Jews, Arabs, and Others: Nations from the Nile to the Jordan

Undergraduate / Graduate

This course considers nationbuilding as an ongoing and recurring process in the Middle East, realigning identities and communities according to the political concerns of the time. In particular, we will examine how Arabs and Others have figured in the political imagination of both Egypt and Israel-Palestine. When can Egyptians, Palestinians, and Israelis consider themselves "Arab"--and when not? What are the stakes of naming Arab-ness or claiming it for oneself? To answer these questions, this course will include readings and popular films on Arab nationalism and minorities in Egypt, the question of Jewish versus Israeli nationalism, Arab (or Mizrahi) Jews in Israel, and the relationship of Palestinian nationalism to the borders that have been drawn within the historic land of Palestine.