The course will deal with the competition between the “Old Yishuv” (Jewish settlement) and “New Yishuv” in Palestine at the end of Ottoman rule, when Zionism emerged as a major national movement among the Jews in Palestine. As part of the course we will learn about the characteristics of the First and Second Aliyah and the confrontation between these two waves of Jewish immigration. We will examine the attitudes of the “Hibbat Zion” movement, Herzl and the Zionist movement toward Jewish settlement in Palestine; analyze Baron Edmond de Rothschild’s philanthropic activities in Palestine and describe the construction of the the labor sector as a factor in Yishuv society.

Course requirements: participation, exam.