meir history of zionism to 1948 syllabus spring 2010

8/8/2019 Meir History of Zionism to 1948 Syllabus SPRING 2010

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HISTORYOF ZIONISMTO 1948

Portland State University Prof. Natan Meir HST399 Spring 2010 [email protected]

TTh 2.00-3.50pm, CH 383 Office: Cramer 492B

Zionism, defined as the national liberation movement of the Jewish people, has brought about a

revolution in Jewish life over the past century and a half. This course will examine Zionism as both

nationalist ideology and practical solution to the so-called Jewish Question in Europe. Beginning with

an overview of Jewish history and of the rise of nationalism in the

nineteenth century, we will examine early forms of Zionism in

Eastern and Central Europe, the many different forms of Zionism

(and other types of Jewish nationalism) that emerged at the turn of

the twentieth century, and the beginnings of settlement in

Palestine/Eretz Israel. We will explore the society and culture that

the Zionism movement created under the British mandate of

Palestine, and understand the roots of the Arab-Jewish conflict inthis context. We will also examine the impact of Zionism on Jewishlife and politics in Eastern and Central Europe and in the United

States.

ORGANIZATIONOF COURSE: In general, the first half of class will be a

lecture and the second half will be discussion. This course uses

Blackboard; please make sure you register and familiarize yourself

with it as soon as possible. You will find documents,announcements, weblinks, and other resources on the site.

REQUIREMENTS:

Class attendance, completion of readings, and participation indiscussions

Mid-term exam (take-home, assigned April 29 and due May 4)

Paper (6-8 pp.) : An analysis of one work of Zionist literature from a list that I will provide. Due May

27.

Final exam (Mon., June 7, 10:15-12:05, in our usual classroom)

GRADING: Your two best pieces of work will be worth 35% each of your total grade, and your lowest grade

will be worth 30% of the total course grade.

TEXTS(available at Portland State Bookstore)

W. Laqueur, A History of Zionism: From the French Revolution to the Establishment of the State of

Israel (New York: Schocken, 1972, 2003).

E. Mendelssohn, On Modern Jewish Politics (New York: Oxford USA, 1993).Primary sources will be available as scanned documents or weblinks through Blackboard under the

Learning Modules section.

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"All those aged 17-25: To the Service of theNation


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Other useful reference material:

Zionism Reference

Encyclopedia of Zionism and Israel (1971). 2 vols. DS149 .E597

New Encyclopedia of Zionism and Israel (1994). REF DS149 .N56 1994

Political Dictionary of the State of Israel (1987). DS126.5 .P62 1987

Atlases

Nicholas de Lange, Atlas of the Jewish World (1984). MAPS DS117 .D4 1984

Evyatar Friesel, Atlas of Modern Jewish History (1990). MAPS G1030 .F6513 1990

Israel, the Historical Atlas: The Story of Israel From Ancient Times to the Modern Nation (New

York Times, 1997) MAPS G2236 .S1 I8 1997

Zev Vilnay, The New Israel Atlas: Bible to Present Day (1968) MAPS G2235 .V52 1968

General Jewish Studies

Encyclopaedia Judaica : an excellent place to start for any research in Jewish studies. REFDS102.8 .E496

YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe REFDS135.E8 Y578 2008

Website: Heritage: Civilization and the Jews (based on PBS series); website includes timelines,documents, interactive presentations, and other resources. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/heritage/

GENERALCOURSEINFORMATION

Disabilities : Students with disabilities who need additional consideration for the timely completion of

any of the course requirements should speak to the instructor at the beginning of the term, and must

be registered with PSUs Disability Resource Center ([email protected]).

Laptops and cellphones : If you need your laptop in class to take notes, please let me know. Otherwise I

will assume that you are surfing the internet during my lectures. Please also do me the courtesy of

not sending or checking text messages during class.

Grading : I use the American letter-grade format for grading, but dont be surprised if you see a hybrid

grade (e.g., C+/B-) which I may assign if I feel that your work does not easily fit into one rung on the

grade scale.Papers : Papers must be turned in as hard copies; e-mail attachments will not be accepted. Please make

sure you keep a copy of the paper. Material taken (quoted, paraphrased, summarized) from

other sources must be properly cited, and the sources properly documented; failure to do so

constitutes plagiarism. Plagiarized work will automatically receive a grade of F. Chicago/

Turabian citation style is preferred, but MLA style is also acceptable. Wikipedia is fine for

background reading, but may not be used as a source in papers.

Late work : Late work will automatically be marked down one grade step per day. Example: a term paper

handed in three days late that would have received a B+ will receive a C- instead. So hand in on your

work on time! If you have a legitimate excuse (e.g. illness), please make sure to let me know aboutyour problem as early as possible and not on the day the assignment is due.

E-mail policy: I am happy to correspond with you via e-mail and to answer your questions and concerns

that way. However:

E-mail is not ideal for urgent matters. I consider 24-48 hours to be a reasonable period in which to

respond to inquiries. I am usually much faster than this, but not always.

