Arab-Israeli Politics POSC 377 | Fall 2008

A Jewish justification for killing civilians and breaking bones!

2008-12-11T13:52:00.001-08:00

What do you think will happen if a Muslim wrote an article like this in the US?

http://www.5tjt.com/news/read.asp?Id=3539

What do you think of this perspective?

2008-12-04T05:46:00.000-08:00

Click here to read it.

Israel Birth of a Nation

2008-12-02T12:08:00.000-08:00

Post your Review here.

Review The Longest Hatred

2008-12-02T12:06:00.000-08:00

Please post the review of this movie here.

Jerusalem Conference

2008-12-01T18:54:00.001-08:00

11.00-11.30: Presentations by the four country teams on their respective plans for Jerusalem [US, Israel, Palestine and Saudi Arabia].

11.30-12.15: Open discussion on Jerusalem. you are welcome to make a statement, but keep it short.

Media feel free to ask questions.

All of you should bring their individual proposals on Jerusalem along with maps.

A Very Interesting Composite of Surveys

2008-11-20T05:41:00.000-08:00

Take a look at this survey, it is very interesting. We might have a quiz on it on the last day of class: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/popeace.html

Simulation: Thursday 11.20.2008

2008-11-19T16:35:00.000-08:00

Simulation (v)

11.00-11.15: Media Reports: Aljazeera, CNN and Fox

11:20-12.00:

Meeting I: American President Host Israelis and Palestinians at Camp David

Agenda: To discuss: (1) Borders, (2) Settlements (3), Refugees (4) Prisoners [Jerusalem is not on the table at the moment].

Participants: President Obama, M. Abbas, Chief Palestinian Negotiator, Israeli PM , Likud Party Leader, Pro-Peace Israeli leader, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Jordan

Meeting II: British PM and Egyptian President Hosts Meeting with dissidents

Agenda: To find a way to get the dissident to support the peace outcome if the Palestinians sign on. The goal is to get the parties to accept the right of the Palestinians to deicide their own future.

Participants: UK, Egypt, Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, Al Qaeda, Lebanon, US NSA, Palestinian Ambassador to the Arab World

Meeting III: France Hosts a Palestine Development conference

Agenda: to Plan for post independence Palestine. (1) Disarm and Rehabilitate Islamic Jihad and Hamas and (2) Financial support for development and democracy institutions.

Participants: France, China, Turkey, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, US Secretary of State, Pro-peace Israeli leader

Meeting IV: Institute for Global Studies at UD hosts an Inter-faith conference

Agenda: Promote a culture of peace and religious tolerance in the ME. Develop plans for an education agenda that will educate the next generation to accept Israel and a Palestinian State.

Participants: AIPAC, J-Street, Arab American Institute, Israeli ambassador to the US, Palestinian Christian Leader, Christian Zionist, Churches Supporting Palestine, Palestinian Diaspora

12:00-12.15: Debriefing

Post Film Review

2008-11-17T10:20:00.000-08:00

Post your review about the film that portrays Arafath and Sharon, here.

Post Film Review

2008-11-17T10:17:00.000-08:00

Please post your film review here:

Post File Review

2008-11-17T10:13:00.001-08:00

Please post your film review here.

Simulation on Tuesday, Nov 18th.

2008-11-17T07:41:00.000-08:00

We shall begin with special presentations by Ryan and Emily. Please bring the Martin Gilbert Atlas with you for every class from now on.

We shall have the first meeting between the Palestinians and Israelis hosted at camp David by the US President, who will chair the meeting. The entire US team will also be present. The goal of the meeting is to develop a set of principles that both parties agree to about how to conduct the negotiations. this will be followed with a meeting between Hamas, the Palestinians and the Americans to see if Hamas can be included in the process.

Obama will find Bush has done the peacemaking for him

2008-11-08T07:35:00.000-08:00

However, George W. Bush has done Obama's work for him. In the Oval Office Obama will find Bush's two-state vision: the Road Map that promised peace with all Arab countries by May 2005 and a complete freeze on settlements. He will also find a copy of the letter Bush sent to Ariel Sharon, in which he promised that the United States would support an agreement based on withdrawal from all territories except the main settlement blocs and the return of refugees to a Palestinian state. Click here to read the rest of the article. Responses are Welcome [This posting is courtsey of Brian]

Simulation: Opening Press Conference

2008-10-27T20:16:00.000-07:00

11.00-11.45: One randomly chosen representative from each of the six conferences will make a press statement. The statement should have two elements – (1) a summary of the state of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and (2) identify what they/their conference thinks should be the next step to kick start the process.

