Eur Isr-Pal Cnflct Since1967

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

This course examines the role of Europe, in the form of the European Union, in the economics and politics of the Israel-Palestine conflict from 1967 up to the present day. The introductory section looks at the theoretical and empirical literature on the EU as a foreign policy actor. This course is then is divided into four broadly chronological sections. Section one titled ‘From War to Camp David, 1967-1977,’ looks at the how the EU responded to the Arab-Israeli (Six-Day) War of 1967 in terms of its evolving approach to the Palestine question. It then looks at three key developments over the decade of the 1970s that greatly influenced (and serve to illuminate our understanding of) the European role in the conflict – the Oil Crisis of 1973, the Euro-Arab Dialogue (1974-79), and the Egyptian-Israeli peace process that culminated in the Camp David Agreement (1979.) Section two -1980-1993 - begins by examining the EU’s Venice Declaration of June 1980 – the most significant European statement on the Palestine question up to that time. It then looks at four other key developments that influenced the evolving European approach to Palestine during the 1980s and into the early 1990s. The first was the Israeli Invasion of Lebanon (1982); the second was the entry of Greece, Spain and Portugal into the EU between 1981 and 1987; the third was the PLO’s Algiers Declaration of November 1988, which for many in Europe appeared to legitimize the organization as a political player; the fourth was the Kuwait Crisis of 1990-91. Palestinian backing for Iraq’s invasion of its much smaller and richer neighbor had a significant impact on the Palestine issue and European policy at a crucial period at the beginning of the post-Cold War era. Section three focuses on the European role during the Oslo era between 1993 and 2000. In particular, the five classes in this section examine how the EU responded to the 1993 peace deal in terms of its engagement with the parties to the process –Israel, the Palestinians and the United States. This section attempts to measure the success or failure of the EU’s economic and political policies towards the Oslo process and it also examines the European attempt in these years to transform its major economic role in peacemaking into political influence. The fourth and final section of this course addresses European involvement in the Israel-Palestine question since the collapse of Oslo in 2000. It look at the EU’s policy response to the al-Aqsa intifada and the European attempt to balance its backing of the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority with the growing popularity of Hamas. It also examines the key European role in supporting Palestinian state building in the post-2000 era. Finally, it assesses the evolving political and economic relationship with Israel and the Palestinians in recent years, at a time when the peace process is moribund. Learning Goals: This course is designed as a seminar and it is essential that all readings are done for every class. Its objective is to provide students with the opportunity to gain a deep knowledge and understanding based on the reading of primary sources and major secondary works of the relationship between Europe, Israel and the Palestinians in the economic, political and conflict resolution spheres over the last half century. This course has been designed to provide students with the tools to address the theoretical approaches and historical methodologies used in scholarly research and writing, and their effect on, and potential uses, when analyzing issues in international politics. It has also been designed to develop the student’s analytical, research and writing capabilities and to give students the opportunities to develop further their oral presentation skills by participation in class, engaging with the work of their peers and making presentations themselves. At the end of the course the student should be able to demonstrate an understanding of ? The historiographical debate relating to the evolution of EU involvement in the Israel-Palestine conflict. ? The theoretical literature relating to the EU as a foreign policy actor. ? The relationship between the EU, Israel and the Palestinians in the strategic, socio-economic, political and institutional spheres. ? The success and failure of the EU as a practitioner of conflict resolution.