Ethnic Minorities in the Modern State of Israel (HBRW 152b)
Instructor: Rima Farah
Course Narrative:
Israel was established as a Jewish nation-state. However, the state is characterized by its multi-ethnic makeup, and by its diverse ancient ethno-religious communities. Today, non-Jewish communities constitute approximately 25% of the Israeli population, among which 21% are Arabic-speaking Muslims, Christians, and Druze. In 1948, these communities became citizens of the modern state of Israel and have preserved their ancient cultures, religious institutions, and developed various forms of political activism. The goal of this course is to expose students to the multicultural and multiethnic aspects of Israeli society, with an emphasis on these three communities. It will examine the cultural, religious, and demographic characteristics of these communities, the dilemma of their national identity, and their attitude towards and status within a Jewish state.
This course is a discussion-based class. It will focus on public speaking and public conversation through presentations, group discussions and debates, with additional emphasis on writing and reading skills. The students will be able to discuss and analyze Israeli culture and reflect on cultural phenomena pertaining to minorities in Israel.
Course Objectives:
- To promote open and honest discussions about living in a diverse
- To develop critical and analytical thinking of multiple
- To gain knowledge about minority-majority relations in a multi-ethnic modern
- To develop a better understanding of the complex relations among ancient ethnic communities within a modern state that defines itself as modern and
- To Explore the role of religion in ethnic
- To examine aspects of integration of the non-Jewish minorities into the Israeli social and political systems
- To discuss types of democracy and the democratic features in a state which is defined by the majority’s nationality and religion.
Course Outcome and Goals:
- Students will acquire more knowledge of the multi-fabric of Israeli
- They will be able to speak, discuss, and analyze themes related to Israeli
- They will be able to identify multiple narratives in the history of the state of Israel and analyze them
- Students will be able to analyze and synthesize secondary and primary works related to Israel studies: academic articles and books, newspapers, press, position documents and so
- They will be to discuss and reflect on challenges of integration within
Specific Oral Communication learning goals:
This course is a discussion-based class. At the end of this course students will be able to:
- Understand differences among cultural groups through
- Use experiential learning model as a public speaker: do, reflect, feedback, and
- Master methods of memorization, time management,
- Work on group projects, learn to give, and get feedback from your
- Use conversational skills through dialogues, description of narratives, expressing opinions, and through comparison between
- Learn to share arguments effectively and critical comments on Cultural
Readings and Materials:
This syllabus lists the required readings and materials. They will be found on Latte. Students will be expected to read and learn the required texts and materials for each week and come to the class ready for sharing insights and discussions. I will advise students who seek to expand their knowledge beyond the scope of this course about additional readings and sources.
Course Requirements:
Attendance and Participation: Three unexcused absences are allowed. Beyond that, grade penalties will be imposed for unexcused absences. Preparation for and active participation in each session of the class. Students should engage in discussions on issues presented in the course.
Submissions: submissions of all assignments on time. You lose credit on an assignment if you finish it after the assignment due date and time.
Group Discussions: The students will be divided into discussion groups to discuss political, social, or cultural cases. The groups will create reports which follow a guideline. Each group will present the narrative of the report, and will receive a feedback from the other groups, and from individual students.
Weekly notes and reflections (This assignment will be repeated most weeks during the semester): Weekly submissions of your reflection on learning experiences, required readings, visual observation, and case analysis. Your reflections on the literature will help you to identify the main themes, illustrate your understanding of them, add your own thoughts and analysis, and correlate them with your experience in class and knowledge of other themes presented in this course and beyond. The assignment is divided into three sections. One, open questions; two, terminology and keywords; three, a short reflection.
Quizzes: three short quizzes on your basic knowledge of topics, terminologies and vocabulary associated with the issues discussed in class.
Midterm: 5-minute oral presentation, followed by an in-class discussion (more details will be discussed in class).
Final: 8-10-minute presentation, followed by a written report. You will receive a guiding headings and questions for the report.
General guidelines for the Presentations:
- Keep your presentation within the time
- You are not expected to read from the Be ready to say something about the content of each slide.
- Prepare earlier than you think you need
- Plan your presentation
- Cover 3-4 simple points or one complex point with a few sub-points.
