Course Structure 6:30 to 7: News Digest 7 to 7:30/8: Opening Lecture 7:30/8 to 9: Lively and Welcoming Discussion

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1 Syllabus for Israeli Politics: POL 251 American Jewish University Fall 2010 / Tuesday Evenings, 6:30-9:00pm Ari Barbalat: ari.b@ucla.edu / Available for Appointment Flexibly Every Tuesday Afternoon Grading 30% Weekly Assignments (Due Midnight Sunday Before Class) Reaction Paper to Readings/Lecture (1 page minimum) Peacemaker Computer Game Response (1 page maximum, Beginning Week 8) 30% Participation & Effort 30% Independent Project Ideas include: Research Paper; Oral Presentation; Journalistic Interview; Wikipedia Page; Mock Syllabus; Letter to the Editor of a Magazine/Newspaper; Debate vs. Classmate; Book Review; Film Review; Advertisement for a Political Party; Roleplay Speech Address by Israeli Leader; etc. Minimum 6000 words. Evaluation method will differ according to individual project. 10% News Digest (Each Student will Share one News Article with the Class) Texts *FILM: Live and Become (directed by Radu Mihaileanu) *Ahron Bregman, Elusive Peace: How the Middle East Defeated America. *FILM: Waltz With Bashir (directed by Ari Folman) *Samuel Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order *FILM: Ushpizin (directed by Giddi Dar) *John Mearsheimer and Steven Walt, The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy *COMPUTER GAME: Peacemaker (computer simulation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict). Download available at Cost: $20. *FILM: Paradise Now (Directed by Hany Abu-Assad ) +Additional Articles, Chapters and Readings as Relevant Course Structure 6:30 to 7: News Digest 7 to 7:30/8: Opening Lecture 7:30/8 to 9: Lively and Welcoming Discussion Course Synopsis The goal of this course is to introduce students to the deepest and most pressing issues facing Israel today, encompassing both Israel and the World and Israel Within: political, international, Jewish and domestic. In as open and comfortable an environment as possible, students will be confronted with the most difficult and controversial questions pertaining to the Jewish State`s identity and future. I will succeed as a teacher if students leave this course stimulated, passionate and curious for longer-term continued engagement, study, activism and intellectual engagement with the Israel we share. Students are expected to follow Israeli news through Israeli news sources regularly throughout this course. Recommended sources include: Haaretz (haaretz.com), the Jerusalem Post (jpost.com), Arutz Sheva/Israel National News (israelnationalnews.com) and Ynet/Yediot Ahronot (ynetnews.com). 1

2 Readings Please note: 1. No student should ever feel uncomfortable in this classroom. No matter what. Readings with Asterisks (***) are necessary for understanding, following and participating in the class each given day. Those without, that are unmarked, are BONUS. Engagement with these bonus readings in the response papers will reflect favorably in the student`s Effort & Participation grade. The more you look, the more you will see; the more you read, the more you will learn; the more you try, the more you will grow; the more you put in, the more you will take with you. 2. All readings are rated 1 through 5 in terms of difficulty: 1 the easiest, 5 the hardest. Feel comfortable, but push yourself! Readings will range from 50 to 75 pages per week. 3. The schedule is subject to change. Students will be told well in advance of any adjustments. 4. The readings assigned are meant to challenge, provoke, stimulate and inspire you. The required reading(s) (with the *** Asterisks) is chosen to present a point of view on the subject matter may not necessarily agree and that you do not need to agree with. Indeed, you are expected to disagree where appropriate. They are chosen to expose you to a point of view that is not necessarily your own. In our class discussions and in your response papers, you are welcome, and, in fact, encouraged to disagree with the ideas presented in the texts. 5. Response Papers are due Midnight Sunday Before Class. Adjustments will be made for Jewish holidays. 6. An A in this course will reflect: *Attention to readings assigned *Relating the content to outside issues, materials and subject matter *Correct spelling, grammar and style *Engagement with the bonus readings (see below) *Creativity *Diligent effort and participation *Timely completion of all work *How much you improve, no matter what level you are at and how much/little previous interest and background you have at the beginning Schedule Week 1: Introduction I: The Year that Was in Israel. No readings for the first class. Shana Tova Weeks 2 and 3: Introduction II: Divided Society. Response Paper need not engage readings this week because of the Rosh Hashanah holy days intervening. Nonetheless, the relevant readings are as follows: ***Theodor Herzl, The Jewish State. Selections. h.htm#preface. 3 *** Peres: I Will Get to See Peace. Interview with Ynet/Yediot Ahronot on Turning ***Live and Become (Film). Sasson Somekh, Baghdad, Yesterday: The Making of an Arab Jew. New York: Ibis, Selections 5 2

