Honors IR: Israel-Palestine Simulation   Tags: information literacy, international relations, israel, palestine, political relations, prezi assignments, world crises, world history  

Ignatz Award-winning cartoonist Glidden provides readers with a well-crafted narrative featuring the birthright trip she took to Israel in her early twenties. A secular Jew with strong opinions about the state of Israel overstepping both political and moral rectitude in its relationship to Palestine and Palestinians, Sarah is presented with sophisticated and ingenuous arguments by the various tour guides and Israelis she meets during the carefully designed tour, which includes kibbutzim, Tel Aviv, museums, other birthright tour groups, and ultimately Jerusalem. Beautiful watercolors and well-chosen viewpoints detail the land and architecture, and a richly individuated cast of characters carries the reader into and beyond the Israel Glidden experiences as she comes to the realization that others don't need to agree with her in order for her to feel heard by them. Although aimed at adults, this graphic novel is also a good choice for collections serving older teens and good discussion material for current-events classes as well as ethnic studies curricula.--Goldsmith, Francisca Copyright 2010 Booklist

Approximately 1,100 alphabetically arranged entries in this encyclopedia tell the story of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a conflict that has been almost continuous for several thousand years. The entries, written by 119 contributors, range in length from one paragraph to 20 pages. Entries include cross-references and a list of bibliographical references that lead the researcher to further information on the topic. Small capital letters within the entries indicate separate entries for those topics. Interspersed throughout the set are 50 maps detailing such things as partition agreements, municipal boundaries, barrier walls, settlements, military conquests, etc. The third volume, in addition to entries, contains a glossary, a chronology, and an 83-page comprehensive index. The chronology runs from prehistory through June 4, 2009. Entries cover people, places, organizations, politics, geography, economy, infrastructure, and military activity as well as cultural and social aspects of the region. The entries on people contain birth and death dates. There are entries on countries that are major players in the region (e.g., Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, United States). Holy sites, such as the Dome of the Rock and Cave of Machpelah, have entries. Peace agreements, such as the Camp David Accords and the Oslo Accords, are covered. Entries detail the various settlements throughout the country and the violence that many times accompanies them. Entries also deal with the economic effects and the refugee problems resulting from the conflict. Three entries on the topic Peace present scenarios on ending the conflict from three perspectives: Israeli, Palestinian, and American. An Historical Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict (Greenwood, 1996) and The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Political, Social, and Military History (ABC-CLIO, 2008) have previously been published on this topic. But considering the far-reaching impact the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has on the world today, this current work would be an excellent purchase for academic and public libraries even if they already own the earlier encyclopedias.--Talley, Kaye Copyright 2010 Booklist