This course examines contemporaneous documents to illuminate both Zionism and Arab Nationalism. Both modern nationalist movements have origins in late 19th/early 20th century, so that’s where we will start. We will move forward through the founding of the State of Israel and the initial conflicts between Israel and its Arab neighbors as well as what later became the conflict between Israel and Palestinians.

We will look at 19th, 20th, and 21st century documents that were important to the development of both the Jewish and Palestinian nationalist aspirations. We will explore what they meant to people at the time and how they are viewed now by the people involved in the conflict, as well as others throughout the world. We will consider different visions of both Arab nationalism and Zionism. We will explore how these documents came to be and how they were received by three different groups: Jewish/Israeli, Palestinian Arabs, Arabs from other countries. All documents will be available in English.