3 Cameron S. Brown Israel s 2003 Elections: Victory for the Moderate Right and Secular Center. MERIA Journal 7:1 (2003), 4 Nissim Rejwan, The Last Jews in Baghdad: Remembering a Lost Homeland. Austin: University of Texas Press, Selections. 5 Nissim Rejwan, Outsider in the Promised Land: An Iraqi Jew in Israel. Austin: University of Texas Press, Selections. 3 Arthur Hertzberg, The Zionist Idea: A Historical Analysis and Reader. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, Selections 3 Lukasz Hirszowicz, The Third Reich and the Arab East. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, Selections. Israeli Parliament to Consider Recognizing Armenian Genocide. ArmeniaNow.com, April 29, Armen Harevan, Israel Reminds Turkey of Armenian Genocide. June 4, Weeks 4 and 5: Israel and the World I. ***Samuel Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. 4 ***Stuart Cohen, A Clear Divide Between Good and Evil. Haaretz, April 19, ***Israel and an American Offshore Balancer. Christopher Layne, Peace of Illusions: American Grand Strategy since 1940 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2005), Chapter 8. 3 ***Yehezkel Dror, A Break-Out Grand Strategy for Israel. Israel Affairs 12:4 (2006), ***Chaim Noy and Erik Cohen, eds. Israeli Backpackers and Their Society: A View From Afar. State University of New York Press Selections 1 Reut Institute, Re-Organization of Foreign Policy in Israel s National Security Strategy. August Aharon Klieman, Israel s Global Reach: Arms Sales as Diplomacy. (New York: Pergammon-Brassey s, 1985), Selections. 5 Zbigniew Brzezinski, The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and its Geostrategic Imperatives. (New York: Basic Books, 1997). Selections. 4 Yuri Slezkine, The Jewish Century (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004), Chapter Betancourt Rescue in Colombia: Israeli Connection. Ynet / Yediot Ahronot, July 4, 2008, 1 ; israelnews-colombian-forces-trained-former-israeli-commandos-set-betancourt Barry Rubin, North Korea s Threat to the Middle East and the Middle East s Threat to Asia. MERIA Journal Shlomo Avineri, Israel-Russian Relations. Carnegie Endowment Report, April Yehezkel Dror, Foundations of an Israeli Grand Strategy toward the European Union. Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Jewish Political Studies Review 16:3-4 (Fall 2004). 4 Weeks 5 and 6: Israel and the World II: US-Israeli & Israeli-Diaspora Relations 3

4 ***John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy. 3 ***Walter Russell Mead, The New Israel and the Old: Why Gentile Americans Back the Jewish State. Foreign Affairs July/August ***Walter Russell Mead, Jerusalem Syndrome: Decoding the Israel Lobby. Foreign Affairs July/August ***Debate over the Israel Lobby, featuring Shlomo Ben-Ami, John Mearsheimer, Martin Indyk, Dennis Ross, Tony Judt and Rashid Khalidi. VIDEO: 1 ***Ari Barbalat, A Friend Like This: Re-Evaluating Bush and Israel. Middle East Policy 25:4 (2008), pp ***Matti Golan, With Friends Like You: What Israelis Really Think About American Jews. New York: Free Press, Selections 2 ***Michael Brecher, The Foreign Policy System of Israel: Setting, Images, Process. New Haven: Yale University Press, Selections 4 ***Charles Liebman, Pressure Without Sanctions: The Influence of World Jewry on Israeli Policy. Rutherford: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, Selections 4 ***National Jewish Population Survey : Jewish Adults Ages United Jewish Communities Presentation of Findings to the Jewish Education Leadership Summit, February 8, ***Michael Conlon, Study finds US Jews distance selves from Israel. Reuters, September 6, United States National Intelligence Council, Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World. (Washington: United States Department of National Intelligence, 2008). 3 Eytan Gilboa, Public Diplomacy: The Missing Component in Israeli Foreign Policy. Israel Affairs 12:4 (2006). 