Interdisciplinary & Inter-Religious Perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Monday nights, 6:30-9:30 PM
Wesley Theological Seminary
Instructor: Paul Scham
paulscham@gmail.com
1. Introduction. The Jewish biblical version of Jews in Palestine/Yisrael; The development of Judaism in the Babylonian Exile. The Second Temple , Rabbinical Judaism, Diaspora, and the Talmud. Christians, Jews, and Arabs and the Byzantine Empire (PLS)
2. The beginnings of Islam and the early Muslim Conquests. The Qu’ran; its similarities and differences with the Bible. The status of Palestine and Jerusalem in Islam. The Islamization of the Middle East , the Crusades, and the status of Jews under Islam and Christianity in the Middle Ages. The rise of the Ottoman Empire and its heyday. (PLS and OAI or Dr. Ahmed)
3. The Inquisition, the expulsion of Jews from Spain and Portugal and their reception in the Ottoman Empire . Decay of the Ottomans, strengthening of the Christians, the Reformation and the Enlightenment, Napoleon and Europe ’s rediscovery of the Middle East . (PLS)
4. The European emancipation of the Jews and their role in 19 th century Europe . European nationalism, the rise of Zionism and early Arab nationalism. Attitudes of early Zionists and Arabs towards each other. Zionism as secular Jewish nationalism. Early religious Zionism. (PLS)
5. World War I and the political implications of the end of the Ottomans and the Caliphate. Versailles and the European division of the Middle East . The Balfour Declaration, the beginning of the British Mandate. Development of Jewish culture and society in Palestine . the establishment of the secular Turkish Republic , problems for European imperialism in the Middle East ,. Judaism in Palestine . (PLS)
6. Islam in the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries. Wahhabism. Islamic implications of the end of the Caliphate. Establishment of the Muslim Brotherhood, the role of Hajj Amin el-Husseini in Palestinian nationalism, The beginnings of secular Palestinian nationalism. Muslim awareness of Palestine and Zionism, Palestinian society undergoing modernization. Effect of the Mandate on Palestinians, the Palestinian Revolt of 1936-39. (OAI)
7. Palestinians and Jews on the eve of the Nakba. The end of the Mandate, the establishment of Israel and the Nakba. The role of Arab countries. Differing narratives and their consequences. The establishment and consolidation of Israel and its importance to Jews. (PLS)
8. The coalescence of the Palestinian people and the creation of Palestinian culture in exile. Fatah and the PLO. The triumph and fall of secular Arab nationalism. The growth of the Brotherhood and its repression. The growth of modern Islamism. The Islamic Revolution in Iran . (OAI)
9. Israel ’s laws regarding Return of Jews, Israeli Arabs, present absentees, and Judaism in Israel . The Six Day War, its political and theological consequences, and the explosion of religious Zionism. The early settlements and their advocates; Palestinians under Occupation. Egypt ’s peace with Israel and Sadat’s assassination. (PLS)
10. The rise of Islamism in Palestine , the first Intifada, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas. Islamic theology regarding Palestine historically and in the present; Hamas’s ideology and theology, and Islamic ideas of conflict resolution, Jihad, just war, and their applicability to Israel and to the conflict, salafism, and modern Islamist ideologies. (OAI)
11. The Israeli peace movements, the Oslo Peace Process, Camp David , the second Intifada and the political situation today. Israeli attitudes towards peace; how and why they have changed. The role of the US in the conflict. (PLS)
12. Discussion of the role of historical narratives in the conflict and in its solution. American Jews, Arab-Americans and Muslim-Americans and their positions in the US . Is the conflict Jewish-Muslim? The role of Christians. The Islamic world and the West. (PLS, OAI)
13. Islamization and secularism in Palestinian society, Hamas’s electoral victory and its control of Gaza , the Tahdiya (calming) that began in June 2008 up to today’s headlines. The goals of Israelis and Palestinians, focusing on the divisions in each society; How can Israelis and Palestinians coexist and/or make peace? (PLS, OAI)
