Seminar on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course focuses on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: it looks at the roots and history of the question contextualizing it into regional and international political developments. The course covers the most important events that characterized the conflict providing a solid historic background for analyzing contemporary developments. Moreover, the course analyzes the role of international and regional actors into the making of the conflict while also highlighting the impact of the Palestinian issue into the Arab world. The first class provides the theoretical tools critically analyse the conflict, the different actors and their political role. This approach should help the student to challenge the traditional mainstream paradigms around the Arab-Israeli crisis. The following classes are also informed by this critical approach: the analysis of important events such as the Suez crisis, the 1967 and 1973 Wars, the emergence of Palestinian resistance, the impact of the Cold War end the role of international players, require the student to grasp the political dynamics behind the mere facts. Regional events impacted by the Arab-Israeli conflict such as the Black September and the Lebanese civil war will be discussed in order to highlight the impact of the Palestinian question on regional politics. Having built a historical background and critical understanding of the conflict, the last part of the course will focus on contemporary events and the emergence of new actors, new diplomatic strategies as well as the popular mobilization that is characterizing current political developments. Finally, possible solutions will also be discussed.