Arms and Militarization in Twentieth-Century Palestine/Israel

This course investigates the historical roles of arms production and use in shaping militarization in Palestine/Israel, from the late Ottoman Empire and British rule to the present day. What made various historical actors at different points in time decide to use arms or object to their use? How and to what extent did the materiality of arms - their production, dissemination, design, or operation - influence these choices? Using archival documents, films, poetry, fiction, and art, we will explore such questions and examine how militarization has profoundly shaped the subjectivities of those affected by it across different times and contexts.