Over the past two years the Gaza strip deteriorated into the site of some of the world's most intense bloodshed. Yet few people are fully aware of why this conflict has gone on for so long, or why the powerful Israeli Defense Force (IDF) was unable to quickly destroy the much smaller, but ruthless, Hamas.

In this course we will learn how these closely related adversaries, the Israelis and the Palestinians, came to occupy and claim the same lands, how this terrible conflict came about, and the political and religious factors that have brought these two adversaries into such intense confrontation. We will discuss the factions that control both Israeli and Palestinian politics, especially the right-wing religious influencers who seek to control Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. We will examine the relationships of both parties with Iran and its proxies, the stunning shift in Middle Eastern power after Israel’s successful attacks on Iran and Hezbollah, and the overshadowing influence of the United States. We will discuss the peace negotiations that have failed, and the basis of the peace plan advanced by Donald Trump.

February 10: Modern Israel—the beginning. Geography. The birth of Zionism. World War I and the Balfour Declaration. Ashkenazi migration to Palestine. Early settlement and Arab resistance. Jewish and Arab resistance to the British Mandate for Palestine. World War II. The partition plans. The 1948 War for Israeli Independence.

February 12: Establishing the Israeli state. Palestinian refugees. Arab opposition to Israel. Sephardic/Mizrahi immigration to Israel. The Suez War and The Six Day War. The Islamic resurgence. Arab terrorism. The October War.

February 17: The Peace Process. Jimmy Carter begins the Peace Process. Radical Islam and Hezbollah. Religious Zionism. Settlements in the 1980s. The first Intifada. Founding Hamas. The Madrid Conference. The Oslo Accords.

February 19: Israeli and Palestinian politics. Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin. Russian immigration to Israel. The rise of Benjamin Netanyahu. The Peace candidate, Ehud Barak. The Second Intifada and suicide bombing. Settlements, Jerusalem and Likud. The Peace Process fails. The Haredim—objectives, subsidies and universal conscription. Areas B and C, and the Wall. The Arab Peace Initiative.

February 24: Israeli and Palestinian co-existence. Hamas wins the Palestinian elections. Salaam Fayyad’s plan. The Kerry negotiations. Israeli elections and Israel/Hamas wars. The Great March of Return. Israeli coalition politics—Benjamin Netanyahu, Yair Lapid, and Mansour Abbas. The Israeli election of November 2022. Trouble over judicial reform. Trouble in the West Bank.

February 26: Israel and Gaza at War. Hamas’ plan/Israel’s error. The October 7 attack. The war in Gaza. Hostage negotiations. Destruction and the death toll. Humanitarian facilities and aid. Religious Zionism and the Israeli cabinet. Israeli victories. Netanyahu’s dilemma. The Gulf states and international pressures. The Trump peace plan.

Tuesdays & Thursdays | 6 classes, February 10, 12, 17, 19, 24 & 26 | 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
In person and simulcast
$40 per class or $220 for the series.
Discount will be automatically applied at checkout when all six lectures are added to your cart.