Middle East, Pt 1

For Wednesday, we will look at the continuing impasse in Palestine.

You should be familiar with the overall history of Israel and the UN resolutions 181 and 242.

Look at the class syllabus for Day 7 and read some of the links to familiarize yourself with the main issues.

Here is a BBC overview of the history and issues. Click on some of the links and navigate the site. Try to familiarize yourself with Hamas and Fatah, the two groups vying for power in Gaza and the West Bank. For example, the Council on Foreign Relations has a lot of information on Hamas here.

Please do some research on your own and come to class ready to discuss UN resolutions 181 and 242. If you have time, find out what the first and second intifadas were. The research sites on this blog will get you where you need to go.

You must understand what the terms "one state solution" and "two state solution" mean. To do this, go here for a recent AP news story, and you might go here for information on the issue in the NY Times blog. And do read Thomas Friedman's article "One Wall, One Man, One Vote."

An Op-Ed on Jerusalem's future--and a possible solution--can be found here. Read it!