I will not, in general, respond to student e-mails sent after 5:00 on Friday until Sunday afternoon or,

at times, Monday morning. Please plan accordingly.

Please remember to identify yourself and state your query as clearly as possible.

I will not fill in students who miss class on the details of a particular lecture or discussion. Please seek

that information from your fellow students.

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http://www.pbs.org/wnet/heritage/mailto:[email protected]://www.pbs.org/wnet/heritage/mailto:[email protected]


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Please note that this syllabus is subject to change.

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CCOURSEOURSE SSCHEDULECHEDULE

WEEK TOPIC

1 NO CLASS (PASSOVER)

2 Introduction to course

The Jews in nineteenth-century Europe

3 The emergence of modern Jewish politics

The Love of Zion

4 Herzl and Political Zionism

Ahad Ha-am and Cultural Zionism

5 Varieties of modern Jewish politicsWorld War I, the Balfour Declaration, and beyond

4/29:MIDTERM EXAM ASSIGNED

6 5/4:MIDTERM EXAM DUE (IN CLASS)

The Yishuv and Labor Zionism

Zionist culture

7 Jabotinsky and Revisionist Zionism

The Arab Question

8 Critics of Zionism

Zionism in interwar Europe

9 FILM: Hill 24 Doesnt Answer (1955)

Zionism in the United States and Canada

PAPER DUE

10 World War II and the Holocaust

Conclusion

6/7: FINAL EXAM

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Week 1Tuesday 3/30

Thursday 4/1

NO CLASSES: PASSOVER

Week 2:

Tues. 4/6

Introduction to course

Who are the Jews? What is a Jew? The historical Jewish relationship to Palestine/Eretz

Israel

PRIMARYSOURCES (HANDOUT):

Psalms 122, 137

Siddur (prayerbook): excerpts from the Amidah: (Praised are You who blesses the years; who gathers

the dispersed of His people Israel; who builds Jerusalem; who assures our deliverance; who restores

His presence to Zion) (Siddur Sim Shalom [1985]: 215-217)

Thurs. 4/8

The Jews in nineteenth-century Europe

Laqueur 3-39; 56-70

Moses Mendelssohn on Judaism and Enlightenment (1783) (Heritage: Civilization and the Jews: Source

Reader, ed. Hallo, Ruderman, and Stanislawski [1984], 213-215)

The Debate Over Emancipating the Jews of France (1789) (Heritage 215-216)

The Emancipation of the Ashkenazim [in France] and Response of the French Jews (1791) (Heritage 217-

219)

The Reform of Judaism (1845) (Heritage 222-223)

Gordon, Awake My People! (1866) (The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History, ed. Paul

Mendes-Flohr and Jehuda Reinharz, 2nd edition [1995], 384-385)

Week 3:

Tues., 4/13 The emergence of modern Jewish politics

Ernest Renan, What is a Nation? (Blackboard) http://www.cooper.edu/humanities/core/hss3/e_renan.html

Raymond Scheindlin,A Short History of the Jewish People (Oxford USA, 1998), 149-184 (Blackboard and reserve;N.B.: this title is under reserve under HST199/399 Introduction to Judaism)

Smolenskin, It Is Time To Plant (1875-77) (Hertzberg 145-147)

Ben-Yehudah, A Letter (1880) (Hertzberg 160-165)

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The assigned reading for each class is divided into primary and secondary sources.

Primary source readings are marked with a symbol.
http://www.cooper.edu/humanities/core/hss3/e_renan.htmlhttp://www.cooper.edu/humanities/core/hss3/e_renan.html


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Thurs. 4/15

The Love of Zion

Laqueur 40-55; 70-83

Pinsker, Autoemancipation, sections I-III, VI, and Summary (The Zionist Idea, ed. Arthur Hertzberg

[1959], 179-188, 191-192, 198)

Bilu Group: Manifesto (1882) http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Zionism/BILU_Manifesto.html

Week 4:

Tues. 4/20

Herzl and Political Zionism

Laqueur, chap. 3

Theodor Herzl, A Solution of the Jewish Question (1896) (JMW 533-538)

The First Zionist Congress: The Basle Declaration (August 1897)

http://cojs.org/cojswiki/The_First_Zionist_Congress:_The_Basle_Declaration,_August_1897

Nordau, Jewry of Muscle (JMW 547-548)

Thurs. 4/22

Ahad Ha-am and Cultural Zionism

Laqueur, 136-171

The First Zionist Congress (1897) (JMW 541-543)

Excerpt from Ahad Ha-am, Slavery in Freedom (Heritage 236-237)

Week 5:

Tues. 4/27

Varieties of modern Jewish politics

Mendelsohn, chap. 1 Varieties

Bund, Decisions on the Nationality Question (1899-1910) (JMW 419-423)

Dubnow, Autonomism (1901) (JMW 417-419)

The Mizrahi, Manifesto (1902) (JMW 546)

Zangwill, A Manifesto (1905) (JMW 55-552)

Borochov, Program for Proletarian Zionism (1906) (JMW 552-554)

Abraham Isaac Kook, Lights for Rebirth (Hertzberg 427-431)

Agudat Israel, Founding Program (1912) (JMW 565-566)

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http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Zionism/BILU_Manifesto.htmlhttp://cojs.org/cojswiki/The_First_Zionist_Congress:_The_Basle_Declaration,_August_1897.http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Zionism/BILU_Manifesto.htmlhttp://cojs.org/cojswiki/The_First_Zionist_Congress:_The_Basle_Declaration,_August_1897.


