Summary

PBS shares a cinematic recreation of an early rupture between Palestinian and Jewish residents, called 1913: Seeds of Conflict.

The tale first tells of a dynamic coexistence between religious communities under the sovereign Ottoman Empire. As this community encounters early Jewish immigrants escaping growing anti-semitism in Europe just before World War I, social realities begin to shift, creating tensions that would continue to heighten for decades to come. 

The documentary covers three main historical themes: 

1) shifting identities

2) rising national consciousness

3) constructing national culture

Evaluation

Seeds of Conflict presents essentially the same issue as Rothman but from a more intimate, on-the-ground perspective. While Rothman offers a wider political context, the documentary recreates the daily experience of an ordinary Arab or Jewish civilian. Of the 14 scholars interviewed in the making of the film, the Palestinian perspective is somewhat underrepresented. Though academia is a space where personal identity does not necessarily influence the quality of knowledge, such a personal, anthropological film calls for voices situated in both the Palestinian and the Jewish immigrant experience. 

Summary:

In the book, A Concise History of the Middle East, Arthur Goldschmidt Jr. and Ibrahim Al-Marashi write chapter 13, “The Roots of Arab Bitterness” (pg. 197-214), to trace the destiny and sovereignty of Arab lands after World War I and the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

A flurry of nationalist movements across the Middle East were inspired by Woodrow Wilson’s words on self-determination and a change in the existing colonial order. During and after World War I, however, the Allied Powers had split up the land of the Middle East among themselves, rendering Arabs’ hopes for independence empty. Similarly, the land of Palestine was allocated for the creation of a “Jewish national home” in the Balfour Declaration in 1917.

In the following post-war years, both Zionist and Arab nationalist parties resisted British mandate rule and advocated their individual causes, sometimes violently. Culminating with the Zionist extremist group, the Irgun, bombing the British headquarters in Palestine, the King David Hotel, the British finally decided to withdraw from the region in 1947. You may learn more about the following UN Partitian Plan of 1947 and the changing borders throughout history here. 

Evaluation:

Goldschmidt and Al-Marashi provide a sketch of the administrative forces that created the Middle East as we now perceive it. It's a useful reference for dates, names, and documents. Different meanings of those events seen through different individual lenses or from different community perspectives are left to the reader to seek out. Literature, personal accounts, and even primary sources such as soldiers' diaries and others can fill in those gaps.

Summary:

Olivia Sohns writes a brief history of US support for Israel, a major aspect of Israel’s position on the world stage. 

US President Truman was the first to recognize Israel after its 1947-48 military campaign, during which it occupied more land than was allotted to it in the 1947 UN Partition Plan. The friendship between the two nations has clear across nearly all US presidents since, with varying degrees. According to Sohns, both “moral and political factors” contributed to this support.

Namely, alliances with nations in the Middle East has always been critical in securing a supply of oil into the US. American presidents have also cited religious solidarity for their support of Zionist ambitious.

Sohns splits up the legacy of recent US presidents into six parts, explaining each platform’s distinct motivations and interests.

Evaluation:

Sohns provides a useful and digestible account of US foreign policy in Israel, providing further material for interested readers, both digital and in print. In fact, Sohns recommends the work of Ohio State’s own Peter Hahn on this conflict.

Even in such a concise article, Sohn’s provides details about the strategic strengthening of US-Israel ties following 9/11, an issue which has been foundational in the past two decades. Essentially, as Americans began to “identify with Israel, which had a longer experience with terrorism,” a simplified conception of the shared enemy, including Hamas and Hezbollah, became clearer as well.

Summary

A 2016 study by the Pew Research Center surveyed Jewish opinion on the ideas of a Jewish state and Arab population transfer.

‘A majority of Jews believe in a need for a Jewish state, a belief that the land of Israel was given to them by God, and that diasporic populations reserve the right to Israeli citizenship.

The issue of Israel’s significant Arab minority, now over 20%, is a continued source of contention. Though about an equal number of interviewees agree and disagree with the total expulsion of Arabs from Israel-proper, differences in opinion seem to correspond with languages spoken and education levels. Only 38% of educated Jews, for example, would agree with the expulsion and 32% of Yiddish speakers. 

Evaluation

This questionnaire fails to ask about the millions of Palestinians living under military occupation in the West Bank, in Gaza, or in diaspora elsewhere. The diversity in responses regarding Arabs living in Israel, however, indicates a more complex picture than is often shown. 

Summary

Ohio State’s John Quigley, Professor at the Moritz College of Law spoke on the MESC’s podcast about international law and how it has played out in Jerusalem. 

In 1953, the State of Israel began moving many of its government buildings, including its foreign ministry, from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which was deemed inappropriate by international law.

