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This page was last updated June 12, 2007.
Global Connections: Middle East
Global Connections: Putting World Events in Context provides the background information needed to understand events occurring in the Middle East. The site includes original materials created in conjunction with the Centers for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard and UCLA. The site also aggregates and contextualizes the rich resources available throughout public broadcasting, including material from Frontline, Online NewsHour, NOW with Bill Moyers, Morning Edition, Talk of the Nation, and many others. Designed with educators in mind, the site is also useful for those curious to better understand the Middle East and its relationship with the West.
Middle East: Centuries of Conflict
Part of the CNN.com Archives, this site is an excellent introduction to strife in the Middle East -- past and present. The site uses text and multimedia to explore issues such as Jerusalem, Jewish settlers, a Palestinian state, and Palestinian refugees. It also outlines "key players" and key documents and provides maps, galleries, a timeline, and a virtual tour of the region.
BBC News: Israel & the Palestinians
The BBC provides plentiful helpful contextual and current information on the Middle East crisis. Offers Top Stories on Israel & the Palestinians, profiles of key players, BBC audio and video, maps, country profiles, stories of ordinary citizens, key documents, timelines, profiles, web links, and more.
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Washington Post special report on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Middle East. Click on "One Land, Two Peoples" for an interactive guide to the Middle East conflict. Also features a multimedia guide to the walls and barriers Israel is building in the West Bank. In "Audio Perspectives," you can ask an Israeli lawyer and a Palestinian spokesman about Hamas. There are also several editorials and commentary from the Washington Post.
CBC News: Middle East
A helpful overview of the Middle East conflict from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The site features a timeline of recent developments, a brief history of the Mideast, FAQ on Israeli settlements, and studies of Mahmoud Abbas, Ariel Sharon, al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Yasser Arafat, and others. Special features include a video: "Inside the mind of a suicide bomber." Also provides articles on the Gaza Strip, Hebron, Jerusalem, and Palestinian refugee camps as well as various commentaries on the conflict.
Center for Middle Eastern Studies
Center for Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Texas provides an online guide to Middle East-related websites and databases that can be accessed via the World Wide Web. The editors visit and evaluate web sites and then organize them into subject-based categories and sub-categories. Useful research site.
Middle East Web Gateway
Middle East Web Gateway is produced by a non-government organization in Israel and offers much in the way of news and views on the Middle East. Learn about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict "in a nutshell" and read various articles and editorials on the Middle East. Consult the reference section for maps, timeline, and a history of the Middle East.
Israel at 50
A 1998 CNN.com special report on the Israeli people. Examines early days of Israel, internal conflicts among Israelis, the West Bank, and more. Features a virtual tour of Israel, an interactive timeline, as well as maps of the Jewish state throughout history.
Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP)
Nonprofit organization dedicated to informing Americans about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and assisting in a peaceful solution that brings security for both peoples. Has documents, maps, charts, and much more.
Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Guide to the Peace Process
Provides links to ongoing developments in the Middle East peace process as well as diagrams on the structure of the negotiations. See also the History of Israel section, especially the Israeli perspective on the history of Jerusalem.
Muslims
This recent PBS addition examines Islam through stories of diverse Muslims. The “Frequently Asked Questions” is like “Islam 101” as it concisely explains the basic principles of Islam, including the most widely accepted definition of “jihad.” This site provides an abundance of fascinating facts about Islamic history, basic beliefs, and various other topics through its portrayal and interviews of various Muslims.
World Cultures to 1500: Islam
A well organized overview of Islamic history can be found at this online course, based at Washington State University. It offers clear and informative lecture notes, maps, a photo gallery, timelines, links to relevant sites, and more. Click Contents.
Heritage: Civilization and the Jews (PBS)
A great general site on Jewish history featuring an interactive timeline, primary sources, lesson plans, teacher sources, images, and more. Organized chronologically, each section features concise historical documents (with contextual information) as well as film clips from the PBS series.
Internet Islamic History Sourcebook
The Internet History Sourcebooks by Paul Halsall are wonderful collections of public-domain and copyright-permitted historical texts for educational use. The Modern History Sourcebook's documents are well organized around several main categories including The Western Intrusion, Islamic Nationalism, and The Islamic World since 1945.
Lesson Plans, Teacher Guides, Activities and more
Global Connections: Lesson Plans
Global Connections: Middle East aggregates and contextualizes the rich resources available throughout public broadcasting, including material from Frontline, Online NewsHour, NOW with Bill Moyers, Morning Edition, Talk of the Nation, and many others. Designed with educators in mind, the site is also useful for those curious to better understand the Middle East and its relationship with the West.
Lesson Plans:
Israeli-Palestinian Peace Summit
Students will develop persuasive arguments for a given position or point of view regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
A Meeting of World Leaders
Students will gain an understanding of some of the background, motivation, and philosophy that shape political strategies proposed by world leaders to address the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Stereotypes: More Than Meets the Eye
Students will think critically about images and media that portray the Middle East
Coup to Revolution: U.S. Foreign Policy in Iran
Middle East: Land, Resources, and Economics
Students will be able to describe major geographical features of the Middle East and explain how these features and other natural resources influence the economy of the area.
Oil Crisis: What Would You Do?
Students will understand the multiple dimensions of the role of oil in the economies and politics of both the United States and the Middle East. Grades 9-12
Peace Signs: Exploring the 'Roller Coaster Ride' of the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process
In this New York Times lesson, students review their prior knowledge about the peace process in Israel and examine recent steps towards peace. They then research key figures, events and policies since Israel's statehood in 1948 and determine how they impacted the peace process, illustrating their effects as if the process were a roller coaster. Finally, students reflect on how the proposed road map for peace might change the path of the roller coaster they created.(May 7, 2003)
The Fascinating World of Islam
Students will have the opportunity to learn about aspects of the world of Islam by using various research tools. They will then work with classmates in creating an ABC Book of Islam based on their research. Grades 6 -12.
Exploring Islamic Lands
In this high school lesson students explore what it's like to be a teenager living today in an Islamic country in the Middle East. They will begin by gaining background information about the religion and the region from which it sprang by using the PBS series ISLAM: EMPIRE OF FAITH and other resources. Once students gain a historical understanding, they choose a particular modern day Middle Eastern country to explore in depth using resources such as the Library of Congress Web site and epals. In the end, they will create a personal narrative of what it's like to live in that country.
Maps of Muslim World
The site contains maps of Central Asia, South Asia, South-East Asia, East Asia, and finally Africa. Each of these maps shows where the Muslim population is concentrated. One can also choose a link entitled "Muslim Minorities," which lists many articles about Islam's history and mythology. The last link is to "Muslims Online," a larger website which contains search engines, homepages, and links to Muslim organizations. From this site a student can learn about the religion of Islam, however, the site might be quite confusing to someone who is not familiar with the topic.
Islam in the United States
This website could be used to find resources and also fun activities on the subject of Islam. This site would be most useful to a teacher looking for activities, or to someone studying Islam who wants to find helpful information and use different kinds of media pertaining to Islam. The layout is a bit confusing, but this site includes ratings for links and descriptions to Islam-related sites.
The World's History: Islam
The online guide to Howard Spodek's The World's History features quizzes (multiple-choice questions, true/false questions, interactive review questions), primary sources, maps, a bulletin board, a Live Chat,web links, and faculty resources for each chapter/topic.
Brief Review in Global History and Geography: Document Based Essays and Practice Tests
PH@School's Brief Review in Global History and Geography Web site provides multiple-choice questions from actual Regents exams. You can also practice your test-taking skills on document-based essay questions (DBQs), with the option of e-mailing answers directly to your teacher for review.
