HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE CURRENT CRISIS IN THE MIDDLE EAST

(DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY, APRIL 25, 2002)

**RESOURCE SHEET** (compiled by George Dameron, History)

A Recommended Selection of Books:[1]

·         9-11, by Noam Chomsky (2001)

·         A History of the Modern Middle East, by William Cleveland (Boulder 1994)

·         A History of the Arab Peoples, by Albert Hourani (Warner Books, 1992).

·         The Middle East, by Bernard Lewis (Touchstone Books, 1997).

·          In the Land of Israel, by Amos Oz (Harcourt Brace, 1993).

·         The Chronicle of the First Crusade and Other Source Materials, by Edward Peters (1998)

·         The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades, by Jonathan Riley-Smith, editor (2001)

·         Power Politics, by Arundhati Roy (South End Press, 2002).

·         A History of Israel From the Rise of Zionism to Our Time, by Howard Sachar (Oxford University Press, 1996).

·          Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, by Charles Smith (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2001).

Courses Exclusively on the Middle East Taught at Saint Michael’s College (Partial List)

·         History 121 (The Modern Middle East)

·         Religious Studies (most 100- and 200-level courses)

·         Religious Studies 319 (Islam)

·         Religious Studies  321 (Judaism in the Greco-Roman World)

Courses That Include the Middle East (Partial List):

·         History 109 and 111 (Early Middle Ages, Later Middle Ages

·         History 343 (Topics in Medieval History:  The Crusades)

·         History 345 (The Black Death)

·         Sociology 230 (Global Fundamentalism)

·         Sociology 333 (Globalization)

·         Economics 317 (International Economics)

·         Economic 321 (Economic Development)

·         Global Studies 201 (Foundations of Global Studies)

·         Political Science 234 (International Politics)

·         Classics 113/History 113 (History of Rome)

Informative Web Sites (Non-Mainstream Media, Human Rights Organizations, Research Organizations) for Current Developments in the Middle East:

·         Amnesty International http://www.amnesty.org/

·         Z-Net (alternative press, articles and essays)  http://www.zmag.org/ZNET.htm

·         The Independent (newspaper, United Kingdom)  http://www.independent.co.uk/

·         The Guardian (newspaper, United Kingdom)  http://www.guardian.co.uk/

·         Ha’aretz (newspaper, English version, Israel) http://www.haaretzdaily.com/

·         Le Monde (French newspaper)  http://www.lemonde.fr/

·         Middle East Research and Information Project (highly recommended) <http://www.merip.org/>

·         The Jordan Times (Jordanian paper published in English), < http://www.jordantimes.com/>

·         Human Rights Watch (http://hrw.org/)

Brief Timeline of Crisis:[2]

·         1947:   United Nations partitions Palestine:  Jews accept partition; Palestinians and Arab leaders reject partition

·         1948:  Establishment of state of Israel; war; loss of 78% of Palestinian land to Israel

·         1949:  700,000 Palestinian refugees

·         1967:   Six-Day War: Remaining 22% of Palestinian land taken.  United Nations Resolution 242 calls for Israel to withdraw from Palestinian territory and for refugee problem to be resolved in just manner

·         1968:  PLO adopts its national charter calling for homeland; Y. Arafat elected chair next year

·         1971:  Black September (three airliners hijacked by PLO and flown to Jordan)

·         1972:  11 Israeli athletes murdered at Munich Olympics

·         1973:   Yom Kippur War; UN Resolution 338 calls for Israeli withdrawal from occupied lands and for resolution of refugee problem

·         1978:   Camp David Accords; Egypt normalizes relations with Israel

·         1982:    Israel invades Lebanon:  17,500 Palestinians and Lebanese dead; 1700 refugees die at Shabra and Shatila refugee camps (Kahan Commission (Israel) holds Sharon responsible)

·         1987:    First Intifada begins

·         1988:    Palestine Liberation Organization accepts two-state solution

·         1993:    Oslo accords:  principal of interim agreements embraced to move parties toward final status talks and implementation of UN 242 and 338

·         1996:   First instances of suicide bombings in Israel

·          2000:   Camp David II.    Clinton-Barak plan:  Palestinians grouped into 5 cantons (3 cantons, plus East Jerusalem, Gaza Strip); no maps exist of proposals; talks break down ostensibly over status of East Jerusalem and right of return of refugees

·          2000: Beginning of second Intifada; between 2000 and 2002 (before Israeli incursions) 1400 Palestinians and 450 Israelis had died

·         2002:   By 2002 Israel had established 170 settlements on occupied Palestinian land, linked by 300 miles of roads, in violation of 4^th Geneva Convention

·         2002:    Saudi plan for peace (recognition of Israel in exchange for withdrawal from occupied land); basically repeats formula first promoted in UN Security Council Resolution of 1976

·         2002:  Wave of suicide bombings in Israel; Israeli assassinations of Palestinians

·         2002:     Israeli military invasion of occupied territories to “uproot terrorist infrastructure”; irreparable damage inflicted on electrical, water, civil (political), transportation, and security (police) infrastructures, public facilities and public buildings; partial withdrawal of Israeli Defense Force (IDF) with military cordon imposed around Palestinian territories

·         2002 (April):     Destruction of Jenin and other Palestinian settlements by IDF

·         2002:    Amnesty International delegation to occupied territories (in particular, Jenin) cites evidence pointing to serious violations by Israel of international human rights and humanitarian law and possible war crimes at Jenin; calls for independent international inquiry; UN appoints a commission of inquiry in late April