The lecturers didn't stand in a neutral space, regarding the Zionist presence in palestine. Israel's presence today in the Middle East is part of the process of European colonization, This is the truth that this course didn't say.

This course has valuable information, but it is ultimately political. The professors don't even disclose that there are two opposing historical schools: "New Historians," whom Palestinians reference; and traditional historians, favored by most Israelis. Which version is followed here? The answer is a mix, without identification. This is not the same as "balance," which would entail each side laying out its key points and evidence. As others note, there is zero reading material. One wonders if this is because to choose a historian is to choose sides--that is how divisive this topic is. The discussion forums are also poorly monitored, unlike other Coursera courses; which does not advance understanding.

"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing" unfortunately applies to this condensed intro course. And contrary to expectations for an offering from Tel Aviv U., most Israelis would likely be offended by some of its assertions/omissions. For example, Israelis recall that Palestinian founding father Haj Amin al-Husseini was a Nazi agitator in Europe and bequeathed an anti-Jewish ideology (Netanyahu even made a speech about this in 2015 that was covered internationally). Yet in this course, you will be told simply that al-Husseini was a "man of religion."

Very bogus and boring content. The monotonous voice gets me!

Really enjoyed the information and perspective from the course. The only issue is that everything is from the Israeli point of view - the course would benefit from some discussion/inclusion from other perspectives. Still, it gave me a good background on the issues, and I would take more classes from the same institution.

I have learnt a lot how modern present day state of Israel came into being dating back from the first foundations laid out by Theodore Herzl who had this vision of creating a Jewish state through the his establishment of the Zionism movement which paved a way for the Jewish community scattered all over the world who faced social problems and fragmentation to migrate back to Israel because of Antisemitism and to the creation of the treaties such as the Balfour declaration and the role played by Baron Edmund De Rothschild who was a Jewish philanthropist who helped the ideas of Zionism and i have gained insight and an overview of the Jewish and the History of Modern Israel.

you can get an overview of the events not a balanced details about the conflict.it is bias and hold false preconceptions.

Excellent, interesting online course touching upon various aspects of Israeli History. Happy to recommend this course for all interested in History, Political Science and Sociology.

ANUPLAL GOPALAN

St.Joseph's College, Bangalore, REPUBLIC OF INDIA

Firstly i think for a coursera course it is not Long enough at all. There are not enough assignments which motivate studying and fixing the newly learned things in the memory. There are neither required nor recommended readings at all. For me reading is a very good Addition to the Videos so that you can slowly think about the thoughts and arguments. Especially in a topic which is undoubtly very controversal in public as in academia like especially the history of Israel and Palestine from the 30s onwards it is important to give different narratives of history to the students. There are no narratives critical to british colonialism at all mentioned, instead of the White paper of 1939. After all the course represents a very one sided an biased narrative which is presented to a global audience of students. Even if a certain narrative is preferred by the teaching scholars, which is completely acceptable and natural, not just in the field of history, it nevertheless is important to cover different narratives fairly and as neutral as possible, which does not happen in this course. When mentioned other narratives are quickly downplayed or denied, and repeatedly dichotomies like the "inferior" arabs, the "ferocity" of the arab oposition and so on are mentioned or cited without beeing problematized at all. Nevertheless the Course was a reminder of many Things I learned before, and brings up some interesting historic connections and key points.

der Kurs verarmt auf die Ehrlichkeit und Distanzierung

افتقر الكورس الى الصدق والحياديه

This was more objective than I thought. Nevertheless, the information about the Zionism, refute itself and make us criticize about the dangerous notion.

Learned an amazing amount about Israel. The interviews complimented the lectures very nicely and provided an even greater narrative/

Very insightful and unbiased, it really helps in understanding what is happening now

In the end it is a good course. The videos might seem short, but are filled with tons of information. It has guest professors who were very interesting, and I hope they could have give their perspective on the subjects as well.

There is no reading material, which is kinda sad. And it's naturally a little partial in favor to jews, but that's only natural. Prof. Susser, though, seems a lot more objective.

I thank very much the professors for this course.

I appreciate some of the information provided during this course. I disliked the way it was presented, not very appealing and without teaching skills. I hated the final exam, very difficult to pass with absolutely no helpful feed back in order to improve yourself.

Informative. Interesting. Historic.

The only issue I had was calling the British Mandate of Palestine, "Palestine" throughout the course. I think this confuses a lot of people. But here's some side knowledge for those who don't: Palestinians never called themselves "Palestinians" until 1964. Until then there were Arabic tribes that lived on British land, who used British minted coins, etc. Nothing about them was "Palestinian." They had nothing connecting them (i.e. national animal, flag, etc.)

Comprehensive, insightful and remarkably unbiased.

Professors were so qualified but, voice quality was not fine. It can be improved.

I enjoyed the course, but the audio wasn't very loud.

I have completed (by audit) both Intro to Holocaust I&II as well as this course. I am not Jewish but have visited Israel in the 1985's when there was some similance of peace.

Learning more about the plight of the Jews as a whole as well as persecution of Jews throughout history has solidified my opinion of the justification of establishing Israel as the homeland of the Zionist movement.

I believe partly that the world owed the establishment of Israel as a homeland since little was done by the entire world to prevent The Holocaust. These courses have really opened my eyes to the suffering of the Jews throughout history. The world owes the establishment of Israel to the Jews.

I grew up Christian and my sister-in-law is an Israeli American. Her family is from the 5th wave of immigration. We had an argument about Israel 6 weeks ago and this lead to my desire to study Israel's early history, the fact that my business partner is also Israeli and I could share my newly possessed knowledge with her made this course especially pleasant. I really enjoyed all the professors and guest lectures. Israel's history is complex and I am deeply grateful to learn more about the origins and struggles of Zionism. I would highly recommend this course.