4 Weeks 7 and 8: Israel and the Region ***Please Begin Playing Peacemaker. First Response Due Week 8. ***Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff, 34 Days: Israel, Hezbollah and the War in Lebanon (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, Selections 5 ***Michael Brecher, The Foreign Policy System of Israel: Setting, Images, Process. New Haven: Yale University Press, Selections 5 ***Trita Parsi, The Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran and the United States (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008), Selections 5 ***Reut Institute, Upgrading Israel s National Security Strategy. April, institute.org/data/uploads/pdfver/ %20-%20winograd%20- %20Update%20national%20security.pdf 4 Barry Buzan & Ole Waever, Regions and Powers: The Structure of International Security. New York: Cambridge Univeristy Press, Selections 5 Avi Shlaim, Conflicting Approaches to Israel s Relations with the Arabs: Ben-Gurion and Sharett, Middle East Journal 37:2 (1983). 5 4

5 Week 9 and 10: Ethics and War ***FILM: Waltz with Bashir ***Avishai Margalit and Michael Walzer, Israel: Civilians & Combatants. New York Review of Books May 14, ***Asa Kasher, Major General Amos Yadlin (reply by Margalit & Walzer), ``Israel & the Rules of War: An Exchange. New York Review of Books June 11, ***Shlomo Avineri, Ze ev Sternell (reply by Margalit & Walzer) Israel: Civilians and Combatants: An Exchange. August 13, ***Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, Ethical Dilemmas in Fighting Terrorism. Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs Jerusalem Info Brief 4:8 (2004). 3 ***Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon, The Rules of War. Washington Post, August 3, ***Assaf Sagiv, Civilians First. Azure 38 (2008). 2 ***Asa Kasher, Operation Cast Lead and the Ethics of Just War. Azure 37 (2009). 2 ***Michael Oren, Jews and the Challenge of Sovereignty. Azure 26 (2009). 4 ***Kahan Commission Report, Selections 5 ***Criticism of the Goldstone Report: 3 ***Text of the Goldstone Report, Selections. 5 ***Maimonides, Laws of Kings 5 ***Samir Kuntar: 1 Weeks 11 and 12: Israel and the Palestinians ***Ahron Bregman, Elusive Peace: How the Middle East Defeated America (New York: Penguin Books, 2005). 5 ***FILM: Paradise Now. ***Martin Van Creveld, Defending Israel: A Controversial Plan Towards Peace. New York: St. Martin s Press, Selections 3 ***Barry Rubin, Israel s New Strategy. Foreign Affairs 85:4 (2006) 4 ***Ze ev Maoz, Defending the Holy Land: A Critical Analysis of Israel s Security and Foreign Policy. (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2007). Selections 5 ***Efraim Inbar, Israel s Palestinian Challenge. Israel Affairs 12:4 (2006), pp ***Shlomo Ben-Ami, Scars of War, Wounds of Peace: The Israeli-Arab Tragedy (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006) Selections 4 Joel Peters, Beyond the Impasse: International Intervention and the Israeli Palestinian Peace Process. Chatham House Briefing Paper February Israeli Television Documentary on Trafficking in Women: Weeks 13 and 14: Jewish Issues in Israel ***FILM: Ushpizin 5

6 ***Aharon Rose, The Haredim: A Defense. Azure 25 (2006). *** Dov Waxman, Israel s Dilemma: Unity or Peace? Israel Affairs, 12:2 (2006) 4 ***David Lehmann and Batia Siebzehner, Remaking Israeli Judaism: The Challenge of Shas. London: Hurst Co., Selections 5 ***Ira Sharkansky, Israel and its Bible: A Political Analysis. New York: Routledge, Selections 4 ***Elliot Horowitz, Reckless Rites: Purim and the Legacy of Jewish Violence. Princeton: Princeton University Press, Selections 5 ***Charles Liebman, Civil Religion in Israel : Traditional Judaism and Political Culture in the Jewish State. Berkeley: University of California Press, Selections 4 ***Jerold Auerbach, Hebron Jews: Memory and Conflict in the Land of Israel. Boston: Rowman & Littlefield, Selections 4 ***Yoram Peri, The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, Selections 4 Aviezer Ravitzky, Messianism, Zionism and Jewish Religious Radicalism, selections Nir Hasson, Meimad Stresses Ties Between Judaism, Protecting the Weak. Haaretz, June 3, Jonathan Sacks, Future Tense: Jews, Judaism and Israel in the Twenty-First Century. New York: Shocken, Selections 1 Week 15: Jerusalem / Wrap-Up ***Dennis Ross, The Missing Peace: Inside the Fight for Middle East Peace (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2004). Selections 4 ***Menachem Klein, The Jerusalem Problem: The Struggle for Permanent Status. Haim Watzman, trans. (Gainseville: Univeristy Press of Florida, 2003), Final Chapter. 5 ***Ruth Lapidoth and Amnon Ramon, The Historical Basin of Jerusalem: The Status Quo and Alternatives for Agreement. Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, May ***Dore Gold, The Fight for Jerusalem: Radical Islam, The West, and The Future of the Holy City Regnery Press (2007). Selections 3 Muslim, Palestinian and Christian Perspectives on Jerusalem: Sari Nusseibeh, Islam's Jerusalem ; Sari Nusseibeh On Jerusalem ; Bernard Sabella, Jerusalem: A Christian Perspective ; Yitzhak Reiter, Religious Issues and Holy Places in Jerusalem. Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs, September Jerusalem 6

