its future, what does withdrawal from a portion of the
a) Israeli political leaders
(Rabin, Peres, Netanyahu, Barak, and Shamir) have all advocated some aspect of separation from
the Palestinians in the land west of the
b) Israeli withdrawal from
c) Much like
d)
9. What are the intermediate and long-term
results?
Impossible to tell, but here are some points.
a) Disengagement is separation
or partition of the land west of the Jordan River; it is not peace between
b) Disengagement means
c)
d) There is at present no
indication to suggest that Israeli withdrawal from
e) Israel’s fulfillment of withdrawal from Gaza is uniformly embraced by American and European policy-makers, which will make for warmer relations between Israel and certain European capitals, and reinforce the already deep Israeli-American relationship that has tentacles and connections that reach to all parts of their respective bureaucracies and political constituencies.
10. What is the
It
is important to note that the choreography of
11. What about settlers’ compensation and
relocation?
On June 9, 2005, the Israeli Supreme Court handed down judgment on twelve petitions challenging the Evacuation Compensation Law. Although the court upheld the legality of the disengagement, it offered additional support to the settlers, increasing the amount of aid for relocation.
The Evacuation Compensation Law originally authorized $884 million in compensation for the settlers. In order to provide compensation that settlers would find adequate, the government employed a complex mathematical formula that took into account the size of each family, the number of years the family had lived in its home, the value and size of the home, the household's annual income, and the price of homes in the relocation area. The law entitles families to approach the Disengagement Authority for compensation up to three years following the withdrawal.
In April 1982, the Israeli
government evacuated 1,400 settler families from Sinai. The experiences of the
families who left the Yamit settlement provide a
clear lesson for policymakers: the transition into new homes and lives will be
easier for evacuees if they are relocated together. While all evacuated
settlers are eligible for aid under the Evacuation Compensation Law, Clause 85
of the legislation provides increased compensation to those who agree to
evacuate as a group. Under this provision, the government proposed building
four new towns around Nitzanim, a beachfront
community about three miles south of
According to Israeli officials, the residents of Nitzanim are ideologically similar to those of Gush Katif, and the beachside location makes the area quite similar to the settlements that will be evacuated. The Gush Katif leadership refused the offer, along with other attempts at planning for disengagement. This information was taken from “The Washington Institute’s Special Reports on the Arab-Israeli Peace Process Gaza Settler Relocation: New Progress, Ongoing Complications,” by Minda Lee Arrow in PEACEWATCH #504, June 15, 2005, at www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=2326.
Please recall in their exchange of
letters in April 2004, President Bush promised Prime Minister Sharon to help
12. How will the disengagement be carried
out?
In
a June article in Yediot Ahronot, the
editors assembled the following information from a variety of sources to
describe HOW it will happen. The general objective is to make it happen
smoothly, quickly, and without fanfare or unnecessary distress or
confrontation. The Yediot
editors summarized the evacuation from the settlements taking place in a series
of six concentric circles (“Evacuation of Gush Katif
and
The IDF name given to the operation is “Shevet Achim.” The term is used because it literally means “brotherly tribe,” to suggest that the settlers and those who may remove them are of the same Jewish tribe! The article enumerated six phases or circles for the disengagement.
From the outer circles to the center:
Circle 6. This will be outside of
Circle 5. This circle will be
deployed close to the border line between the Gaza Strip and
Circle 4. This area will actually encircle the designated area for evacuation. It is defined as an offensive force and is aimed to prevent terror attacks and other forms of disturbances by the Palestinians. The IDF soldiers will be from the infantry, armory and engineers.
Circle 3. In this circle, IDF forces, relatively small in number, will be stationed in existing outposts where they are serving today and will be charged with securing the evacuated areas.
Circle 2. This circle will consist of IDF soldiers. Their areas of responsibilities are as follows:
a. to isolate the settlements; to avoid settlements from aggregating together, thus the IDF will cut the roads between existing settlements;
b. the IDF will control strategic junctions; and
c. the IDF will secure narrow secondary roads that lead to isolated settlements.
