THE 46-YEAR WAR: THE AFTERMATH

Description

Explore the 46-year conflict between Iran and Israel, from the 1979 Revolution to the “12 Day War” and its far-reaching consequences.

Location

ONLINE

Date & Time

THURSDAY, 2:00-3:30pm (ET), December 4 - 18, 2025

“Iran made a ‘big mistake tonight... and it will pay for it.”
— Benjamin Netanyahu, following an Iranian missile attack on Israel

on October 1, 2024.

Course Description: 

While the media—and even some historians—have labeled Israel’s recent conflict with Iran the “12 Day War,” the reality is that this struggle has been unfolding for more than four decades. In this course, we will trace the roots of Iran’s war against Israel and the Jewish people, from the 1979 Islamic Revolution to today, and analyze the impact of the recent Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile infrastructure.

We will examine the ideological and religious foundations of Iran’s policies, the history of Iranian-sponsored attacks worldwide, and the chain of events—from October 7th to the “12 Day War”—that revealed Iran’s strategic miscalculations. Through historical context and current analysis, we’ll explore the war’s implications and consider what, if anything, might change in the Middle East.

 

Sessions:

  1. Revolution and Ideology – The overthrow of the Shah, the rise of the Islamic Revolution, Khomeini’s vision, Shi’ite Islam, and the roots of Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
  2. Forty-Six Years of Fire – Iranian-sponsored attacks on Jewish communities worldwide and the creation of a “ring of fire” across the Middle East.
  3. October 7th to the ‘12 Day War’ – Strategic misreadings by Iran, the unintended consequences of its actions, and the prospects for change in the region.

THURSDAYS, 2:00-3:30pm (ET)

DATES: December 4, 11, 18 

 
About the Instructor:
 
Dr. Samuel Edelman has served as the first executive director of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles. Currently he is one of the founding faculty members of the new Academic Council for Israel, and its executive director, and a member of the Academic Engagement Network (AEN).  Edelman is  an Academic Fellow and an adjunct professor of Israel Studies and Zionism of the Sue and Leonard Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic Studies at the University of Miami and a lecturer at Florida Atlantic University LifeLong Learning Society and for the Miami-Dade CAJE. He is the former Director of the Israel on Campus Coalition Academic Affairs Department and the National Academic Network and its Fellows Program.  He is also an emeritus professor of Jewish, Israel and Holocaust Studies as well as Rhetoric and Communication Studies. In addition to being one of the key academics fighting against BDS on campuses and in academic professional organizations, he continues to lecture and teach on subjects such as Anti-Semitism, Genocide, Holocaust and resistance, the Arab Israeli conflict, Zionism, the Arab Spring, The Changing Map of the Middle East, Jewish Peoplehood, the history of Israel and more. Edelman is also the co-director of the California State Center of Excellence in Holocaust, Genocide, Human Rights and Tolerance Education. Edelman is currently completing a new book entitled the Age of Hate with his wife and colleague, Prof. Carol Edelman. 
 
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