“International law is set of norms accepted by the international community as appropriate for the government of the world”

Jerusalem holds religious significance for all Abrahamic religions, and an arrangement needed to be made to allow Muslims and Christians access to the holy site. The drafted UN partition plan of 1947, thus, gave Jerusalem a special status under international law. 

United Nations

During Israel’s quest for admittance into the United Nations in 1949, its foreign minister was questioned on two major issues:

1) the displacement of thousands of people in the making of Israel

2) Israel’s apparent interest in the international city of Jerusalem

Though the foreign minister did not promise reparations or repatriation for displaced Palestinians, he did recognize the significance of Jerusalem to other communities. With this concession, Israel was admitted into the UN. 

As we see today, both the issues of displaced Palestinians and control of Jerusalem remain unsolved. 

Check out this NPR article on understanding the political division of Jerusalem. 

Summary

In an article shared by OSU’s Origins, Jay Rothman provides a brief chronology of events and writes about the competing narratives in the present conflict. 

“Problems arise when two [national] myths conflict in the same physical space, creating protracted disputes not just over political details, land, and resources, but over the more existential questions of identity.”

Rothman outlines the divergences of the two narratives as such:

1) origins in time and space

2) ancestry and descent

3) migrations and liberations

4) golden ages

5) current sad decline

6) future rebirth.

“...a more empathetic perspective would enable each side to better appreciate the perspectives, experiences, and needs of the other. It might also help clarify how much each side shares in common.

[On the other hand], a hardheaded realism about the necessity of cooperation for the fulfillment of each side’s respective needs, not at the expense of the other, but rather achieved in part through gains for them as well, for the sake of self, may evolve [into a resolution]"

Evaluation

While Rothman provides a valuable summary of the core arguments within the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, his analysis remains somewhat in a vacuum. Western powers' repeated preference for Zionists' nationalist initiatives over their Palestinian counterpart, as discussed in later readings, has irrevocably tilted the scales in favor of Israel. Without considering the unequal treatment of Palestinian and Zionist quests for self-determination throughout history, his account is incomplete.

The United Nations provides official, primary sources detailing the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict since its inception. Between maps, government documents, and detailed timelines, the United Nations provides reliable information straight from the source. For those looking to start understanding this conflict based on the facts, the UN page on Palestine is a great place to start. 

Ten Myths About Israel by Ilan Pappe (2017) 

The “ten myths” that Pappe explores—repeated endlessly in the media, enforced by the military, accepted without question by the world’s governments—reinforce the regional status quo. He explores the claim that Palestine was an empty land at the time of the Balfour Declaration, as well as the formation of Zionism and its role in the early decades of nation-building. He asks whether the Palestinians voluntarily left their homeland in 1948, and whether June 1967 was a war of “no choice.” Turning to the myths surrounding the failures of the Camp David Accords and the official reasons for the attacks on Gaza, Pappe explains why the two-state solution is no longer viable.

Anita Shapira, Israel: A History (2012)

Written by one of Israel’s most notable scholars, this volume provides a breathtaking history of Israel from the origins of the Zionist movement in the late nineteenth century to the present day. Organized chronologically, the volume explores the emergence of Zionism in Europe against the backdrop of relations among Jews, Arabs, and Turks, and the earliest pioneer settlements in Palestine under Ottoman rule. Weaving together political, social, and cultural developments in Palestine under the British mandate, Shapira creates a tapestry through which to understand the challenges of Israeli nation building, including mass immigration, shifting cultural norms, the politics of war and world diplomacy, and the creation of democratic institutions and a civil society. References to contemporary diaries, memoirs, and literature bring a human dimension to this narrative history of Israel from its declaration of independence in 1948 through successive decades of waging war, negotiating peace, and building a modern state with a vibrant society and culture. Based on archival sources and the most up-to-date scholarly research, this authoritative history is a must-read for anyone with a passionate interest in Israel. Israel: A History will be the gold standard in the field for years to come.

Michael Brenner, In Search of Israel: The History of an Idea (2018)

Many Zionists who advocated the creation of a Jewish state envisioned a nation like any other. Yet for Israel’s founders, the state that emerged against all odds in 1948 was anything but ordinary. Born from the ashes of genocide and a long history of suffering, Israel was conceived to be unique, a model society and the heart of a prosperous new Middle East. It is this paradox, says historian Michael Brenner—the Jewish people’s wish for a homeland both normal and exceptional—that shapes Israel’s ongoing struggle to define itself and secure a place among nations. In Search of Israel is a major new history of this struggle from the late nineteenth century to our time. When Theodor Herzl convened the First Zionist Congress in 1897, no single solution to the problem of “normalizing” the Jewish people emerged. Herzl proposed a secular-liberal “New Society” that would be home to Jews and non-Jews alike. East European Zionists advocated the renewal of the Hebrew language and the creation of a distinct Jewish culture. Socialists imagined a society of workers’ collectives and farm settlements. The Orthodox dreamt of a society based on the laws of Jewish scripture. The stage was set for a clash of Zionist dreams and Israeli realities that continues today. Seventy years after its founding, Israel has achieved much, but for a state widely viewed as either a paragon or a pariah, Brenner argues, the goal of becoming a state like any other remains elusive. If the Jews were the archetypal “other” in history, ironically, Israel—which so much wanted to avoid the stamp of otherness—has become the Jew among the nations.

