Gaza in History
Teach-In Session 02 - October 26, 2023
TEACHING RESOURCES
The purpose of this teach-in is to introduce students to a brief history of Gaza and contextualize it within the broader history of Palestine and settler colonialism in the area. Furthermore, students will learn about how the current moment and situation fits into that broader history with discussions of both how it is both precedented and unprecedented.
Beshara Doumani is the inaugural Mahmoud Darwish Professor of Palestinian Studies, and former President of Birzeit University. He is also the founding director (2012-2018) of Brown's Center for Middle East Studies (CMES), and founder of New Directions for Palestinian Studies, a CMES initiative since 2012. He also writes on the topics of academic freedom, and the Palestinian condition. His books include Rediscovering Palestine: Merchants and Peasants in Jabal Nablus, 1700-1900, and Family Life in the Ottoman Mediterranean: A Social History. Doumani is the editor of a book series on Palestinian Studies published by the University of California Press and co-editor of the Jerusalem Quarterly.
Ilana Feldman is Professor of Anthropology, History, and International Affairs at George Washington University. Her research focuses on the Palestinian experience, both inside and outside of historic Palestine, examining practices of government, humanitarianism, policing, displacement, and citizenship. She is the author of Governing Gaza: Bureaucracy, Authority, and the Work of Rule, 1917-67; Police Encounters: Security and Surveillance in Gaza under Egyptian Rule; Life Lived in Relief: Humanitarian Predicaments and Palestinian Refugee Politics; and co-editor (with Miriam Ticktin) of In the Name of Humanity: The Government of Threat and Care.
Sherene Seikaly is associate professor of history at UC Santa Barbara. Her book, Men of Capital: Scarcity and Economy in Mandate Palestine (Stanford University Press, 2016) examines British-ruled Palestine in the 1930s and 1940s through a focus on economy. In a departure from the expected histories of Palestine, this book illuminates dynamic class constructions that aimed to shape a pan-Arab utopia in terms of free trade, profit accumulation, and private property. Seikaly’s new book project follows the trajectory of a peripatetic medical doctor, her great grandfather, to place Palestine in a global history of race, capital, slavery, and dispossession. She is an editorial board member of the American Historical Review, co-editor of the Stanford Studies Middle Eastern and Islamic Societies and Cultures Series, co-editor of Journal of Palestine Studies, and co-editor of Jadaliyya.
Ilana Feldman is Professor of Anthropology, History, and International Affairs at George Washington University. Her research focuses on the Palestinian experience, both inside and outside of historic Palestine, examining practices of government, humanitarianism, policing, displacement, and citizenship. She is the author of Governing Gaza: Bureaucracy, Authority, and the Work of Rule, 1917-67; Police Encounters: Security and Surveillance in Gaza under Egyptian Rule; Life Lived in Relief: Humanitarian Predicaments and Palestinian Refugee Politics; and co-editor (with Miriam Ticktin) of In the Name of Humanity: The Government of Threat and Care.
Sherene Seikaly is associate professor of history at UC Santa Barbara. Her book, Men of Capital: Scarcity and Economy in Mandate Palestine (Stanford University Press, 2016) examines British-ruled Palestine in the 1930s and 1940s through a focus on economy. In a departure from the expected histories of Palestine, this book illuminates dynamic class constructions that aimed to shape a pan-Arab utopia in terms of free trade, profit accumulation, and private property. Seikaly’s new book project follows the trajectory of a peripatetic medical doctor, her great grandfather, to place Palestine in a global history of race, capital, slavery, and dispossession. She is an editorial board member of the American Historical Review, co-editor of the Stanford Studies Middle Eastern and Islamic Societies and Cultures Series, co-editor of Journal of Palestine Studies, and co-editor of Jadaliyya.
- Teach-In: Know Your Rights: The Assault on Campus Activism
- For more teach-ins on Palestine: Gaza in Context Teach-Ins
FULL TEACH IN
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CONTENTS
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"Gaza can only be understood in the context of Palestinian history as a whole." - Bishara Doumani
TEACHING GUIDE
We are together experiencing a catastrophic unfolding of history as Gaza awaits a massive invasion of potentially genocidal proportions. This follows an incessant bombardment of a population increasingly bereft of the necessities of living in response to the Hamas attack in Israel on October 7. The context within which this takes place includes a well-coordinated campaign of misinformation and the unearthing of a multitude of essentialist and reductionist discursive tropes that depict Palestinians as the culprits, despite a context of structural subjugation and Apartheid existence on which most Human Rights organizations have established consensus.
- What was the Nakba and how did it shape the current situation in Gaza? How did the goals of of Zionism lead to the concentration of refugees in Gaza?
- What is the "iron law" and what has it meant for Palestinians and Palestine over the 20th century?
- How has the occupation of Gaza differed over time from the occupation of the West Bank? What purposes did each occupation serve?
- How do humanitarian categories help us understand the current war on Gaza? How do these categories fail to account for the kind of atrocities and crimes being committed in Gaza? What about the current moment in Gaza is precedented and unprecedented?
- What are some useful historical analogies for understanding the history of Palestine and the current moment in Gaza? In what ways is this situation unique?
- Intergenerational Trauma Study: Students explore the concept of intergenerational trauma in the context of Palestine, focusing on how ongoing Israeli occupation and violence affects multiple generations of children with emphasis on historical events such as the Nakba as well as smaller-scale instances of violence and the subsequent impact they continue to have from generation to generation. They may propose a theoretical model illustrating potential transmission mechanisms and intervention points and refer to memoirs, interviews, and existing studies.
- Educational Access Case Study: Groups of students may investigate the state of and access to education in the West Bank and/or Gaza, focusing on factors like infrastructure damage, resource shortages, and safety concerns for Palestinian students. They can compile data on enrollment rates, educational outcomes, and compare these to regional standards, as well as engage in a broader investigation examining infrastructure surrounding schools in the West Bank, noting Israeli checkpoints or recorded arrests/use of violence against students.
- Children's Voices Project: Students may analyze existing interviews, testimonies, or creative works (e.g., artwork, poetry) by Palestinian children or initiatives facilitating such expression to identify common themes in how they express their experiences, hopes, and challenges. Students can present their findings in a structured report or thematic presentation with the aim of bringing to life the teach-in's speakers' theories and findings.
SEGMENTS
1. Beshara DoumaniBeshara provides historical context to help frame the crisis in Gaza and what might come of it
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2. Ilana Feldman |
3. On the West BankOur speakers connects Gaza to the unfolding crisis in the West Bank and to a broader colonial project
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4. On What the "Moment" Means about Humanitarian CategoriesOur speakers talk about the problems, challenges, and limits of humanitarian categories in situations like the war on Gaza
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5. Precedented/ Unprecedented MomentOur speakers discuss how the war on Gaza is both precedented and unprecedented
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6. On Historical AnalogiesOur speakers discuss how to think about historical analogies, how to think about Palestine specifically, and how Palestine relates to broader historical and contemporary moments
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7. Final Remarks |
SOUNDBITES
Discovering Palestine |
West Bank |
Refugees |
