The Middle East: Ongoing Conflict - Experience Summary

Students name some of the members of the League of Arab States. Then they watch a video about the early years of the state of Israel, examine a timeline, and summarize UN Resolution 242. Next they watch a final video and weigh how cooperation between Israel and Palestine—while difficult for both sides to achieve—might lead to normalized relations between them. Finally they learn about Arab countries that have signed agreements with Israel, and they write a letter from an imaginary teen expressing dreams for the future.

Objectives:

  • Describe key events in the Arab-Israeli conflict.
  • Analyze the impact of the Arab-Israeli conflict on other countries.

Scene 1 — Engage

Student Activity

Students are introduced to the contemporary significance of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and review the lesson objectives. They read background information about the League of Arab States and its origins, then respond to a word cloud prompt by predicting additional current member states beyond the original six.

Teacher Moves

Clarify the role and founding purpose of the League of Arab States, then share the full list of additional member countries so students can compare their predictions with actual membership.

Scene 2 — Explore

Student Activity

Students examine an image and caption about Israeli soldiers in Jerusalem during the 1967 war to consider differing Israeli and Palestinian perspectives on the city. They watch War and Peace, Part 1 and review the Israel profile – Timeline to trace key events surrounding the Six-Day War and its outcomes. They read about the Arab League’s response and then study UN Resolution 242, using a graphic organizer to summarize its main emphasis, key principles, and additional provisions in their own words. Finally, they read an explanation of how differing Israeli and Arab interpretations of Resolution 242 contributed to its non-implementation and to ongoing occupation and political divisions.

Teacher Moves

Review students’ completed Resolution 242 charts with the class, using the organizer to clarify the resolution’s main principles and how differing interpretations shaped later events before moving on.

Scene 3 — Explain

Student Activity

Students read about the hopes raised by the Oslo Accords and the impact of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination. They watch War and Peace, Part 2 and then analyze text describing obstacles to peace from both Israeli and Palestinian perspectives, including terrorism, settlement expansion, poverty, and lack of hope. They review examples of existing economic, environmental, and security cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and then post to a class wall explaining how such cooperation might lead to more normalized relations between the two sides.

Teacher Moves

Highlight and share an interesting or exemplary student response about cooperation with the class, using it to prompt discussion about how trust, shared interests, and hope for the future might reduce violence and support progress toward peace.

Scene 4 — Elaborate

Student Activity

Students examine an image and caption about the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020, then read about earlier peace efforts and their risks, including the assassinations of Anwar Sadat and Yitzhak Rabin. They learn which Arab countries have signed peace treaties or accords with Israel and which additional Arab League members recognize Israel, while also noting that some states and groups still call for Israel’s destruction. Students then write a letter on a shared wall from the perspective of a teenager in Israel or the Palestinian territories to a peer on the other side, expressing their dreams for the future, and respond to at least two classmates’ letters with questions or positive comments.

Teacher Moves

Emphasize that the activity is designed to help students see people on both sides of the conflict as real individuals with their own hopes and dreams, and encourage thoughtful, empathetic responses to classmates’ letters.

Scene 5 — Evaluate

Student Activity

Students complete the exit quiz by answering all the questions.

Teacher Moves

Facilitate the assessment and use student data to evaluate understanding, address misconceptions, and identify areas for growth.

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