Circle 1. In this circle, the evacuation will be directly carried out by military policemen, including medical personnel and female officers. The aim is to use unarmed policemen that will be assisted by unarmed MPs and personnel from the medical corps. Deployment of women soldiers, officers and policewomen is contemplated in order to “deal” with women and girls who would refuse to be evacuated. The IDF will seek to isolate each settlement so that the inhabitants from one will not be able to move from an evacuated settlement to one that is next on the evacuating schedule. The air force will also be deployed using drones and other tools and specialty-trained units on the ground to assist in the settlers’ evacuation.
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V. Reading List on Current Contemporary
Middle Eastern Events and Those Surrounding
A daunting question to be sure, given the reality that we have less and less time to read books, more and more information, and are overwhelmed by material of incredible quantity and questionable quality.
Over the last decade, a wide variety
of short articles have appeared covering all aspects of contemporary Middle
Eastern and Israeli history. They have appeared in new journals, as well as new
and old web sites. The amount of material released on a monthly basis is
nothing short of breathtaking. For any interested student of
Some of the web sites are obvious in their political orientation; others are less revealing to a first or second reading. Rather than endorse a particular web site or scholarly source, I would like to continue to inform you of excellent materials. You can, of course, in using these sources and web sites, find additional material in the same web site location. Many of the web sites represent organizations that can distribute their publications to you directly if you subscribe.
What you find below are interesting short pieces, mostly for your edification, though some of the material may be suitable to advanced student levels, juniors-seniors in high school, and certainly in collegiate settings.
You can find wonderful in-depth
reports on Israeli domestic issues, such as democracy and national security, at
the Israel Democracy Institute web site. Their publications can only be
purchased but detailed summaries of their studies can be found at http://www.idi.org.il/english/.
IDI is the largest and longest existent Israeli think-tank/research institution
focusing only on Israeli domestic issues, such as building a constitution,
civil rights in
On Arab Democracy and Arab Liberalism
*Tamara Coffman Wittess, “The Promise of Arab Liberalism,” Policy Review, July 2004, http://www.brookings.edu/views/articles/fellows/wittes20041222.html
*Nathan Brown, “Evaluating Palestinian Reform,” Carnegie Paper # 59, Spring 2005, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=16974&prog=zgp&proj=zdrl
*“Access
Denied:
*“In
Support of Arab Democracy: Why and How,”
Council on Foreign Relations,
June 2005, 88p., A Report of an Independent Task Force, sponsored by Madeleine
Albright and Vin Weber (co-chairs). Task Force
Members include: Larry Diamond, F. Gregory Gause III,
Abdeslam Maghraoui, et al. http://www.cfr.org/pdf/Arab_Democracy_TF.pdf
Europe,
Anti-Semitism,
*ADL Survey in 12 European Countries Finds Anti-Semitic Attitudes Still Strongly Held,” Anti Defamation League, May 2005. (This is mandatory to read!) http://www.adl.org/PresRele/ASInt_13/4726_13.htm (Summary) http://www.adl.org/anti_semitism/european_attitudes_may_2005.pdf (full text)
*Cameron
Brown, “
*Tsilla Hershco, “French
Perceptions of the Middle East,”
*Shmuel Trigano, “Is there an end to French Jewry? “ AZURE, Winter 2005, http://www.azure.org.il/.(Article can be accessed for free.)
*Susanne
Urban, “Being Leftist and Anti-Semitic in
The last three articles listed here are not on the web.
*Jonathan Spyer, “An Analytical and
Historical Overview of British Policy toward
*David
Rodman, “
*Linda
Sharaby, "
*Hazony, Yoram, “On the
*Hazony, Yoram, “On the
*Hazony, Yoram, “On the
“Mr.
Abbas Goes to
Jerusalem’s Political Future–Redefine it or Partition?
*Shaul Arieli, “Toward a Final
Settlement in
The Arab World
*Eyal Zisser, “Hizbullah’s Strategy Following Syria’s Withdrawal from Lebanon,” May 22, 2005, No. 134, The Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies (co-published with the Jaffe Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University), http://www.dayan.org/framehodaot.html
*Anthony
Cordesman, “