- Create your verbal content before you create your
- Rehearse in front of a
- Act
- Use visuals if you think they will add impact and interest to the
Distribution of the Grade:
20% Class attendance and participation (individual and group) 20% Weekly notes and reflections
10% Three Quizzes
25% 5-minute presentation
25% 8-10-minute presentation and a written reflection
Weekly assignments expectations outside the class:
2 hours – review class reading material and revise class notes. 1 hour- group study assignment
- hour- group feedback
- hour- preparation for the next class 3 hour- writing assignments
University Statements:
Disabilities: Brandeis seeks to welcome and include all students. If you are a student who needs accommodations as outlined in an accommodation letter, please talk with me, and present your letter of accommodation as soon as you can. I want to support you. To provide test accommodations, I need the letter more than 48 hours in advance. I want to provide your accommodations but cannot do so retroactively. If you have questions about documenting a disability or requesting accommodations, please contact Student Accessibility Support (SAS) at 781.736.3470 or access@brandeis.edu.
Preparation Time: Success in this four-credit hour course is based on the expectation that students will spend a minimum of 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for class (readings, papers, discussion sections, preparation for exams, etc.
Academic Integrity: You are expected to be honest in all your academic work. Please consult Brandeis University Rights and Responsibilities for all policies and procedures related to academic integrity. Students may be required to submit work to TurnItIn.com software to verify originality. Allegations of alleged academic dishonesty will be forwarded to the Director of Academic Integrity. Sanctions for academic dishonesty can include failing grades and/or suspension from the university. Citation and research assistance can be found at LTS – Library guides.
Changes to the Syllabus: The schedule of this course may be subject to changes with appropriate notice, due to changes in the academic calendar.
Schedule:
Week 1, Israel: Introduction, Syllabus/Instructions/General Statistics
- Map of the distribution of population, Israel Bureau of Statistics.
- Population by Religion, 2019, table 2.2, Israel Bureau of Statistics
Week 2, Israel: Ethnicity, Nationality and Nationalism
– Readings:
- Anthony D. Smith, “Culture, Community and Territory, International Relations,” International Affairs, 72:3 (1996), 445-447.
- “Imagined Communities”, https://haraayonot.com/idea/imagined-community [Hebrew]
- Hadar Yael, Naomi Heiman Rish, Kanpelman Anna, “Who Are We? National Identity in Israel,” The Israel Democracy Institute: https://www.idi.org.il/parliaments/10290/10741 [Hebrew].
Week 3, Israeli Society in the Vision of its Founders
– Readings:
- The Israeli Proclamation of Independence in English: https://www.knesset.gov.il/docs/eng/megilat_eng.htm
- The Israeli Proclamation of Independence in Hebrew: https://main.knesset.gov.il/About/Occasion/Pages/IndDeclaration.aspx
- Map of Israel and the region: https://israelipalestinian.procon.org/background-resources/map- the-middle-east/
Week 4, The Muslims: Culture, Religion, and Politics
(Quiz 1)
– Readings:
- Sayed Kashua “In Search for an Identity” https://www.haaretz.co.il/magazine/sayed/1.1817934 [Hebrew]
- Jacob M. Landau, The Arab Minority in Israel 1967-1991 (Clarendon Press, 1993) 25-28.
- Muhannad Mustafa, “The political participation of the Islamic Movement in Israel” in Eli Rekhess and Arik Rudnitzky (eds.,) Muslim Minorities in non-Muslim Majority States (Moshe Dayan Center: Tel-Aviv University, 2011) 99-105 [Hebrew].
- Alisa Rubin Peled, “Towards Autonomy? The Islamist Movement’s Quest for Control of Islamic Institutions in Israel,” Middle East Journal, Vol. 55, No. 3 (Summer, 2001), pp. 378-385.
Week 5: The Christians: Multiple Identities
– Readings:
- Mordechai Nisan, Minorities in the Middle East: a History of struggle for self-determination, 2nd edition (McFarland & Co, 2002) 13-17.
- Daphne Tzimhoni, “Christians in Israel: between Religion and Politics,” in Elie Rekhess (ed.,) The Arabs in the Israeli Politics: Dilemmas of Identity (Moshe Dayan Center, 2000) 63-72 [Hebrew].
- Gabriel Barkai and Eli Shiller (eds.,) Christian, Denominations, and Orders in Israel (Jerusalem, 1999) 15-22 [Hebrew].
– Videos:
- Azmi Bishara https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_yZ3B-ZE58
- Priest Gabriel Naddaf: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4t2NX7YG54
- The Aramaic Association in Israel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxsidBkxI-E
- Dr. Jawdat Eid (Oranim College): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1eFsdRacic
Week 6, The Druze: between the State and the Community
– Readings:
- Shuki Amrani, The Druze: Between Community, Nation, and State (University of Haifa, 2010) 14-19 [Hebrew].
- Jacob M. Landau, The Arab Minority in Israel 1967-1991 (Clarendon Press, 1993), 45-7.
