While an undergraduate at Tulane University in New Orleans, I had the pleasure of studying with several very knowledgeable and capable professors. My faculty adviser, Professor George Bernstein, was and is a wonderful teacher who helped me understand the importance of issues relating to daily life when studying history. Professor Bernstein’s area of expertise relates to British history, especially British history in the 1800s and early 1900s. My primary area of interest was and is the State of Israel and its struggle for survival.
When I decided to write an honor’s thesis, Professor Bernstein and I decided that I should focus on a time period prior to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. I decided to focus on the British mandate over Palestine in the years just after the first World War.
My analysis is the work of a 20 year old college senior so it should be read in that light. I can say that the research I did in preparing this thesis has proved valuable to me in understanding the Arab-Israeli conflict that was to come. Now I have a daughter who is attending college and who will be studying the politics of the Middle East as part of her major. I look forward to publishing her thoughts about this interesting and vital topic.
Link to Jonathan’s honor’s thesis (in Adobe pdf format).