11.45-12.15: First the media, then the rest of the participants can ask questions of the presenters. Each media outlet will be allowed two questions for the panel.

Paradise Now

2008-10-23T18:45:00.000-07:00

Post your review of Paradise Now here. You can read interesting details about this Golden Globe winning film on this wikipedia page. Do not rehash the plot, tell us what you learned.

Who are Refuseniks

2008-10-16T10:08:00.000-07:00

Israeli Refuseniks are examples of a moral phenomenon. Read the story of a Black Hawk pilot, Yonatan Shapiro, and others to get some idea about them. See this report on the phenomenon. See here an example of how the mainstream Jewish community in Britain reacted to them.

What do you think? Can they make a difference?

Media Reports of the Simulation

2008-10-14T06:11:00.000-07:00

The media that coverred the conferences may post their coverage here.

Conference VI

2008-10-14T06:10:00.000-07:00

Conference VI: In Tel Aviv the Israelis under their new PM prepare for the conference. Israeli PM, Likud Party Leader, Extreme right Israeli leader of the Settlers, Pro-Peace Israeli leader, Israeli Ambassador to the US and Chief Israeli Negotiator are present.

Please list who all participated in the conference and a brief summary of what was discussed and concluded at the event.

Conference V

2008-10-14T06:08:00.000-07:00

Conference V: In a small bomb shelter, in the basement of a municipal office building in Nablus, the members of the Palestinian leadership meet to prepare a list of demands and concessions for the forthcoming peace conference. Leader of Palestinian Authority, Chief Palestinian Negotiator, Palestinian Ambassador to Arab World and Palestinian Christian leader are present.

Please list who all participated in the conference and a brief summary of what was discussed and concluded at the event.

Conference IV

2008-10-14T06:07:00.000-07:00

Conference IV: Senator Barak Obama and his transition team meet with American interests group to discuss what role the U.S. would play in the peace process and after the process. President, Secretary of State, National Security Advisor, Leader of AIPAC, Leader of Arab-American Institute, Leader of Christian Zionist Movements, Palestinian Diasporas representative, Churches supporting Palestinian cause, J-Street participate.

Please list who all participated in the conference and a brief summary of what was discussed and concluded at the event.

Conference III

2008-10-14T06:06:00.000-07:00

Conference III: In a secret meeting, disguised as a meeting of Arab rap musicians, members of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hezbollah, Al Qaeda and Islamic jihad meet to discuss what they should do in response to the global conference to which they may not be invited.

Please list who all participated in the conference and a brief summary of what was discussed and concluded at the event.

Conference II

2008-10-14T06:05:00.000-07:00

Conference II: Arab players come together in Doha. Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon and Qatar meet to prepare a joint Arab strategy to resolve the conflict and prepare a list of Arab demands and concessions.

Please list who all participated in the conference and a brief summary of what was discussed and concluded at the event.

Simulation Conference I

2008-10-14T06:02:00.000-07:00

Conference I in Davos, Switzerland under the cover of a World Economic Forum meeting: Global Players, UK, Russia, France, China, Turkey and Iran meet to prepare a plan to balance the US and define a role for each one of them and the UN in the coming conference and the process thereafter.

Please list who all participated in the conference and a brief summary of what was discussed and concluded at the event.

The Israeli Lobby Controversy

2008-10-08T12:10:00.000-07:00

The article "The Israel Lobby" and the subsequent book with the same title, by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, created a political storm. Here is one example of a critical response by Alan Dershowitz. This is a link to the wikipedia page on the controversy which lists other useful links. This is the link to AIPAC. After reading both articles and reviewing the AIPAC website, see the videos of their last annual convention if you can and then comment in 4-5 poaragraphs about this issue.

John Pilger's Film, Palestine is still the Issue

2008-10-07T10:16:00.000-07:00

Folks, here is the link to watching Pilger's video on the Youtube so that you can watch the rest.

Useful Starting Point

2008-10-07T05:27:00.000-07:00

This BBC portal to the Palestinian and Israeli conflcit is very useful. It has maps that we will use in the smulation and interesting videos. It also updates news on a daily basis. Click here.