Two Nations, One Land: UNSCOP and the Question of Israel, 1947 (Historical Game)

This open historical game was created through an ALG Pilot Grant for Developing an Open Historical Game. In this type of historical game, students read from specially designed game books that place them in moments of heightened historical tension. The class becomes a public body, or private gathering; students, in role, become particular persons from the period and/or members of factional alliances. Their purpose is to advance an agenda and achieve victory objectives through formal speeches, informal debate, negotiations, vote taking, and conspiracy. After a few preparatory sessions, the game begins, and the students are in charge. The instructor serves as an adviser and arbiter. Outcomes sometimes vary from the history; a debriefing session sets the record straight.

Authors' Game Description: The setting is Palestine, 1947, where there is violent unrest between the local Arabs of Palestine and “Zionist” Jews. The British have ruled over the territory with a “Mandate” from the League of Nations since the end of WWI, after the Allied Powers dissolved the Ottoman Empire at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and divided the region into small nation-states based on the (secretly written) Sykes-Picot agreement.