Israel, Palestine, and What We Owe Each Other

(1 Credit Hour) · Undergraduate

This one-credit course offers a multi-narrative lens on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to understand how we got to October 7 and its aftermath, and to think about where we go from here. Co-led by two Notre Dame faculty members, one Jewish and one Muslim, the course will engage with two books–Anita Shapira’s Israel: A History and Rashid Khalidi’s The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine–as well as other shorter readings. Alongside the class sessions, students will be expected to attend public fora addressing such issues as the multiple narratives; international law questions arising in connection with the conflict; the role of universities in Israeli and Palestinian civil society; the distinctive vision of a Catholic university in relation to the conflict; peacebuilding in the midst of extreme polarization; and possible ways forward. In some cases, we will have the opportunity to meet separately with the speakers at these fora. The course does not envision, in the first instance, reaching agreement, but rather, improving the quality of our disagreements. We hope that passionate advocates on either side of the conflict will feel welcome in this course alongside others who are simply curious and wish to learn more about one of the most important conflicts in the world. (This course will only meet 10 times. Those specific dates will be determined at a later date based on speaker availability.)