JUDS0650

Fall2011,T&Th.,2:303:50
Officehours:Wed.3:005:00

ProfessorMaudS.Mandel
Phone:8633915
Maud_Mandel@brown.edu

HistoryofZionismandtheBirthofIsrael
ThiscoursewillfocusonthehistoryoftheZionistmovementuntilthefoundationofthestateof
Israelin1948.WewillbeginbyturningtotheEuropeanoriginsofthemovement.Bysituating
earlyZionistthoughtwithinthecontextofEuropeannationalismandasoneofnumerousJewish
politicalresponsestorisingantisemitism,wewillconsidertowhatdegreethemovement
resembledthoseofothernationalisttrendsofthedayandtowhatdegreeitreflectedthe
particularisticconcernsofthepopulationitclaimedtorepresent.Thesecondpartofthecourse
willexaminehowZionistidealswereimplementedinpracticeaswellashowtheyinteracted
withArabandBritishconcernsintheregion.Lastly,wewillturnbrieflytoreevaluationsof
Zionisminthepost1948world.Thefollowingquestionswillbeconsidered:WhatisZionism
andwhendiditbegin?WhatparallelsdidtheZionistmovementsharewithothernationalist
movementsofthelate19thcentury?HowdidthecreationoftheStateofIsraelbuildonoralter
previousZionistconceptions?Whatwastheimpactofthismovementontheindigenous
populationandonthemandatorypowerintheregion?HowhasZionismchangedsinceIsraels
founding?Inansweringthesequestions,ourgoalwillbetousethetoolsofhistorical
investigationandanalysistoexploreacomplexandcontestedhistory.
Reading List
Hertzberg,Arthur.TheZionistIdea:AnHistoricalAnalysisandReader.Philadelphia:Jewish
PublicationSociety,1997.
Penslar,Derek,IsraelinHistory.LondonandNewYork:Routledge,2007.
EranKaplanandDerekJ.Penslar,eds.,TheOriginsofIsrael,18821948:ADocumentary
History.Madison:UniversityofWisconsinPress,2011.
Onlinecoursepackofrequiredreadings.
Requirements:
1)Reading:Allreadingisrequired.ThebookshavebeenorderedforpurchaseattheBrown
Bookstore.Copiesofthesearealsoonreserveinthelibrary.Youarenotrequiredtopurchase
anything.
2)ClassPreparation:Thiscourseisdesignedasalecture/discussionseminar.Thismeansthat
mostlecturesessionswilldrawdirectlyonthereadingsfortheday.Pleasecomepreparedto
1

discussandanalyzethereadings.Yourparticipationinthesediscussionsisasignificantpartof
masteringtheskillsandmaterialforthiscourseandwillbeconsideredinyourfinalgrade.
3) Written Assignments
a) Four 3-4 page response papers selected from the following options:
1) Thursday,Sept.26:Compareandcontrasttheprimarysourceexcerptsin
Hertzberg.Aretheseauthorstryingtosolvethesameproblem?If
yes,
whatistheproblemtheyaretryingtosolveandwhatsolutionsdo
they
propose?Ifnot,whatifanythinglinksthesepieces(i.e.arethere
thematicsimilarities)?
2) Thursday,Oct.3(required):WriteareactionpapertoIsraelBartals
presentation. Whatwashismainargument?Whatevidencedidhe
providetomakehiscase?Washeconvincing?
3)Thursday,Oct.10:Compare and contrast Ahad Haams Zionist vision with
Hertzls. Are both Zionists? If so, what do they share in common? What
differentiates them?
4) Thursday, Oct. 17: Is Rubinsteins construct of normalization illuminating
for understanding the Zionist thinkers under study? Why or why not?
5)Tuesday,Dec.3:ConsidertheargumentthatYehudahBauermakesregarding
thelinksbetweentheHolocaustandthefoundingofthestateofIsrael.Do
youagreewithhisargument?Whyorwhynot?

b)A10pagepapercomparingandcontrastingthreebooksonatopicofyourchoice(to
bediscussedwithme).SubmitlistofbooksbyOct.24.Due:Thursday,
Nov.
14.
c)

Final Exam. Saturday, December 21, 9-12 (take home-administered over email)

Your grades will be composed as follows:

Response papers: 40 points (10 points each)
Paper: 25 points
Final exam: 25 points
Discussion: 10 points

WeeklySchedule
Sept.5:NoClass:RossHashanah(tobemadeupinDecember)

Sept.10:Introduction
Sept.12:Zionism,Nationalism,andColonialism
Reading:
*ArthurHertzberg,TheZionistIdea,pp.1522.
AnthonySmith,MythsandMemoriesoftheNation203224(OCRA)
UriRam,TheColonizationPerspectiveinIsraeliSociology,inThe
Israel/PalestineQuestion,5580(OCRA)
ArthurHertzberg,InDebatewiththeArabsandTheirFriendsZionismis
Racism:ACounterattack,JewishPolemics(NewYork:Columbia
UniversityPress,1992),pp.6371(OCRA)
*DerekPenslar,IsraelinHistory,Chapter5
*PenslarandKaplan,theOriginsofIsrael,18821948,pp.38.
Sept.17OutoftheGhettoandtheReconceptualizationofJewishCommunity
Reading:
DavidBiale,AbsolutismandEnlightenment,PowerandPowerlessness,87117
(OCRA)
Sept.19TheRiseofAntisemitism
Reading:
ShlomoAvineri,Introduction:ZionismasaRevolution?inTheMakingof
ModernZionism,313(OCRA)
Sept.2426:Forerunners?
ReadingforSept.26:
JacobKatz,TheForerunnersofZionism,inEssentialPapersonZionism,3345
(OCRA)

*ArthurHertzberg,excerptsonKalischer(10914);Hess(11739);Smolenskin
(14353);BenYehuda(15965);Pinsker(17998)inTheZionist
Idea
Sept.30:LecturebyIsraelBartal,7pm,DetailsTBA.

