In-Class History Simulation: Mid-1940s Middle East Conference Among the Jews, Palestinian Arabs, and the United Nations

Abstract

Students are to seek agreements so that the Jews and Palestinian Arabs have a home. This history simulation takes place before the modern nations of Israel and Jordan were created and recognized by the United Nations. Discard everything known about the conflict in Middle East for the past fifty years. This region had been controlled by the Ottoman Empire until 1922 and then the British managed the area as a “mandate” until the Jews and Palestinian people could create one, two, or more new countries. Students are members of the Middle East Conference negotiation teams representing leaders from the Jews, Palestinian Arabs, and the United Nations. To provide three parties for negotiations, the United Nations was added to avoid deadlock between the groups representing the Jews and Palestinians. Also, it was decided to add the U.N. since their priorities are not always the same for either or both of the other groups in real life. Students know the decisions made will be important for cultural harmony in the region. Students are to focus on the needs of their group. The timeframe for this negotiating session is in the mid-1940s before the Jewish people declare formation of the nation of Israel. A major issue for the simulation is that students must discard their current knowledge of the situation of the Middle East and place them in a different time period when decisions could be made before war was near constant in the region. The simulation receives high approval by the students, often listed as their top learning experience. As noted above, an evaluation form is completed by the students. It is partially a reflection on what they learned and partially an evaluation with suggestions to change. Often, those changes are reflected in the curriculum which is updated annually. This simulation has been used each semester for over seven years. It has been effectively used in classes of 95 to 25.