Make a political comic strip:

http://www.pixton.com/ca/

And write both sides of a debate on an issue in Israel / Arab affairs.  Be convincing for both sides and try and answer up the charges the other is making.  You can do this on http://www.xtranormal.com/   then listen to your debate.  Does it sound convincing?  who wins.  redo it until youa re satisfied with your answers.

Please see the following additional readings and see the text for resolution 242 that came after the war which is the basis for today’s continued discussion.

we started my looking at Canadian refugee policy from the start of the 20th century until present. Many were shocked to learn that in the 30′s and 40′s Canada took in the fewest number of refugees of any of the western countries. We looked at the Canadian Websites to see refugee requirements today.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/backgrounders/2007/2007-06-20.asp

http://www.amnesty.ca/Refugee/history.php

http://christianactionforisrael.org/antiholo/non2many.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125693376195819343.html

We looked at various websites like amnesty international which described the history of Canadian immigration.

We also watched a movie who showed that refugee status and forced expulsions was not something unique to the Palestinians in that area.  Since the creation of Israel several hundred thousand Jews from Arab areas moved from a tolerable status of being treated as second-class citizen to the intolerable status of being harassed and endangered and were pressured or forced to move from their countries like Yemen, Egypt, Libya Iran and Iraq where they had been at home for more than a thousand years.

Many resettled in Israel which was a land always available to them being  jewish homeland while the Palestinians have not been absorbed due to their unique refugee status in the UN which supports them permanently instead of trying to resettle them in the surrounding Arab countries.

Attached you will find the test which is not only a good indicator if you know the material we covered but how you might answer and debate someone on human rights issues and issues pertaining to Israel and the Middle East.

We did it in class and then went over it to compare answers and the direction/methodology each took when dealing with the issues raised.
Torah High grade 12 ethics and Israel Exam

On Monday, November 29 I had the opportunity to teach the Grade 11 & 12 class how to defend the common anti-Israel claims that arise. The objective of the lecture was to equip the students with the information and debating tactics necessary to engage in a conversation with dissenters about Israel.   Firstly, we dealt with the misconception that Israel is committing an illegal occupation. We reviewed ancient and modern Israeli history to understand the Jewish claim to the Land. Next, we discussed the accusation that Israel uses excessive force in the Arab-Israeli conflict. We talked about the complicated situation Israel is in in terms of dealing with terrorist organizations and Israel’s moral obligations and standards when it comes to the IDF. Finally, we dove into the issues of racism in Israel by understanding the difference between Arab-Israelis and Palestinians and discussing Israel’s obligations to the different groups.

After discussing the details of Israel’s current situation, we watched some clips of current affairs on college campuses. The students saw firsthand some of the anti-Israel claims that students on college campuses in North America are facing. With an opportunity to see how these students are dealing with anti-Israel activists, they had a better understanding of why it is vitally important to know how to talk about Israel and counter the claims.

The second part of class examined the way maps are used in the conflict. A close up map of Israel can make Israel look like the aggressor and the only struggle between Israel and the Palestinians. A map zoomed out helps you see the true size of Israel versus its hostile Arab neighbors, most who have been attacking it consistently. We saw studies on the power of visuals and how the map you use can influence public opinion and perception.

We identifies and learned about all the Israel’s neighboring countries and looked briefly into their history and governments and their relationship with their neighbors including Israel.

Resource Articles – Lesson 2

We also revisited the Enlightenment and while it opened up areas for Jews more than ever before socially, educationally and politically it also helped create a fall of religion as well as a backlash against Jews w ho were the main beneficiaries of Enlightenment policies which, when mixed with the rising feelings of nationalism created the most potent and deadly form of antisemitism ever seen.

UN says West Bank site a mosque.

For the second hour Miss Braude, a visiting teacher of history, spoke to use about the start of Zionism and our longing for a state of our own that started much before the rise of the post Enlightenment Zionism

She spoke about:

What does Zionism mean?  What were the motivations of the early Zionists?

Biblical Zionism – Where does it begin? The promise to Abraham, After the Exodus – entering the land etc.

The beginning of Modern Zionism – Religious Jews living in Eretz Yisrael, Jews leaving Eastern Europe in small groups.

1897 – Herzl calls the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland – motivated by a fear of anti-Semitism and the rise of Nationalism.

Second Aliyah – Jews from Eastern Europe  – the chalutzin in the Yishuv – the beginning of the Kibbutz movement –  working the land, self defence – HaShomer – Eliezer Ben-Yehudah and modern Hebrew.

WW1 – The decline of the Ottoman Empire. British promise to the Jews – the Balfour Declaration

israel maps

She challenged each student through an exercise to find and recognize their island of strength and work on those and contribute those skills toward social change.  She also reiterated what we have heard from the start of this class that you always need to know the source and the bigger context of any issue and for that you need to be an avid reader of news and commentary.  We then added a HOMEWORK assignment to read a newspaper daily and pull one article out of it and ask questions on it that will help recognize bias and build more context on the issue.

The second hour we went over last week’s homework and dissected the TIME article that claimed that Israel was not interested in peace.  You gave several examples of one-sided, words that downplayed terrorist acts against innocents, pictures used to presented image that they wanted to portray, the story showing very little context and not even trying to see the other side — perhaps if Israelis are not pursuing peace as vehemently as before maybe it is due to their being burned time and time again and the fact they can still enjoy life after all this is not insensitive but a testament to the Israeli resilience.  That possibility was totally overlooked.

We watched a video of Iranian President Ahmadinejad speaking about how the Holocaust creating Israel and why are are the Palestinians, who were not directly part of Jewish murder in Eastern Europe, made to suffer and forced to give up their lands for a crime they did not commit.   To begin to understand and answer his claim we started learning about birth of zionism and European Jewish History during the end of the enlightenment (1700-1800) and how Jewish life changed then more radically then ever before.  There were two different areas of Ashkenaz Jewish life.  One in Western Europe.   The other in Russia.  Both ares, for their own political, social reasons started their own unique forms of Zionism.   I handed out a brief summary of the Siege covering this period which was to be read for HOMEWORK.

TIME article PPT

Siege history