Why learning about Israel mattersCIE+
Whether you are Jewish or non-Jewish, knowing and familiarizing yourself with the history and future of Israel is about knowing your unique origins.
From Balfour to Begin, 1917-1977CIE+
Ken Stein Coincidently during the month of November, occurring over a 60-year period, four important benchmarks were passed in Zionist history and the Jewish quest for statehood and recognition: the 1917 Balfour Declaration, 1947 U.N. partition…
Proven Success in Israel Education: Context, Sources and PerspectiveCIE+
Using original sources and employing perspective are keys to substantive Israel education. Failure to use either, handicaps and prejudices learning about Israel. When documents and texts or a broad overview of the literature in a field are not employed, there is a strong possibility that the educator either has a personal political agenda or, is covering up for their own lack of knowledge of what they are teaching. This premise is true for teaching any country’s history and through the lens of any discipline. I reside in the discipline of history.
Ken Stein: “Zionist Land Acquisition: A Core Element in Establishing Israel”CIE+
Kenneth W. Stein, “Zionist Land Acquisition: a core element in establishing Israel,” in Michael J. Cohen, (ed.) The British Mandate in Palestine: A Centenary Volume, 1920-2020, Routledge, 2020, pp. 189-204.
Origins of Yom Hashoah: Holocaust Memorial DayCIE+
Using original sources, learners will explore the origins of Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, in Israel. The unit includes historical discussion on the importance of commeorating the tragedy of the Holocaust and different proposals that were put forward in the Land of Israel both before and after the creation of the state doing so. A writing prompt is included for use in school settings.
Is Passover a Legacy Moment in Jewish History?CIE+
Ken Stein, Emory University, Center for Israel Education, spring 2020 What are turning points or legacy moments in history? That was the focus of my Zoom class at Emory for 80 students in late March…
Infusing Israel into Your Passover SederCIE+
CIE is pleased to offer this collection of readings, discussion questions, and activities all designed to incorporate Israel into your Passover seder this year.
Forgotten Heroes: The Jewish Resistance and Exodus 1947CIE+
Veterans of the Jewish Resistance in France participated in the rescue of tens of thousands of Jews during WWII. They provided emissaries from the Land of Israel with vital infrastructure for clandestine Zionist activities in France, including money, manpower, forged documents, accommodation, and contacts among the French authorities. In July-August 1947, they were significantly involved in the dramatic story of the Exodus 1947, the ship full of Holocaust survivors turned back by the British. It is regrettable that their contribution to the creation of the State of Israel is almost entirely absent from the collective memory.
Is the BDS Movement on the Rise?CIE+
According to the BDS movement’s Palestinian branch, the impact of the movement “is increasing substantially.” Many pro-Israel sites and organizations agree with that assessment. But how accurate is this prognosis?
Steve Kerbel: Spring Training: Israel Content in Camp ContextCIE+
With the cooperation of the Foundation for Jewish Camp and the National Ramah Commission, Center for Israel Education, conducted a three-day Israel learning retreat in May 2018 for 35 overnight and day camp staffers, most of them either in college or recent college graduates.
Israel@70: Israel’s Tougher NeighborhoodCIE+
In January this year, the veteran Arab journalist Rami Khouri made this assessment of the Middle East as a region, “Never before has the Arab region been so fractured, violent, volatile and vulnerable to the…
Rich Walter: Theodor Herzl, Ahad Ha’am, and Uncivil DiscourseCIE+
Each day, it seems, there are new stories and discussions in both traditional and social media concerning the lack of civility in the current political discourse. This is also true in conversations, both within the Jewish community and among people of all faiths, regarding Israel.
“How the British Left Palestine,” Bernard Wasserstein, 2018CIE+
By Bernard Wasserstein Included as a 15-page chapter in the 2019 book Serendipitous Adventures With Britannia: Personalities, Politics and Culture in Britain, edited by Wm. Roger Louis and used with permission, this overview of the…
One Tribe, Multiple MinyansCIE+
Four out of every five Jews in the world live in the United States and Israel; 6.3 million in Israel, 6.7 million in the US. According to Pew Research Center Studies, 7 in 10 American Jews feel attached or very attached to Israel.
Trust, Embrace and Own Israel’s StoryCIE+
In two books written sixty years apart, When Prophecy Fails, 1957 (Festinger, Riecken and Schachter) and The Influential Mind, 2017 (Sharot, an Israeli neuroscientist), the conclusions were the same.
Zionism and Israel Are Pro-Choice: Embrace Them BothCIE+
Rabbis who attended the AIPAC-sponsored National Rabbinic Symposium Association meeting in Washington at the end of August sat in my sessions on Zionism with common interests.
What Works in Zionist EducationCIE+
In teaching history, the most difficult task remains creating context:catapulting students back into a different time frame and having them disregard their contemporary historical perspective. The goal is to witness history as it unfolded, not as it concluded.
Rich Walter and Ken Stein: Reparations to Israel from West Germany, September 10, 1952CIE+
The matter over whether or not Israel should enter into negotiations with West Germany was put to debate in the Knesset. In January 1952, the debate was contentious and gripped the nation.
“The Decision that Changed History”: Ten Years since the Disengagement from the Gaza StripCIE+
Shmuel Even’s article provides a detailed and cogent analyses about why another unilateral Israel withdrawal from the Palestinian areas is strategically untenable.
Beyond Birthright and AdvocacyCIE+
At Seattle’s Temple de Hirsch Congregation a week ago, the audience audibly gasped when I told them that the next day I would be giving a noon talk at Evergreen State College.
A Zionist State in 1939CIE+
“A Zionist State in 1939,” Dr. Kenneth W. Stein, CHAI (Atlanta), Winter 2002 “Had not the Nazi crimes been committed against Jews during World War II, the Jewish State would have never come true.” So…
Ken Stein, “One Hundred Years of Social Change: The Creation of the Palestinian Refugee Problem”CIE+
Kenneth W. Stein, “One Hundred Years of Social Change: The Creation of the Palestinian Refugee Problem,” in Laurence Silberstein (ed.), New Perspectives on Israeli History: The Early Years of the State, New York University Press,…
“The Intifada and the Uprisings of 1936-1939: A Comparison of the Palestinian Arab Communities”CIE+
Comparing the 1936-39 Arab uprising in various parts of western Palestine and the intifada that began in 1987 in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, the most striking conclusion is the large number of general similarities between these manifestations of Palestinian national consciousness. The two most significant differences, however, are that the 1987 intifada generated a deeper and more prolonged Palestinian national coherence across all classes than did its predecessor and clarified and crystallized Palestinian opinion, which helped create a historic compromise in Palestinian public policy.
Rural Change and Peasant Destitution: Contributing Causes to the Arab Revolt in Palestine, 1936-1939CIE+
Kenneth Stein, “Rural Change and Peasant Destitution: Contributing Causes to the Arab Revolt in Palestine, 1936-1939,” John Waterbury and Farhad Kazemi (eds.), Peasants and Politics in the Modern Middle East, Florida International University Press (1989), pp. 143-170….
