To illustrate our global connectivity, I often use the analogy of a jigsaw when exploring history. For this region of the Middle East, over the years we have identified various perspectives through courses on the Fertile Crescent, the Byzantine Empire, Islam, the Crusades, the Knights Hospitallers, and Lawrence of Arabia, among others. Now we will aim to uncover and understand some of the history that has formed Palestine and Israel. These two sessions will focus on one of the most remarkable, tragic and dangerous political challenges of our time: how to create a just peace in the Middle East. Nationalist aspirations of the 19th century, 'Great Power' economic competition and political interference in the 20th, combined with ethnic and religious intolerance has created a 21st century dilemma, not least in Jerusalem that more than any other city on the planet is a truly world heritage site.
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