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Thurs. 4/29 MIDTERM EXAM ASSIGNED

The Early Twentieth Century, World War I, the Balfour Declaration, and Beyond

Laqueur 171-205; start reading chap. 9

Arthur Ruppin, The Picture in 1907http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Zionism/Ruppin1907.html

League of Nations: The British Mandate (July 24, 1922) http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/palmanda.asp

World Zionist Organization, Zionist Manifesto Issued After the Balfour Declaration (1917) (JMW 582-

584)

White Paper of 1922http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/brwh1922.asp

Week 6:

Tues. 5/4 MIDTERM EXAM DUE

The Yishuv and Labor Zionism

Laqueur, chap. 6; finish reading chap. 9

Ahdut Haavodah, Proposal to the General Assembly of the Workers of Eretz Israel (1919) (JMW 585-589)

Arthur Ruppin's Article Discussing the Purchase of the Jezriel Valley Buying the Emek, (from The New

Palestine [New York]) (1929)http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Zionism/Ruppin_Emek.html

Tel Aviv is Founded from Rivkah Alper, One Family's Experiences

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/heritage/episode9/documents/documents_2.html

Zionist posters in class

Thurs. 5/6

Zionist culture

Secondary reading TBA

Avraham Shlonsky, Toil and Late Adar

Hazaz, The Sermon (JMW 619-622)

The Language War of 1913 (JMW 567-568)

Banim Bonim(Land of Promise) (1924) -- the first Palestine sound picture

Week 7:

Tues. 5/11

Jabotinsky and Revisionist Zionism

Laqueur, chap. 7

Jabotinsky, What the Zionist-Revisionists Want (JMW 594-598)

Jabotinsky, Jewish Needs vs. Arab Claims (1937) (JMW 609-611)

Posters for the Jewish Brigade at http://www.cojs.org/AJH/flashpaper/zionism/5-a.swf

Shaul Tchernichowsky, I Know a Tunehttp://www.cojs.org/AJH/flashpaper/zionism/5-b.swf

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http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Zionism/Ruppin1907.htmlhttp://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Zionism/Ruppin1907.htmlhttp://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/palmanda.asphttp://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/brwh1922.asphttp://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/brwh1922.asphttp://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Zionism/Ruppin_Emek.htmlhttp://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Zionism/Ruppin_Emek.htmlhttp://www.pbs.org/wnet/heritage/episode9/documents/documents_2.htmlhttp://www.cojs.org/AJH/flashpaper/zionism/5-a.swfhttp://www.cojs.org/AJH/flashpaper/zionism/5-a.swfhttp://www.cojs.org/AJH/flashpaper/zionism/5-b.swfhttp://www.cojs.org/AJH/flashpaper/zionism/5-b.swfhttp://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Zionism/Ruppin1907.htmlhttp://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/palmanda.asphttp://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/brwh1922.asphttp://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Zionism/Ruppin_Emek.htmlhttp://www.pbs.org/wnet/heritage/episode9/documents/documents_2.htmlhttp://www.cojs.org/AJH/flashpaper/zionism/5-a.swfhttp://www.cojs.org/AJH/flashpaper/zionism/5-b.swf


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Mendelsohn, chap. 6

Brandeis, Zionism Is Consistent with American Patriotism (1915) (JMW 496-497)

A Cable to the Congress (1903) (Green, 128)

The Jewish National Fund and the Jewish Working Masses (1936) (Green 129)

Week 10:

Tues. 6/1

World War II, the Holocaust, and Aftermath

Laqueur chaps. 10-11

The Biltmore Program (1942) (JMW 617-619) also at http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Zionism/BiltProg.html

Hashomer Hazair, The Case for a Bi-National Palestine (1945) (JMW 622-625)

Shertok, Bi-Nationalism Is Unworkable (1947) (JMW 625-626) [DOCSCONT. ONNEXTPG]

United Nations General Assembly, Resolution on Palestine (1947) (JMW 626-627)

Thurs. 5/27

Conclusion

Laqueur, Conclusion; Mendelsohn, Conclusion

Proclamation of the State of Israel (1948) (JMW 629-630)

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http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Zionism/BiltProg.htmlhttp://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Zionism/BiltProg.html

meir history of zionism to 1948 syllabus spring 2010

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