By

D. Jason Slone

Professor, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies

Georgia Southern University

dslone@georgiasouthern.edu / (912) 478-5909

Table of Contents

How to teach with Reacting games………………………………………………………………..2

Game Overview………………………………………………….………………………………..7

Game Setup………………………………………………………………………………………..9

Roles……………………………………………………………………………………………..12

Appendix A………………………………………………………………………………………14

Appendix B………………………………………………………………………………………15

Roles

Role distribution

The gamemaster should try to maintain an approximate 1-1-1 ratio of Arabs, Zionists, and UNSCOP members (including Dr. Bunche). Thus, if you have a class of 15, you might want 5, 5, and 5. If you have 30, 10-10-10. Etc. Ideally, the journalists will have roles in the game, assuming the class is large enough, as they introduce a “side” element of “media bias” that is critical during the debrief. That is, by having reporting from 2 biases journalists and 1 neutral journalist, game players will see “media bias” in action – which is a useful learning outcome, in my opinion, for navigating today’s world.

There are no “leaders” per se on any factions. However, some roles MUST be given.

1. Dr. Bunche (UNSCOP)

2. Emil Sandstrom (UNSCOP)

3. Amin al-Husseini (Arabs)

4. David Ben-Gurion (Zionists)

There are some “micro-factions” within the factions, and you should balance those where possible. So, for instance, several UNSCOP members are biased for the creation of Israel and several are biased against it, and the rest are neutral. You should balance all 3 in the UNSCOP faction. They are as follows (neutral = yellow, pro-Zionist = blue; pro-Arab = green).

UNSCOP

1. Dr. Ralph Bunche (USA; neutral, non-voting “Special Liaison”)

2. Justice Emil Sandstrom (Sweden – neutral)

3. John Hood (Australia – British Dominion; neutral)

4. Vladimir Simic (Yugoslavia – neutral)

5. N.S. Blom (Netherlands – neutral)

6. Dr. Alberto Ulloa (Peru - neutral)

7. Justice Ivan Rand (Canada; pro-zionist)

8. Dr. Jorge Garcia Granados (Guatemala – pro-zionist)

9. Professor Enrique Rodriguez Fabregat (Uruguay – pro-zionist)

10. Sir Abdur Rahman (India – pro-Arab)

11. Nasrollah Entezam (Iran – pro-Arab)

Similarly, some Arabs are “hardline” conservatives who will not compromise – they want all of the land and only one state, Palestine. However, some Arabs are “moderates” who may be willing to support a “two-state solution.” You should balance the factions between conservatives and moderates.

Arabs

1. Amin al-Husayni (Conservative)

2. Jamal al-Husayni (Conservative)

3. Husayn al-Khalidi (Conservative)

4. ‘Izzat Darwaza (Conservative)

5. Ahmad al-Shukeiri (Conservative)

6. Ahmid Hilmi Pasha (Moderate)

7. Haidar Abdel-Shafi (Moderate)

8. Emile Habbibi, (Moderate)

9. Sami Taha (Moderate)

10. Raghib al-Nashashibi (Moderate)

Most Zionists start the game wanting all of the land for Israel, but slowly begin to accept that that’s not likely and then switch tactics to gaining enough land to be sustainable for Jewish immigration. One character that I strongly encourage you to consider using is John Stanley Gruel, a Christian minister from the United States. This character complicates the narrative that Zionism is only for Jews, and it highlights the Arab criticism that the USA is pro-Zionist.

Zionists

1. David Ben-Gurion

2. Abba Hillel Silver

3. Yitzhak Ben-Zvi

4. Moshe Shertok

5. Chaim Weizman

6. John Stanley Gruel (Christian Zionist)

7. Golda Meir

8. Menachim Begin

9. Avrahim Tehomey

10. Abba Eban

Finally, of the 3 journalists, 1 is pro-Zionist, 1 is pro-Arab, and 1 is neutral. Their reporting should reflect these “biases.”

1. Clare Hollingworth – British, neutral (The Economist)

2. Emile Touma – Arab, pro-Arab (Al-Ittihad)

3. Ruth Gruber – USA, pro-Zionist (NY Herald)