Social Change Book Review: A Line In the Sand (An Interactive Lesson Plan)

SOCIAL CHANGE: This book by James Barr is an essential read for anyone trying to understand the modern middle east and the central conflict there between what is now the State of Israel and the Arabs of the region. Once you read this comprehensive book, you will have a much better understanding of the region and the problems that it still presents today, and hopefully begin to understand that outside nations cannot simply draw a "Line in the Sand" and expect the people that have lived in that region to go along with their wishes without problems occurring.

 GRADE LEVEL: Collegiate

STUDENTS: Teaching to support students in collegiate Bachelor’s Degree, Master’s Degree and/or Doctorate Degree Programs

SUBJECT MATTER: Social Change, World History, International Relations, Political Strategies of the Past that Impacts Todays World.  

TECHNOLOGIES, RESOURCES, and MATERIALS

For this lesson, you will need:

1.    Online access to A LINE IN THE SAND: Author: James Barr, Kindle Book/Amazon.com. Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC. The Anglo-French Struggle for the Middle East, 1914-1948, March 11, 2013. W.W. Norton 7 Company; 1st Edition (January 9, 2013)

1.    WebQuest, an activity designed by teachers in which some or all of the information with which students interact comes from the internet, URL: https://webquest.org.

-       Students are required to have computers, tablets, laptops, and smartphones e/w Internet access.

-       Instructors can import material and relay it to students in many forms such as Whiteboard and PowerPoint

ANTICIPATORY SET: Promised Homeland in Palestine for the Jewish People

For anyone not familiar with the history of the relationship between the British Mandatory Government and the Palestinian Jewish Community - deteriorating from its high point following the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which promised a national homeland in Palestine for the Jewish people, to the open warfare of 1946/7 - this book provides a much broader context for understanding the shifts and turns in British policy over that period. Like many of the arbitrary borders established by colonial powers, the line in the book's title - defining the unquiet border between Israel and Lebanon - is still very much relevant today.

CLASSROOM ACTIVITY: DISCUSSION - Mandates to Rule Over Local People -v- Aspirations of Self Determination

The author tells the story of two "Great Powers" - Britain and France - both of whom acted - in the grand tradition of 19th-century colonialism - solely in the interest of perpetuating their own influence in the area. The problem was that, by the time that this story begins - toward the end of the World War 1 - the 19th century was history; there was a new spirit abroad, championed by the American President Woodrow Wilson, which demanded respect for the aspirations of local peoples to self-determination. Great Britain and France thus had to modify their imperialist goals - or at least cloak them - by seeking "mandates" from the newborn League of Nations, which authorized them to exercise so-called protective power over various parts of the now-defunct Ottoman empire until such time as these territories were judged to be competent to rule themselves.

France wished to control Syria (including modern Lebanon), in order to resume a supposed association with that area going back to the time of the crusades, and which had been interrupted by a mere seven hundred years of Moslem occupation. Britain was interested in acquiring control over Palestine (which then included what is now the Kingdom of Jordan) and Mesopotamia (modern Iraq).

Before World War I was over, a deal had been done and the two spheres of interest had been defined and delineated by the line, called the "Sykes-Picot Line". France's motivations seemed more to do with "La Gloire" and reinforcing its self-perception - somewhat dented by its poor showing in the war - as a world power. Britain, on the other hand, had much more practical reasons; it had already made a strategic decision to change the fuel of the British navy from coal to oil, so control over the oil fields of Iraq was a priority.

CONCEPTUAL LEARNING GOALS:

Students can expect to develop an understanding of the following concepts by the end of the lesson:

1.    What was the British Mandatory Government?

2.    Who were the Palestinian Jewish Community?

3.    What was the Balfour Declaration of 1917?

4.    What was the League of Nations?

5.    What was the “Mandates”?

6.    What was the "Sykes-Picot Line"/Secret Agreement of 1916

PRACTICAL LEARNING GOALS:

Students can expect to develop the following practical skills by the end of the Lesson:

1.    Locate the country of Israel using Google @ MapQuest.

2.    Locate the Ottoman Empire using Google @ MapQuest

REVIEW: British Bungling Homeland for the Jews

This book also gives the reader a clear understanding of how the Balfour Declaration became a huge problem for the British and the region. The United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary Author Balfour wanted to encourage a homeland for the Jews, and Palestine was the chosen area. While at first blush it appears admirable, the British bungled this and helped to create the tension that still pervades this area today.

While the British were busy trying to convince the Arabs that the inclusion of the Jews would bring prosperity and happiness to all, the Arabs became more and more hostile as more immigrants arrived. The Jews bought up land and properties from the Arabs and reclaimed and cultivated large sections of the land from unproductive marshes and desert to profitable farms and orange groves.

And, outside of just agriculture, they developed industry and in the process became more powerful. With the expansion of Nazi forces in Europe during World War II, more and more Jews were trying to get to Palestine, and in the end, the British curbed immigration which resulted in the Zionists turning against the British and using terror as a weapon. Hence the bombing of the King David hotel by the great Jewish terrorist Menachem Begin. And all during this time, Jews and Arabs were killing each other and England was providing support to terrorists fighting the French, and the French reciprocating in a like manner against the British.

Once the two countries' spheres of influence were agreed and established, each set about trying to undermine the other. The British tried to install one of Sherif Husein's sons, who was favorable towards them, as the future ruler of Syria; he was run out of the country by the French; the British promptly made him the king of Iraq. In the 1920s, the Druze of Syria revolted against the French; they were given material support from Palestine by the British. The French repaid the compliment a decade later when the Arabs of Palestine were in revolt against the British.

At the end of the Second World War, French rule in Syria and Lebanon was increasingly resented, and British operatives there did their best to speed the departure of the colonial power. In 1946/7, when the British were faced with a full-scale Jewish insurgency in Palestine, Ezel, the most militant of the Jewish groups was allowed to recruit and buy arms in France itself, as well as taking refuge from the British in French-controlled Lebanon. The echoes of this struggle and the scars that it left can be traced right down to 1963, when Charles De Gaulle, once again in power in France, effectively vetoed British Prime minister Harold Macmillan's application for Britain to enter the European Common Market.

ASSESSMENT: Summative Assessment - An Essay!

GUIDING QUESTION (S):

1.    Pinpoint lasting and positive changes in the world today brought by American President Woodrow Wilson in that era.

2.    Cite an example of British “bungling” in that era that causes tension to prevail in the world today.  

3.    Cite an Example of French “treachery” in that era that causes tension to prevail in the world today.

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