Syllabus: Israeli Territorial Politics: Between Security & Identity (original) (raw)

Perhaps the most familiar trope in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is Israel's insistence on "secure and recognized borders" in any final settlement. Although a consistent theme of Zionist politics and diplomacy even before the founding of the State of Israel, there has always been an internal debate as to which borders would provide Israel with security and which boundaries must ultimately be recognized by the Arab world. Often overshadowed in the international arena but no less important in Israeli domestic discourse is the relationship between Israeli national identity and the Land of Israel. This course will the explore the evolution of and conflict between these two concepts in Israeli domestic discourse and their respective impact on Israel's territorial policies and international boundaries. To do so, we will consider various thematic approaches including Zionism, security, settlement, and homeland as they have been expressed in the Sinai Peninsula, Southern Lebanon, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, Jerusalem, and the West Bank. To accomplish this goal, this course will incorporate a range of scholarly historical and political readings on Israel as well as discussions on relevant current events.