Derek Penslar, Zionism: An Emotional State (2023)

Emotion lies at the heart of all national movements, and Zionism is no exception. For those who identify as Zionist, the word connotes liberation and redemption, uniqueness and vulnerability. Yet for many, Zionism is a source of distaste if not disgust, and those who reject it are no less passionate than those who embrace it. The power of such emotions helps explain why a word originally associated with territorial aspiration has survived so many years after the establishment of the Israeli state.
Zionism: An Emotional State expertly demonstrates how the energy propelling the Zionist project originates from bundles of feeling whose elements have varied in volume, intensity, and durability across space and time. Beginning with an original typology of Zionism and a new take on its relationship to colonialism, Penslar then examines the emotions that have shaped Zionist sensibilities and practices over the course of the movement’s history. The resulting portrait of Zionism reconfigures how we understand Jewish identity amidst continuing debates on the role of nationalism in the modern world.

Sabra Zoo by Mischa Hiller (2011)

“Summer 1982: Beirut is under siege.

Eighteen-year-old Ivan’s parents have just been evacuated from the city with other members of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Ivan stays on, interpreting for international medical volunteers in Sabra refugee camp and working undercover for the PLO. Hoping to get closer to Eli, a Norwegian physiotherapist, he helps her treat Youssef, a camp orphan disabled by a cluster bomb. An unexpected friendship develops between the three and things begin to look up.

But events take a nasty turn when the president-elect is assassinated. The Israeli army enters Beirut and surrounds the camp, with Eli and Youssef trapped inside. What happens next makes international headlines and leaves Ivan scrabbling to salvage something positive from the chaos.” 

Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa (2006)

"Forcibly removed from the ancient village of Ein Hod by the newly formed state of Israel in 1948, the Abulhejas are moved into the Jenin refugee camp. There, exiled from his beloved olive groves, the family patriarch languishes of a broken heart, his eldest son fathers a family and falls victim to an Israeli bullet, and his grandchildren struggle against tragedy toward freedom, peace, and home. This is the Palestinian story, told as never before, through four generations of a single family.

The deep and moving humanity of Mornings in Jenin forces us to take a fresh look at one of the defining political conflicts of our lifetimes."

The Lemon Tree by Sandy Tolan (2007)

"In 1967, Bashir Khairi, a twenty-five-year-old Palestinian, journeyed to Israel with the goal of seeing the beloved stone house with the lemon tree behind it that he and his family had fled nineteen years earlier. To his surprise, when he found the house he was greeted by Dalia Eshkenazi Landau, a nineteen-year-old Israeli college student, whose family left fled Europe for Israel following the Holocaust. On the stoop of their shared home, Dalia and Bashir began a rare friendship, forged in the aftermath of war and tested over the next half-century in ways that neither could imagine on that summer day in 1967. Sandy Tolan brings the Israeli-Palestinian conflict down to its most human level, demonstrating that even amid the bleakest political realities there exist stories of hope and transformation."

Green Almonds: Letters from Palestine by Anaële Hermans  & Delphine Hermans (2011)

"The graphic novel collaboration and true story of two sisters. Anaële, a writer, leaves for Palestine volunteering in an aid program, swinging between her Palestinian friends and her Israeli friends. Delphine is an artist, left behind in Liège, Belgium. From their different sides of the world, they exchange letters. Green Almonds: Letters from Palestine is a personal look into a complex reality, through the prism of the experience of a young woman writing letters to her sister about her feelings and adventures in the occupied territories."

Waltz with Bashir: A Lebanon War Story by Ari Fol­man and David Polonsky (2009)

"When Ari Fol­man was a nine­teen-year old sol­dier in an Israeli com­bat unit, he was sta­tioned in Beirut dur­ing the 1982 war with Lebanon. As his unit was secur­ing two refugee camps, Chris­t­ian mili­tia mem­bers entered the camps and killed thou­sands of Pales­tini­ans. Fol­man repressed his mem­o­ries of that night for more than twen­ty years, until a friend’s recur­ring night­mare stunned him into real­iz­ing the extent of his mem­o­ry loss. Now a suc­cess­ful film­mak­er in Tel Aviv, Fol­man embarks on a jour­ney to fill in the gap­ing holes in his mem­o­ry. With the help of friends and fel­low sol­diers, he fol­lows a trail of flash­backs and rem­i­nis­cences, until he grad­u­al­ly puts togeth­er a pic­ture of his role in the war. 

