A Historiographic Review of Literature on the Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict

Abstract

A RECENTLY COMPLETED STUDY analyzed the status of Middle Eastern history in colleges and universities in the United States. It revealed that American and European historians have maintained an imposing preponderance within academic departments of history. Curriculum and scholarship about Third countries continue to be represented by proportionately few historians. Furthermore, within the Third area, there are fewer teaching positions for the Middle East than for Africa, East Asia, or Latin America.I In North America and Western Europe, academic centers for the study of the Middle East developed slowly after World War II. Studying and teaching Middle Eastern history took place at a limited number of institutions, introduced only as adjuncts to the coursework on Semitic languages, philology, or religion. Today, the number of properly trained Middle Eastern historians remains low, partly because of the challenging requirements of intricate foreign languages, the prolonged time needed to complete a doctorate, and lower remuneration than in alternative job opportunities for those with a Middle Eastern academic interest. In comparison to other fields of historical study, Middle Eastern history is a relatively young specialty, sparsely populated, and undeveloped in range and depth of scholarly publications. Since Middle Eastern historians are few in number, they are usually responsible for teaching regional courses that require broad historical coverage and often encompass issues that range chronologically from the Prophet Muhammad's life to Ayatollah Khomeini's death. Unlike academics teaching American or European history, Middle Eastern historians are generally not able to focus on considerably