7 THE GRADING SYSTEM STUDENT CONDUCT & EXPECTATIONS Grades are defined as follows: A, excellent; B, good; C, satisfactory; D, poor; F, failure. STUDENT CONDUCT Students are expected to conduct themselves in a manner compatible with the University s function as an educational institution. This implies respect for persons and property and adherence to rules of good conduct and courtesy in all campus facilities. The Academic Senate, the Associated Students of the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Graduate Students have established standards for academic integrity. A Faculty Committee on Student Conduct and Discipline is responsible for implementing those standards, as well as standards of good conduct. Instructors may, with the approval of the Office of Student Affairs, exclude from class any student who has engaged in unbecoming conduct or any student who, in their judgment, fails to treat the obligations of the course with the proper seriousness. In such cases, a grade of F or W will be recorded, depending upon the circumstances. Depending on the nature of the case, students may appeal all such decisions to the Office of Student Affairs, or to the Vice President for Academic Affairs. THE HONOR CODE All academic work is conducted under the Honor Code, a copy of which is available from the Office of Student Affairs. A copy of the Honor Code is provided to each student, and is published in its entirety in Appendix B of this Bulletin. All students are expected to abide by the conditions under which the Honor Code is conducted. When completing the Registration Application form each semester, students must signify that they understand and will abide by the Honor Code by signing the Registration Form. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY The maintenance of academic integrity is the responsibility of every student who registers at American Jewish University, undergraduate and graduate alike. The Honor Code provides a standard of honesty and declares that compliance with the standard is to be expected. Academic dishonesty is an especially serious offense and diminishes the quality of scholarship and defrauds those who depend upon the integrity of our academic programs. Such dishonesty includes: A. EXAMINATION BEHAVIOR Unless expressly permitted by the instructor, the use of any external assistance during an examination shall be considered academically dishonest. Inappropriate examination behavior includes, but is not limited to: communicating with another student in any way during an exam; copying material from another student s examination; allowing a student to copy from your examination; and using unauthorized notes, calculators, or other sources of assistance. B. FABRICATION Any intentional falsification or invention of data or citation in an academic exercise will be considered a violation of academic integrity. Academic dishonesty involving fabrication includes, but is not limited to: inventing or altering data for a laboratory experiment or field project; and resubmitting returned and corrected academic work under the pretense of grader evaluation error when, in fact, the work has been altered from its original form. C. PLAGIARISM Plagiarism is the appropriation and subsequent passing off of another s ideas or words as one s own. If the words or ideas of another are used, acknowledgement of the original source must be made through recognized referencing practices. Use of another s ideas or words must be properly acknowledged as follows: Direct Quotation: Any use of a direct quotation must be acknowledged by footnote citation and by either quotation marks or appropriate indentation and spacing. Paraphrase: If another s ideas are borrowed in whole or in part and are merely recast in the student s own words, proper acknowledgement must, nonetheless, be made. A footnote or proper internal citation must follow the paraphrased material. D. OTHER TYPES OF ACADEMIC DISHONESTY Other forms of academic dishonesty include, but are not limited to submitting a paper written by or obtained from another person; 7

