Advertise on podcast: History of Asia

We'll see how many Jews felt they needed a state of their own, because of what happened in the long 19th century (we don't discuss the shoa at length because it's so well known already). We also look at what happened in the areas that now make up Jordan and Lebanon, and find some striking similarities that connect these cases.

We talk about how the genesis of Israel as a Jewish state came about as a result of a double exodus: one by Jews, another by Palestinians. This is a hotly debated topic. I've tried my best to present the most common arguments by both sides.

We talk about the 6-day-war. A lot of information comes from Tom Segev's book "1967" and to lesser degree Doedens Anne en Liek Mulder, Zesdaagse Oorlog: juni 1967: de Israelische herschepping van het Midden-Oosten.

After the six-day-war, Arab nations gradually left the conflict with Israel to the PLO. The latter became involved in the civil war in Lebanon and in a mini-civil war in Jordan (Black September). Meanwhile, Israeli politics started to shift to the right.

We talk about Israel, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan 1990-today. Notice any mistakes? Let me know, please! A few datapoints: 1987 start first intifada 1988 establishment of Hamas 1988 PLO recognizes Israël 1989 Taif Agreement 1993 Oslo Accords1996 First Palestinian elections, Hamas boycots2000 Israel withdraws from Lebanon. Start second intifada.2004 Arafat dies2005 Cedar Revolution 2006 Hamas wins parliamentary elections. Violence Hamas-Fatah. Israel invades Lebanon. 2007 Palestinian civil war. Hamas takes power in Gaza. 2012 UN observer status for Palestine but sanctions 2018 start political crisis Israel 2020 financial crisis Libanon2022 Netanyahu leads most rightwing government ever2023 Hamas attack followed by Gaza war. 2024 attack on Hezbollah causes death Nasrallah. Fall Assad. 2025 Iran-Israel war

Sources for this series (more will be added later): The Economist often for current affairs (cited when relevant) ABICHT L. Israël, Palestina. ABICHT LUDO. Delalniettemin: over Joodse wijsheid en humor ARNES I. Historische atlas van het jodendom : de bewogen geschiedenis van het joodse geloof in kaart gebracht.Librero, Kerkdriel, 2012, 400 p. BLACK I. Enemies and neighbours. Arabs and Jews in Palistine and Israel, 1917-2017. Alan Lane, s.l., 2017, 605 p. BLOK ARTHUR. Morgen misschien: waarom de problemen in Libanon niet worden opgelost. COOGAN M. The Oxford History of the Biblical World. Oxford University Press, 2001, 508 p. DAVIES W.D., HORBURY W., STURDY J. The Cambridge History of Judaism EVERS LOU: jodendom, een heldere inleiding.HINCHCLIFFE P., MILTON-EDWARDS B. Jordan. A Hashemite LegacyHIRSCHFELD H. Kernpunten van hetIsraelisch-Palestijns conflict, HARRIS W., Lebanon a history. Oxford University Press. JOHNSON P. Ahistory of the Jews. Londen, Phoenix, 2004, 643 p. MASALHA N. Palestine:a four thousand year history. Zed Books, Londen, 2018, 459 p. SCHAMA S. De geschiedenis van deJoden LEVY RACHEL. Israël op een doordeweekse dag. ROBINS P. AHistory of Jordan, University of Oxford, Oxford. 2004, 266 p. SAND SCHLOMO. The invention of the land of Israel: from holy land to Homeland SOETERIK R. De verwoesting vanPalestina. Van der Horst, Pieter Willem. Het joodse koninkrijk Himyar en de christelijke martelaars van Nadiran: joden en christenen in Arabië in de zesde eeuw. Van Diggele, Els. "We haten elkaar meer dan de joden: tweedracht in de Palestijnse maatschappij. "VAN MIDDEN PIET: Israël, een wereld apart: een geschiedenis van 3000 jaar op leven en dood

Now really the final episode of the series...

This is the final episode of the series. And maybe of the entire podcast too. Want to stay informed if and when a new episode comes out, then best include History of Asia in your library. Thank you all for listening, I hope you enjoyed it.

We talk about Assyria (and to a lesser extent Babylonia) during the Iron Age.

Just a short explanation why it takes me ever longer to get out episodes. Sorry for the wait.

The Germanic peoples and the Arabs were in a similar condition when they took over their respective parts of Roman territory. A century after they did, the West lived through the Dark Ages, while the East entered a Golden Age. What explains this? In this episode, we try to find out. Most important (extra) sources for the episode (for general list see 3.1): LEWIS D.L. God’s Crucible: Islam and the Making of Europe, 570-1215. Norton, 2009, 522 p. BORRUT A., COBB P.M., Umayyad Legacies. Medieval Memories from Syria to Spain. Brill Academic Pub. 2010, 528 p.

In terms of scientific output, Muslim majority countries are currently behind the curve. Many people blame Islam itself. One of the best counterarguments to this, is that Islam was in many ways responsible for the fact that in the Middle Ages, Iraq, Syria and other Muslim regions were way ahead of the pack in many ways.  Hope you enjoy the episode. Main (additional) sources for the episode:Al-Khalili, Jim. De bibliotheek van Bagdad : de bloei van de Arabische wetenschap en de wedergeboorte van de Westerse beschaving⁠ Lyons, Jonathan. Het huis der wijsheid : hoe Arabieren de westerse beschaving hebben beïnvloed.Correction: Nicola, an attentive listener, noted that people in Medieval Europe did not believe the earth was flat. My source says that many did because of a mistranslation of Isidorus. But this might well be an exaggeration and I haven't doublechecked it so I shouldn't have mentionned that. So sorry!

We talk about the Ottoman empire. They survived for over 6 centuries. What is their secret? Correction: I overstated the access that the Ottomans had to the spice islands. This access was indirect. They had what the European discoverers were looking for, economically, but only in the sense that they profited from the spice trade because of their position.

This episode is about the later stages of the Ottoman period, with the focus on Syria and especially Iraq. Most important sources for the episode (for more specific info you can e-mail me): Yitzhak Nakash - The Shi'is of Iraq TRIPP C. Irak: een geschiedenis ANSCOMBE F.F. State, faith, and nation in Ottoman and Post-Ottoman Lands BAYLY C.A. The Birth of the modern world 1780-1914. DALE S. The Muslim Empires of the Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals MCDOWAN D. A modern history of the Kurds MCHUGO J. Syria a recent history. SIMONS G., BENN T. Iraq: from Sumer to Saddam.

We discuss the history of Iraq and Syria in the first half of the 20th century.