Postgraduate Course: The Question of Palestine (PLIT11030)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course critically analyses key concepts and debates surrounding the Question of Palestine. The term is used in line with United Nations usage, referring to the Palestinian peoples ongoing quest for self-determination. The course explores these ideas across three interconnected domains: historical and political contexts (from the 1917 Balfour Declaration to the present); scholarly and theoretical analysis (e.g., debates on contested ideas like settler colonialism and apartheid) and legal and human rights frameworks (e.g., international law, advocacy reports, and court cases). The scope of the course is to develop a critical dictionary that helps students understand the emergence, development, and ongoing dimensions of the question of Palestine. |
| Course description |
This seminar course examines the Question of Palestine through a conceptual dictionary that links key terms to historical events, political debates, and theoretical perspectives. Students will engage critically with contested concepts such as Zionism, antisemitism, trauma, the Nakba, camp, self-determination, occupation, indigeneity, settler colonialism, human rights, apartheid, racial discrimination, and genocide. By combining historical contextualization, theoretical analysis, and close study of key documents, the course illuminates the political roots and contemporary manifestations of dispossession, human rights violations, and systemic injustices in Israel/Palestine.
The course is designed as a small-group seminar to facilitate the discussions necessary for in-depth and respectful engagement with a complex topic such as the Question of Palestine and its historical reverberations in the present. The course is structured in three thematic sections. It begins by tracing the emergence of the Question of Palestine at the intersection of British imperialism, antisemitism, and the Palestinian right to self-determination. It then examines debates surrounding the legality of the occupation and situates the Palestinian struggle within broader anti-colonial and global justice movements. Finally, the course critically assesses recent developments in the region, including debates on apartheid and genocide, through careful analysis of reports and legal documents produced by leading Israeli, Palestinian, and international human rights organisations, as well as international legal proceedings such as South Africas 2024 case before the International Court of Justice and the ongoing investigations at the International Criminal Court.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate a critical understanding and knowledge of key contested concepts related to the Question of Palestine, situating them within both historical and contemporary political contexts
- Analyse primary and secondary sources, integrating them with relevant theoretical frameworks from different disciplinary fields, to construct well-supported interpretations of the Question of Palestine
- Interrogate competing narratives, assessing how key concepts from the courses critical dictionary shape understandings of Palestinian history and politics
- Formulate independent, evidence-based positions on contemporary manifestations of the Question of Palestine, including its most complex political, legal, and advocacy debates
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Reading List
Bourahme, Nasser. The Time beneath the Concrete: Palestine Between Camp and Colony. Duke University Press, 2025
Amnesty International. Israels Apartheid against Palestinians: Cruel System of Domination and Crime against Humanity. London: Amnesty International, 2022
Arendt, Hannah.Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil. London: Penguin, 2006
Erakat, Noura. Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine. Stanford University Press, 2019
Pappe, Ilan. The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine. Oneworld Publications, 2006
Said, Edward (1980), The Question of Palestine. New York: Vintage Books, 1992 |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Acquire the vocabulary necessary to research and investigate a key international political issue of our time.
Develop critical thinking and analytical skills to address international issues.
Acquire personal and intellectual autonomy.
Develop a reflective approach to contributing positively to world affairs. |
| Keywords | Palestine,Dictionary,Contested concepts,International politics,Law,Justice |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Nicola Perugini
Tel: (0131 6)51 5472
Email: nicola.perugini@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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