8 using a paper or essay in more than one class without the instructor s expressed permission; obtaining a copy of an examination in advance without the knowledge and consent of the instructor; changing academic records outside of normal procedures and/or petitions; and using the aid of another person to complete homework assignments or take home exams without the knowledge and consent of the instructor. STUDENT OBLIGATIONS Under the Honor Code, students have a twofold obligation: individually, they must not violate the code, and as a community, they are responsible to see that suspected violations are reported. Where the Honor Code is concerned, an individual s obligation to the entire student body as a whole and the reputation of the University transcend any reluctance to report another student. COURSES OF ACTION Students found to be in violation of the Honor Code or other University student conduct policies may be subject to academic penalties and/or dismissal from their academic programs, pursuant to decisions to be made by the instructor, the director of the program, or a student-faculty judiciary committee. Students may appeal these decisions as outlined in the section, Grievance Procedure, in this Bulletin. It is University policy that suspensions, probations, and dismissals are listed on academic transcripts. Any student dismissed from the University for violations of academic integrity, policy, or rule of conduct may apply for readmission by contacting the Office of Admissions. In evaluating this reapplication, the admissions staff will consult with the committee that originally made the decision to dismiss. FACULTY POLICY ON ACADEMIC DISHONESTY I. THE HONOR CODE The students and faculty of American Jewish University have worked together to develop an honor code governing academic behavior and to which both bodies are fully committed. At the beginning of each semester of study, students are asked to re-familiarize themselves with that code and to indicate their acceptance of it by signing the applicable section of the Registration Application form; faculty will assume that all students have done so. In addition, introductory courses at College of Arts and Sciences and first year graduate level courses will reinforce understanding of the code by discussing in depth the meaning and significance of intellectual integrity and by acquainting students with the appropriate use and incorporation of bibliographic sources in students own work. II. COURSES OF ACTION A faculty member s determination of an appropriate course of action upon discovery of an incident of academic dishonesty presumes a community value system in which academic dishonesty is viewed as an especially serious offense which diminishes the quality of scholarship and defrauds those who depend upon the integrity of our campus programs. Such dishonesty includes but is not limited to: cheating on examinations, fabrication, plagiarism, or facilitating academic dishonesty. Should a faculty member believe there to be evidence of academic dishonesty, he/she is first asked to discuss such evidence with the student whose work is in question and to reach an agreement with the student over the appropriate penalty or remedy. In cases where both faculty and student have found mutually agreeable terms for addressing the act of academic dishonesty, the faculty member is required to report it to the Office of Student Affairs. This requirement exists since a student may engage in such behavior in other courses, and repeated acts may go undetected and recidivism will be difficult or impossible to monitor. Communication with the Office of Student Affairs also serves to assist the faculty member in determining how to handle the case appropriately. A notation of the details of the incident handled between the student and faculty member will be made in the student s central file located in the Office of Student Affairs. If no further incidents occur, the notation of academic dishonesty will be removed upon graduation. However, in the failure of achieving a mutually satisfactory agreement with the student; within 10 working days of that discussion, either the student or the faculty member will forward the case, including supporting evidence and faculty input, to the Office of Student Affairs. If through the process of the university judicial system it is found that a preponderance of evidence does not exist to support the faculty member s allegation of academic dishonesty, both the faculty member and the student shall be notified of this conclusion, and no penalty or disciplinary action may be exacted against the student. However, if it is established that a preponderance of evidence does exist to support the faculty member s allegation of academic dishonesty, the Office of Student Affairs shall notify both the student and faculty member of this conclusion, and recommend appropriate disciplinary action against the student. 8