– Videos:
- How do the Druze Define their Identity? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_Bh2KRDAv4
Week 7, Relationships among Minorities
(Quiz 2)
– Readings:
- Chad F. Emmett, Beyond the Basilica: Christians and Muslims in Nazareth (The University of Chicago Press, 1995) 225-285.
- Daphne Tzimhoni, “The Shihab Al-Din Mosque Affair in Nazareth” in Holy Places in the Israeli- Palestinian Conflict: Confrontation and Co-existence, Marshall J. Breger, Yitzhak Reiter, Leonard Hammer, Eds (London, 2010) 192-227.
- Shdema, Ilan, “the Role of Socio-economic Factors in Changing relations between Muslims and Christian Arabs in Israel between 1967-2010,” Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, 23.4 (2012).
Week 8, Midterm\Presentations and Reflections
Week 9, ‘Jewish and Democratic’
– Readings:
- Everything you wanted to know about the Nationality Law, The Israel Democracy Institute: https://www.idi.org.il/articles/24220 [Hebrew]
- Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People: https://fs.knesset.gov.il/20/law/20_lsr_504220.pdf [Hebrew]
- Smooha, Sammy, “The Model of Ethnic Democracy: Israel as a Jewish and Democratic State.”
- Nations and Nationalism vol. 8, no. 4 (2002): pp. 475-503.
- Ghanem, As’ad, Nadim Rouhana and Oren Yiftachel, “Questioning ‘Ethnic Democracy’: a Response to Sammy Smooha.” Israel Studies Vol. 3, No. 2 (Fall 1998): pp. 253-267.
- President Reuven Rivlin: https://www.maariv.co.il/news/politics/Article-706090
Videos:
- Israeli Druze rally against Jewish nation-state law: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnMKTesffBo
- The nation-state law: a Lesson from Christian Lebanon- https://www.israelhayom.co.il/opinion/574119
- Arab Mks protested against the law: https://ladaat.co/archives/4140
Week 10, Cultural Autonomy
– Readings:
- The Higher Arab Monitoring Committee and the Committee of Arab Local Council Heads, “The Future Vision of the Palestinian Arabs in Israel” 9-15 [Hebrew].
- As’ad Ghanem and Mohanad Mustafa, “Coping with the Nakba: The Palestinians in Israel and the “Future Vision” as a Collective Agenda,” Israel Studies Forum, 24. 2 (2009), pp. 57-64; available online at: https://www.adalah.org/uploads/oldfiles/newsletter/eng/dec06/tasawor- mostaqbali.pdf
- Rekhess,Elie. “The Arab Minority in Israel: An Analysis of the “Future Vision” Documents.” Dorothy and Julius Koppelman Institute on American Jewish-Israeli Relations, The American Jewish Committee, April 2008, pp. 1-39.
Week 11, Military Service
– Readings:
- How does the Israel Defense Forces Recruits Arab into the Israeli Army? https://shorturl.at/oFLOW
- Zeedan Rami, Battalion of Arab (Modan, 2015) 120-5 [Hebrew].
- The recruitment of Christians in the IDF threatens to divide Arab society, Haaretz: https://www.haaretz.co.il/news/education/.premium-1.2238638 [Hebrew].
– Videos:
- Arab-Muslim woman in the IDF: https://www.mako.co.il/news-channel2/Channel-2-Newscast- q1_2016/Article-18946bd12c2c251004.htm
- Conflicted approaches regarding the recruitment of minorities in Israel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTU8oAxGAXE
- Arab martyrs in the IDF (beginning-13:42, 20:06-23:54) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpad_DXsfsY
- Mk Basel Ghatas against the recruitment of Christians: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvwz63mYooY&lc=Ugipu80OvN6-fngCoAEC
Week 12, Women’s Activism
(Quiz 3)
– Readings:
- Integration of Arab women in the labor market-The Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel: http://taubcenter.org.il/wp-content/files_mf/arabisraeliwomen.pdf [Hebrew]
- Arab women seek to change their status (Ynet): https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L- 3764296,00.html
- Uzi Ravbi and Arik Rudnitzky (eds.,) Women in Arab Society in Israel (Moshe Dayan, 2011) [Hebrew].
- Arar, Khalid. 2018. “Arab Women’s Educational Leadership and the Implementation of Social Justice in Schools.” Journal of Educational Administration 56 (1): 18–32.
- Khalid Arar, Tamar Shapira, Faisal Azaiza, and Rachel Hertz-Lazarowitz. Arab Women in Management and Leadership: Stories from Israel. Palgrave Macmillan (New York, 2013) 75-96.
Week 13, Final Projects\Presentations