HST244 History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This course focuses on the emerging clash between the nascent Zionist project starting in the 19^th century and the gradual dispossession of the Arab inhabit­ants of Palestine culminating in the 1948 creation of the state of Israel. It aims to shed light on the historical progression of the conflict and the external players impacting its development. The course also assesses the Arab responses to Israel as well as the internal evolution of the Jewish state from frontier kibbutzim to nuclear power. Among events and developments leading up to 1948 the course may zoom in on the conception of Zionism, relationships between Zionists and the British and Ottoman Empires, early migration into Palestine and the impact of the two World Wars and the Holocaust. It will also address international responses to the existence of Israel arising from Arab and Palestinian nation­alism, the Arab-Israeli wars, the emergence of the Palestinian Fedayeen and the Palestine Liberation Organization, the impact of Israel on surrounding Arab states and the Islamist factor.