OSHER 533 - A Brief History of the Holy Land from the Ottomans to the Abraham Accords

In 634 CE, Mohammed's successors burst into Syria and soon conquered the entire Fertile Crescent. We will quickly review the rise and fall of successive Muslim dynasties, the Crusades and their aftermath. Then we will focus on the rise and fall of the Ottomans, and segue to the modern era, from the resurgence of Jewish and Arab nationalism, through the role of the British and the two World Wars, to the re-creation of the state of Israel, the Arab-Israel conflict, and its potential for resolution in the Abraham Accords. In the process of this survey, we will analyze the conflicting narratives generated by both sides and test them against historical reality with the intention that an accurate, fact-based, comprehensive account of this era can emerge.