Oct.13:PalestineandtheRootsoftheNewYishuv
Reading:
BesharaDoumani,RediscoveringOttomanPalestine:WritingPalestiniansinto
History,inTheIsrael/PalestineQuestion,1140(OCRA)
MarkLevine,OverthrowingGeography,pp.2859(OCRA)
*KaplanandPenslar,TheOriginsofIsrael,1338;5764,1714

Oct.810:Politicalvs.CulturalZionism
ReadingforOctober8:
AmnonRubinstein,ZionismandtheQuestforaJewishIdentityinFromHerzl
toRabin,924(OCRA)
*ArthurHertzberg,Herzl(20131);Nordau(23345),TheZionistIdea;Ahad
Haam(5172;24951)
ReadingforOctober10:

AhadHa'am,TenEssaysonZionismandJudaism,TheJewishStateand
theJewishProblem;ASpiritualCentre;Summa
Summarum,
pp.3255;1209;130161(OCRA)
AhadHa'am,SelectedEssaysbyAhadHaam,TheSpiritualRevival,pp.
253305(OCRA)
Oct.1517:TheSecondMigrationWaveandEmergingConflicts

ReadingforOctober15:
DavidVital,TheAfflictionsoftheJewsandtheAfflictionsofZionism,in
EssentialPapers,11932(OCRA)
AmnonRubinstein,TheMeaningofNormalization,inFromHerzltoRabin,
2538(OCRA)

*ArthurHertzberg,ZionistIdea,Pines(40715);Kook(41731);Landau(43339)
Gordon(36986);Katznelson(38995)Brenner(30512);Syrkin(331
50);Borochov(35366)
ReadingforOctober17
*KaplanandPenslar,TheOriginsofIsrael,3956;6581

Oct224:WorldWarI,ZionismandtheDiaspora
ReadingforOctober24:
*ArthurHertzberg,TheZionistIdea,Schecter(50313);Brandeis(51523);
Kaplan(53544);*Weizmann(572583),TheZionistIdea

Oct.2931:TheDevelopmentoftheYishuvinthe1920s:
ReadingforOctober31:
*DerekPenslar,IsraelinHistory,chap3,7,8
*KaplanandPenslar,TheOriginsofIsrael,94109,11630,1759,18995,198
201,210216

Nov.57:PalestiniansandZionists
ReadingforNovember5:
*DerekPenslar,IsraelinHistory,chap.6
ReadingforNovember7:
ZacharyLockman,RailwayWorkersandRelationalHistory:ArabsandJewsin
BritishRuledPalestineinComparativeStudiesinSocietyand
History
35,3(July1993)60127(OCRA).
AlexWinder,TheWesternWallRiotsof1929:ReligiousBoundariesand
CommunalViolence,TheJournalofPalestineStudies,42,1
(August
2012),pp.623(OCRA).
Nov.12:TransformingNotionsofZionismTheRiseofRevisionism
Reading:
*Hertzberg,TheZionistIdea,Jabotinsky,55659
GideonShimoni,RevisionistZionisminTheZionistIdeology,23666(OCRA)
Jabotinsky,WhattheZionistRevisionistsWant(OCRA)
5

*KaplanandPenslar,TheOriginsofIsrael,14151,25767
Nov.1426:MandatoryPalestineinthe1930s
ReadingforNovember14:
ReadingforNovember19:
*KaplanandPenslar,TheOriginsofIsrael,13140,1525,1614,1804,18088,
1967,218252
ArieKrampf,ReceptionoftheDevelopmentalApproachintheJewish
EconomicDiscourseofMandatoryPalestine,19341938,Israel
Studies
2,10(Summer2010),pp.80104(OCRA)
ReadingforNovember26:
CharlesD.Smith,PalestineandtheArabIsraeliConflict,158166(OCRA)
BenGurion,OntheArabQuestion,6038(OCRA)
*ArthurHertzberg,TheZionistIdea,Weizmann(583588);Jabotinsky(559570)

Nov.28:TheImpactoftheHolocaust
Reading:
*KaplanandPenslar,TheOriginsofIsrael,271336
Dec.3:19451948
Reading:
YehudaBauer,FromtheHolocausttotheStateofIsrael,inRethinkingthe
Holocaust,242260(OCRA)
*ArthurHertzberg,TheZionistIdea,BenGurion,605619
ColinShindler,OpposingPartition:TheZionistPredicamentsaftertheShoah,
IsraelStudies14,2(Summer2009):88104(OCRA)
*KaplanandPenslar,TheOriginsofIsrael,33943,35865,36872,25356

Dec.510(makeup):1948:LiberationorCatastrophe?
ReadingforDecember5:
AviShlaim,TheDebateabout1948,InternationalJournalofMiddleEastern
Studies,27,3(1995),pp.287304(OCRA).

ReadingforDecember10:
ShabtaiTeveth,ChargingIsraelwithOriginalSin,Commentary88,no.3(Sept.
1989):2433(OCRA)
BennyMorris,TheEelandHistory:AReplytoSabtaiTeveth,Tikkun(Jan
Feb1990):1922,7986(OCRA)
JoelBeinin.BennyMorrisandtheRoadBackfromLiberalZionism,Middle

EastReport230(Spring2004),(OCRA)
EfraimKarsh,BennyMorris,MiddleEastQuarterly(2005),(OCRA)
*KaplanandPenslar,TheOriginsofIsrael,34472,3367,15660