Simul­ta­ne­ous­ly released as a movie and a book, Folman’s graph­ic nov­el has a dream­like qual­i­ty. The illus­tra­tions are both real­is­tic and sur­re­al­is­tic; the back­grounds resem­ble pho­tographs, while the action and main char­ac­ters are depict­ed with bold col­ors and vivid expres­sions. The point of view switch­es between nar­ra­tors as Folman’s fel­low com­bat­ants strug­gle with mem­o­ry and trau­ma. A recur­ring image of three sol­diers emerg­ing naked from a black sea hyp­not­i­cal­ly brings the read­er clos­er and clos­er to a shock­ing end­ing, which serves to rein­force Folman’s mes­sage of the futil­i­ty of war."

 Jerusalem: A Family Portrait by Boaz Yakin & Nick Bertozzi (2009)

"Jerusalem is a sweeping, epic work that follows a single family—three generations and fifteen very different people—as they are swept up in chaos, war, and nation-making from 1940-1948. Faith, family, and politics are the heady mix that fuel this ambitious, cinematic graphic novel.
 
With Jerusalem, author-filmmaker Boaz Yakin turns his finely-honed storytelling skills to a topic near to his heart: Yakin's family lived in Palestine during this period and was caught up in the turmoil of war just as his characters are. This is a personal work, but it is not a book with a political ax to grind. Rather, this comic seeks to tell the stories of a huge cast of memorable characters as they wrestle with a time when nothing was clear and no path was smooth."

Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me by Harvey Pekar, JT Waldman (2012)
 

"Harvey Pekar's mother was a Zionist by way of politics. His father was a Zionist by way of faith. Whether Harvey was going to daily Hebrew classes or attending Zionist picnics, he grew up a staunch supporter of the Jewish state. But soon he found himself questioning the very beliefs and ideals of his parents. In Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me, the final graphic memoir from the man who defined the genre, Pekar explores what it means to be Jewish and what Israel means to the Jews. 

Over the course of a single day in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, Pekar and the illustrator JT Waldman wrestle with the mythologies and realities surrounding the Jewish homeland. Pekar interweaves his increasing disillusionment with the modern state of Israel with a comprehensive history of the Jewish people from biblical times to the present, and the result is a personal and historical odyssey of uncommon power. Plainspoken and empathetic, Pekar had no patience for injustice and prejudice in any form, and though he comes to understand the roots of his parents' unquestioning love for Israel, he arrives at the firm belief that all peoples should be held to the same universal standards of decency, fairness, and democracy. With an epilogue written by Joyce Brabner, Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me is an essential book for fans of Harvey Pekar and anyone interested in the past and future of the Jewish state. It is bound to create important discussions and debates for years to come."

For an entire article dedicated to Arabic literature, film, and culture, please visit Arablit.org.

Approaching the Qur’an, Ashland Oregon by Michael Sells (1999) 

"Approaching the Qur’án is a major event in religious publishing. Professor Michael Sells has captured the complexity, power, and poetry of the early suras of the Qur’án, the sacred scripture of Islam. In this second edition, Sells introduces important new translations of suras and a new preface that addresses the ongoing controversy over teaching about Islam and the Qur’an in American universities. Approaching the Qur’án presents brilliant translations of the short, hymnic suras associated with the first revelations to the Prophet Muhammad. Most of these early revelations appear at the end of text and are commonly reached only by the most resolute reader of existing English translations. These suras contain some of the most powerful, prophetic and revelatory passages in religious history. They offer the vision of a meaningful and just life that anchors the religion of one-fifth of the world’s inhabitants."

Islam, An Introduction by Annemarie Schimmel (1992)  

"It is a splendid introduction—carefully researched and comprehensive, yet readable. It corrects many popular and erroneous notions about Islam that prevail in non-Muslim societies. For the general reader, there are many profound insights of great consequence, for example, the passages on women, marriage, and inheritance, or the section on jihad, nearly always completely misunderstood in the press."

For further reading, consult the OSU Library Guide on Islamic Studies.

Judaism: A Very Short Introduction by Norman Solomon (1996)

"Norman Solomon's succinct book is an ideal introduction to Judaism as a religion and way of life. In addition to surveying the nature and development of Judaism, this Very Short Introduction outlines the basics of practical Judaism -- its festivals, prayers, customs, and various sects. Modern
concerns and debates of the Jewish people are also addressed, such as the impact of the Holocaust, the establishment of the State of Israel, the status of women, and medical and commercial ethics.

About the Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds
of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam"

Everyman's Talmud by Abraham Cohen (1975)

"Long regarded as the classic introduction to the teachings of the Talmud, this comprehensive and masterly distillation summarizes the wisdom of the rabbinic sages on the dominant themes of Judaism."

For further reading, consult the OSU Library Guide on Jewish Studies.