Oral Presentations: UC 331
Presentation Type
Presentation - Campus Access Only
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
Mehrdad Kia
Faculty Mentor’s Department
History
Abstract / Artist's Statement
I hesitantly begin writing this, a research paper and memoir on one of the most notable controversies in contemporary historical debate: the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. I really don’t know if that’s even a subject, a concoction of both historical research and memoir, written in undergraduate, graduate, or even postgraduate theses. I want to be as honest to myself as I can in this documentation. What if I get it wrong? What if I miss something? As a Jew, an American, and a peace activist, I have examined what I could, I have lived where I could, and I have thought what I could. As William Cronon presents in The Goals of a Liberal Education, the ideal student learns to articulate the difficulties and nuances of life, practice humility, ask questions, be compassionate, and connect with others. From the nightlife of Tel Aviv and gated community of Bat-Hefer to the hellish occupation and settlements of Hebron and inconceivable life in multitudes of UNRWA refugee camps, I know that I have done the best that I could. I don’t know to what extent this fits in with professional academia, but I hope it does. It’s to my belief that history is made of memoirs. History is made of the everyday interactions with one another, from purchasing pickled beets in the souk with the sympathetic Hamas or Fatah supporting Palestinians to war-talk with Israeli soldiers over fine wine. Maybe this conclusion will change, maybe it won’t, but I want the broadest readership to know that I believe I truly took into consideration what is at stake for every community in whatever this land extending from the eastern Mediterranean to the Jordan River is called. This paper details the settler expansion of Area C and closed military zones in the Occupied West Bank and provides an assessment on the reality of a two-state solution.
Category
Humanities
The Israeli Occupation of the West Bank from 1993 to 2018
UC 331
I hesitantly begin writing this, a research paper and memoir on one of the most notable controversies in contemporary historical debate: the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. I really don’t know if that’s even a subject, a concoction of both historical research and memoir, written in undergraduate, graduate, or even postgraduate theses. I want to be as honest to myself as I can in this documentation. What if I get it wrong? What if I miss something? As a Jew, an American, and a peace activist, I have examined what I could, I have lived where I could, and I have thought what I could. As William Cronon presents in The Goals of a Liberal Education, the ideal student learns to articulate the difficulties and nuances of life, practice humility, ask questions, be compassionate, and connect with others. From the nightlife of Tel Aviv and gated community of Bat-Hefer to the hellish occupation and settlements of Hebron and inconceivable life in multitudes of UNRWA refugee camps, I know that I have done the best that I could. I don’t know to what extent this fits in with professional academia, but I hope it does. It’s to my belief that history is made of memoirs. History is made of the everyday interactions with one another, from purchasing pickled beets in the souk with the sympathetic Hamas or Fatah supporting Palestinians to war-talk with Israeli soldiers over fine wine. Maybe this conclusion will change, maybe it won’t, but I want the broadest readership to know that I believe I truly took into consideration what is at stake for every community in whatever this land extending from the eastern Mediterranean to the Jordan River is called. This paper details the settler expansion of Area C and closed military zones in the Occupied West Bank and provides an assessment on the reality of a two-state solution.